Heriot-Watt University’s Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction Research Bulletin April 2022

Research Bulletin 5 April 2022 No.5 HEC Rating 2020

Performance and Productivity

Research Bulletin No.5-April 2022

EDINBURGH DUBAI MALAYSIA

Sustainability Wellbeing

SHAPING TOMORROW TOGETHER

Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

Table of contents 2 Editorial

About us

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Dr Mustafa Batikha

Topic of Focus.

Decarbonisation of the Cement Industry Dr Olisanwendu Ogwuda

5 Digitalising The Construction Sector Dr Anas Bataw, Dr Marwan AbuEbeid Maged Elhawary,

7 Quantity Surveyors Embracing the Building Information Modelling (BIM) Ruzanna Abd Rahman and Dheem Mohamed

10 Digital Twins for Water Garrett Owens and Baha Mirghani

13 Collaboration: Leading the way for a Bright Future for Construction Dr Anas Bataw

17 Effectively Minimizing the Passive Heat Gain in UAE Buildings Haidar Alhaidary

20 A Critical Review of Cellulose Fibre Cement Performance Under Harsh Environmental Factors Dr Ghanim Kashwani

23 Enhancing IEQ in Factory Buildings Developing a Regulatory Design Model Improving Health and Wellbeing of Workers and Business Outcomes Amin Hisham Howeedy and Dr Yasemin Nielsen

31 Plastic Fate: Opportunities and Challenges Yara Mouna and Dr Mustafa Batikha

34 Cloud-Seeding Operations from the Hydrological Perspective Khalid Almheiri

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News & Events, Partner News

Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

About Us Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction (CESC) Heriot-Watt University’s Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction (CESC) is committed to advancing industry-led innovations in construction that will revolutionise the way we develop, manage and operate smarter cities.CESC partners with like-minded organisations and government entities to lead the transformation of the Built Environment and development of next generation professionals for the benefit of the economy. CESC is a global hub for disruptive thinking, a platform for collaborative research and a model for solutions development and stakeholder engagement. More details about CESC can be found in the following link: https://www.hw.ac.uk/dubai/research/centre-excellence-smart-construction.htm

CESC non-executive board

CESC Industy Partners

CESC’s non-executive board, chaired by His Excellency Dr Abdullah Belhaif Al Nuaimi, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, brings together a group of expert opinions and leading voices across academia, industry and government.

Profiles of each CESC board member can be found using the following link: https://www.hw.ac.uk/dubai/research/cesc/non-executive-board.htm

CESC leadership team Dr Anas Bataw, CESC Director Professor Ammar Kaka, Provost and Vice Principal, Heriot-Watt University Dubai Dr Olisanwendu Ogwuda, CESC Manager Dr Roger Griffiths, Business Development Executive

CESC committee (Heriot-Watt) Dr. Hassam Chaudhry, Director of Studies Representative Linsey Thomson, Academic Lead for Student Engagement Matthew Smith, EGIS Representative Dr. Mustafa Batikha, Academic Lead for Publications Dr. Karima Hamani, Academic Lead for Knowledge Exchange Dr. Yasemin Nielsen, EngD Representative Dr. Taha Elhag. Academic Lead for Proposals Charlotte Turner, Marketing and Communications Bill Martin, Research Enterprize Developemnt

How to become a CESC partner Would your organisation like to become an esteemed industry partner of CESC? We work with our partners with the shared goal of transforming the future of construction by driving research and innovation in the sector.

Sharing information, skills and knowledge is key to advancing industry adoption of innovative solutions. Collaboration between industry and academia offer the opportunity to shape the challenges facing the Built Environment and preparing the next generation of construction professionals with the skills and knowledge to make a step change.

For more information about partnership benefits and working collaboratively with the Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction please contact r.griffiths@hw.ac.uk

Contact Us E-mail: cescdubai@hw.ac.uk Social Media:

Bulletin Editor & Contact Dr Mustafa Batikha E-mail: m.batikha@hw.ac.uk

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About Us

Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

Editorial Dr Mustafa Batikha Associate Director of Research School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society Heriot-Watt University-Dubai Campus Dubai, UAE m.batikha@hw.ac.uk

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he fifth issue of the CESC research bulletin asks for engagement in the decarbonisation of the cement industry through the “Topic of Focus” article by Olisanwendu Ogwuda, Manager, The Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction.

This page starts with exploring the actions taken globally and nationally to achieve the decarbonisation of the cement industry and invites the key stakeholders for extensive engagement to solve the challenges facing this global aim. In the end, Ogwuda highlights the lead of The Center of Excellence in Smart Construction is taking towards the decarbonisation of the cement industry in the UAE, responding to the call by the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment. Thus, The Cement Decarbonisation Delivery Group was established to take on this task. Four clusters were defined for discussion in that group, and others are always welcomed to engage in this valuable mission.

Also, in this fifth issue, more authors add their valuable experience and research knowledge, which focus on the CESC core themes: Performance and Productivity, Sustainability, and Wellbeing.

The editorial highlights in brief nine new topics as follows:

Performance and Productivity Under this theme, the first article brings a paper presented during the BIG 5 FUTURE TECH CONSTRUCTION Summit 2021 by Anas Bataw and his Co-authors, Marwan AbuEbeid and Maged Elhawary. The article starts with the fact that the construction sector is the least digitised globally, referring that the Digitalisation of the construction sector can add a value of about 2% ($1.6 trillion) to the global economy. The article explores the latest trends in the construction sector toward digitalization, such as 3D concrete printing, drones, laser scanners on-site, Digital Twins, off-site modular construction, etc. In addition, it summarises challenges facing construction digitalisation, such as the lack of standardisation, lack of expertise, lack of investment in R&D in the construction sector, lack of collaboration among industry, government, and academia, therefore, CESC was established to bridge this gap. In the end, the Authors acknowledge the massive efforts the UAE government is leading in pushing the digitalisation of the construction sector forward.

The second article is by Ruzanna Abd Rahman and Dheem Mohamed from Heriot-Watt University, Malaysia. Their paper explores how BIM becomes a necessity in Quantity Surveying (QS) to speed and accurate the cost estimating process, besides the fast reflection of the changes in the model on the QS. The article highlights that some QSs are afraid

of the technological unemployment phenomena. Therefore, they are still using the traditional manual methods. However, it was reported that 71% of QSs had adopted BIM. For full implementation of BIM in QS, the paper asks for collaboration among the professional bodies, the industry, and universities. The article points out that the QSs are usually hindered from using BIM in collaborative working. However, the COVID 19 pandemic has brought QSs to contribute during the virtual meeting environment.

In the third paper, two authors from Jacobs company, Garrett Owens and Baha Mirghani, address the seven principles which make using the digital twins successfully. The advantages of the digital twins’ application in wastewater industries are explored, which educate and train plant staff. The article highlights the first application of digital twins in the world by Jacobs to optimize the operations and implementation of water pipelines 150 miles long. This aided the visualization of the flows, energy, costs, and risks associated with each strategy.

Sustainability The first article brings a paper presented by Anas Bataw, the director of CESC, during the BIG 5 Global Construction Leaders’ Summit 2021.

Bataw emphasises that sustainability must become the top priority in the next phase of the construction sector, which consumes 60% of the planet’s natural resources. The article discusses examples of how the UAE government positively promotes the sustainability agenda. It is confirmed that approaches such as Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) can offer a solid solution for wastage in the industry. The article pushes toward improving the regulation and navigating towards innovations for more digital and sustainable industry.

The second paper is by Haidar Alhaidary from Middle East Engineering Technologies (MEET). The article discusses minimising the heat gain in the UAE buildings coming from the cooling load, which reaches about 70% of the total electricity consumption. For more energy efficiency, Alhaidary explores using BIM modeling in the energy simulation software. The article points out how the configuration of the building, such as shading, windows, orientation, and wall insulation, significantly influences the heat gain. Interesting examples in the drop of the U-values were highlighted in the article.

Ghanim Kashwani, in the third article, highlights the advantages of natural fibers compared to artificial fibers in terms of cost and CO2 emissions.

Then, the benefits of the cellulose fibers were explored. The paper shows how the sustainable applications of natural fibers gained more interest after the Paris Agreement in 2015. Kashwani shows the considerable potential of using cellulose fiber cement in our infrastructure subjected to harsh environments (e.g., GCC).

Editorial

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Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

Wellbeing Under this theme, Amin Hisham Howeedy and Yasemin Nielsen start with an article aimed to enhance the Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) of the factories to improve occupants’ physical and psychological wellbeing, hence, productivity and business outcomes. As a fact, the paper highlights that factories have higher pollution, causing the workers to be infected by chronic disease because of long pollution exposure and injuries by the interaction with heavy machines. Howeedy and Nielsen remark on the importance of designing and planning the factories for wellbeing.

However, it is not an easy task because of the frequent evolution of the manufacturing systems. The article shows that the IEQ differs according to the building type. Still, the industrial buildings are of poor attention compared to civic buildings.

The second article by Yara Mouna and Mustafa Batikha is a highly informative paper about the global challenges of plastic waste. The fact that plastic waste will reach 12 billion tons by 2050, with currently 80% in landfills, adds enormous pressure to the world. Mouna and Batikha explore the ways of plastics processing and asks for ethical implementation of recycling rather than being a concept. The article invites more public support and awareness toward plastic recycling. It brings examples of the importance of partnership between industrial companies and environmental institutions in reusing plastic waste.

Khalid Almheiri, in the third article, assesses the impact of cloud-seeding on urban floods in Sharjah city and outlines general recommendations to avoid the complications associated with cloud-seeding in urban regions.

Almheiri presents that the lack of appropriate rainfall historical records in the GCC cities presents the inaccurate design of the drainage pipes and leads to urban floods. It is interesting to see the cloud-seeding process history in the UAE enhances the rainfall to reach 35% in 2020. The paper also explores a study conducted by the author at the Heriot-Watt University, considering the cloud seeding record in Sharjah as a case study. Almheiri points out and recommends actions for the UAE government to consider the effect of the increase in rainfall on the capacity of the drainage network.

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Editorial

Acknowledgements The Editor would like to sincerely value Charlotte Turner, Monika Toth, for their continuous help in producing and designing the CESC research bulletin.

Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

Topic of Focus Decarbonisation of the Cement Industry Dr Olisanwendu Ogwuda Manager – Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction Heriot-Watt University-Dubai Campus Dubai, UAE o.i.ogwuda@hw.ac.uk

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lobally, cement production is set to increase 12 to 13% by 2050, compared to 2014 levels. As a result of the global growth in demand for cement, strategies must be implemented to mitigate the damaging effect of cement manufacturing on the environment. There are various strategies to incentivise cement decarbonisation. Many strategies are set for achieving net-zero by 2050.

Strategies include global drivers such as the UN Sustainability Development Goals (e.g., SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy), SDG 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure) and SDG 13 (climate action), Paris Agreement (Climate Change), COP26 (Glasgow 2021), COP27 (Egypt 2022) and COP28 (United Arab Emirates 2023). Other climate action strategies to achieve net-zero carbon targets include initiatives by global organisations such as the World Green Building Council and the Global Cement and Concrete Association.

Nations around the world also have strategies for sustainability and climate change. For example, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has strategies such as the National Climate Change Plan 2017-2050, Abu Dhabi Environment Vision 2030, and the Dubai 2040 Master Plan.

Challenges and Opportunities The global strategy and environmental impact present challenges and opportunities for decarbonisation of the cement industry. The challenges are not only limited to materials, energy consumption and emissions, but also include other challenges such as collaboration (between key stakeholders), waste management, technology, waste management, operational efficiency, financial/economic modelling, life cycle evaluation, contracts, standards, policy, regulations, and research & development. Opportunities arise from a more integrated approach to engineering, environmental and technical solutions coupled with economic, behavioural and policy aspects. Opportunities also arise from research and innovation that embrace a coherent and cohesive approach to bringing together the leading researchers. Extensive engagement of key stakeholders must be part of the opportunity, whereby industry-led challenges and impact pathways are identified.

In response to the above, the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MoCCaE) has engaged Heriot-Watt University’s Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction to lead the decarbonisation of the cement industry in the UAE. This effort has involved a range of activities (e.g., workshops, meetings, factory visits) with key stakeholders from other UAE government entities, private sector and academia. A UAE Cement Decarbonisation Delivery Group (CDDG) that reports to the MoCCaE has been established with representation from the key stakeholders. Four priority clusters, that report to the CDDG, have been established and cluster Chairs appointed. The four clusters cover (i) Materials and Waste Management, (ii) Technology, (iii) Standards, Procedures and Policies, (iv) Education and Awareness.

Feel free to contact us to know more about (and/or be involved in) the work of the CDDG.

Global population is growing, which will require more homes and related construction infrastructure. At the same time, countries have to deliver a carbon-neutral world to avoid dangerous levels of climate change.

Environmental Impact Buildings and construction account for around 40% of energy-related CO2 emissions. Concrete is one of the most widely used construction materials for major built environment infrastructure. A very important constituent of concrete is cement, which contributes to strength, durability, and other essential concrete properties.

Cement is associated with high embodied energy and CO2 emissions. Every ton of cement produced generates an equal amount of CO2. Cement production accounts for approximately 7 to 10% of global CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions. Cement clinker, an intermediary product in the manufacture of cement, is produced at high temperatures (1450oc) from the sintering of calcareous/argillaceous raw materials and giving off CO2.

Decarbonisation of the Cement Industry

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Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

Performance and Productivity

Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

Digitalising The Construction Sector Dr Anas Bataw Director, Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction Heriot-Watt University-Dubai Campus Dubai, UAE a.bataw@hw.ac.uk

Dr Marwan AbuEbeid Digital transformation Lead Turner Construction International Dubai, UAE mabuebeid@tcco.com

Maged Elhawary Group Chief Information Officer ASGC Dubai, UAE maged.hawary@asgcgroup.com

This article was presented during the BIG 5 FUTURE TECH CONSTRUCTION Summit from 12-15 September 2021. https://issuu.com/heriot-watt_university_dubai/docs/future_tech With disruption and innovation changing the way we think and operate across sectors, we started to see this more in the past year with COVID-19 pushing most sector out of their comfort zone and into digitally enabled environments, the construction sector is certainly no exception. The Pandemic has undoubtedly fasttracked digital transformation and showcased the possibilities that technology can offer to enhance and support the future of the construction sector. However, lack of sector-wide collaboration, shortage of competencies and difficulties of keeping pace with technological advancements is imperative for the construction sector to advance and continue flourishing. Against this backdrop, construction Technology experts and senior government representatives gathered at The Big 5 2021 FutureTech Construction Summit to discuss the latest technologies and trends in the industry, government and academics can address challenges and opportunities to adopt technology in construction.

‘On behalf of dmg events, we are extremely proud to have hosted the third FutureTech Construction Summit at The Big 5, 13 September 2021, Dubai World Trade Centre. With the new wave of technology and digitalisation adoption, the construction industry is moving in the right direction to increase its contribution to a circular economy, improving workforce health and safety and increase collaboration to support the delivery of the National Visions. Through our partnership with the Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction, Heriot-Watt University, we are honoured to present the Summit findings through this White Paper and look forward to seeing the industry again at The Big 5 from 5-8 December 2022 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.’.

Josine Heijmans, Vice President-Construction, dmg events

Introduction

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rior to COVID-19, digital practices in construction have evolved at a glacial pace despite global and national efforts to drive initiatives for digital transformation. According to the MGI’s digitisation index in 2016, the construction sector was among the least digitised sectors in the world, in the United States, construction comes second to last, and in Europe it is in last position on the index, while other sectors such as Retail and Manufacturing have transformed themselves and utilised technology to drive productivity, enhance performance and address sustainability challenges.According to McKinsey in 2019, if the construction sectors utilize technological and digital practices to enhance its productivity to catch up with the total economy—and it can—this would boost the sector’s value, adding an estimated $1.6 trillion, about 2 percent to the global economy.

It is agreed that the Construction sector is a key player in the global economy and nations’ Gross Domestic Products. Nevertheless, the sector is often criticised for lack of performance and adoption of disruptive innovations.

However, it is apparent that the Construction sector made bold moves towards digitalisation and innovation in the last decade.

Latest Technology Trends Technology can not only increase collaboration but also create transparency within the industry, a much-needed factor in these times of uncertainty and ever-evolving landscape. Driving digitisation and leveraging technologies such as Cloud BIM, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, 3D printing, Drones, Laser scanning and Blockchain has become exceedingly important. The following developments were demonstrated at The Big 5 FutureTech Summit as the latest trends in the Construction sector: Digitalising The Construction Sector

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Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

Data Management: Data Management technology is becoming essential in the work-flow to support the shift to remote working and to increase collaboration, better manage risks and better plan for coordination. Collaborative approaches such as BIM, GIS and EDMS enable data management and data to be shared globally in a virtual environment thereby facilitating a smarter more enhanced way to work together despite of geographical or other constraints. The Dubai Road and Transportation Authority (RTA) demonstrated how they managed to efficiently deploy these technologies to coordinate design, collaboratively evaluate various scenarios and support decision-making on their 11 Billion AED Route 2020 metro line development project achieving 95% clash-free designs saving time, costs and rework on site. Also, from a developer prespective, The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC) demonstrated another success story for efficient technology deployment in the region where collaboration tools reduced the design review duration from 3 weeks to 2 days.

physical space to experience information in situ, and visualise the space in a way that anyone can understand and appreciate. Exhibitors at The Big 5 included a variety of Augmented reality solution providers indicating a growth in the market and increased project demands.

Digital Twinning: While the construction industry has been adopting technology rapidly, one such advancement that is gaining prominence is the digital twin concept. Speakers showcased their plans to develop virtual replicas of their assets to help aggregate, analyse, and visualise data that allows smart decision-making to manage and operate their assets in the most productive and sustainable way. As well as contributing towards optimising real estate developments and identifying potential issues in advance.

Modern Methods of Construction:

Artificial Intelligence and Automation: Adopting advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automation can also prove beneficial as it introduces transparency and real time updates.

Specifically, when it comes to designing, the AI technology can be truly leveraged as it uses big data and complex algorithms to enhance designs and provide advanced scenarios for quicker informed decisions. These designs can be experienced and tested virtually to confirm their feasibility and cost implications. The Dubai Municipality (DM) demonstrated the recently launched automated E- submission and checking system for building permits that entirely rely on building information modelling and Geospatial Information Systems to provide accurate assessments of buildings and cutting response time to 24 hours.

Robotics and intelligent machines: On similar lines, robotics too is making its presence felt. Although the idea seems like it has many years to embed itself into the sector, some construction companies globally have begun to introduce autonomous machinery and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to enhance productivity on sites. Some of the different examples of how robotics can be applied within the construction sector are 3D printing and the ability to build large-scale projects through pre-programmed instructions. Panelists discussed elaborated on the growth of 3D printing and how it has already offered contractors an innovative way to set themselves apart from their competitors, especially with Decree No. 24 of 2021 regulating the use of 3D printing in the construction sector in Dubai.

Data Capturing and Monitoring: The improving hardware, and growth of mobile device connectivity via 5G have increasingly allowed smartphones and tablets to be used on construction sites for data capture and other monitoring/measuring tasks. The panel discussions demonstrated how the introduction of technologies such as handheld devices, drones, IoT Sensors and Laser Scanners on sites allowed project teams to capture live accurate information to enhance project management, monitoring and reporting as well as providing respite to workers from dangerous tasks. Panelists discussed how demonstrated how these technologies can survey and record data of locations that could be harmful or hazardous for workers to recce. Discussions also elaborated on how it can allow project leads and supervisors to keep up with projects in real time thereby facilitating stronger oversight and more efficient surveillance.

Augmented reality: Augmented reality has grown widely in the construction sector, with designs being developed digitally, construction teams can overlay the 3D models with the

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Digitalising The Construction Sector

MMC is a collective term to describe alternative construction practices such as Offsite construction, Modular pods and factory production of the component parts of properties. Panel discussions emphasizing the importance of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) as one of the key initiatives to transform the construction sector and therefore adoption is vastly growing. MMC is based on harmonising, digitising and rationalising demand therefore key recommendations were discussed to drive the adoption of MMC such as developing organisational strategies to aggregate and standardise demand, engaging the supply chain to set realistic targets, and collaborating to build better capabilities and knowhow.

Challenges While it is understood that any disruption comes with challenges, the speakers and attendees at The Big 5 FutureTech Summit emphasised the challenges of adopting futuristic trends in the construction sector. One of these challenges is the lack of standardisation, as it would limit small and midsize organisations to adopt efficient deployment processes of technologies. According to the UK Construction PlayBook 2021 “standardisation must be in place to create a more resilient pipeline and drive the sector’s efficiencies, innovation, and productivity”.

Another challenge addressed by the speakers is the lack of collaboration between government, industry and academia, limiting clear directions and thus the potential for the growth of technology use in the construction sector. Speakers highlighted that the gap between government, industry and academia is one of the factors limiting the ability to adopt innovations in the construction sector. “We believe that there is a vital need for a triple helix approach to bridge the gap between academia, industry and government towards mutual excellence and lead to economical growth” said Dr. Anas Bataw – Director of Center of Excellence in Smart Construction at Heriot-Watt University.

Additionally, speakers discussed the lack of expertise and qualified people in the sector as one of the critical barriers to utilising technology. Before focusing on technology limitations for the construction industry, it is imperative to look at the workforce and their willingness towards digitisation. If they are not equipped with the right resources, mindset and solutions to adopt technology then any strategy involving a digital shift is bound to fail. Complexity of new processes can bring the need to reskill at the forefront. Therefore, whilst digital transformation is crucial, workforce upskilling must be considered in parallel. Many organisations aim to achieve this by providing development programmes for employees, however, this doesn’t provide a long-term

Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

solution. Industry and Academia must collaborate to design and deliver educational and work based programmes to equip the future generation of professionals to drive a more innovative, digital driven industry.

Panellists discussed about other challenges such as the high expectations by decision-makers for early ROI, adding additional barriers for technology adoption therefore there is a great need for appropriate regional studies for return on investment to encourage organisations to adopt and invest in technology with long term visions. Furthermore, it was highlighted that the construction sector is one of the sectors with least investment in R & D, creating a challenging environment for innovation and disruption.

It is noted that the deployment of technology among construction projects commonly happen as a response and reaction to the client’s requirements.

Moreover, participants at the Summit agreed that emerging technology in the construction sector would need the engagement of the whole supply chain, with a bottom-top approach as well as a top-bottom approach.

Despite challenges facing technology adoption in the construction sector, it is agreed that light is at the end of the tunnel. There are several initiatives led by governments to drive best practice and utilise digital solutions to enhance and improve the way we design, build and operate assets.

The UAE government has always been at the forefront of digitalisation and specifically in the construction sector the country has taken considerable strides in transforming it. Most recently, the UAE’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure unveiled the ‘National Guide for Smart Construction’ in an aim to develop the basic drivers of flexible policies, elements and targets that stimulate the development of the construction industry, to drive innovations and best practice to meet the UAE’s aspirations for the next 50 years and enhance its global leadership in Smart Construction.

Underpinning the above is the need to keep up with the new normal for a resilient future. With investment in next generation technology, not only will key players create a sustainable work-flow but also be ready to face future disruptions. These major changes can be achieved through industry, government and academic partnerships as we also need to enhance the work-force of tomorrow. Heriot-Watt University’s Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction is one such initiative working towards advancing industry-led innovations in construction by collaborating with organisations and governments to lead transformation in the construction sector.

Acknowledgements The Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction and The Big 5 would like to acknowledge all who participated in the FutureTech Construction Summit and contributed to the delivery of the white paper.

‘I think the opportunity ahead for all the construction industry at all the levels of the supply chain is incredible right now, there seems to be a commitment from all parties to bring digital focus towards what we’re doing and that means working from consultants through the designs, through to construction, to the authorities and approvals. And I think that collaboration is the opportunity that we need. We need to work together; each part of infrastructure and its part of ecosystem needs to be consistent and apply the same rules and same opportunity.’

Nicholas Reynolds, Director of Construction, AMAALA

The National Guide for Smart Construction contains key elements for smart construction which are essential for all parties to improve the construction lifecycle and ways to adopt advanced digital solutions. It includes chapters on technologies such as BIM, Digital Twinning, Blockchain, AI, RPA, DMS, DfMA, Robotics, 3D printing and much more. As well as benchmarking of capabilities and cooperation between all stakeholders to improve the overall industry and provide a unified smart building index.

UAE Municipalities have also been leading efforts to drive digitisation initiatives such as BIM-to-GIS integration, digitisation of assets, e-submission platforms, automated checking systems and standardisation of construction data.

Conclusion Challenges such as project complexity and high competition, especially during the pandemic, accelerated the need for more technology adoption and embraced the willingness to adopt digitalisation and innovations.

However, digital transformation is not limited to IT solutions, it is a cultural and organizational change. Building a culture open for innovation is now becoming necessary as companies now are required to create an agile environment that copes with continued transformation and developments.

Therefore cultural transformation, organisational changes, and new business processes to improve agility, customer centricity and supply ecosystem are vital to improve productivity and efficiency.

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Quantity Surveyors Embracing the Building Information Modelling (BIM) Dheem Mohamed UG Student, Quantity Surveying School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society Heriot-Watt University Putrajaya, Malaysia hm249@hw.ac.uk

Ruzanna Abd Rahman Assistant Professor School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society Heriot-Watt University Putrajaya, Malaysia r.abd_rahman@hw.ac.uk

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is the process of generating & managing information for a construction project, throughout its whole life-cycle, via a 3D model enabled by a cloud platform. Though it was once centered around architectural and structural models, it has since evolved to incorporate dimensions such as cost, thereby affecting the Quantity Surveying (QS) profession. Though initially hesitant, many studies believe that the profession has gradually come to accept BIM. This study aims to examine this and debate the degree to which BIM has been embraced by the QS profession. The methodology adopted in the study combines an extensive review of literature from the misnomers of BIM, the current situation and the potential solution to fully embrace BIM. This study reveals there still is the need for QS to be involved in the extraction of quantities and measurements from the BIM model (5D) since the automatic generation itself can be complicated and erroneous. Besides that, this study also believes that no level of technological advancement can duplicate the element of intellect and professional expertise that the QS proffer such as procurement, contract administration and legal.

Keywords: Building Information Modelling; Quantity Surveying; embrace , 5D BIM.

1. Introduction

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IM is beginning to be widely used in the construction sector due to its ability to overcome various issues, particularly with respect to the management of information in comparison with conventional procedures (Mayouf et al., 2019). As for digital construction where BIM is the main uptake, NBS 2020 reported that 80% agree that digital is helping to create sustainable development. While the COVID 19 pandemic hits, 69% of industry players reported in NBS 2021 agreed that it had affected the adoption of digital technologies and ways of working.

Aligning to the prosperity of BIM in the industry, Quantity Surveyor (QS), as a key professional in the construction field who controls and manages costs throughout the project life cycle is undeniably being urged to adopt it. This is further declared by Zainon et al. (2018) that various QS related professional bodies around the world like the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), The Charted Institute of Building (CIOB) are also actively promoting the use of BIM among QS. As such, it is envisaged that QS firms will embrace BIM, and QSs must merge the trend with their existing practices to improve the cost and value efficiency of construction processes.

The Misleading about BIM Opportunities for a Quantity Surveyors BIM gives an enormous opportunity for QSs in their core functions of measurement, cost estimating, quantity take-offs, and bills of quantities preparation, as per Muimi (2020). RICS also accentuated that the model data of BIM can help QSs speed up and improve the accuracy of the traditional estimating process, due to its ability to link the design models to estimating software like CostX and enables QSs to extract relevant quantities and cost information from the model directly (Rushton, no date). RICS (2015) also stipulated those changes/modifications in the model can also be directly

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Quantity Surveyors embracing the Building Information Modelling (BIM)

reflected in the cost schedules when variations arise. This means the production of cost estimates will be speedy, compared to the conventional practice of tedious time-consuming manual take-offs. This can free up more time for QSs to devote to providing their expertise and knowledge to project teams and clients, making the QS role more valuable to the project. Not only that but arithmetic errors could also be reduced, articulated by Tee and Kamal (2021).

Threat for a Quantity Surveyors Some authors like Mattews (2011), RICS (2011) and NBS (2012) argued that some QSs on the other hand think that the introduction of BIM would lead to the extinction of their role, as BIM can perform most of the traditional QS job scope and create a situation where QSs are no longer needed in the construction market. Therefore, they are afraid of being replaced by BIM which will lead to technological unemployment, so resist accepting BIM in their practices, and still choose to use traditional manual methods.

2. Has the Quantity Surveyor risen to the occasion?

NBAS 2021 reported (Figure 1) that the majority (71%) say they have adopted BIM – similar to the last few years. The figure is higher among architectural practices (81%). The emphasis in people’s perceptions of BIM is moving away from the use of 3D modelling software to ‘better information management’: 63% describe their approach to BIM as following a set of standards (BS / PAS 1192 or ISO 19650).

However, only half (51%) agree that BIM is the norm in their country. For instance, adoption remains lower for small organizations (55%).

Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

the relevant cost data into the 5D model. This study finds that expert QSs are also being involved throughout the lifecycle of the project to provide useful cost and legal-related advice and liaise with the other project stakeholders (Figure 2).

Fig. 1 Involvement in BIM aspect drawn up from 3D visualization to information management. Sourec : NBS Report 2021 As 5D BIM facilitates the automatic generation of measurement take-offs, estimates and cost plans which were previously prepared manually by QSs, Muimi (2020) believed that BIM came as a relief for most. Rushton (2020) affirmed this postulation, stating that numerous QSs have utilized BIM as a tool to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of measurements and estimations. He claimed that today QS peruse and align the automatically generated readings from BIM, with the standard methods of measurement such as NRM1 to produce detailed cost estimates & plans.

While the increased facileness provided by BIM has been accepted by most QSs, and even mandated in certain countries such as the UK, the uptake of BIM by QS is not universal [Designing Buildings UK 2020]. Chevin (2017) argued that as advanced as BIM is, there still is the need for QS to be involved in the extraction of quantities and measurements from the BIM model, since the automatic generation itself can be complicated and erroneous. Besides that, this study also believes that no level of technological advancement can duplicate the element of intellect and professional expertise that the QS proffer. That being said, since BIM is increasingly being adopted within the industry, this study avers that QSs abstaining from its adoption would ultimately end up competitively dis-advantaged within the evercompetitive ever-changing market.

3. Recommendation to BIM fully implementation Collaboration from three parties is essential in ensuring the success of full implementation. The professional bodies, the industry as well as universities play a vital role throughout the journey.

RICS has offered guidance for the QS, indicating that the professional body is embracing this issue and expects the QS profession to change their working methods by transforming into the implementation of BIM and work in accordance with the guidance. Guidance is very essential if changes are needed. People are, by nature, reluctant to change. One of the reasons is that individuals are terrified of risk and uncertainty and may not know how to take action to change but feel more comfortable and secure to work in a manner as they are currently working.

Therefore, the RICS guidance has made an ideal foundation for the entire QS profession to move toward BIM adoption.

BIM is all about working collaboratively and integrated team working, many studies believe that the real value and success of BIM lies with multidisciplinary collaboration between the different members of the project team [The CAD Room 2021]. As such, Muimi (2020) mentioned that whenever QSs are involved in BIM collaboration, they proactively play their role by collecting, analyzing and uploading

Fig. 2 Integration of dimension in BIM from iTWO. Source: iTwo.com, 2021

However, Mayouf et al. (2019) found that in practice QSs are occasionally excluded from the BIM process which inhibits their input and successful collaboration.

Valentine [2019], believed that this may be since most BIM software such as Revit and Archicad were originally developed with Architects or Engineers in mind, while Chatterton (2017) suggested that it was because design teams are often reluctant to share the full version of the model. In any case, Cluck (2017) maintained that the true potential of QS with BIM is hindered by such obstructions in collaborative working. Nevertheless, this study believes that the solution to this problem is BIM itself. As Grey (2020) explained, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced all project stakeholders into virtual working environments, BIM’s common data environment incorporated QSs into the process as well.

It was mentioned that universities are currently integrating BIM-related subjects in the courses. It is good to understand and learn about BIM before QS graduates enter the real world, rather than not knowing the existence of BIM and needing to adapt to it till they go out to work.

4. Conclusion Embracing a challenge is a process rather than a result, which, to conclude, the QS profession has not fully embraced this challenge but is working toward it, by the contribution and collaboration of professional bodies such as RICS, the industry itself and education from universities. These three components are interconnected, and success would not be achieved if one of the components refused to embrace this issue, for instance, if the university refused to teach students about BIM. Therefore, it would be better if professional bodies, the industry itself, and education are always be up-to-date if there are more changes needed to be faced and embraced in the future.

Quantity Surveyors embracing the Building Information Modelling (BIM)

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Acknowledgements Special thanks to Quantity Surveying Practice research team Heriot Watt University Malaysia.

References [1]

Chatterton, T. (2017). The professional quantity surveyor’s role in collaborative BIM. [online] www.linkedin.com. Available at: https:// www.linkedin.com/pulse/professional-quantity-surveyors-rolecollaborative-thomas [Accessed 10 Nov. 2021].

[2]

Chevin, D. (2017). BIM and the cost consultants: What it means for quantity surveying. [online] BIM+. Available at: https://www. bimplus.co.uk/what-it-means-quantity-surveying/ [Accessed 6 Nov. 2021].

[3]

CIDB Malaysia (2021) Embracing construction revolution. Kuala Lumpur: CIDB Malaysia.

[4]

Clack, P. (2017). BIM and the Quantity Surveyor – Architecture . Construction . Engineering . Property. [online] sourceable. net. Available at: https://sourceable.net/bim-and-the-quantitysurveyor/ [Accessed 10 Nov. 2021].

[5]

Designing Buildings UK (2020). Quantity surveyors and BIM. [online] www.designingbuildings.co.uk. Available at: https://www. designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Quantity_surveyors_and_BIM [Accessed 10 Nov. 2021].

[6]

Grey, R. (2020). How can BIM help Quantity Surveyors during the pandemic? - ALA. [online] A Lamb Associates Limited. Available at: https://www.alambassociates.com/how-can-bim-helpquantity-surveyors-during-the-pandemic/ [Accessed 10 Nov. 2021].

[7]

Ismail, N. A. A., Adnan, H. and Bakhary, N. A. (2019) ‘Building information modelling (BIM) adoption by quantity surveyors: a preliminary survey from Malaysia, IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 267. doi: 10.1088/17551315/267/5/052041

[8]

Jaafar, S.S. (2017) ‘CIDB launches nation’s first myBIM Centre’, The Edge Markets, 28 November. Available at: https://www. theedgemarkets.com/article/cidb-launches-nations-first-mybimcentre (Accessed: 9 November 2021).

[9]

Mayouf, M., Gerges, M. and Cox, S. (2019). 5D BIM: an investigation into the integration of quantity surveyors within the BIM process. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, 17(3), pp.537–553.

[10] McKinsey & Company (2021) The future of work after COVID-19.

Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/ future-of-work/the-future-of-work-after-covid-19 (Accessed: 9 November 2021).

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Quantity Surveyors embracing the Building Information Modelling (BIM)

[11] Muimi, N. (2020). BIM & The Role of Quantity Surveyors: Possible Changes, Threats, Opportunities and Challenges. [online] QuantBuild Academy. Available at: https://www.quantbuild.co.ke/ bim-the-role-of-quantity-surveyors/ [Accessed 9 Nov. 2021].

[12] NBS (2016). What is Building Information Modelling (BIM)? [online] NBS. Available at: https://www.thenbs.com/knowledge/what-isbuilding-information-modelling-bim [Accessed 6 Nov. 2021].

[13] NBS (2019) National BIM report. Available at: www.thenbs.com/ knowledge/national-bim-report-2019 (Accessed: 9 November 2021).

[14] RIB (2018). BIM Best Practice – What Quantity Surveyors Need To Know As We Move Forward |. [online] www.itwocostx.com.

Available at: https://www.itwocostx.com/company/blog/bim-bestpractice-what-quantity-surveyors-need-to-know-as-we-moveforward/ [Accessed 9 Nov. 2021].

[15]

RICS (2016) International BIM implementation guide. Available at: https://www.rics.org/globalassets/rics-website/media/ upholding-professional-standards/sector-standards/construction/ international-bim-implementation-guide-1st-edition-rics.pdf (Accessed: 9 November 2021).

[16] Rushton, T. (2020). BIM is key to future of QS profession says RICS - Watts | Building Surveying | Cost Consultancy | Project Management | M&E Services. [online] Watts | Building Surveying | Cost Consultancy | Project Management | M&E Services. Available at: https://watts.co.uk/bim-is-key-to-future-of-qs-professionsays-rics/ [Accessed 6 Nov. 2021].

[17]

Shayan, S., Kim, K.P., Ma, T., Freda, R. and Liu, Z. (2019) ‘Emerging challenges and roles for quantity surveyors in the construction industry’, Management Review: An International Journal, 14(1), pp. 82-96.

[18] The CAD Room (2021). BIM for Quantity Surveyors: A blessing or a curse? [online] The CAD Room. Available at: https://www. thecadroom.com/bim-for-quantity-surveyors-a-blessing-or-acurse/ [Accessed 6 Nov. 2021].

[19]

Tee, Y.Y. and Kamal, E.M. (2021) ‘The revolution of quantity surveying profession in building information modelling (BIM) era: the malaysian perspective’, International Journal of Sustainable Construction Engineering and Technology, 12(1), pp. 185-195.

[20] UTAR (2019) Reimaging construction and project management.

Available at: https://news.utar.edu.my/news/2019/June/28/3/3. html (Accessed: 9 November 2021).

[21]

Zainon, N., Rahim, F.A.M., Aziz, N.M., Kamaruzzaman, S.N. and Puidin, S. (2018) ‘catching up with building information modeling: challenges and opportunities for quantity surveyors’, Journal of Surveying, Construction and Property (JSCP), 9(1), pp. 19-31..

Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

Digital Twins for Water Garrett Owens Global Technology Leader for Digital Twins People & Places Solutions Jacobs San Antonio, TX, United States garrett.owens@jacobs.com

Baha Mirghani Global Technology Leader for Artificial Intelligence People & Places Solutions Jacobs Dubai, United Arab Emirates baha.mirghani@jacobs.com

This paper is an overview of the application of Digital Twins in the Water sector. It explores the development of a strategic approach and roadmap to implementation using experience from major Water programs in the United States and Jacobs’ broader global expertise to highlight the opportunities and lessons learned along the Digital Twin journey. These learnings will also be discussed in the context of their application to Water scenarios in the Middle East.

Keywords: Digital Twin; Water; Strategy; Lifecycle; Data.

1. Introduction

D

igital Twins provide a unique, efficient method for simulating realistic system behavior dynamically to make operational decisions. Digital Twins integrate real-time data, simulation, analytics, and visualization to support an organization’s decision-making process, enable complex system analysis, enhance system understanding, and stimulate innovative solutions that lead to robust and defensible solutions, increased performance, and reduced risk. Digital Twins are not limited to any singular use case or software, and their architecture can vary depending on the benefits desired.

By effectively utilizing a Digital Twin, the asset owner and operator are presented with a range of potential applications, from remotely intervening in the physical system to leveraging advanced simulation and data analytics. All these applications offer the asset owner or operator the opportunity to realize cost savings, reduce downtime and improve asset performance, thereby making the physical twin more resilient to large-scale changes and short-term shocks.

Many asset owners or operators seek the positive outcomes of Digital Twins without fully understanding the path to attaining them. This creates the illusion that Digital Twins are a ‘unicorn’ solution. The development of a Digital Twin is a journey. A significant portion of a Digital Twin’s value comes from the incremental milestones and positive organizational changes that happen along the way. People and processes within the client organization have as much bearing on the success of a Digital Twin as the technology being deployed.

Therefore, it is imperative that we consider the Digital Twin maturity before setting off on the journey to develop the right solution for the asset owner.

With the understanding of the asset owner’s Digital Twin maturity, a plan can be implemented to begin where they are and continue their journey to a Digital Twin. Through this approach, the asset owner will be better prepared to utilize the Digital Twin and will realize all the incremental value-proving milestones along the way.

Using seven guiding principles provides the building blocks for an organization to begin the journey towards a Digital Twin. The guiding principles of a Digital Twin are universally applicable to any system, any organization size, and for

all stakeholder groups. These can be adopted and adapted to suit any system management and are the “how” that guides organizations in their work, regardless of their own specific needs and circumstances.

Focus on value.

Start where you are.

Progress iteratively through feedback.

Collaborate and promote visibility.

Think and work holistically Keep it simple and practical.

Optimise and automate.

The water and wastewater industries face ever-increasing challenges to meet water supply demands and treatment regulations while providing sustainable, effective and economical solutions. The loss of process knowledge is a challenge the water industry management needs to address as new operators are onboarded and/or new processes are integrated into an existing system.

Efficient methods for facilitating the transfer of general and site-specific knowledge are critical, and the use of Digital Twins of water systems to educate and train plant staff offer the following advantages: Site-specific calibrated Digital Twins capture the knowledge of your plant.

Plant specific Digital Twins and interfaces target and enhance training.

Customized training and development scenarios effectively communicate site-specific knowledge.

Helps to standardize levels of knowledge/ability.

Provides an interactive, realistic and immersive training environment.

This paper will explore Jacobs’ structured approach and transferable lessons in supporting its Water clients worldwide to develop their approaches to Digital Twins to solve these challenges.

Digital Twins for Water

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2. Raw Water Transmission Case Study In response to the rapidly growing population and tripling of water demands over the past 40 years in one major US city, two major utilities partnered to implement a large diameter pipeline used jointly to convey raw water over 150 miles from three source water reservoirs. The project includes 150 miles of new pipeline and several new lakes and booster pumping stations, greatly increasing the reliability and resilience of the city’s water supply. With extensive operational options, complex energy billing structure, high pumping energy costs ($10-30M USD annually), and uncertain future hydrologic conditions, managing costs and risks via operational decisions poses a significant challenge. Jacobs developed a Digital Twin to integrate information sources and optimize operations. Interactive dashboards were also developed to aid in exploring candidate strategies through visualization of the flows, energy, costs, and risks associated with each strategy.

2.1 Development Strategy Integration of data sources is a crucial value-added outcome provided by the Digital Twin. Historically, operational decisions were made via a group discussion using three primary information sources at hand: 1) hydrology and demand forecasts from the hydrologic model, 2) pump power estimates from the hydraulic model, and 3) cost estimates from the energy costing spreadsheet.

Without the Digital Twin integrator, these three information sources are siloed, limiting understanding of the three data sources’ complex interactions and critical information. The Digital Twin integrates these three key data sources, providing a comprehensive dataset to enable decision-making from a deeper understanding of the system. The Digital Twin approach also indirectly provided benefits of standardized information flow and improved documentation of the decision-making process.

The Digital Twin formulates the hydrologic, hydraulic, and energy costing information into a linear optimization problem, solving the optimal (i.e. lowest cost) monthly pumping strategy that satisfies all hydraulic and operational constraints. Critically, the Digital Twin develops an optimal pumping strategy for a range of possible future conditions (Figure 1) rather than for a single ‘expected’ future. This approach makes it possible to quantify specific risk metrics associated with each strategy, such as the risk of a customer supply shortage.

Fig. 1 Hydrologic Projection Predicting Multiple Futures 2.2 Digital Twin Outcomes Interactive dashboards were developed to aid in exploring candidate strategies through visualization of the flows, energy, costs, and risks associated with each strategy. In this way, the Digital Twin offers engineers and managers the opportunity to integrate their tacit system knowledge into the decisionmaking process.

Fig. 2 Scenario Analysis Dashboard

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3. Wastewater Treatment Plant Case Study

on many inputs. Validate the asset information and sensor data. Use these pilot projects to showcase the capabilities of the Digital Twin and build the excitement of the benefits system-wide.

Researchers from Jacobs partnered with a major utility in the Asia Pacific region to develop a whole-of plant Digital Twin for a water reclamation plant.

The Integrated model combines real-time data pulled from Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) historian with multiple software simulation packages, coupling hydraulics, process, and control systems into a single platform. Customized User Interfaces were also included to improve functionality further and maximize user experiences.

Digital Twins without well-calibrated components can produce inaccurate forecast results when transitioning to real-time simulation. It is valuable to focus on replicating historical events in many cases, which is easier to achieve with historical operational data captured. Calibrating provides value for diagnosing events and building confidence in the Digital Twin’s accuracy.

Once the Digital Twin components have been validated, operational strategies can be added to the Digital Twins so that forecasting becomes more reliable.

3.1 Development Strategy

Staff with institutional knowledge on aspects of the utility’s system such as SCADA tag names and parameter units are essential to successful implementation and achieving unified communication across the organization.

Identify the champions and include them in early discussions. Their buy-in and participation in the project can go a long way towards starting the Digital Twin journey.

Through a secured connection to the SCADA system, the integrated model replicates the properties of the plant’s components in both streaming and batch processing scenarios for data processing. The data are checked for outliers to ensure accuracy before being fed into the simulation tools and is the first Digital Twin of its kind in the world.

Machine Learning algorithms were also deployed to carry out advanced analytics under this project. In addition, the integrated model continuously adjusts its calibrations within defined ranges to match the plant’s observed performance. This will keep the simulations relevant to the real operations without requiring manual intervention from staff. Since the Digital Twin runs independently of the actual system, it acts as a digital twin for operator training, with three customizable scenarios to help the facility’s operation.

Moreover, the Digital Twin can be used as an investigative tool to analyze the overall impact of operational change on plant performance without affecting actual plant operations, which is particularly important when carrying out maintenance work. For example, if the operator had to lower the Solid Retention Time (SRT) in the bioreactor to take some volume out of service, the Digital Twin would help to predict the impact on the secondary effluent quality and the impact of increased Waste Activated Sludge (WAS) production on thickening and digestion.

3.2 Digital Twin Outcomes This model is used to assist the utility in simulated scenarios to test and calibrate strategies that enhance the plant’s water quality as well as optimize its energy and chemical consumption. The use of the Digital Twin is also in line with the utility’s goal of tapping smart technologies to increase productivity and improve resilience in operations.

4. Digital Twin Summary Fundamentally, a Digital Twin is developed to intelligently connect complex information to offer insights into the physical system in a risk-free environment. A digital twin effectively communicates and visualizes these insights to provide better-informed decisions and are created to provide improved efficiency in every stage of the asset life cycle. Better decisions support positive interventions and thereby produce valuable outcomes. The ‘connection’ between the physical and digital is the key to unlocking the value of a Digital Twin.

Creating a Digital Twin is not an all-or-nothing proposition as utilities add more validated data from different sources to a Digital Twin, its usefulness increases. Consider starting with a pilot project for functionality that depends Digital Twins for Water

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Sustainability

Research Research Bulletin Bulletin No.5 No.5 April April 2022 2022

Collaboration: Leading the Way for a Bright Future for Construction Dr Anas Bataw Director – Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction Heriot-Watt University-Dubai Campus Dubai, UAE a.bataw@hw.ac.uk

This article was presented during the BIG 5 Global Construction Leaders’ Summit from 12-15 September 2021. https://issuu.com/heriot-watt_university_dubai/docs/construction_leaders_summit The global construction industry needs strong partnerships, impactful leadership, and a culture of disruption to regain its footing on the path for growth and sustainable development. Against this backdrop, construction leaders and senior government representatives gathered at the inaugural The Big 5 2021 Global Construction Leaders’ Summit to discuss support for future industry growth, collaboration and partnerships, the workforce of the future, and the impact of digitalisation, inspiring efficiency and advancing sustainable development.

“On behalf of dmg events, we are extremely proud to have hosted The Big 5’s inaugural Global Construction Leaders’ Summit, 12 September 2021, Dubai World Trade Centre. With the evolutionary times faced by the construction community, the pandemic has not only forced players to re-evaluate approaches but has provided a unique opportunity to re-imagine the future. Truly capturing this moment and putting the global construction industry back on the path of growth requires more than a global recovery; it requires strong partnerships, impactful leadership and fostering a culture of disruption. Through our partnership with the Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction, Heriot-Watt University, we are honoured to present the Summit findings through this White Paper and look forward to seeing the industry again at The Big 5 from 5-8 December 2022 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.”

Josine Heijmans, Vice President-Construction, dmg events

The future of the construction industry and opportunities for the region

A

ccording to H.E. Sami Al Qamzi, Director-General, Department of Economic Development – Government of Dubai the construction sector in the recent years has regained momentum with the announcement of Expo 2020 and other infrastructure projects. With the new Dubai Building Code and the Dubai 2040 Urban Masterplan to enhance future city living in Dubai, the construction sector will lead the way in achieving a Circular Economy by employing the innovative approaches.

The construction sector has played a pivotal role in the region’s economic development. Across the region, numerous measures that specifically relate to the construction sector have been introduced following the pandemic.

Before the pandemic, the construction sector accounted for around 7.7% of global employment, with projections for 2020 indicating that it would contribute to 13.4% of global GDP. The pandemic and the challenges it brought forth have led to the sector’s contraction in most markets.

During the COVID-19 lockdown period, the construction sector was deemed a ‘vital sector’ and accordingly exempted from government restrictions.

Construction sites were permitted to remain operational, provided they followed precautionary measures.

While there are plenty of opportunities for growth in the post-pandemic era, there are also several challenges, uncertainties and risks that come from

the need for the construction sector to evolve. The world is changing rapidly, and with that, investors are naturally cautious with their investments. As the construction sector needs certainty, navigating this can be a big challenge for the industry.

The road to Sustainability and Technology The construction sector is renowned for being one of the largest consumers of natural resources. It primarily uses 60 percent of the world’s natural resources directly or indirectly as construction materials for developing buildings and infrastructure. As the world turns an eye toward sustainability, construction must follow suit.

Rising awareness of sustainability and climate change has already led to increased energy-efficient and environmentally friendly building projects globally. Homes, offices, and malls will have to reimagine their vision of space and make flexibility and sustainability their top priorities in the next phase and lead to minimum waste and establish a truly sustainable and environmentally friendly building process and outcomes.

The sudden changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have significantly influenced the sustainable agenda, bringing sustainability into the spotlight.

Overall, sustainability has become the very foundation with which people want to go forward. There is the need for things to be ‘not business as usual’ Collaboration: Leading the way for a bright future for construction

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as businesses can no longer operate in the same way they have in the past.

Today, sustainable cities are not just something that looks greener. Instead, there are fundamental principles and practices that need to exist in these cities, such as the food, energy, and water nexus and how we are dealing with our resources. These circular principles need to be built into the principles and practices of a sustainable city. As a society and as an industry, we need to go from reaction to a place of growth. We need to have a clear strategy on how we create resilience and how we deal with change. Also, there are opportunities to pivot in moments of change, so how do we come together to change the status quo?

The public sector in this region, particularly in the UAE, has shown Sustainability and Technology in Construction are high on its agenda.

UAE Government is incentivising sustainable development by applying standards, practices, and approaches to embed circular principles everything. To mention a few;

that The new into

The Expo 2020, being held under the theme ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future, is about forging new connections and partnerships across sectors and geographies to inspire solutions that will shape the future. Delivering the most sustainable Expo 2020 is a pledge that Dubai made during the world bid. Accordingly, sustainability has been integrated across the planning, design, construction, and operational processes for Expo 2020 and beyond for District 2020.

The New Dubai Building Code, approved in October 2020, has introduced a unified set of standards and rules that will promote sustainable construction and development in the city, encourage innovation in building design, and achieve alignment with global green construction city standards. This initiative will help boost Dubai’s investment attractiveness globally, diversify projects, reduce construction costs, and enhance the city’s overall liveability.

The Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan was launched in March 2021 to map out a comprehensive plan for sustainable urban development in Dubai to enhance the future of city living. It focuses on enhancing people’s happiness and quality of life and reinforcing Dubai as a global destination for citizens, residents, and visitors over the next 20 years. The plan has a strategic structural layout, integrating all urban development master plans in the emirate and aligning it with Dubai’s strategic economic priorities and future needs.

The UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, also announce the “National Smart Construction Guidelines” in March 2020 with the aim to develop drivers of policies, flexible elements and targets that stimulate the development of the construction sector in a way that meets the aspirations of the UAE government. The guide contains key elements for smart construction, which are essential for all parties to improve the construction process, drive sustainability and employ technologies to improve the overall results of the construction industry.

Also, earlier in April 2016, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum unveiled the Dubai 3D Printing Strategy to promote the UAE and Dubai as a leading hub of 3D printing technology. The Strategy seeks to ensure that 25 per cent of buildings in Dubai are based on 3D printing technology by 2030.

With all the developments and initiatives launched by the Government, the UAE real estate and construction market is expected to move to the next level of its innovative and vibrant development trajectory. For the private sector, the question is how to capitalise on that as a player in the market and create long-term value.

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Collaboration: Leading the way for a bright future for construction

The pandemic has shown us how interconnected we are and that both the public and private sectors need to focus on Digitalising and decarbonising their businesses. As change requires investment, this new direction needs to be a partnership between governments and the private sector working towards a clear target plan so that everyone benefits.

Collaboration: Working together to deliver national visions During the summit it was clear that collaboration is a key success factor to address the challenges we face in the construction sector and realise value from the sustainability and digitaisation initiatives mentioned above. Where the private and public sectors can develop new partnership structures to ensure best in class delivery of the region’s mega-projects and therefore changing mindsets to create an effective ecosystem for all stakeholders to succeed.

For an industry worth $11 trillion globally, up to 80% of projects do not finish on budget. Although this is a global problem, we are sitting on an excellent opportunity to find ways to fix it. Clients and key project stakeholders need to figure out better working models where everyone succeeds.

Approaches such as Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) can offer a solid solution for wastage in the industry. Entering a PPP means that there is money and liquidity in the project. As the PPP model has matured in the Middle East, there is a fair reward for all involved, and we will be seeing more PPPs across the mega and Giga projects across the region.

To improve collaboration among the key project stakeholders – the developers, contractors, consultants, and suppliers –need a mindset shift that begins with building a culture of trust and results in a win-win situation for everyone. This way, we ensure that we produce a synergy that results in the creation of additional value.

The client holds the key to creating a healthy ecosystem within the industry where everything is in balance and everyone adds maximum value. The clients must accept responsibility for their projects and have the maturity to set them up for success. However, every partnership comes down to trust and trust is built over time. The project should be at the centre of what everyone involved is trying to achieve. All the key members should have the capacity to collaborate – to look after the project interests where everyone succeeds.

Meanwhile, the talent drain, both at a company and individual levels is a significant challenge that the industry will face. Failing to invest in people, research and development will stagnate growth and development. In order to succeed through collaboration, public and private sectors must also collaborate to improve regulation and create labour reforms to ease the mobility of talent to drive fundamental changes and navigate towards innovations for a more digital and sustainable industry.

Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

‘Collaboration is the greatest opportunity, if we can figure out how to work way better together, to align the objectives all of the stakeholders to deliver on time and to budget, -it’s important that especially clients understand the value that can be delivered through collaborative models and it’s important that we all embrace collaboration.’

Kez Taylor, CEO, ALEC ‘Despite the challenges arising from the pandemic and global change, pioneering projects are taking place in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, leading the charge for change, bringing in new technologies, driving sustainability, and overcoming some of the traditional shortcomings of the construction industry. As the pace of change evolves, we need to quickly adopt a more collaborative approach.’

Anas Bataw, Director, CESC

Acknowledgements The Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction and The Big 5 would like to acknowledge all who participated in the Global Construction Leaders Summit and contributed to the delivery of the white paper.

Collaboration: Leading the way for a bright future for construction

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Effectively Minimizing the Passive Heat Gain in UAE Buildings Haidar Alhaidary Projects Executive Middle East Engineering Technologies Sharjah, UAE haidar@meetuae.ae

Minimizing heat gain is critical to sustainable buildings in the UAE. Using energy modelling software with BIM capabilities, this paper details the energy saving effects of building orientation, shading, windows, and wall insulation. The behavior is characterized by the law of diminishing returns while protection against solar radiation is key for this environment.

Keywords: Energy Modelling; building envelope; sustainable design; heat gain.

1. Introduction

H

ow important are sustainable buildings actually? Across a large part of the world, buildings are consuming 30-40% of their country’s total energy and 60-70% of their produced electricity; and these figures are only expected to increase as climate change further polarizes the weather and urbanization continues to rise [1]. With renewable energy still struggling to match the efficiency of carbon-intensive fossil fuels, we seem unavoidably locked in a vicious cycle that is restraining a thorough switch to renewable energy and global net-zero carbon, while the energy demand soars uncontrollably.

However, to improve the situation, it would be convenient to consider reducing the largest portion of the buildings’ energy demand: HVAC systems, which consume about 50% of the building’s energy during its operational phase [2]. Undoubtedly, the HVAC industry has taken steady strides in producing more efficient equipment, but it is also logically compelling for architects and engineers to design buildings that require less conditioning in the first place.

Considering the UAE’s very hot and dry climate, the cooling load in residential, commercial and government buildings accounts for about 70% of their total electricity consumption [3], forging a convincing case to pay due diligence towards minimizing the heat gain in buildings, and consequently this cooling load.

This article hopes to light, with the help of a case study building, some pragmatic considerations for minimizing the heat gain through a building’s envelope.

2. The Case Study Building The case study is based on a modern G+2 office building (Figure 1) at the American University of Sharjah, UAE. It has a gross floor area of 3,466.9 m2, a window-to-wall ratio of 13%, and a considerable sustainable design. It was thoughtfully chosen to highlight the energy-saving limits at the far end of building insulation as shown in section 4.

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Effectively Minimizing the Passive Heat Gain in UAE Buildings

Fig. 1 The Case Study Building

3. BIM and Building Energy Simulation Building energy simulation software is an effective tool to estimate the efficiency of energy reduction measures. There are 417 energy simulation software listed by the US Department of Energy alone, with the most commonly encountered being eQUEST, Design Builder, Green Building Studio, Ecotect, and Integrated Environmental Solutions – Virtual Environment (IESVE).

Building Information Modelling (BIM) software is also being increasingly used to model projects in 3D or 4D (time being the 4th dimension), mainly for the coordination, visualization, and time-saving benefits. It may hence be wise of the modern engineer to also select an energy simulation software with BIM capabilities that facilitate transferring the already-available building model data from a general BIM modelling application to the energy simulation software. The caution is that it is not a direct transfer and a possible source of errors.

The case study building was modelled in Autodesk Revit then exported via gbXML to IES-VE.

Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

4. Measures to minimize heat gain

(Figure 2) that will not have direct sunlight at any point of the year – hence the rationale behind the northern orientation.

The energy model was then used to investigate the insulating efficiency of certain envelope features and their effect on the annual energy consumption of the building.

4.1. Shading The UAE has a significantly sunny climate with high solar irradiation (annual hourly mean of 500 Wh/m2) and relatively low sky cover (annual average of 18%). While this makes the country solar power friendly it also requires designers to mindfully consider the solar heat gain on the building.

The total yearly consumption for the building without any shades was about 1261 MWh, compared to about 1240 MWh when enabling the shades. This is a difference of about 21 MWh or 1.67%. This might seem as a small percentage, but to put it into perspective that is the amount of energy saved if all lights in the building were turned off for over 2 months. It should also be noted that this savings contribution of the shading would surely increase as the window performance decreases or as the window-wall ratio increases.

The shades, however, are an integral part of the building design and were hence considered in all further simulations.

Fig. 2 Gross Sun Exposure.

As shown in Figure 3, the case study building intuitively achieved the most savings (3.9 MWh and 2,029 Kg of Carbon emissions) when rotated 180°.

Moreover, the difference between the best and worst orientations amounted to 4.95 MWh/annum.

4.2. Windows Windows were traditionally considered as just a hole in the wall’ with regards to insulation. Although their insulating properties have greatly been improved, they still have a substantially higher U-value than insulated walls and are transparent to most heat radiation. The latter is of particular significance to the UAE’s sunny climate and is often measured with the Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC).

It may be of no surprise then that after the shading, the window SHGC was pointed out to be the most effective thermophysical property in conserving energy. Numerically, the replacement of the default windows (average glass U-value of 1.62 W/m2 K and an average SHGC of 0.27) with triple glazed windows (glass U-value of 0.6 W/m2 K and an SHGC of 0.09) saved about 20 MWh (1.6%) and 10,300 Kg of Carbon. Once again, these values need to be considered in relation to the shading and window-wall ratio.

It is also evident that the effect of the SHGC is more pronounced than that of the glass U-value. Reducing the U-value from 1.4 to 0.6 W/m2 K (a drop of 57%) for the same SHGC achieves an energy saving of 3.5 MWh whereas reducing the SHGC from 0.55 to 0.28 (a drop of 50%) for the same U-value achieves an energy saving of 27 MWh.

Fig. 3 Rotation of the Case Study Building 4.3. Wall insulation The external wall insulation was increased from its default thickness of 100 mm (U-value 0.2354 W/m2K) in increments of 15mm up to 190 mm (U-value 0.1319 W/m2K) while the energy savings were recorded. The results showed that while energy savings of up to 5.4 MWh (0.43%) were achieved, the marginal savings with every 15 mm increment kept decreasing (Figure 4).

While Abu Hijleh et al. [4] corroborated this SHGC significance, Friess et al. [5] interestingly pointed out that the same window upgrade caused lower energy saving with increasing wall insulation – phenomena discussed in section 5.

4.3. Orientation Another possibility to reduce the effect of solar heat gain is to orient the building such that the less insulated façade (typically with the most windows) is facing north, and/or any surrounding shading effects maximized.

In the UAE, the summer solstice, marking the longest day of the year, has the sun rising north of east at an azimuth of about 63° and setting north of west at an azimuth of about 297°. This delineates a northern angle of about 126° Effectively Minimizing the Passive Heat Gain in UAE Buildings

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References [1]

H. Alhaidary, A. K. Al-tamimi, and H. Al-wakil, “Advances in Building Energy Research The combined use of BIM , IR thermography and HFS for energy modelling of existing buildings and minimising heat gain through the building envelope : a casestudy from a UAE building,” Adv. Build. Energy Res., vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 709–732, 2021.

[2]

L. Pérez-Lombard, J. Ortiz, and C. Pout, “A review on buildings energy consumption information,” Energy Build., vol. 40, no. 3, pp.

394–398, 2008.

[3]

A. Afshari, C. Nikolopoulou, and M. Martin, “Life-Cycle Analysis of Building Retrofits at the Urban Scale—A Case Study in United Arab Emirates,” Sustainability, vol. 6, pp. 453–473, 2014.

[4]

B. Abu-Hijleh, A. Manneh, A. Alnaqbi, W. Alawadhi, and A. Kazim, “Refurbishment of public housing villas in the United Arab Emirates (UAE): energy and economic impact,” Energy Effic., vol.

10, no. 2, pp. 249–264, 2017.

[5]

W. A. Friess, K. Rakhshan, T. A. Hendawi, and S. Tajerzadeh, “Wall insulation measures for residential villas in Dubai: A case study in energy efficiency,” Energy Build., vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 26–32, 2012.

Fig. 3 Rotation of the Case Study Building

5. Final Thoughts The UAE’s sunny climate dictates special attention to the building’s orientation, window to wall ratio, shading, and windows.

Furthermore, the limitations of conserving energy through the building envelope were highlighted through the law of diminishing returns, i.e. marginal savings decreased with increasing U-value or SHGC. This was also reflected on the overall savings. When adding all the individual savings amounted to 2.91%, simulating all the upgrades together resulted in just 2.77% – much like Friess’ observation earlier.

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Effectively Minimizing the Passive Heat Gain in UAE Buildings

Research Research Bulletin Bulletin No.5 No.5 April April 2022 2022

A Critical Review of Cellulose Fibre Cement Performance Under Harsh Environmental Factors Dr Ghanim Kashwani Senior Manager Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Higher Colleges of Technology Dubai, UAE gKashwani@hct.ac.ae

There is currently an urgent need for sustainable and renewable materials that can help heavy industries, such as construction, to contribute to the preservation of the environment and ecosystem and be more aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this context, fibres as reinforcement material have been used and applied in different formats within the construction industry, especially synthetic fibres such as Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) and Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP). Yet, due to concerns and challenges in terms of its environmental performance, the focus of the construction industry has shifted towards natural fibres, which, many scholars believe, can enhance the mechanical properties of the building materials such as the compressive strength and flexural capacity. The previous experimental studies conducted on the natural fibres as reinforcement materials show the need for a holistic investigation of the cellulose fibres and their compatibility with other longevity performance elements, such as durability against the harsh environment attributers. In this review study, a variety of natural fibres are critically analysed as composite building materials, and the research gaps and future challenges to turn these fibres into potential eco-friendly and sustainable construction materials with commercial applications are discussed.

Keywords: Cellulose Fibres, Blended Cement, Durability, Fibre Reinforcement, Green Composite.

Glossary and Terminology: Crystallization index (CI): is a quantitative indicator of crystallinity. Various techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy, and many.

Alkaline Treatment: is one of the more common methods employed. Initially this treatment breaks down the fibre bundles of plant fibres to release the individual fibres. This results in smaller particles with a higher aspect ratio.

Degree of Polymerization (DP): The term degree of polymerization is used in some contexts in the polymer literature to mean the number of monomer residues in an average polymer molecule.

Cellulose: is made up of thousands of glucose molecular units joined in long chains and represents 40-45% of plants. It contains 44.4% carbon, 6.2% hydrogen, and 49.4% oxygen and is relatively unaffected by alkalis and dilute acids.

Microfibrillar angle (MFA): is defined as the angle microfibrils make with respect to the fiberaxis.

Amorphous cellulose: is more penetrable and accessible to enzymes and has higher enzyme binding capacity than crystalline counterpart so that it has higher hydrolysis rate.

Elongation at break: known as fracture strain, is the ratio between changed length and initial length after breakage of the test specimen.

Introduction

A

ccording to several scholars [1–4], fibres can be classified into mainly two types: natural and artificial. In the construction industry, the focus was more on the artificial/synthetic fibre due to its mechanical and commercial advantages such as lightweight and conventional production. However, from the point of view of cost, these manmade fibres are considered expensive for large-scale projects, which may discourage their utilization. According to Gowthaman et al. [5], for example, natural, especially plant fibres, may cost only between 200 to 1000 USD per ton. On the other hand, for instance, Carbon fibre could around 12,500

USD/Ton. Additionally, in terms of energy production and consumption, as a sustainable alternative, natural fibres produce around 15% or less in a total of what other conventional synthetic fibres produce during the manufacturing stage. According to Al Oqla and Salit [6], there are also other advantages of natural fibres in the production stage as compared with synthetic fibres.

For example, from Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) during production, natural fibres have the following benefits: less CO2 emission, less hazardous manufacturing procedures, lower level of toxic emission and fumes for the workers and less maintenance needed for processing production equipment due to its low abrasive damage behaviour.

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As shown in the literature reviews, scholars classify natural fibres into two main categories [7]: animal-based protein fibres and plant-based cellulose fibres. Both have the potential to act as bio-composite/green materials and a new alternative to synthetic fibres. Moreover, the chemical structure and benefit of cellulose fibres give them a competitive edge against the protein fibres. For more illustration, in construction and industrial application, having an advanced degree of polymerization, higher cellulose content and a lower microfibrillar angle (MAF) yield with better mechanical properties such as compressive and tensile strength that are needed for the materials selection [8]. In general, as shown in Fig.1, cellulose fibres are usually categorized based on the part or the portion of the plant that they were extracted from.

To exemplify this, fibres that are extracted from plant leaves are entitled as leaf fibres. Yet, in the scientific community, the term ‘cellulose fibres’ is more commonly used for research and experimental purpose in the natural fibres realm.

With respect to industrial applications, lignin is known more as a natural glue that is used for binding fine materials and fabrications such as natural fibres.

In analysing the physical properties of lignin, the percentage of non-wood plants can be seen from 10% to 25% in comparison to 20% to 30% for wood plants [14–15]. Moreover, due to its wax-like property, lignin is considered to be the main protective layer that plays a vital role in keeping the integrity of the internal structure of cellulous matrix from microbial degradation. As shown in Table1, bamboo, coir and palm fibre contain the highest percentage of lignin as compared with other natural fibres.

The data shown in Table 2 could explain the high Young’s Modulus and ultimate tensile strength for these fibres. Indeed, the cellulose content in these fibres has a major contribution in providing the stated advance mechanical properties. Yet, the high cellulose content is present due to the protection of the lignin layer against harsh environmental factors such as high humidity and alkaline attacks. It is hard to say that there is an obvious linear or proportional relationship between these two attributes; however, there is a direct/evident biochemical functionality relationship between them, in which the existence of high content of cellulose and lignin simultaneously in the fibre’s microstructural matrix is reflected and noticeable in the form of mechanical and durability performance.

Table 1 Plant Fibres and their organic constituents [16-20].

Fig. 1 Natural Fibers Classification and Categorization [9].

As illustrated in previous studies and literature reviews [7, 8], the chemical structure of the cellulose fibres contains a unique form that helps them to be embedded as composite material and enhance the mechanical/ functional properties by forming better internal polymer chains of crystalline and amorphous regions. According to several studies, the three organic constituents, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin are the reason for this microstructural uniqueness of the cellulose fibres [10–13].

The lignin layer can be considered an amorphous organic polymer, which consists of three phenylpropane monomeric units: coniferyl alcohol (G), p-hydroxyphenylalcohol(H) and sinapyl alcohol(S) as shown in Fig.2.

Table 2 Mechanical Properties of natural fibres [21-25].

However, several natural composite researchers [26–29] believe that cellulose is the most critical and vital constituent when compared with hemicellulose and lignin constituents. This is due to the chemical microstructure of the cellulose matrix.

Fig. 2 Cellulous fibres three organic constituents; (a) Cellulose; (b) Hemicellulose; and (c) Lignin [5].

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Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

For instance, although many scholars consider lignin as the main protective layer of natural fibres, cellulose has a unique protective feature that has a direct relationship with mechanical performance. According to the recent experimental studies [24–27], cellulose has a high resistance against alkaline hydrosols. Additionally, some studies [28-30] indicate that cellulose also has an intermediate resilience when it is exposed to an acidic medium inside the composite matrix. As such, the chemical steadiness and stability that nudges the criticality of the cellulose constituent can be highlighted. As mentioned earlier, this microstructural chemical stability of the cellulose will enhance the load bearing capacity, but this would happen after the crystallization stage.

This can be explained by the fact that cellulose has a chemical chain form and orientation of OH groups that moderate its moisture absorption ability, making it less hygroscopic [30, 31] as shown in Fig.3.

Finally, for the hemicellulose constituent, scholars have noticed its presence has a unique ability to amplify the degree of polymerisation of fibres that contribute to an increase in the Crystallization Index (CI) of the fibres.

According to these studies, this could be due to the impact and influence of heterogeneous and biopolymers [32, 33]. For example, from a chemistry perspective, the polymerisation of natural fibres is highly associated with the existence of monomers in polymers, such as galactose, glucose and glucuronic acid, that can be found in hemicellulose. However, sometimes due to the inadequate treatment and handling of natural fibres, some of these monomers are removed, which affects the percentage of hemicelluloses.

Fig. 4 Cellulous fibres three organic constituents; (a) Cellulose; (b) Hemicellulose; and (c) Lignin [5].

As such, the usage application numbers of natural fibre starting to pick up again in different industries as shown in Fig.5, [39] in which the infrastructure sector in general (buildings and transportation systems) are utilizing more than 30%. According to recent studies [40, 41], these numbers have the ability and potential to go up if the infrastructure sector succeeds in addressing the functional and operational challenges of the natural fibres. For example, the deterioration and degradation while exposed to the harsh environmental factors and conditions (high humidity and wet/dry cycles). In their research study, Alonso et al [40], highlighted that not tackling these challenges made facilitating natural fibres seem a complex task and made them one of the most abundant materials in industry sectors. Yet, this can be resolved via considering the physical and chemical changes in the material selection stage with respect to the internal and external attributes.

Fig. 3 Cellulous fibres three organic constituents; (a) Cellulose; (b) Hemicellulose; and (c) Lignin [5].

After the Paris Agreement that was signed on 12 December 2015, the interest in natural fibres has been increasing once again. For example, as shown in Fig.4 [34], to satisfy the market needs, academic scholars started conducting intensive reviews of the sisal fibre and its industrial applications compared with the period of 2010 to 2015. Moreover, it can be said that the synergy and important connection between the natural fibres, such as cellulose fibres, and implementing sustainability has been more vocal and visual for all parties within the stakeholder segment such as academics, the public and industries.

These studies show that there is a big and vital potential of cellulose fibres to provide practicable and economical solutions and tools for the building and construction industry to preserve a healthy and ecological performance to achieve sustainable development by using new and green materials such as bio-composite materials for reinforcement within the concrete [35–38].

Fig. 5 Natural fibers usage in different industries [39].

Besides the environmental attributes, the chemical stability of the cellulosic fibers is another challenge that several industrial applications are inquiring about it especially when it comes to thermal stability. From the number of studies [42-45] that use the Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) technique, it was shown that natural fibers toughness and flexural strength have low performance and low thermal resistance. This thermal degradation is associated with the volatile behavior of the polymers that result in more porosity that weaken the mechanical toughness of organic constituents in the fibers. As result, from the surface chemistry perspective, there will be a major reduction in the bonding/ adhesion forces within the fibers matrix.

Some scholars related this to the early biodegradability feature for some natural fibers in the fabrication stage [46, 47]. For example, focusing on the cellulose fibers, due to its polymers’ hydrophobic nature, can result in variant structures and dimensions which may represent extra durability challenges for some of the industrial applications.

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The Hydration reaction and kinetics of natural fibres in the cement matrix Since durability is one of the main attributes that the construction is looking for towards building materials due to its association setting time and strength development, having healthy and mineral hydration is well wanted in the cement matrix. For instance, the augmentation of hydration reaction and kinetics mechanism could be considered a little complex for the natural fibers as some studies shed [48-50]. As illustrated schematically in Fig. 6, the development of C-S-H (Calcium silicate hydrate which is the main product of the hydration of Portland cement and is primarily) can face alkaline hydrolysis dissolution impacts.

According to different studies [51-54], the conventional hydration process is usually paired with heat/energy generation and crystallization formation.

Yet due to the presence of lignin and hemicellulose in a cement matrix, the phenomenon of aging mechanisms of natural fibers in cement matrix could occur. The possibility of hydration degradation may happen when the alkaline hydrolysis affects the Degree of Polymerization (DP) via the dissolution process of lignin and hemicellulose constituent. As a result of that, a reduction in crystallization rate will occur between the lumen and lamellae which gives the chance for calcium hydroxide to migrate to the cell walls of natural fibers. This degradation mechanism is well known in the literature as fiber mineralization which is considered as the main durability challenge for cellulose fibers in bio-composite construction applications. To analyze this mechanism and why it has that negative impact on the natural fiber’s mechanical integrities, it is important to examine it from a holistic approach. For instance, it is very pivotal to understand that cell wall mineralization can be formed via two scenarios.

According to many studies [55-57], the first one is called CH-mineralization which usually happens after the reduction in the Degree of Polymerization (DP) as it was explained before. To have a meticulous understanding, when the Calcium Hydroxide (CH) migrates as key hydration products to the cell wall that is located between lumen and lamellae, a chemical reaction with Ca2+ will take place in the matrix. With that, the degradation would start.

In the second scenario, the self-mineralization is more associated with the amorphous interactions within the lignin and hemicellulose constituents. As such, the degradation rate due to the alkalinity would be more quantifiable via determining the hydration products in the cell wall [55, 56].

For example, as shown in Fig. 7, in the process of the peeling off reaction (called also chemical stopping reaction ), The β-elimination will play a stability role in which the hexose unit will be attached to the molecule chains of the cellulose fibers. As a result of that, the depolymerization procedure stops and the elimination steps will take on place as the final phase of the degradation mechanism. This can be known also as benzylic acid rearrangement or dike to intermediate [61, 62]. As such, both 3-deoxy-2-C-(hydroxymethyl)(isosaccharinic acid) and 3-deoxy-hexanoic acid (metasaccharinic acid) will be formed in which most of the scholars use their formation as strong and well-known evidence of the mineralization degradation. Additionally, from a degradation kinetic perspective, according to Wei and Meyer and other studies [64,65], the degradation mechanism can have a physical stopping reaction also after the chemical stooping reactions happened (pseudo-firstorder mechanism). In principle, when the glycosidic bonds are developed in the cellulose walls due to the termination of depolymerization as the crystalline regions, alkaline hydrolysis initiates to generate new reducing end groups (total chain termination reaction). As it is referred to in the literature reviews [66,67] this group can be called as the initial reducing end group mole fraction (Gr) that represents preliminary number of end groups in the cellulose differed by the preliminary number of all glucose units.

Fig. 7 Natural fibers usage in different industries [39].

Fig. 6 Natural fibers usage in different industries [39].

Although there is a difference between the degradation processes in alkaline migration and, alkaline hydrolysis scenarios, both share the same peeling-off reaction that was explained in Fig3. Several investigators [57-60] suggest that the main two steps that happened while the peeling off reaction are the formation of isosaccharinic acid (ISA) and metasaccharinic acid during alkaline degradation of cellulose.

26

Conclusion As shown from the above, it can be said that there is a big potential of using cellulose fiber cement in our infrastructure that is usually subjected to harsh environments (e.g., GCC). Yet, there should be some incentives from the government authorities to encourage all the stakeholders in the construction industry.

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Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

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[44] Liao, R., Hao, J., Chen, G., Ma, Z., & Yang, L. (2011). A comparative study of physicochemical, dielectric and thermal properties of pressboard insulation impregnated with natural ester and mineral oil. IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation, 18(5), 1626-1637.

[45]

Curosu, I., Liebscher, M., Mechtcherine, V., Bellmann, C., & Michel, S. (2017). Tensile behavior of high-strength strainhardening cement-based composites (HS-SHCC) made with high-performance polyethylene, aramid and PBO fibers. Cement and Concrete Research, 98, 71-81.

[46] Ramesh, M., Palanikumar, K., & Reddy, K. H. (2017). Plant fibre based bio-composites: Sustainable and renewable green materials. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 79, 558584.

A critical review of cellulose fibre cement performance under harsh environmental factors

Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

[47]

Maslinda, A. B., Majid, M. A., Ridzuan, M. J. M., Afendi, M., & Gibson, A. G. (2017). Effect of water absorption on the mechanical properties of hybrid interwoven cellulosic-cellulosic fibre reinforced epoxy composites. Composite Structures, 167, 227-237.

[58] Karade, S. R. (2010). Cement-bonded composites from lignocellulosic wastes. Construction and building materials, 24(8), 1323-1330.

[59]

[48] Ridi, F., E. Fratini and P. Baglioni (2011). “Cement: A two thousand year old nano-colloid.” Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 357(2): 255-264.

[49]

Saba, N., Safwan, A., Sanyang, M. L., Mohammad, F., Pervaiz, M., Jawaid, M., ... & Sain, M. (2017). Thermal and dynamic mechanical properties of cellulose nanofibers reinforced epoxy composites. International journal of biological macromolecules, 102, 822-828.

[50] Otto, G. P., Moisés, M. P., Carvalho, G., Rinaldi, A. W., Garcia, J. C., Radovanovic, E., & Fávaro, S. L. (2017). Mechanical properties of a polyurethane hybrid composite with natural lignocellulosic fibers.

Composites Part B: Engineering, 110, 459-465.

[51]

Xue, G., Yilmaz, E., Song, W., & Yilmaz, E. (2019). Influence of fiber reinforcement on mechanical behavior and microstructural properties of cemented tailings backfill. Construction and Building Materials, 213, 275-285.

[52] Peças, P., Carvalho, H., Salman, H., & Leite, M. (2018). Natural fibre composites and their applications: a review. Journal of Composites Science, 2(4), 66.

[53]

Srubar III, W. V., Frank, C. W., & Billington, S. L. (2012). Modeling the kinetics of water transport and hydroexpansion in a lignocellulose-reinforced bacterial copolyester. Polymer, 53(11), 2152-2161.

[54] Afroughsabet, V., Biolzi, L., & Ozbakkaloglu, T. (2016). Highperformance fiber-reinforced concrete: a review. Journal of materials science, 51(14), 6517-6551.

[55]

Ingrao, C., Giudice, A. L., Bacenetti, J., Tricase, C., Dotelli, G., Fiala, M., ... & Mbohwa, C. (2015). Energy and environmental assessment of industrial hemp for building applications: A review.

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 51, 29-42.

[60] Benfratello, S., Capitano, C., Peri, G., Rizzo, G., Scaccianoce, G., & Sorrentino, G. (2013). Thermal and structural properties of a hemp–lime biocomposite. Construction and Building Materials, 48, 745-754.

[61]

Wei, J., & Meyer, C. (2017). Degradation of natural fiber in ternary blended cement composites containing metakaolin and montmorillonite. Corrosion Science, 120, 42-60.

[62] de Almeida Melo Filho, J., de Andrade Silva, F., & Toledo Filho, R. D. (2013). Degradation kinetics and aging mechanisms on sisal fiber cement composite systems. Cement and Concrete Composites, 40, 30-39.

[63]

Onuaguluchi, O., & Banthia, N. (2016). Plant-based natural fibre reinforced cement composites: A review. Cement and Concrete Composites, 68, 96-108.

[64] Wei, J., & Meyer, C. (2014). Improving degradation resistance of sisal fiber in concrete through fiber surface treatment. Applied Surface Science, 289, 511-523.

[65]

Ardanuy Raso, M., Claramunt Blanes, J., Arévalo Peces, R., Parés Sabatés, F., Aracri, E., & Vidal Lluciá, T. (2012). Nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) as a potential reinforcement for high performance cement mortar composites. BioResources, 7(3), 3883-3894.

Tonoli, G. H. D., Rodrigues Filho, U. P., Savastano Jr, H., Bras, J., Belgacem, M. N., & Lahr, F. R. (2009). Cellulose modified fibres in cement based composites. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, 40(12), 2046-2053.

[56] Hakamy, A., Shaikh, F. U. A., & Low, I. M. (2014). Characteristics of hemp fabric reinforced nanoclay–cement nanocomposites.

Cement and Concrete Composites, 50, 27-35.

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Juarez, C., Duran, A., Valdez, P., & Fajardo, G. (2007).

Performance of “Agave Lecheguilla” natural fiber in Portland cement composites exposed to severe environment conditions.

Building and environment, 42(3), 1151-1157.

A critical review of cellulose fibre cement performance under harsh environmental factors

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Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

Wellbeing

Research Bulletin No.2No.5 December April 2020 2022

Enhancing IEQ in Factory Buildings Developing a Regulatory Design Model Improving Health and Wellbeing of Workers and Business Outcomes Amin Hisham Howeedy Ph.D. student School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society Heriot-Watt University Dubai, UAE ahh30@hw.ac.uk

Dr Yasemin Nielsen Associate Professor School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society Heriot-Watt University-Dubai Campus Dubai, UAE yasemin.nielsen@hw.ac.uk

Enhancing Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) is proven to be substantial to achieve sustainable development goals of businesses and economies; evidence shows that improved IEQ inside the workplace results in enhanced occupants’ health, wellbeing and productivity, hence, improved business outcomes.

Factories as a workplace are known for indoor pollution and contamination risks accompanied with the manufacturing processes affecting both workers’ health and products’ quality as proved by research studying this field; based on analysis of literature and referring to professional background, absence of proper design framework/model, limited experience as well as the absence of compulsory guiding regulations and legislations for factory design are investigated as the primary reasons behind poor IEQ considerations in factory workplaces.

Aiming to support achieving sustainable development goals in the manufacturing industrial sector, this study aims to close the gap by proposing a regulatory planning framework to design and develop industrial facilities with enhanced IEQ to promote the wellbeing of workers inside factories. The study uses a qualitative thematic analysis approach to overlook IEQ inside factory buildings, case studies and semi-structured interviews are used for data collection; a regulatory design framework will be developed and validated based on the collected data.

The produced model may also be used as a base for developing an assessment or certification tool specific for design or assessment of factory buildings performance which is a gap in research that needs to be fulfilled.

Keywords: Sustainability, Indoor Environmental Quality, Factory Planning and Design, Workers Health and Wellbeing.

1. Introduction

I

ndoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) was under investigation since the early 1800s following the first industrial revolution where developing factories to host manufacturing industrial activities was wide-spreading. First-ever factory-built was a textiles factory in the late 1700s, the first-ever production machine built was a textile machine, the first-ever AC system invented and installed was in a textiles factory. (Marglin, 1974) (Wang, 2017)

Despite IEQ in workplaces having been thoroughly under research in the engineering and sustainability fields during the past century, few studies in those fields focused on monitoring or improving IEQ in factory workplaces.

Recent research on workers’ health and wellbeing in factory workplaces proved higher physical and psychological risks to workers and labor compared to other civic workplaces. (Murga, 2018) (M. Abdullah Khan, 2011)

As a new type of building introduced in the 1800s, developing factory buildings acted as the foundations of early research on IEQ science. Owners of factories and businessmen targeted creating better work environments as a strategy to attract skilled labor to leave their “own business’ which was based on handicrafts in the 17th century and get employed in business organizations.

Nowadays, IEQ is defined as a key driver for sustainable development aiming at its importance in shaping humans’ health and wellbeing which is a primary target for sustainability. As proved by research, improved IEQ in workplaces leads to enhanced occupant physical and psychological wellbeing, hence, increased productivity and improved business outcomes. (Thatcher, 2016) (MacNaughton, 2017) (Lee, 2018)

Fig. 1 Marking this research approach in relation to different research in this field

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2. Manufacturing business and factory design 2.1 Factories and the manufacturing business

guide designers and practitioners to understand how to generally design and plan a factory. (Meyers, 2006) (Sunderesh, 2006) (Michael, 2010) (Stephens, 2013) (Wiendahl, 2015); the mentioned studies are all published as “Books” targeting to archive/document professional background of authors in the industrial manufacturing field. (Chen, 2012) (Tolio, 2013)

The manufacturing/industrial sector nowadays has a remarkable contribution to global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) averaging around 16% of global GDP since 2010, it has employment figures exceeding 20% of countries’ workmanship according to global employment sector statistics; hence, achieving sustainability goals of this sector is inevitable to achieve sustainable development goals.

The manufacturing business on a macro-scale is represented in factories on a micro-scale. Factories are known to have higher pollution and contamination risks compared to other civic workplaces. Studies on factory workers’ health and medical conditions, as well as studies that investigated types of pollution and contaminants inside factories’ workplaces, proved that workers inside factories are subject to infection by many diseases that classify from acute, chronic and sometimes can be fatal due to long exposure to such contaminants; they are also subject to higher rates of workplace accidents that can cause partial or full disability due to poor workplace conditions, interaction with heavy machines, tools and higher labor-intensity on some industries. According to research, most of these issues had been related to poor building and industry performance as well as poor human activities inside space. (Adriana Gioda, 2003) (Kim, 2009) (M. Abdullah Khan, 2011) Factories are designed to host manufacturing processes; manufacturing equipment, machines and their requirements are the main parameters that guide factory design and construction. Factories as separate types of buildings are classified by governments and industrial zone developers depending on masses of raw material and finished product into (light, medium and heavy industries). Environmental agencies classify industries according to their environmental impact on the surrounding environment (high, medium and low impact). The International Building Council (IBC) classified factory industries according to their occupancy and use into three main classifications based on the hazardous risk of the industry (high, medium, low hazard) which reflects the hazardous impact of the processes and industries on people and surroundings.

2.2 Designing and planning factories Factory design is part of factory planning, the output of the design process is the factory layout. Factory buildings are “tailored” to fit the required manufacturing process, which makes each factory a special case for design depending on the product intended to produce/manufacture. Factory planning is a complex process that involves knowledge integration of many domains, due to the absence of a common design/data reference, Person To Person method (PTP) is the primary method used to transfer knowledge for factory design, this method is known for some disadvantages such as singularity and inaccuracy of information transferred, and unavailability of full knowledge required, which loses the process of factory planning time and accuracy, especially that PTP always involves two parties, a party that has the experience, and another party doesn’t have the experience.

Some of the remarkable studies that recently discussed modern manufacturing planning are those by Sunderesh (2006), Schenk et.al. (2010), Tompkins et. Al. (2010), Stephens et.al. (2013) and Weindahl et.al. (2015). Studies addressed factory planning and design with a focus on specific areas, methods and activities in a factory, the studies were general and aimed to

32

Fig. 2 Co-evolution diagram for factory planning Referring to analysis of literature and professional background, some facts are concluded on planning and designing factories: Details about planning and design of factories depend on intended use, production technology and production capacity of the factory.

Having a single general reference for planning and design of different factories’ systems is not valid as such available for residential or educational buildings for example.

Manufacturing systems and technologies are under frequent evolution which prevents creating a fixed standard for designing factories.

Studying international building design codes and standards, it is found that they can be used as a reference for designing factory building systems, not for factory planning. None of them can be considered alone as a framework to plan or design factory buildings.

3. IEQ in factory workplaces Parameters shaping IEQ in workplaces were investigated through studying previous literature in this field, it was concluded that the primary factors affecting IEQ in workplaces are air quality and ventilation, thermal comfort, noise and acoustics comfort, and visual and light comfort; the importance of each factor was depending on the building type, in office buildings daylight, thermal comfort and air quality had much impact on user satisfaction while in university research spaces and hospitals, for example, acoustical comfort and air quality had the much impact.

For factory workplaces, air quality, relative temperature and noise are defined as the primary factors shaping IEQ. Exposure to gaseous emissions, airborne bacteria, fungi, dust, chemicals and other sources of air and surface pollutants resulting from production processes inside factory buildings has harmful impact on workers and labor inside factories. (Gioda, 2003) (Niosh, 2019)

Enhancing IEQ in Factory Buildings Developing a Regulatory Design Model

Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

Poor attention to assessment and evaluation of industrial buildings engineering and design when compared to other buildings. User requirements for indoors in industrial buildings differ from users’ requirements in standard civic buildings, which makes it recommended to create a different evaluation criterion for the design and evaluation of industrial buildings. (Katunsky, 2012) Accordingly, this study aims to develop a guiding regulatory framework for the design and assessment of factory buildings with a focus on improving IEQ inside factory workplaces as it is seen as a knowledge gap that needs to be fulfilled.

4. Developing the regulatory framework Analyzing literature and referring to professional experience in this field and preliminary data gathering interviews; a general interpretation of successful factory planning, and design framework is currently under development as a root for developing the regulatory framework.

[9]

Marglin, S. A. (1974). What Do Bosses Do?: The Origins and Functions of Hierarchy in Capitalist Production. Review of Radical Political Economics, 6(2), 60-112.

[10]

Meyers, F. (2006). Diseño de instalaciones de manufactura y manejo de materiales / Manufacturing Facilities Design and Material Handling (Third ed.). Pearson.

[11]

Michael, A. (2010). Factory Planning Manual (978-3-642-036347 ed.). Springer.

[12]

Murga, A. (2018). Multi-stage downscaling procedure to analyse the impact of exposure concentration in a factory on a specific worker through computational fluid dynamics modelling. Indoor and Built Environment, 27(4), 486-498.

[13]

NIOSH. (2019). Hexamethylene Diisocyanatohexane HDI. Retrieved October 8, 2019, from https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/npgd0320. html

[14]

Stephens, A. (2013). Manufacturing Facilities Design and Material Handling (5th edition ed.). Indiana: Purdue University Press.

[15]

Sunderesh, H. (2006). Facilities Design (13:978-0-595-35938-7 ed.). Luniverse.

[16]

Thatcher, A. (2016). Is a green building really better for building occupants? A longitudinal evaluation. ScienceDirect, 108(1), 194206.

The framework will be tested and validated during the next stages of research.

Acknowledgements Special dedication to my advisors Dr. Yasemin Nielsen and Dr. Bilge Aldogan, my parents and my wife for their efforts and support during my studies.

References [1]

Gioda, A. (2003). Commnets on studies of industrial and nonindustrial environments in Brazil: a comaprative approach.

Cadernos de Saude Publica, 19(5), 1389-1397.

[17]

Tolio, T. (2013). Virtual Factory: an Integrated Framework for Manufacturing Systems Design and Analysis. Elsevier - CIRP, 7, 25-30.

[2]

Britannica. (2019). Industrial Revolution. Retrieved July 12, 2019, from https://www.britannica.com/event/Industrial-Revolution

[18]

Wang, Y. (2017). Industrial building environment: Old problem and new challenge. Indoor and Built Environment, 26(8), 1035-1039.

[3]

Chen, D. (2012). Information Management for Factory Planning and Design. Stockholm: Sweden.

[19]

Wiendahl, H.-P. (2015). Handbook Factory Planning and Design (978-3-662-46390-1 ed.). Berlin: Springer.

[4]

Katunsky D. etal. (2012). Simulations and measurements in industrial buildings research. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology, 44(1), 40-50.

[5]

Kim, K. Y. (2009). Distribution characteristics of airborne bacteria and fungi in the feedstuff-manufacturing factories. Elsevier Journal of Hazardous Materials, 169, 1054-1060.

[6]

Lee, J. Y. (2018). Indoor environment quality, occupant satisfaction, and acute building-related symptoms in green markcertified compared with non-certified office buildings. John Wiley & Sons - Indoor Air, 29, 112-129.

[7]

Abdullah Khan M. H. (2011). Indoor Thermal Condition of Factory Building in Bangladesh. DIMENSI, Journal of Architecture and Built Environment, 38(2), 55-62.

[8]

MacNaughton, P. (2017). The impact of working in a green certified building on cognitive function and health. Elsevier Building and Environment, 114, 178-186.

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Research Bulletin No.2No.5 December 2020 April 2022

Plastic Fate: Opportunities and Challenges Yara Mouna Ph.D. student, M.Sc. School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society Heriot-Watt University Dubai, UAE ym41@hw.ac.uk

Dr Mustafa Batikha Associate Director of Research School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society Heriot-Watt University-Dubai Campus Dubai, UAE m.batikha@hw.ac.uk

Plastics have invaded a wide range of our life applications as successfully being an inexpensive, lightweight, versatile, and durable man-made material. The growth of plastic manufacture has outpaced any other material, and the lack of a well-designed strategy for properly assessing plastic end-of-life fate poses a serious threat affecting the environmental and natural habitats worldwide for being accumulated as debris in landfills or dumped in the ocean. The highest plastic waste mainly is referred to in the packaging sector and, if no action was taken on a global scale, it is expected that roughly 12,000 Mt of plastic waste will pile up either in landfills or the natural environment by 2050. In the light of that, a further approach beyond traditional recycling is required hand in hand with applying stricter regulations. This paper outlines plastic waste consumption and types. Also, an overview of different plastic waste processing technologies proposed by recent studies is presented with the aim of inspiring both science and innovation towards sustainable development of plastic waste by encouraging a circular lifespan of plastic with the aid of public and management support.

Keywords: Plastic waste; recycling; plastic end-of-life; Enviromental impact.

1. Introduction

P

lastics are petrochemicals produced from fossil fuel and gas, which have many features (e.g., low weight, low cost, easy moulding, and durability) that make the world seems unimaginable without this material. Plastics production appeared in the early 20th century (i.e., Bakelite).

Since then, the number of plastics production has increased dramatically that, according to the British federation in 2008 [1], 4% of annual petroleum production is converted directly into plastics from petrochemical feedstock [2]. However, the same positive aspect of durability and the wide use of this material contribute to a significant waste management problem, which, in turn, creates an increasing problem for the environment [3]. Plastic waste is either accumulated in landfills or decomposed into particles ingested by animals. The only way to eliminate plastic waste, however, is to use thermal treatment (thus increasing CO2 emission) where, either way, natural environmental contamination is a growing concern [4].

Prior to 1980, plastic waste was 100% discarded in landfills. The concept of plastic recycling and incineration was founded after 1980. In 2015, it was estimated that around 9% of which plastic waste had been recycled, 12% was incinerated, and the remainder was accumulated in landfills or the natural environment. If the current waste management trend continues, almost 12,000 Mt of plastic waste will be discarded to either landfills or in the natural environment [4]. In another study [5], it is estimated that the level of mismanaged plastic waste could reach 155-265 Mt by 2060. Therefore, a plan must be adopted, based on previous rates with future scenarios, to increase the plastic incineration process to reach approximately 50% by 2050 as well as encourage plastic recycling to form almost 44% of the total plastic disposal process (See Figure 1) [4].

Fig. 1 Extrapolated change in plastic fate to 2050 [4].

Figure 2 presents primary plastic production by polymer type [6] where it can show that the most produced synthetic polymer is polyethylene (e.g., Foil and film, such as sacks and covering wraps for bread, vegetables, fruit, and carrier bags), followed by polypropylene (PP) (e.g., Buckets, crates, boxes, caps for bottles or flasks, yogurt, and dairy product cups; industrial adhesive tapes) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) (e.g., Blister and press-through packs for medication; films for perishables). These types of plastics are not biodegradable but, reversely, extremely durable that can persist for more than decades. Despite the rate of degradation factors of plastic waste such as ultraviolet light exposure, temperature, or even degrades under the influence of wreathing, plastic debris breaks down into finer pieces only and resulting in no meaningful degradation process that consequently ends up in landfills causing waste management issues and environmental damage [2].

Figure 3 shows the use of primary plastics by sector in terms of plastic waste management where plastic waste generation is highly influenced by primary plastic use in the first place and product lifetime as well. Single-use disposable applications such as packaging have quite a short ‘in-use’ lifetime

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Plastic fate: opportunities and challenges

Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

(generally around 6 months or less) which confirms that the packaging sector is the main source of plastic waste. Building and construction sector, however, has plastic use with an average lifetime of 35 years and many other applications such as electronics and end-of-life vehicles are clearly becoming considerable sources of waste plastics [7].

Fig. 4 Global mismanaged plastic by region, 2010 and projected share of global mismanaged plastic waste in 2025 [9].

Fig. 2 Key plastic polymers’ types [6].

Fig. 5 Mismanaged plastic waste per capita vs. GDP per capita [8].

2. Plastics processing

Fig. 3 Consumption of plastics and waste generation by sector [7].

Mismanaged plastic waste that can also be called “littered” waste refers to “inadequately disposed” waste that contributes, in one way or another, to plastic pollution that ends up in dumps, landfills, or entering the ocean. Figure 4 displays global mismanaged plastic waste by different regions in 2010. A high share of plastic pollution has its origin in Asia (e.g., China contributes the most elevated rate 28% of the global total, Indonesia 10%, Egypt 3%, and South Africa 2%). The same Figure presents an analytical estimation of global mismanaged plastics by 2025, where mismanaged plastic waste in Asia and India keeps slightly increasing [8].

According to Jambeck et al. [8], it was documented that per capita plastic waste with low incomes tends to be considerably small. Figure 5 addresses lower mismanaged waste generation at low incomes; rises at middle toward middle incomes; then drops again at higher incomes, indicating that countries with middle global incomes seem to have the largest per capita mismanaged/littered plastic waste, including disposal in dumps uncontrolled/ open landfills. The previous statistic finding can reasonably be attributed to the rapidly industrialized countries that failed to achieve the same speed wase management progress.

Generally, recycling is, without a doubt, a waste management strategy.

However, the rates of it are still small (approximately 14%) in the packaging sector on a global scale [10]. Broadly speaking, plastic waste can achieve a circular processing recovery only when it is taken over landfills or littering using any recycling technique.

When plastic enters a waste stream, it can be disposed of by landfills, incineration, or recycling in combination with other actions such as reducing the “over-use” of packaging in the market and re-using plastic packaging.

Landfill, so far, is the most conventional approach of plastic waste management where mismanaged landfills result in environmental harm and long-term risks of soil and groundwater contamination due to plastic breakdown, which becomes an absolute organic pollutant. Some actions were made to divert waste from landfilling to other sustainable recycling methods and apply a yearly tax in the UK as an example, while the EU directive bans the landfill of tires, which forces recycling car tires into rubber crumbs to re-manufacture other products [2].

Although incineration is another waste management technique in reducing the landfill of plastic waste, the process itself releases hazardous substances into the atmosphere, which raises another pollution risk and requires a high technology adopted to complete the process. Despite the above, incineration can still be a useful recovery option for some plastic content where the recovery energy can be implemented in electricity generation or heat and Plastic fate: opportunities and challenges

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power generation. The process can be suitable when dealing with electronic, electrical, and automotive wastes as it produces diesel fuel making this approach a topic of interest over the years [2].

Plastic recycling actually delays, rather than avoid, final disposal. Yet, it is very complex to describe the process of recycling when there are many variables involved and it requires overall public support. In order to expand the potential of plastic recycling, it needs to be implemented ethically rather than being a concept. Table 1 explains the recycling categories where primary recycling represents a closed-loop method. In contrast, secondary recycling is downgauging/reducing technique, Tertiary recycling can be described as either chemical or feedstock recycling, and quaternary recycling is the means of energy recovery [11].

Table 1 Terminology used in different types of plastics recycling and recovery [2].

Fig. 6 Envisioned plastics value chain illustration that could enhance the transition to circularity of plastic waste. Solvolysis: Solvolysis is applicable to polymers with heteroatoms in their backbone and cannot be used to break C-C bonds. Dissolution: In this process a plastic containing additives and impurities of other polymers or materials is dissolved. A solvent is chosen to selectively dissolve the desired polymer. Unwanted additives are filtered out and the desired polymer is precipitated [13].

Many studies have focused recently [13,14] on plastic waste management topic since plastic waste has become a serious problem approaching a critical turning point and requires a dramatic improvement in plastic collection and recycling. One study was conducted in 2020 [13] overviewed a variety of plastic processing techniques. Figure 6 illustrates an envisioned plastic chain based on the McKinsey report [15] and proceeds with a further estimation of the waste size streams in 2030 that can enhance the circularity of waste management and avoid landfilling, incineration, and exports to other countries. According to the fact that plastic waste collection and sorting produce very contaminated mixed plastic waste streams, most plastic is currently either incinerated or landfilled. The study found that chemical recycling methods (See Figure 6) will play an important role only to facilitate recycling, not eliminate the plastic waste problem. Mechanical recycling can be broadly applied by improving plastic waste cleaning and sorting. Owing to the many advantages of some new chemical processes of solvolysis and dissolution/precipitation (described in Figure 6), the study presented novel methods of performing them (i.e., supercritical fluids, microwave reactors, mechanochemistry, and biotechnology) with the goal of improving plastic recycling rates. Therefore, to complete the mentioned waste management technologies, developments must go hand in hand with the more convenient policy framework and platforms. Furthermore, the development of biobased and biodegradable alternatives has gained increasing attention where “bioplastics” referred to plastic that the action of living organisms can decompose, usually microbes, into the water, carbon dioxide, and biomass [14].

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Plastic fate: opportunities and challenges

3. Public support Being said, public awareness of the plastic pollution problem has impressively increased through the last decade, and many actions were made to apply the 3Rs concept (reuse, reduce recycle) in society through different old/new companies. Some clothing companies (i.e., Girlfriend collective, Adidas, NIKE, Patagonia, Timberland, Stella Maccartney, and Dgrade) have partnered up with environmental institutions in order to turn ocean plastic into functional and stylish outfits [16]. This partnership has kept approximately 2810 tons of plastic from ever reaching the oceans [17].

Other companies like FAB Habitant use recycled PET and PP plastics to create soft yarn for carpets. Shini USA plastic construction materials manufacture recycled plastic boards and decking instead of concrete bricks. Toys companies (i.e., Green toys, Resoftables) create imaginative children’s toys using recycled PET bottles. Many other examples of companies implementing plastic recycling methods to develop products (cleaning, sunglasses, skateboards, wetsuits, rugs, etc.) where most of these companies are sourced in the USA [17].

4. Conclusion The paper presented an overview of growing plastic concerns and recent proposed plastic waste processing by old/recent studies. Major plastic manufacturers are promising or taking actual actions. The coming years, however, will acknowledge whether real change can be obtained in plastic waste management. Many plastics chemical treatment technologies were proposed, and, owing to their advantages, a blend of different approaches

Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

is required to enhance recycling rates. Post-consumer stage solutions are, however, impossible without the aid of pre-consumer stage awareness, including a solid regulatory framework and setting an effective waste collection system that strictly guides consumer behaviour. Nonetheless, ‘reusing’ plastic is undoubtedly a vital approach to plastic waste management and should be embraced seriously in the economy and society. Committed actions and wise coordination can only secure a sustainable future for plastics.

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British Plastics Federation. Oil consumption. (2008). See http://www.bpf.co.uk/Oil_Consumption.aspx. (Accessed on 17/01/2021)

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Hopewell, J., Dvorak, R., & Kosior, E. (2009). Plastics recycling: challenges and opportunities. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 364(1526), 2115-2126.

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Shen, L., & Worrell, E. (2014). Plastic recycling. In Handbook of recycling (pp. 179-190). Elsevier.

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Geyer, R., Jambeck, J. R., & Law, K. L. (2017). Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made. Science advances, 3(7), e1700782.

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Lebreton, L.; Andrady, A. (2019). Future scenarios of global plastic waste generation and disposal. Palgrave Commun. 5, 6.

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Soares, J., Miguel, I., Venâncio, C., Lopes, I., & Oliveira, M. (2020).

Perspectives on Micro (Nano) Plastics in the marine environment: biological and societal considerations. Water, 12(11), 3208.

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Jambeck, J. R., Geyer, R., Wilcox, C., Siegler, T. R., Perryman, M., Andrady, A., ... & Law, K. L. (2015). Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. Science, 347(6223), 768-771.

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Rebeiz, K. S., & Craft, A. P. (1995). Plastic waste management in construction: technological and institutional issues. Resources, conservation and recycling, 15(3-4), 245-257.

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Vollmer, I., Jenks, M. J., Roelands, M. C., White, R. J., van Harmelen, T., de Wild, P., ... & Weckhuysen, B. M. (2020).

Beyond mechanical recycling: Giving new life to plastic waste.

Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 59(36), 15402-15423.

[14]

McKinsey. (2018). How plastics waste could transform the chemical industry. Available at: https://www.mckinsey. com/ industries/chemicals/our-insights/how-plastics-wasterecyclingcould-transform-the-chemical-industry. (Accessed on 17/01/2021)

[15]

Kakadellis, S., & Rosetto, G. (2021). Achieving a circular bioeconomy for plastics. Science, 373(6550), 49-50.

[16]

Simply Quinoa. (2018). 10 Clothing Companies using Recycled Plastic. Available at: https://www.simplyquinoa.com/clothingcompanies-using-recycled-plastic/. (Accessed on 17/01/2021)

[17]

Recycle coach. (2021). 10+ Companies Creating Recycled Plastic Products. Available at: https://recyclecoach.com/blog/10companies-creating-recycled-plastic-products/. (Accessed on 17/01/2021).

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Research Bulletin No.2No.5 December 2020 April 2022

Cloud-Seeding Operations from the Hydrological Perspective Khalid Almheiri Ph.D. student School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society Heriot-Watt University Dubai, UAE kba3@hw.ac.uk The UAE has implemented a cloud-seeding program to increase naturally occurring clouds’ precipitation, which is essential in such an arid region with not more than 100 mm of rainwater per annum. Despite the importance of such a program, cloud-seeding leads to an increase in rainfall intensity, affecting the performance of some stormwater drainage networks. This study assessed the impact of cloud-seeding on urban floods for Sharjah city and outlined general recommendations to avoid the complications associated with cloud-seeding in urban regions.

Keywords: cloud-seeding; floods; rainfall; IDF values; stormwater.

1. Introduction

M

any cities in the Gulf Cooperation Council share common environmental and urban characteristics such as meteorological conditions, population growth, and urbanization pattern. In addition, the developing infrastructure projects in these cities started without sufficient meteorological data to fulfill the requirement of hydrological designs.

Therefore, the repetitive events of urban floods can be solved by collaborating hydrologists and authorities responsible for stormwater drainage systems.

Previous researchers investigated the causative factors of the urban flood phenomenon in the GCC cities, such as rapid urbanism, the efficiency of stormwater drainage systems, and not protecting the natural outlets of rainfall wadies. However, none had examined the impact of cloud-seeding missions on rainfall intensities in these cities or other places as far as the author is aware.

In a previous study on the impact of cloud-seeding operations on rainfall intensities in the United Arab Emirates, it was found that these operations had led to a noticeable increase in rainfall intensities and the mean value of maximum daily rainfall depth (Almheiri et al., 2021). Therefore, cloudseeding should not be considered only for precipitation but should be considered within the broad context of urban development plans where drainage impact assessment is considered as an essential element of the city’s overall development.

The stormwater drainage networks are designed based on the rainfall intensities of the cities. Therefore, it is essential to maintain proper historical records of rainfall over the hours of the day. However, it is found that many GCC cities lack appropriate records of historical rainfall, which may lead to unprecise designs of pipes’ diameter. Such a situation directly impacts the efficiency of the drainage network and leads to urban floods in the case of designing below the actual codes’ requirements.

The UAE established remarkable development in all aspects over the last fifty years, and the seven urban cities embrace millions of populaces and valuable investments in the physical structure. However, the recent urban floods showed significant challenges to these cities and impacted the daily life of

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the people in all aspects, especially over the last ten years. Therefore, despite the previous efforts of hydrologists to investigate the causative factors of this phenomenon, this paper focuses on the consequences of cloud-seeding operations on urban floods and suggests solutions to tackle this issue.

2. Cloud-Seeding: an effective technique that requires extra precautions The UAE has always experienced arid weather coupled with not more than 100 mm of rainwater per annum with a high evaporation rate and a lower discharge rate in groundwater (Mazroui, A. and Farrah, S. 2017). The booming global cloud-seeding programs motivated the UAE government to begin its initiatives on cloud-seeding for additional rainwater to meet rising water needs. The first exploratory programs started in the 1990s and altered the quantity or kind of precipitation released from clouds (Malik et al., 2018). Following the initial exploratory missions, the programs took off on a large scale in 2010 as an official policy of the government. The cloudseeding process enhances the amount of rainfall and the length of rainfall storms. According to the National newspaper (2020), the amount of rainfall generated by cloud-seeding operations increased by 35 % in clear weather conditions, which had been observed in several areas in the UAE in the first three months of 2020.

The above facts motivated us at Heriot-Watt University to explore the possibility of the relationship between cloud-seeding operations and the increase in rainfall intensities. The research is supported by January 2020 rainfall events where several cities in the UAE flooded in a short period due to the observed high-intensity rainfall. The study selected Sharjah city as a case study and relayed its historical hourly rainfall records from 1992 to 2020.

Thus, it quantifies any impact the cloud-seeding may have had on rainfall intensities (Almheiri et al., 2021). The rainfall data used were obtained from three meteorological stations in the Sharjah emirate listed in Table 1.

Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

Table 1 Meteorological station’s location coordinates adopted in the study

3. Recommendations and Conclusion Cloud-seeding is a pioneer program in the UAE, and it aims at increasing the possibility of harvesting rainfall falls during rainy days. This strategy is essential in a country lacking natural water resources and subjected to an increased demand for freshwater for all aspects of life.

The methodology of the study depends on a statistical comparison between the values of rainfall intensity based on the hydrological values of (IDF) curves over two significant periods: The first one started from January 1, 1992, to December 31, 2009, referred to as without cloud seeding (W/O-CS).

The second period started from January 1, 2010, until May 31, 2020, referred to as with cloud seeding (W-CS).

The intensity of precipitation is defined as “the rate of precipitation over time, that is, depth per unit time (mm/h or in/h).” A graphical representation of the IDF values aids in the comprehension and evaluation of the final values of the results. In contrast, a smooth curve with constant values along the curve’s line indicates the data’s homogeneity.

The IDF curves were developed for the three cities over periods (5, 10, 20, 30, 60 min, and 120 minutes) against different return periods (2, 3, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 years), representing both cases without cloud-seeding (W/O-CS) and with cloud-seeding (W-CS).

The developed IDF functions for three different meteorological stations within the same geographical region of Sharjah (Sharjah airport, Al Dhaid, and Mleiha) before and after implementing cloud-seeding missions proved that cloud-seeding operations had led to an obvious increase in IDF values, i.e. the intensities of rainfall storms. Figure 1 represents an example of the results of Sharjah city IDF curves where all rainfall intensities had increased after implementing cloud-seeding operations.

Fig. 1 IDF Curve for Sharjah City (W/O-CS) and (W-CS) for the different return period.

However, it is found that cloud-seeding leads to an increase in rainfall intensity, supported by the study conducted by Almheiri et al., 2021. Such a result impacts the drainage network performance and causes urban floods due to the network’s inability to drain the accumulated amounts of rainfall water. Therefore, to achieve a win-win scenario from the efforts of the national cloud-seeding program, it is recommended that: Cloud-seeding should not be considered only for precipitation, but it should be considered within the comprehensive context of urban development plans where drainage impact assessment is regarded as an essential element of the city’s overall development.

Cities’ regularly update IDF values and examine the efficacity of the drainage network before implanting cloud-seeding missions over urban areas.

Meteorological stations maintain proper records of historical rainfall data and afford them for researchers.

Meteorological stations use artificial intelligence techniques to infill and reconstruct historical rainfall records, which leads to obtaining actual hydrological results.

Cloud-seeding operations can be effectively implemented over rural areas that contain natural underground water tanks or water dams.

Acknowledgements The author thanks the National Center of Meteorology in the UAE for providing the historical meteorological records for the stations adopted in this study.

References [1]

Almheiri, K.B.; Rustum, R.; Wright, G.; Adeloye, A.J. Study of Impact of Cloud-Seeding on Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) Curves of Sharjah City, the United Arab Emirates. Water 2021, 13, 3363. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13233363

[2]

Mazroui, A. A.; Farrah, S. The Uae Seeks Leading Position In Global Rain Enhancement Research. The Journal of Weather Modification 2017, 49 (1), 54–55..

[3]

Division of Environmental Sciences, SKUAST K Shalimar, Srinagar, J & K, India; Malik, S. Cloud Seeding; Its Prospects and Concerns in the Modern World -A Review. Int. J. Pure App. Biosci. 2018, 6 (5), 791–796. https://doi.org/10.18782/2320-7051.6824.

[4]

UAE conducts 95 cloud seeding missions in first three months of 2020 https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/environment/ uae-conducts-95-cloud-seeding-missions-in-first-three-monthsof-2020-1.1004847.

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Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

News and Events

Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

News and Events News September 2021 – March 2022 • 24th October 2021

Welcoming ceremony of SDME Village Summary: Dr Anas Bataw attended the official welcoming ceremony of TEAM ESTEEM – Solar Decathlon Society. The competition challenged eight teams from 11 Universities around the world to build a smart, sustainable house in the village.

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6858280529620475904

• 25th October 2021

Dubai Municipality Collaboration Summary: Continuing our collaboration with Dubai Municipality we were delighted to welcome key stakeholders to our Dubai campus and progress conversations around how best to work together, paying particular attention to the Dubai BIM Roadmap and future initiatives such as Digital Twin and 3D Printing.

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6859095268206403584

• 14th November 2021

Continuing Collaboration with Affiliates Summary: Dr Roger Griffiths welcomed valued CESC affiliates Edify and Solius Group to campus and continued conversations around ongoing collaboration with industry.

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6865892184986587136

News & Events, Partner News

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• 21st November 2021

UAE- UK Business Council Visit Summary: The CESC senior leadership team were delighted to welcome key personnel from UAE-UK Business Council to campus to meet with Heriot-Watt University Principle and Vice-Chancellor Richard Williams and Provost and Vice-Principle, Heriot-Watt University, Dubai Campus, Ammar Kaka LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6869148037676097537

• 24th November 2021

CESC Signs 11 New Affiliations and Strategic Alliances Summary: CESC were delighted to sign 11 new affiliation and strategic alliance agreements with leading organisations in the Robotics, Sustainability, Urban Technology, Legal, Future Knowledge and Certification Institutions.

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6869261605138427905

• 25th November 2021

Collaboration with Khalifa University Summary: Dr Roger Griffiths met with Prof. Ernesto Damiani, Director, Khalifa University to continue conversations about ongoing future collaborative research opportunities.

LinkedIn:

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News & Events, Partner News

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6869501637522710528

Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

• 25th November 2021

Collaboration with Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Summary: Dr Anas Bataw and Dr Roger Griffiths met with Nick Boucher, Head of Science and Innovation Network (Gulf) and Layla Bentley, Science & Innovation Advisor Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to open conversations around further collaboration between government and academia which leads to a smarter, safer and more sustainable Built Environment.

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6869547572168601600

• 28th November 2021

Ongoing Talks with Dubai Future Foundation Summary: Dr Roger Griffiths met with key personnel from Dubai Future Foundation to discuss what a world of AI, machine learning and smart robots would look like.

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6870676755074596864

• 14th December 2021

RTA Campus Visit Summary: CESC were delighted to welcome key personnel from Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai Metro, The National Robotarium and Alana Al to campus and continue conversations around the synergies on innovation that will progress in 2022.

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6878567593066807296

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• 15th December 2021

LINQ Modular Site Visit Summary: The CESC Leadership Team were honoured to visit the LINQ Modular factory site and enjoyed a number of conversations which focused on modern methods of modular construction.

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6876745385004552192

• 7th January 2022

CESC Contributes to Dubai Building Code Summary: Dr Anas Bataw was honoured to contribute to the Dubai Building Code, working alongside Dubai Municipality to create a unified building reference across the Emirate.

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6885137479800803328

• 21st January 2022

CESC joins as Knowledge Partner at RICS World Built Environment Forum Summary: CESC were delighted to join forces with Strategic Alliance, RICS as Knowledge Partners at the prestigious World Built Environment Forum.

LinkedIn:

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https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6890192226891165696

Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

• 26th January 2022

CESC Hosts The Big 5 FutureTech Advisory Board Meeting

Summary: Held at Heriot-Watt University, Dubai campus we were delighted to welcome guests and host this important industry meeting as part of our collaboration as Knowledge Partners of DMG Events.

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6892369836756779008

• 10th February 2022

Aldar Joins as CESC Industry Partner Summary: CESC were delighted to welcome a new industry partner, Aldar Properties PJSC. Aldar is the leading real estate developer in Abu Dhabi, and through its iconic developments, it is one of the most well known in the United Arab Emirates, and wider Middle East region.

For More Information: https://www.aldar.com/en/about-us/story

• 10th February 2022

CESC Cement Decarbonisation Delivery Group Meeting Summary: Led by Dr Olisanwendu Ogwuda and Dr Anas Bataw, CESC were delighted to chair the first of 2022 Cement Decarbonisation Delivery Group (CDDG) meetings on campus.

Through a wealth of knowledge and expertise the CDDG continued conversations around the continued shared goal to reach net-zero targets both in the Middle East and globally.

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6897541098097446912

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• 25th February 2022 and 10th March 2022

CESC 2022 Sustainability Hackathon Summary: CESC held a Sustainability in Construction Hackathon which encouraged 16-24 year olds globally to summit new ideas and solutions with the potential to tackle climate related issues.

The Hackathon saw a live-streamed event held at the UK Pavilion which brought together leading industry professionals and led by Dr Anas Bataw give expert advice on how best to formulate ideas followed by a live announcement of the judges’ opinions and announcement of winners who were presented with a 5,000aed Heriot-Watt University, Dubai scholarship.

To view announcement of winners please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HZoMlES2j0&t=212s

• 1st March 2022

JLL Joins CESC as Industry Partner Summary: CESC were delighted to welcome new industry partner, JLL. JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specialises in real estate and investment management. JLL shapes the future of real estate for a better world by using the most advanced technology to create rewarding opportunities, amazing spaces and sustainable real estate solutions for our clients, our people and our communities.

For More Information: https://www.jll-mena.com/en/solutions/project-anddevelopment-services

• 8th March 2022

Celebrating Partnership with ASGC and iBuild Summary: CESC acknowledged the strong collaboration with founding industry partner ASGC and iBuild by holding an appreciation ceremony.

Ammar Kaka, Provost and Vice Principle, Heriot-Watt University, Dubai Campus spoke about the relationship over the last 10 years, paying particular attention to the outstanding contribution to the recent Team ESTEEM – Solar Decathlon Society project over the last two years.

LinkedIn:

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News & Events, Partner News

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6912325647675621378

Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

• 16th March 2022

CESC hosts 2022 Symposium Summary: The CESC 2022 Symposium brought together world-class Built Environment leaders, academics and government representatives who spent the day together hearing presentations and participating in round-table discussions which focused on the CESC three core themes of Performance & Productivity, Sustainability and Wellbeing.

To view highlights of the event : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-1H6l35KvU&t=3s

News & Events, Partner News

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Research Bulletin Bulletin Research No.5April April2022 2022 No.5

Published articles September 2021 – March 2022 • 30th September 2021

CESC Research Bulletin Four Summary: CESC published issue four of its bi-annual Research Bulletin.

The bulletin included research articles focusing on the most recent trends in the Built Environment and was structured as per CESC’s three innovation themes: Performance & Productivity, Sustainability, and Wellbeing.

Bulletin Link: https://www.hw.ac.uk/dubai/research/cesc/recent-publications.htm

• 25th October 2021

Construction Week Online Summary: Matt Smith shared his expert opinion on how urban planning can help achieve carbonneutral cites with the Construction Week audience.

Full Article: https://www.constructionweekonline.com/business/insights/how-urban-planningcan-help-achieve-carbon-neutral-cities

• 1st November 2021

MEP Middle East

Summary: Dr Hassam Chaudhry contribution to ‘Let’s Talk MEP’ around retrofits being key to combat Climate Change led to an article in MEP Middle East Full Article: https://www.mepmiddleeast.com/videos/lets-talk-mep-retrofits-key-to-combatclimate-change

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Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

• 7th November 2021

Construction Business News Middle East Summary: Dr Anas Bataw shares his throughs and expert opinion on what are the most important factors to consider when building the cities of tomorrow through innovation, published

by Construction Business News, Middle East Full Article: https://www.cbnme.com/expert-insight/building-cities-of-tomorrow-throughinnovation/ • 15th November 2021

Construction Week Online Summary: Matt Smith shared his valuable experience to the Construction News audience on the role of buildings in ensuring sustainable rural developement.

Full Article: https://www.constructionweekonline.com/business/insights/the-role-of-buildings-inensuring-sustainable-rural-development • 30th November 2021

MEED Special Report Summary: Dr Anas Bataw contributes to a MEED special report, commissioned by Autodesk which demystifies Digital Twin.

Full Article: https://www.autodesk.ae/campaigns/middleeast-digital-twins-report

• 8th December 2021

The Watt Club Digital Magazine Summary: Dr Anas Bataw was pleased to contribute an article to our special bicenteniall year Alumni digital ma gazine ‘The Watt Club’. The article focused on the role of CESC pioneering solutions for sustainable construction.

Full Article: https://wattmag.hw.ac.uk/2021Edition/

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Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

• 9th December 2021

MEED Summary: Matt Smith shares his opinion on the challenges presented by Smart City schemes in the printed version of MEED.

• 22nd January 2022

Mechnical, Electrical and Plumbing Summary: Dr Hassam Chaudhry shared his views on Smart HVAC significance to sustainability in smart cities.

Full Article: https://www.mepmiddleeast.com/business/hvac-sustainability-smart-cities

• 24th January 2022

Al Bayan Summary: Dr Anas Bataw authored an article which focused on the Dgital Transformation of the Construction Industry in leading Arabic title, Al Bayan.

Full Article: https://www.albayan.ae/economy/uae/2022-01-24-1.4353291

• 25th January 2022

Construction Leaders Summit White Paper Summary: Dr Anas Bataw produced a white paper which focused on how important collaboration is for the future of the construction industry. The paper was produced specifically for The Big 5 Construction Leaders Summit.

Full Article: https://issuu.com/heriot-watt_university_dubai/docs/construction_leaders_summit

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Research Bulletin Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022 No.5 April 2022

• 25th January 2022

Future Tech Summit White Paper Summary: Dr Anas Bataw produced a white paper which focused on the Digitialisation of the Construction industy. The paper was produced specifically for The Big 5 Future Tech Summit Full Article: https://issuu.com/heriot-watt_university_dubai/docs/future_tech

• 28th February 2022

CM Today Summary: Dr Anas Bataw gave his thoughts on the importance of Circular Economy and the important role it has to play in the Built Environment.

Full Article: https://www.cm-today.com/top-stories/circular-economy-in-thebuildings-sector?utm_source=SM&utm_medium=Post&utm_ campaign=Article

• 6th March 2022

Al Ittihad Summary: Dr Anas Bataw authored and article to Al Ittihad Newspaper which focused on Sustainable construction practices and how they have stopped being considered as a luxury, and he focused on how the developers’ demand on Green Building have been increased due to the joint efforts of UAE and Saudi for Sustainable Development.

Full Article: https://www.cm-today.com/top-stories/circular-economy-in-thebuildings-sector?utm_source=SM&utm_medium=Post&utm_ campaign=Article • 8th March 2022

ME Consultant Summary: Dr Anas Bataw presented a case study in the print edition of ME Consultant which focused on the key construction trends in 2022.

News & Events, Partner News

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Research Bulletin Bulletin Research No.5 April April 2022 2022 No.5

Events September 2021 – March 2022 • 1st September 2021

CM Today Smart Built Environment Forum Summary: Dr. Anas Bataw and Dr Hassam Chaudhry were delighted to be part of the Smart Built Environment Forum hosted by Community Management Today.

For More Information: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6839083820461961216

• 6th and 7th September 2021

BIM Middle East International Conference Summary: CESC attended the BIM Middle East International Conference held in Dubai and had the opportunity to continue conversations with leading industry experts.

For More Information: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6840561212070137856

• 8th September 2021

Smart Built Environment Awards Summary: Dr Anas Bataw was delighted to present the Partnership Award to Socienta and Kaizen Asset Management Services at the Smart Built Environment Awards.

To View Webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9ufjoKycrg&t=9s

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Research Bulletin Bulletin Research No.5 April April 2022 2022 No.5

• 12th September 2021

Global Construction Leadership Summit Summary: Main copy – As part of our continuing relationship as Knowledge Partners with DMG Events, Dr Anas Bataw took part in the Global Construction Leadership Summit.

For More Information: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6841746703914196992

• 14th September 2021

CESC Webinar - How are the 3M’s —Material, Machine and Money Affecting the Progress of 3D Printing in the Construction Industry?

Summary: CESC Webinar - How are the 3M’s —Material, Machine and Money affecting the progress of 3D printing in the construction industry?

Our expert panel includes: Christopher Tebb, Mott MacDonald Kyle E. Krall, Thornton Tomasetti George Vasdravellis, Heriot-Watt University Paul Mullett, Robert Bird Group Mohammad Yasser Baaj, B3G Engineering To View Webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i70EOMOFyVI&t=12s

• 5th October 2021

Wakecap Webinar Summary: Our esteemed panel deep dived into the future of the Construction industry and discussed what the future holds.

To View Webinar: https://youtu.be/ulSeMpUyhY4

News & Events, Partner News

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• 14th October 2021

‘Let’s Talk MEP’ Session Summary: Dr Hassam Chaudhry was pleased to join a panel of leading industry experts to discuss MEP at the session lead by ITP Media.

For More Information: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6854272628597829632

• 1st November 2021

ME BIM Summit Summary: Dr Anas Bataw was pleased to moderate a panel of industry experts who delved into a wide range of topics around the subject of expanding the scope of BIM through the digitalisation of the construction industry.

For More Information: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6860922452231413761

• 4th November 2021

Emirates Green Building Council 10th Annual Congress Summary: Dr Anas Bataw delivered a fascinating industry on how best to bridge the gap between academia and industry at the Emirates GBC 10th Annual Congress during the ‘Spotlight on Industry Trends session For More Information: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6861895534534287360

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Research Research Bulletin Bulletin No.5 No.5 April April 2022 2022

• 24th November 2021

Co-hosts of Emirates Steel and CARES event Summary: We co-hosted a face-to face event with esteems industry contacts Emirates Steel and CARES on campus to discuss the important opportunities digitalisation presents across the constructional steel supply chain.

For More Information: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6868444519885545472

• 26th November 2021

Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS) Summary: Dr Anas Bataw joined the esteemed panel at the GMIS Summit, held at EXPO2020 Dubai to tackle the subject of decarbonisation in construction and infrastructure.

For More Information: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6869644856059318272

• 7th December 2021

CESC webinar in collaboration with Houses of Parliament Restoration & Renewal Summary: CESC were honoured to host a highly successful webinar which brought together leading experts to discuss what lessons have been learnt regarding disaster management from large scale public projects.

Our panel included: Dr Anas Bataw, CESC Gill Kernick, JMJ Associates Mike Brown and Paul Lindsey, Houses of Parliment Restoration & Renewal Professor Guy Walker, Heriot-Watt University To View Webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQKJAxE9bpg&t=460s

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• 8th and 9th December 2021

CSCEC ME Technical Conference Summary: Dr Anas Bataw joined the panel of world-class industry experts at the China State Construction 5th ME Technical Conference and gifted the audience with a keynote speech on ‘The Road to Smart Construction’ For More Information: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6868802950425284608

• 12th December 2021

Education Engagement Showcase Event Summary: CESC were delighted to welcome a prestigious group of educators and students to Heriot-Watt University, Dubai Campus for a unique Education Engagement Showcase event. Supported by Class of Your Own, the event was designed specifically to give school children the opportunity to learn more about a career in the Built Environment.

For More Information: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6868802950425284608

• 14th and 16th December 2021

CIB International Conference on Smart Built Environment Summary: CESC were delighted to collaborate with CIB, International Council for Research and Innovations in Building and Construction and Leeds Beckett University during the CIB International Conference on Smart Built Environment. The two day digital conference brought together leading industry experts who kindly gave keynote speeches on the most pressing topics facing the industry.

To View Webinar: https://youtu.be/L4qAPZAiedo

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• 24th January 2022

RICS WBEF seminar Summary: Dr Anas Bataw joined the esteemed panel at the RICS World Built Environment Forum to discuss why Smart Construction matters more than ever when saving money, time and the planet.

For More Information: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6891292932394020864

• 8th February 2022

CESC Webinar - How can the Built Environment Sector Best Embrace Digital Technologies?

Summary: The first in our 2022 sector specific webinars brought together a panel of experts who shared knowledge, experience and best practice around the subject of digital technologies.

Our panel included: Ernesto Damiani, Khalifa University Hai Chen Tan, Heriot-Watt University Malaysia Dr. Marwan Abu Ebeid, Turner Construction Company Ahmed AbouAlfa, Society of Engineers-UAE To View Webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6cPH5fTdq0

• 1st March 2022

CESC Webinar - Nature Based Solutions as Climate Action Strategies in the Built Environment Summary: A fascinating insight into nature based solutions brought to our delegates by a panel of industry experts.

Our panel included: Michael Lacassem National Research Centre, Canada Reem Al Yagoub, Polypipe Middle East Tasneem Bakri, Alpin Limited To View Webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHXSXfS64kU&t=1s

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• 21st March 2022

CESC Chairs Digital Twin Event Summary: Dr Anas Bataw chaired the first ever dedicated Digital Twin event held in MENA. The event saw over 300 delegates attendees from around the world.

To View Webinar: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6916673172415090688

• 23st March 2022

Inaugural Research Day Summary: The Dubai Campus held its first Research Day to celebrate the success of its research achievements and promote research culture. The research day started with a keynote and a Ph.D. student speaker. Later on, the attendees moved to explore about 50 posters presented by Dubai Campus students and researchers. Finally, prizes for best posters’ winners and runners-up were awarded.

For More Information: https://heriotwatt.sharepoint.com/sites/Newsletter/ SitePages/Inaugural-Research-Day-at-Dubai-Campus. aspx

• 28th to 31st March 2022

The Big 5 Saudi Summary: CESC continued our collaboration with DMG Events by being the official Knowlege Partner of the 10th Big 5 Saudi exihibiton which brough together 400+ exhibitors from 35 countries.

For More Information: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6905053194884325376

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Research Bulletin No.5 April 2022

CESC Partners’ News Aldar Launch Project to Reduce Energy Consumption Summary: Aldar Properties (‘Aldar’) has launched a portfolio-wide energy management project to reduce its energy consumption by approximately 20% across 80 assets including hotels, schools, commercial, leisure, retail, and residential buildings. As well as reducing energy emissions, the project will enable Aldar to save approximately AED 40 million per year in energy consumption costs.

For More Information: https://www.aldar.com/en/news-and-media/aldarlaunches-project-to-reduce-energy-consumption

Jacobs Annouce New Strategy Summary: Jacobs’ new strategy is based on an extensive evaluation of global trends, capabilities and markets to understand the largest opportunities, projected spend and growth rates – resulting in the identification of three growth accelerators: Climate Response, Consultancy & Advisory and Data Solutions.

For More Information: https://www.jacobs.com/newsroom/news/jacobsannounces-new-strategy-boldly-moving-forward

ASGC Announces the Awarding of Multiple New Contracts of approximately 2.8 Billion AED Summary: ASGC announces the awarding of multiple new contracts of approximately 2.8 Billion dirhams across the residential, commercial and infrastructure sectors in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Across all the projects, ASGC is implementing sustainable construction practices and utilizing vehicles, machinery and building materials with lower environmental impact, contributing towards UAE’s Net Zero 2050 initiative.

For More Information: https://asgcgroup.com/news-media/news/asgcincreases-its-market-share-with-four-new-projects

News & Events, Partner News

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ResearchBulletin Bulletin Research No.5April April2022 2022 No.5

JLL Publish Annual Trends and Insights Summary: JLL shared their annual tends and insights which included news on construction activity maintaining its momentum into 2021, with $156 billion worth of projects awarded over the year across MENA.

For More Information: https://www.jll-mena.com/en/trends-and-insights/ research/mena-construction-economic-and-cost-insight

Mott Macdonald Management Consultancy for FlyZero Summary: FlyZero, the UK study into zero-carbon emission commercial air travel, has published its vision for a new generation of aircraft powered by liquid hydrogen. As the only infrastructure and management consultancy to work on FlyZero, Mott MacDonald seconded its head of aviation strategy and forecasting James Cole as strategy manager

For More Information: https://www.mottmac.com/releases/first-generationof-zero-carbon-emission-aircraft-needs-hydrogentechnologies-by-2025

Polypipe Middle East launches a new noise reducing drainage system Summary: Polypipe Middle East has launched Terrain Q, a polypropylene, easy-to-install high-performing drainage system incorporating multi-layer technology into the Middle East. Terrain Q can be used for a variety of commercial and residential high- and low-rise buildings, designed to offer a single source solution for acoustic drainage alongside the region’s market leading Terrain drainage systems from Polypipe Middle East, including Terrain PVC and Terrain FUZE. For More Information: https://www.middleeast.polypipe.com/news/launchingterrain-q-middle-east

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Thank you for reading.

The next Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction bulletin will be published in September 2022.

To have a research paper considered for inclusion please contact Dr. Mustafa Batikha on m.batikha@hw.ac.uk