Top of the green list

Tom Smith: Energy and water consumption need to be reduced.

Reduction of energy use, water conservation and solar technology are all aspects of sustainable building, but which issue should be considered first? WSP Group global development director Tom Smith gives his opinion on the matter and discusses how his company is going green.

In which sector of the construction industry are you gaining the most business?
We are increasingly active in the infrastructure and community development markets. The investment focus for many governments is dealing with changing demographics and the need for housing, jobs and infrastructure, both hard and soft: Hard relates to transport infrastructure and soft relates to hospitals and schools.

Which projects are you currently working on?
We have a mixture of building and infrastructure projects – in Abu Dhabi we are working on Masdar and the Mina Tunnel projects – across the region, we are working for MAF on a number of retail and mixed development projects in Egypt, Syria, Dubai and Fujairah.

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Which developments are you involved in at Masdar?
We are currently working on a mix of residential and commercial buildings. A lot of attention has been given to all aspects of the design and construction of the buildings to make them as sustainable as possible. The building design has focused a lot on reducing energy demand.

They will consume approximately 75% to 80% less energy than is currently consumed by typical buildings in Abu Dhabi. The buildings will also be net energy producers by including a significant amount of photovoltaic panels of the roofs and some facades, as well as using solar thermal technology to generate hot water.

What are the most important trends in green building at the moment?
A very interesting trend in green buildings in the Middle East is the development of regulations and locally developed green building assessment and rating schemes.

Abu Dhabi is well advanced with the development of its Estidama Pearl rating scheme and has started to introduce some elements of the Estidama thinking and approach into the planning approval managed by the Urban Planning Council.

In addition, the Department of Municipal Affairs in Abu Dhabi is introducing the Abu Dhabi Energy Efficiency Code setting mandatory standards for all buildings as part of the introduction of a comprehensive and integrated suite of building codes based on internationally recognised codes of practice.

Other examples across the region include the consideration of green building regulations in Dubai and the development of the Qatar Sustainability Assessment Scheme by Barwa Real Estate Company and Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company.

Which aspects of sustainable building should be prioritised?
I believe the top two priorities are water and energy conservation, because demand across the region is projected to continue to increase significantly, existing supply capacity is increasingly constrained and new capacity is expensive to develop (in both economic and environmental terms).

For energy, the clear priority should be on designing to minimise demand before considering the installation of photovoltaic panels. Paying attention to issues such as building insulation, U-values, glazing, shading and infiltration will generally be much more cost effective than installing solar panels.

There is huge potential for solar energy in this region but the subsidised cost of electricity and lack of significant policy or financial support from government for renewables means that uptake is likely to remain fairly limited.

There are also significant savings that can be made in buildings through relatively straightforward measures such as specifying water efficient fixtures and fittings. One of the other challenging areas is the use of water for landscaping and balancing the need to make the most efficient use of water, with the desire for pleasant and comfortable open and public spaces.

About Tom Smith
Smith holds responsibility for the development of major projects with WSP’s global clients. In 2009 the Global Business Growth Team (GBGT) was established and he became head of the department. The aim of the team is to identify, bid for, win and deliver the projects that will make a impact on WSP group in respect of their sector, size and profile.