GCC's landmark projects underscore need for eco-initiatives

The real estate sector is one of the GCC's largest income generators, after the oil market, and the industry that is putting the Gulf firmly on the socio-economic map.

Ongoing projects across the GCC, Iran and Iraq are currently valued at slightly over $2.2 trillion, a four-fold increase in three years.

There are also currently five million people working in the GCC's construction industry.

A further 25 to 30 million are expected to migrate to the Gulf for work over the next 25 years, in one of the largest mass migrations in history.

Projects such as Dubai's Palm developments, Bahrain's Financial Centre, Abu Dhabi's Yas Island or Qatar's Pearl have all served to make the region one of the international construction industry's focal points.

Every project that is undertaken is done under the glare of the global spotlight, and with many of the projects so groundbreaking new, previously unneeded, building techniques have to be designed and put in place.

Sustainability's marketing potential

It is interesting then that among soaring inflation and ever-increasing material costs, developers are still seeking to make their projects as eco-friendly as possible.

'Companies in the region are not only looking at the technical challenges of sustainability but also at the marketing potential. Energy City in Qatar has branded its whole development on that basis,' says Stephen Oehme, Hyder Consulting's Regional Director of Value Management and Sustainability.

The same principle applies to Abu Dhabi's Masdar development initiatives, where the city's concept revolves entirely around its environmental credentials and renewable energy systems.

Initiatives such as these are particularly timely in the wake of renewed international scrutiny of businesses', and countries', green credentials.

According to the World Wildlife Fund Living Planet Report 2006, the UAE accounted for resource use equivalent to a shocking 11 global hectares per person (ghpp). To put that into perspective, the USA accounted for 10ghpp, while the world average registered at 2.1ghpp.

As part of ongoing eco-programmes the UAE has joined the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, an initiative by the US Green Building Council (USGBC), which provides a set of standards for environmentally sustainable construction.

The country currently ranks eighth of the 47 countries in the programme committed to better building practises.

Green legislation

'The construction industry uses almost 40% of global resources in one way or another, including almost 17% of fresh water,' says Mario Seneviratne, CEO of Green Techno and board member of the World Green Building Council. 'By making use of sustainable designs we can save 30% of energy, 35% to 50% of CO2 emissions, 35% to 50% of water and up to 90% of waste.'

The problem with implementing foreign benchmarks in the region is that they fail to take local specifications into consideration, making the adaptations of international rating systems difficult to accomplish.

In a bid to tackle this Abu Dhabi's Urban Planning Council recently launched its own system, named after the Arabic word for 'sustainability'. The rating tool will be developed over the coming months - taking suitable parts from global standards throughout world markets - before being formalised and implemented on projects across the emirate.

If successful, the system may then be rolled out across the UAE.

Additionally some of the guidelines will be incorporated into legislation, the first time that a government has made such an environmental standards tool compulsory. This fact alone sends a strong signal to developers in the booming real estate sector - the future is coming, and it's looking green.

See also:
Region takes measures to fight the food crisis
GCC response to Earth Day shows changing awareness