Green building guru

Samuel Keehn
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Samuel Keehn, LEED AP and Environmental & Sustainability Manager, Energy Management Services (EMS), gave us 15 minutes to talk about all things green

Founded in Jordan in 1991, EMS started as an energy services company and eventually grew into the Middle East’s first energy efficiency, water efficiency and green building consulting firm.

Originally, EMS focused on existing buildings and, in doing so, started to notice MEP systems and how over-designed they had become in the region. The EMS team realised very quickly that the buildings they were trying to make ‘green’ were fundamentally inefficient.

Twenty years later, the industry has gotten to the point where clients are inviting green consultants to be involved during design. Currently, EMS consultants are involved at the pre-, mid- and end-design stages of building throughout the region.

In the simplest terms you can, define sustainability for us?

SK: My definition of sustainability is very similar to the one that is generally accepted. I see it as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet the needs of all species. Most people only talk about sustainability in human terms but, I don’t think that’s entirely accurate.

How did the green movement gather momentum in the Gulf?

SK: Three years ago, green buildings took off in the Middle East. That’s when business for us began to skyrocket. There’s a lot of talk about water and energy efficiency in buildings but there’s a lot more to green buildings. Water and energy are important components but they’re certainly not the whole package.

What is the whole package?

SK: Regardless of whether you’re talking about BREEAM, LEED, Green Star or whatever, there are five main components: First, is the site, which is about connecting people and creating density; Water efficiency; Energy efficiency; Materials, which means using things that are locally sourced and/or recycled; and indoor air quality.

With so much information available, if I’m Joe Developer or Jane Owner, which one do I use?

SK: Honestly, you don’t get a lot of options. There are a lot of options for building sustainability assessment tools (BSATs) but where you build will generally dictate which one you use. Is that the best way to go about it? Probably not. But, it’s the way the market evolved here. The regulations haven’t yet caught up with the pace of building.

Why is that?

SK: You’ve got to remember, the green movement happened overnight here. No one was ready for it; not architects, not engineers, not contractors and not developers. The industry wasn’t ready but Sheikh Mohammed [bin Rashid al Maktoum] wanted to do it, he issued his decree in 2007, and it just happened.

Keep in mind, whether you use LEED or whatever, there aren’t a lot of quantifiable differences between BSATs. Estidama and BREEAM Gulf have a slightly more local approach in that they try to deal with the Gulf context specifically but they’re all pretty similar. A notable exception is integrated design. LEED, BREEAM and all the others talk about integrated design but Estidama actually requires it. That’s a very quantifiable difference.

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SK: LEED has more name recognition than any of them. For those involved in the building industry, LEED is a high-end brand. And as such, there are definite financial benefits to aligning oneself with that BSAT and that brand.

Such as?

SK: Lower operating costs, for example. Improved air quality, lower insurance premiums, higher occupancy, higher market values and future capital, productivity gains—did you know that a 1% gain in productivity is worth USD $20 per square metre?—reduced life cycle costs and higher satisfaction for owners and occupants.

As a green building consultant, do you get tired of the green washing that seems so prevalent here?

SK: Absolutely. There are a lot of false claims. There are a lot of products that claim to be able to add green points to a building but actually just add cost. The way we deal with that is to ask for documentation. If you don’t have documentation that proves a certain product comes with specific benefits, it’s not green as far as we’re concerned. If more consultants continue raising these questions, maybe the market will change.

Remember, the green movement happened very very quickly. In Europe or the US, the green building movement is 30, 40 or 50 years old; here, it’s three years old. So, yes, sometimes it’s easy to get frustrated at the green washing but you’ve go to keep it in perspective and see it for what it is.

What really bothers me is when consultants start green washing themselves. That’s really frustrating. As a green consultant, we’re supposed to be serving the industry. Our role, as I see it, is halfway to being regulators. I understand green washing from manufacturers, but from a consultant, it’s really shameful.

What is the easiest way to achieve sustainability in a building?

SK: Get everyone involved as early as possible. That is absolutely key. There’s a lot of copy/paste design here where owners or contractors will try to add green components to a building after the fact. That’s pointless. The way to achieve a green building is to get everyone around a table and start at the beginning.

‘Stovepipe design’ simply won’t work for the industry. Stovepipe design is when you’ve got the architect doing his design, the MEP doing his design and the consultant doing a third one. Those guys need to be talking. They cannot have a vertical focus. They need to be having the same conversation; the earlier the better.