Copper association chief earmarks UAE potential

Regulators are scrutinising the efficiency potential of copper, says Kane

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Copper and its building uses can be integral to the drive towards energy efficiency, and the UAE has great potential to drive change, according to the president of the International Copper Association, Francis J Kane.

Speaking to ConstructionWeek on the second day of the industry body’s annual Asia Copper Forum in Dubai, Kane says the increased dialogue with local regulators and manufacturers represents a positive set of steps towards improved usage of the metal and its myriad of appliances.

“The Emirates has excellent efficiency potential,” he says. “Up until recently this perhaps hadn’t been addressed due to the resources available, but now there is a high level focus on energy efficiency.”

As head of the apex global body promoting the use of copper, Kane explains that regulators have been receptive to the ICA’s approach of presenting research gleaned from other parts of the world in order to put the GCC’s understanding and standards into context.

“As a professional services organization we develop and disseminate research to decision makers for issues such as electrical safety,” he says. “Regulators are particularly interested in energy efficiency, and copper’s efficiency as a conductor of heat. They are interested in building standards, and often want to see a cross-section of copper wires. They are also interested in the presence of copper in drinking water, which internationally need to have a maximum copper content of 2 milligrams per litre.

The ICA is working with industry bodies such as Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA), with whom it signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2008, to promote the implementation of global standards of safety for the local market.

This is particularly relevant for the production quality of cables, and the body has established a fruitful relationship with local provider DUCAB to help this promotion.

Around 600,000 tonnes of copper is used in the Middle East every year, Kane explains, with the building sector the biggest consumer.

Sixty-five percent of this is refined – “that is, new metal” – with the remaining 35% in scrap. Indeed, that the metal is efficiently recyclable is one of its key attributes he argues. Most copper is imported from other parts of the world apart from smatterings of production in Iran, KSA and Egypt.

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He says the region’s 35% recycling rate is very good compared with a global average of around 20%. However, he qualifies, “this is perhaps a misleading figure overall as it depends on the product. Plumbing tubes can be made entirely from scrap, whereas electrical appliances need to be 100% new copper”.

He explains that 60-65% of copper’s use is in electrical and thermal conducting. Seventy percent of that conducting goes into air conditioning, and it is in this area that the ICA sees both the biggest challenges and opportunities to bolster efficiency levels. “With 70% going into air-con, it seemed a logical starting point,” he says.

“Air conditioning is a heat exchange. We are trying to introduce a standard for air conditioning to make it more efficient, with less demand of the grid. One technology developed is

Round Tube Bluefin air conditioning, whereby we’ve been able to reduce the tube size within the units using multi-part or multi channel tubes. This improves the surface area and increases the efficiency of the heat transfer.”

He acknowledges that it is a highly competitive market for copper as metal of choice for manufacturers of items that can be found throughout buildings. Plastic competes with copper tubes in plumbing. Aluminium competes with the metal in electrical appliances. Copper competes with stainless steel for construction hardware and elements of architecture, and competes with zinc for certain elements of roofing.

As head of a global copper body he is understandably firm on the superiority of the metal for energy efficiency and its reuse.

“Aluminium is worse than copper for carbon efficiency as it takes more energy to make and has less effective conducting.”

The body itself has 31 offices in 24 countries, with around US $90 million in funding.

“Operationally we’re very close to key markets, and have own processes and control to ensure the promotion of standards for copper. It’s my first time in Dubai, and holding the review here this year is recognition of the work done to engage across the chain. At a local level we have 350 projects partners, and these standards will in the end be industry-driven.”