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How green is the industry at the moment?
Mohamad Nasreldin, GM, Green Builders answers The government is currently educating people and industries, so we’re definitely on the right track but that’s not sufficient. People still take time to react, so new technologies and best practices need to be enforced.
Veeru Veeramani, sales and marketing director, Ruud Lighting Arabia answers The awareness of the major issues is definitely improving, even if it’s still not 100%. However, sustainability is becoming well-supported, in actions as well as words. People know what is required and they’re pursuing those changes.
How responsive has the industry been to your product?
Mohamad Nasreldin answers Structural Insulated Panels (Sips) are a brand new product for the Middle East market and most people are astonished that green wood is now so technically advanced. Everyone I talk to seems happy to discover such an environmentally good building material.
Veeru Veeramani answers Very responsive. Invariably, anybody interested in energy saving enjoys finding out about our LED lighting, but last year, maybe only two in every 100 were in a position to buy. Now, that percentage has increased to ten in 100.
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What type of project does your product work best on?
Mohamad Nasreldin answers For the time being, we’ll limit the number of storeys to three or four until there’s confidence in the material, but in the US Sips has been used on 10-storey buildings. Sips can be used on villas, commercial properties and offices. In the US, they’ve enacted green wood laws to create safe and healthy schools for our children.
Veeru Veeramani answers Our LEDs have external applications, so they’re ideal for street lighting, flood lighting, car parks, security lights, canopies at petrol stations, for example, or under deck lighting in tunnels.
Does your product require increased attention at the design stage?
Mohamad Nasreldin answers For architects, the design is exactly the same with Sips as it is for concrete or steel. For structural designers, it’s even easier. We use a tabular approach; wind, life cycle...it’s entirely prescriptive – you simply decide the Sips thickness accordingly.
Veeru Veeramani answers If LEDs can be implemented at the design stage it’s so much better as the client can make such great savings on cables, panel boards...the earlier the better and we’re happy to help from the concept stage onwards.
How does your product stand up financially?
Mohamad Nasreldin answers Firstly, Sips is 10% cheaper than concrete but then there’s the whole issue of speed and manpower. Just 12 labourers working in two shifts could complete the superstructure of a villa - walls, floor and roof - in just 24 hours.
Veeru Veeramani answers Take Al Sowwah Island, Abu Dhabi, for example, where they replaced luminar lamps with our LEDs along 5km of tunnels. The additional cost for this was AED1.9 million, but on day one they saved AED300,000 on cables, AED400,000 on not having to seperately light the pedestrian walkway, so AED 1.2million net.
What happens at the decommissioning stage?
Mohamad Nasreldin answers Well, that’s exactly the point of Sips. Our product is 100% recyclable – every inch of our buildings can be reused, once a building has been decommissioned. That’s why, we describe the building’s lifecycle as cradle to cradle.
Veeru Veeramani answers Well, our LEDs are completely recyclable without any difficulty at all, which makes them stand out from traditional lighting solutions. There’s no mercury or heavy metals being dumped back into the earth, which is exactly what we all want.
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