Building for the long-term

In the midst of a crippling recession, how practical are sustainable goals for the world’s most notoriously oil-rich region? By Lucy Douglas

Sustainability is nothing new for the construction industry. It has been the word on the lips of developers, architects and engineers across the globe for several years now, and the countries of the Middle East have been increasingly putting themselves at the forefront of this growing market. With Gulf economies looking to dramatically reduce their carbon emissions - which currently rate among the highest in the world - sustainable infrastructure has proved a logical venture to pursue. Speaking at the Doha Green 2009 Conference, Mario Seneviratne, Director of Dubai-based sustainability consultants Green Technologies, said that green buildings could potentially reduce carbon emissions by 33 to 39 percent and could "significantly help in tackling environment problems".

With various Gulf states competing to be seen as the global leader in this field, an impressive number of mega-projects have been commissioned across the region in recent years, each claiming to be bigger, better and above all greener than the last. However, in the wake of the global financial crisis, the UAE alone has seen some 953 projects worth an estimated US$400 billion shelved or altogether cancelled. With financing a major issue, it begs the question: is sustainability still something developers can afford in today's difficult market?

The answer remains something of a conundrum. For a region that boasts such tremendous oil wealth, sceptics suggest that the expensive pursuit of alternative energy sources and sustainability are low priorities in a time of recession, even for the economies that have suffered relatively little. Saudi Arabia's recent plans to spend US$170 billion over the next five years on traditional oil refining projects highlights the underlying caution of investing money in less certain sustainable ventures.

Road to recovery

With the global economic situation still on its way to recovery, investors are understandably approaching projects in a much more tentative manner than before. According to Thom Bohlen, Chief Technical Officer at the Middle East Centre for Sustainable Development, one of the biggest challenges facing his organization today is that project budgets remain tight. And while conceding that many clients are still unwilling to shell out the extra upfront costs required for sustainable materials, Bohlen believes that developers not only can, but must, continue to meet sustainable guidelines if they are to stand any chance of success in the long-term. In fact, he maintains that while initial costs remain high, these are often mitigated over the entire lifecycle of a project - especially once operation is taken into account. "There is a growing realisation in the development community that there are advantages to building green, and moreover it is necessary to keep up to date with the industry in order to succeed in today's market," he says.

It is easy to see Bohlen's point. Despite huge numbers of shelved projects, sustainable developments are popping up like mushrooms across the Gulf. And while some local developers in the region are still approaching expensive sustainable ventures with trepidation, influential government initiatives combined with interest from leading international firms are encouraging a continued focus on sustainability. Mega-projects such as the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Saudi Arabia and Masdar City in Abu Dhabi - both of which have the concept of sustainable development at the heart of the master-planning process - are evidence that sustainability is much more than simply a fashionable feature for modern infrastructure.

Indeed, for Sudhir Jambhekar, senior partner at the global architecture company FXFOWLE, sustainability is now integral to the design process. "When a new client comes in, one of the first things we do is talk about the design and sustainability aspects, and how they are intertwined. Without sustainable features the design would be incomplete." FXFOWLE is widely considered one of the pioneers of sustainability in the architectural world. The firm is responsible for designing the world's first completely sustainable building - the Conde Nast Building in Time Square, New York - and is currently working on the 1.6 million square meter KAFD in north Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Jambhekar is not concerned about the effects of the recession on the movement toward sustainability. "I don't think it has affected it much," he says. "It has just affected business in general." He concedes that a number of FXFOWLE's projects in Dubai have been put on hold for the time being, but emphasises that sustainability is still a major concern, with designers continuing to push for it in the projects that are going ahead. Moreover, he is keen to point out that overall costs involved are no longer significantly higher than traditional ways of working. "Groups like LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) are now coming up with more factual data to suggest that the cost of doing sustainable work is really not excessively high," he explains. "They're also coming up with much more definitive data to suggest that if buildings are more sustainable, owners are able to get extra money on rent or resale as well." Jambhekar estimates that a sustainable development will cost around three to six percent more than a non-sustainable project but generate around 10-11 percent more return on investment, making them a much more cost-effective long-term choice for developers.

In addition, sustainable features are likely to be attractive to prospective occupants, whether residential or corporate. One of the greatest benefits for an occupant is the potential saving that can be made on utility costs. Low water-use plumbing features, for example, will cut a household's basic water costs as well as being socially responsible in the arid climate of the Gulf.

Challenges of the Middle East

The physical conditions of the Gulf region certainly pose a number of challenges for developers working towards sustainability. For example, the high temperatures and hot winds dictate that large-scale cooling systems are a necessity for many developments, while desert conditions mean a scarcity of fresh water supplies.

Water shortages have been a pressing concern in the region for a number of years. The Middle East has a mere one percent of the world's available fresh water shared among five percent of the world's population, and it is predicted that by 2025 the countries of the Arabian peninsula will be using more than double the amount of water naturally available to them. Indeed, the necessity for fresh water supplies in the region generated a huge amount of interest from American and European water companies just prior to the recession, and firms such as German company Berlinwasser and American utility giant General Electric have invested billions of dollars into water reuse and desalination technologies across the Gulf in order to capitalise on steadily increasing demand.

Such projects are becoming increasingly commonplace. In order to increase both energy and water efficiency, Saudi research and development institute the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) is joining forces with technology giant IBM to develop a solar-powered water desalination plant. The collaboration hopes that the plant will generate some 30,000 cubic meters of water per day to serve around 100,000 people in the city of Al Khaji using ultra-high concentrator photovoltaic technology.

Indeed, the hot desert climate is not without its rewards. The Gulf is a prime region for solar energy, and consequently designers and developers are incorporating features such as solar powered external lighting systems and water heating systems into their projects. The number of larger scale solar power plants in the region, however, is still relatively small in comparison to regions that do not benefit from such an abundance of light. This is largely due to the extreme costs involved in the development of this kind of technology. While there are large-scale solar initiatives currently underway, the costs are proving to be a hindrance to their development. Masdar Power, the unit of the renewable energy company behind the mega project, is developing a 100MW concentrated solar power plant in Abu Dhabi, while in Masdar City itself, solar rooftop panels have been incorporated into the building designs to generate electricity. However, plans to maximise the use of this resource have run into problems because of what Nawal Al Hosani, Associate Director of Sustainability to the project's property development group, calls the "ridiculous" costs involved. Though across the region solar technologies are still being explored, the issue of cost is providing a significant obstacle during this time of economic recovery.

Future history

While the construction industry has slowed in the region as a result of the economic downturn, the benefits of sustainability are so great that developers cannot afford to ignore them. Political influence surrounding this subject is huge, and the governments of many Middle Eastern countries have made sustainability a central concern in their plans for economic recovery. With states such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Qatar all competing to become major players on the world stage, their long-term government initiatives - Plan 2030, Strategic Plan 2015 and National Vision 2030 respectively - all emphasise the importance of sustainability to economic growth. This is largely based around the common concern that economies established on finite fossil fuel resources must endeavour to diversify in order to remain strong in the long term.

Jambhekar points out that state leadership has proved to be one of the most significant influences on the national approach to sustainability. "In Dubai, for example," he explains, "Sheikh Mohammed has made public statements about his desire for Dubai to be totally sustainable, and that makes a big difference to public feeling because it comes from the top." Similarly in Qatar, the National Vision of Sheikh Hamad and Sheikha Mozah aims to transform the nation into one capable of sustaining its own development by 2030, and this initiative has inspired organisations such as Dohaland to work towards a fully sustainable future.

One of Dohaland's primary aims for its projects is to match the existing aesthetic and design of Doha while still ensuring sustainability. Unlike more flamboyant Gulf states such as Dubai, skyscrapers are not the favoured residential spaces in Qatar's capital, and developers seek to emulate the traditional living compounds. Dohaland's director of projects, Mohammad Al Marri, believes that it is imperative to combine cultural traditions and contemporary sustainable ideals. "When you live in the desert you cannot really afford to waste resources in any way," he said at the inaugural Doha Green and Sustainability Summit 2010. "Efficiency was paramount for our ancestors, and it was reflected in their architecture and the systems they put in place."

Incorporating traditional techniques for cooling or heating a building is a growing trend in the development of sustainable infrastructure across the region. Basic features such as the orientation of a building in relation to the sun are taken into account in the initial stages of design. Even cutting-edge initiatives such as Masdar are using age-old techniques along side pioneering technologies in revolutionary developments. In terms of the basic city layout, streets will be set on a diagonal in order to block some of the hot winds that are generated in the surrounding desert and maximise cooler breezes at night. There are also plans to use traditional wind towers that draw warm air across water, cooling it in order to provide indoor ventilation across the city. This passive ventilation system can reduce the operating energy use of a building by more than 60 percent.

Jumbhekar reiterates the importance of using such methods when designing a new development. He emphasises the obligation that architects have to their clients to make sure they fully understand the climatic conditions, the issues surrounding their resources and their historical influences, while still ensuring long-term sustainability of the designs.

"It's a balancing act between learning from history, interpreting it and then trying to look to the future," he explains. "I truly believe that as an architect I have an obligation to this world to present the time that we live in now."

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King Abdullah Financial District

First announced in 2006, the King Abdullah Financial District is set to be the Middle East's first financial district on a scale to match the major global financial centres. Due to be completed next year, the King Abdullah Financial District is a 1.6 million square meter development in north Riyadh. When it is completed, the KAFD is set to have more than 3 million square meters of floor space, which is designed to include premier office space, residential units, a financial academy, recreational facilities, retail units and religious spaces. Designed by New York based architect firm, FXFOWLE, the KAFD incorporates various fundamental features of sustainability. The buildings of the development are oriented in such a manner so as to optimize the climatic situation of the site, specifically the sun and the wind conditions. All the buildings incorporate large-scale highly efficient facades that are designed to reduce energy.