Sustainability and recession major challenge for construction industry, says expert

Speaking on the sidelines of this year's Cityscape event, Dr. Mohammed Dulaimi, the Director of Research and Innovation, Abu Dhabi International Centre for Organisational Excellence, and a senior lecturer in Project Management at The British University in Dubai believes that construction-based companies need to change their mindsets and rethink current practices to keep afloat.

With the government's strict regulations in sustainable building and priority in sustainable management of the environment, sub developers and contractors need to come up with new products and re-evaluating their designs and concepts at a time when they need also to address the client current concern of the cost of such projects.

"Whenever you try to deliver something different without changing mindsets, tools, and processes, your end result will end up more expensive with serious integration problem of the old ideas with the new ideas. Companies need to change but think long term and avoid cutting corners,"

said Dulaimi.

In addition to the new environmental regulations, the global economic crisis has also had a strong impact on the growth and development of construction projects across the Middle East.

"If you look at the Asian crisis and take Singapore as an example, it is evident that the construction industry is one of the areas that took the longest to fully recover from an economic downturn. The first companies to emerge from the recession are the ones who are able to provide more innovative solutions that will give the confidence to their clients to invest. Our clients are now asking themselves what investment I have to make that can help my business recover. Evidence from around the world show that during recession many good new ideas emerged and helped companies and industry be more successful.

"The real estate and construction industries need to be more innovative - from mindset and design, to material sourcing - more time and attention has to focus on long term achievements, quality, and practicality. For example, we need to examine whether switching from a glass building concept to a more traditional design is one way to meet sustainability standards and lower costs," added Dulaimi.

The British University in Dubai's Master programme in Project Management is offered n partnership with the University of Manchester and is designed to provide students with the practical skills and theoretical background to become a reflective practitioner able to initiate and implement change and make valuable contributions to industry and society.

Applications are vast, and include industry sectors ranging from the Oil and Gas, IT, Banking and Finance, and Construction.

In addition, the University is soon to launch an accredited Masters programme in Construction Law & Dispute Resolution, addressing the completion of resolving differences between the many paths involved in successful construction.

Photo caption: Dr. Mohammed Dulaimi, the Director of Research and Innovation, Abu Dhabi International Centre for Organisational Excellence, and a senior lecturer in Project Management at The British University in Dubai