Green vision

John Vernon and Rodney van Eck believe that light-reflecting building materials are the way forward.

New green building materials are being introduced in the Middle East and they couldn’t be unveiled at a better time for the region’s developers.

The biggest building can make a country stand out from its neighbours, but in terms of the environment the biggest isn’t always the friendliest tenant on the block. Over the past 20 years, the Middle East has grown both outwards and upwards but somewhere along the way some developers realised the effect construction is having on the environment.

Certain building materials cannot take the severe climate in this region. The significant amount of light and heat we receive is absorbed into roofs and walls and buildings are kept warm, thus more air conditioning will ultimately be needed.

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Further more, UV rays can break down materials and after a short period maintenance will be required, which will lead to additional labour costs and wastage for a construction company.

Coating products also give off emissions that damage the environment and others require a significant amount of water to produce – something which is of course a limited resource in this part of the world.

Now it is catch up time and as ever, the Middle East is aiming high, but this time it is towards a greener ambition.

“With green building and construction coming into the spotlight, we are optimistic that the Middle East will soon be an active ground for a green construction boom,” says executive director for Tiger Profiles and Insulation, Bernard Nasr.

From January last year HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, stated that all new buildings must meet strict international guidelines for construction.

These guidelines include the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (Leeds), a third-party rating system developed by the US Green Building Council.

With this system, a building is rated on criteria including materials and resources and for each condition that is matched, a developer gains points which eventually add up to a building being certified with a bronze, silver, gold or platinum credential.

So far, the only buildings in the Middle East to be certified are Dubai’s district cooling plant, which has a gold certification and Pacific Control Systems in Dubai, which has the ultimate credential of platinum.

The Sika Group, a manufacturer of speciality chemicals in the construction industry is one company that provides products that will help the construction sector gain more Leeds points to raise green standards in the region.