< PreviousINNOVATIVE SURFACES 10 CONSTRUCTION WEEK MAY 2021WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM Eddy Abou Khalil, Regional Director, Middle East and India at Cosentino speaks with Construction Week’s Disha Dadlani about the company’s innovative surfaces offerings and growing presence There is no ‘one-size-fits- all’ approach in the world of façades. Faç ade types, fixing systems, material sizes, and thickness can vary as per the structure it covers. Cosentino, the Spain- headquartered global leader of architectural surfaces, puts this into practice through its engineered ultracompact surface Dekton, suiting different façade applications and projects. “As a protective architectural skin, Dekton is an extremely durable large format surface that can not only last the lifetime of a project, but it also gives architects and designers a lot of creative freedom to innovate,” says Eddy Abou Khalil, who is the Regional Director, Middle East & India at Cosentino Middle East, which is the company’s regional headquarters located in Dubai Design District. Carving Middle East presence While Cosentino has been active in the Middle East for more than two decades, the company began strengthening its presence in the region in 2017 with the opening of its flagship showroom – Cosentino City Dubai. Speaking about Cosentino’s projects, Abou Khalil says: “We have worked on projects of various scales and diverse segments from luxury residential to hospitality and commercial across the Middle East and India. Recent projects include W Hotel on The Palm, Jumeirah Gate, Emaar Properties’ Beach Vista and Sunrise Bay in Dubai and Aldar Properties’ Water’s Edge and Mayan. We are currently working on a 50,000m2 external façade for the Qaryat al Hidd development, a residential project on Saadiyat Island for Saadiyat Development and Investment Company (SDIC).” Outside of UAE, Khalil shares that Cosentino Middle East has worked on significant commercial projects in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, Cosentino has plans to establish a dedicated unit in Saudi, starting with the appointment of a Country Manager. “Historically, we have been involved in the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD). Apart from that, we are working on several hospitality projects including the renovation of The Four Seasons Hotel in Riyadh and bidding for external faç ades of 80,000m2 for five hotels in the Kingdom. With the new unit in Saudi Arabia, we expect to see further opportunities,” he says. Cosentino also covers India from GOING BEYOND THE SURFACE WITH COSENTINO Cosentino has worked on kitchen countertops and 25,000m2 of ooring at W Hotel in The Palm, Dubai [Image: Supplied]INNOVATIVE SURFACES WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COMMAY 2021 CONSTRUCTION WEEK 11 its Middle East office. “In India, we have two partners, and hopefully, by the third quarter of 2021, we will be appointing our first Cosentino team member there to further our presence,” Abou Khalil adds. Making surfaces sustainable Cosentino focuses on two key products for the Middle East region: Dekton and Silestone. Dekton by Cosentino is manufactured using high temperature and 25,000 tonne pressure to transform inorganic material into an ultracompact surface with unique properties: ultra-resistant to scratch, stains, humidity, ultraviolet rays, zero porosity and non-combustibility. The surface is also available in a range of nature inspired designs. “Recent improvements in the production capabilities of the Dekton line has allowed us to go even further to achieve high resolution, hyper realistic printing, very close to emulating the look of natural stone,” Abou Khalil says. Manufactured in large-format slabs in five different thicknesses, Dekton is the preferred surface for a wide range of applications, both indoors and outdoors, including façades, paving, cladding, worktops, and more. “Dekton’s technical characteristics also make it perfect for projects that seek energy efficiency. Its application help projects achieve LEED Green Building certification credits,” says Abou Khalil. Silestone is a Cosentino brand of quartz surfaces, made of more than 90% extraordinarily hard minerals. It offers durability, easy cleaning, high colour consistency, beauty and shine. Both products rank high in terms of sustainability. Dekton has earned carbon-neutrality for its entire lifecycle, as part of Cosentino’s commitment to sustainability and a circular economic model. Cosentino is ramping up its efforts to ensure sustainability milestones for Silestone, Abou Khalil confirms. “In 2020, Cosentino made a major change to the material composition of Silestone by significantly reducing the presence of silica, thus making it more sustainable. The new version of Silestone is called HybriQ +.” Faç ades and flooring at the Expo “The Spanish Pavilion at Expo 2020, designed in partnership with the architecture team of Amann- Canovas-Maruri is making use of Cosentino’s Dekton for façade, interior wall cladding, kitchen countertops and flooring, while Silestone is used for furniture and bathroom countertops,” says Abou Khalil. The company undertook similar works for the Spanish Pavilion at the Expo Milano in 2015. “Cosentino’s materials were used [at the Expo Milano in 2015] for flooring and countertops.” The Spanish Pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai, has enabled Cosentino to “show the versatility of its products,” he says. Commenting on the status of the façades and flooring for the pavilion, Abou Khalil adds: “The installation of the flooring has begun. Most of the material is here, and some of it will be coming from Spain.” Overcoming challenges Challenging projects make for great stories. Narrating one such façade construction milestone for a 22m man-made waterfall in Australia, Abou Khalil says: “Granite was the original choice for the façade of Urban Waterfall – the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere.” However, the designers of this project quickly understood the limitations of the material: granite is too heavy, porous, requires high- maintenance and because it comes in smaller standard sizes, it would show too many joints which would compromise on the aesthetics.” “Dekton overcomes these limitations, due to its technical superiority. Plus, its large format allows for a sleeker design with fewer joints,” Abou Khalil says. Cosentino’s most unique façade projects around the world – notes Abou Khalil – includes Leonardo Tower, the tallest building in Africa and Toha Tower in Tel Aviv. He concludes: “Regionally, architecture and design firms and developers are becoming aware of the capabilities of Dekton for façades and this has led them to specify it for some recent projects. “Together, we can build incredible façade projects in the Middle East and beyond.” Eddy Abou Khalil, Regional Director, Middle East & India at Cosentino [Image: Supplied] Cosentino worked on the external façade for the Toha Tower in Tel Aviv [Image: Fernando Alda for Cosentino]12 CONSTRUCTION WEEK JULY 2020WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEE WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM SITE VISIT Construction Week's Editor Ashley Williams talks to Khansaheb and Turner & Townsend about the 44,000m2 extension of Atlantis The Palm’s Aquaventure Waterpark and gains insight into “getting the project over the line through collaboration” The expansion of Atlantis The Palm's Aquaventure Waterpark was completed in February 2021[Image: ITP Media Group] The Aquaventure Waterpark is “far more impressive than it looks”MAY 2021 CONSTRUCTION WEEK 13 SITE VISIT From developing luxury properties to massive malls and dazzling skyscrapers, Dubai has come a long way from its beginnings as a fishing village decades ago and continues to progress by building even bigger and better facilities. But while the global pandemic has caused huge disruption to operations worldwide, this has not relented Dubai’s quest to continue breaking records and demonstrates its capabilities of striving even through a health crisis. One of the major success stories for Dubai was the completion of the significant expansion of the existing Aquaventure Waterpark, at the Atlantis Hotel, Palm Jumeriah. Completing the project in February 2021, the new part of the waterpark is approximately 44,000m2 and the expansion has increased Atlantis Aquaventure Waterpark by a third in size. The expansion comprises 28 new rides featuring the world’s tallest waterslide of its kind, the longest family water coaster in the world, the tallest vertical drop body slide in the Middle East and the region’s first cliff jumping experience. Other new features for the waterpark include eight new food kiosks, 11 additional cabanas, eight pools, and an action river that is 500m long and 1m deep complete with wave machine and water jet propulsion, 14km of process piping, 1km of beachfront and 110 water pumps. Speaking exclusively to Construction Week during a site visit of the project, the stakeholders overseeing the expansion provided insights on the start to finish of the project. Khansaheb were the main contractor for the project, which was spearheaded by Jason Sams, General Manager for Construction, Darren Cook, the Contracts Manager, and Rajan Subramaniapillai, the Senior MEP Coordinator. Other stakeholders included Turner & Townsend’s Senior Project Manager, Clive Parsons, who were the Project Management Consultant for the expansion. “In terms of the project, we were involved ahead of project delivery from a pre-construction phase and involved with the planning and buildability from the tendering side. We went on to win the tender and for the project, I supported Darren and the delivery team in delivering the project,” explains Sams. Parsons offers more detail on Turner & WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM RUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM Townsend’s participation of the project. “I joined the project at the concept phase, which required going through the design phases and the procurement of the land reclamation contractor, then the tendering and procurement of the main contractor, which is Khansaheb. I was also responsible for leading the project through its delivery until the handover,” said Parsons. But with so many eye catching features of the waterpark which is proving to be a real hit amongst tourists, the stakeholders revealed that this doesn’t tell “half of the story” and the view of Aquaventure “belies” the work down in the ground. This is led by Khansaheb’s Senior MEP coordinator, Rajan Subramaniapillai, who was responsible for installing the 14km of process piping and 110 water pumps across the expansion. “The logistics were the most challenging part of the project, while forming the deep trenches for the pipework alongside the slide installation operations. The logistics of the extension was so critical. We took the space for the slide contractor early in the process,” said Subramaniapillai. Elaborating on Subramaniapillai’s point, Cook explains why features such as the pump room should be recognised more for Darren Cook: " The MEP and technical aspects of this project have been very complex and challenging in terms of logistics and impact as a fast-track programme. The 14km of pipework involved deep excavation and included process piping which feeds the filtration and slide water supply" The waterpark expansion features 14km of process piping and 110 water pumps [Image: ITP Media Group]EXPO EXCLUSIVE 14 CONSTRUCTION WEEK MAY 2021WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM this type of development. “When you go around the project, it looks very impressive but this doesn’t tell half of the story. Most of the story is the features that Rajan and the team looked after where you have all the service piping and the pumps that are buried away in the ground and basements,” says Cook. “The MEP and technical aspects of this project has been very complex and challenging in terms of logistics and impact as part of a fast-track programme.” He adds: “The 14km of pipework involved deep excavation and included process piping which feeds the filtration and slide water supply.” Elaborating on the challenges, Khansaheb and Turner & Townsend revealed that COVID-19 was among the main obstacles, but also discussed how the busiest period of developing the project took place in high summer. “We peaked around July-August with around 1,200-1,300 men on-site, but this peaked at probably the wrong time as working in the summer on The Palm is significantly harder to other parts of Dubai in terms of the humidity,” said Cook. Staying aligned with Khansaheb’s health and safety protocols, Sams explains that the contractor put in place its ‘heat illness prevention’ measures for their workforce. “There were a few calls made where we had to put the workers back on the bus as the conditions, temperature and humidity was so challenging that we had to look after the workers. We had air conditioned pods on the park.” For 2020, Khansaheb revealed that they recorded over 24 million man hours without LTI across the business and 2.8 million manhours for the Aquaventure expansion. “We have a great safety record and we reported no accidents across the business in 2020, and Aquaventure was a huge part of that workload last year,” said Sams. While construction continued as planned on the site, the industry has had to quickly adapt and evolve to the growing use of technology to maintain business operations. Khansaheb and Turner & Townsend went into detail about how they used time lapse technology and drones to effectively monitor the progress of the project. the site, so if anyone starts to show signs of heat stress, then they can enter the pod to cool down very quickly,” explains Sams. “Heat prevention plans are quite well rehearsed within Khansaheb and they feature in our health and safety procedures.” Supporting Khansaheb’s approach to the project during unprecedented times, Parsons said: “Khansaheb approached the whole project in a pragmatic way and I know they had to get additional buses for the staff to adhere to social distancing guidelines. He adds: “In terms of logistics, it became a lot harder to manage people across the site, but Khansaheb did a fantastic job in doing this. If it wasn’t for that proactive approach, we probably would have been still building Construction Week sat down with construction stakeholders from Khansaheb and Turner & Townsend [Image: ITP Media Group] Khansaheb and Turner & Townsend integrated a children's play area at the waterpark [Image: ITP Media Group]MAY 2021 CONSTRUCTION WEEK 15 SITE VISIT WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM “We had a 30 minute snapshot of where we were with the project. It was very easy for us to monitor and to see our progress in terms of where we were falling behind and where we needed to head,” says Parsons. “We also had monthly drones across the site. When we walked into progress meetings, we knew exactly where we were and what our next targets were. It was a first for us in using both of those technologies in unison which was fantastic.” Echoing Parsons views, Sams adds: “The live feed technology is great where I can view the progress of the project if I am unable to get on site and report back to the business. We’ve used this technology across several of our projects in the UAE including the University of Birmingham development and it’s certainly going to be a standard for us going forward.” Concluding the interview, there was a clear alignment about the importance of the project for both Khansaheb and Turner & Townsend, who both praised the client, Atlantis Hotel, for their professionalism and proactive approach. “I think what has made this project a resounding success is the client - Atlantis the Palm, which was headed up by Shawn Adams, the Vice President of Special Projects – it’s all been driven by the client. Shawn has pushed every single one of us, but he’s been on the ground and made the decisions, which was the key to our success.” For Parsons, he told Construction Week that the completion of the Aquaventure Waterpark expansion was among “the proudest moments in his career”. “I’ve never been so actively involved in driving the construction and the progress on-site before. It’s a fantastic project. It’s very unique and it makes people happy. At the end of the day, it’s about seeing people enjoying themselves when walking around the park,” says Parsons. For Khansaheb, Sams admitted that the expansion of the waterpark was one of the “best performing projects” for the business in terms of delivery and success. “We shouldn’t underestimate the MEP of this project. The pump room under the main tower is incredibly impressive and it gives me great personal satisfaction from having delivered the project on-time and within budget during a global pandemic. “The expansion of Aquaventure is in my top three projects during my career with Khansaheb” Sams smiled. The Action River goes almost double the speed than the existing lazy river at the waterpark [Image: ITP Media Group Dubai] Trident Tower stands at 157ft and comprises 12 waterslides and attractions [Image: ITP Media Group]IN CONVERSATION 16 CONSTRUCTION WEEK MAY 2021WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor, CEO, Malaysian Green Technology & Climate Change, the implementing agency for Malaysia’s participation in Expo 2020 Dubai, speaks to Construction Week’s Ranju Warrier about the pavilion’s design, construction, and sustainability goals When Expo 2020 Dubai opens its doors to the world, visitors will not just enter the Expo site, enjoy the visit, and leave. They will take with them many and different experiences. One of these will be at a pavilion, the architectural design of which mimics the rainforest canopy, depicting the symbiotic relationship between man and nature. It will be the Malaysia Pavilion, where the landscape concept will open into a jungle narrative, featuring a bioswale reed bed waterpool creating a cooling effect, a water spring imitating natural tropical scenery, with vertical gardens camouflaging the white steel poles, water rills meandering down, and sunken gardens bringing in natural light to the understorey deck. Located within the Sustainability District, Malaysia Pavilion will be based on the theme ‘Energising Sustainability’, which “reflects Malaysia’s commitment to balance its socio-economic development with environmental concerns,” according to Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor, CEO, Malaysian Green Technology & Climate Change Centre (MGTC) that is the implementing agency for Malaysia’s participation in Expo 2020 Dubai. Sitting down with Construction Week for an exclusive interview, Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor says: “Malaysia is sensitive to the need to find ways to operate in a manner that ensures a more responsible, balanced, and sustainable future for our generations to come. This is a focus of our country, especially as a developing country. The pavilion design is based on this theme.” Malaysia Pavilion’s journey began when a tender for the HIJJAS Associates-designed structure was issued and awarded at the end of 2019. Construction commenced in January 2020, with Dubai-based main contractor RAQ Contracting working with Malaysia’s Pico International. Other stakeholders associated with the pavilion, include architect of record (AOR) Design Integrated Architectural Engineering Consultants (DAEIC) based in Dubai, Singapore-based Atelier Ten as sustainable consultants. Meanwhile, the MEP consultant responsible for the detailed design is Malaysian firm LEC M & E Consult, and the MEP contractor from Dubai is RAQ Electromechanical Company. Managing admin MEP contract is another Dubai-based company called Crown Home Engineering. Sharing details of the pavilion’s construction, Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor said that the building’s core and shell are currently about 93% complete. “Once the building core and shell is completed, work for audio-visual (AV) installation, and interior fit-out will commence.” He adds: “Due to the pandemic and the official shift in the date for Expo 2020 Dubai to 1 October 2021, the project had shifted the completion, with the audio-visual fit-out, to match the new official opening dates.” According to Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor, Malaysia aims to complete the overall construction work on the pavilion and secure the Building Completion Certificate (BCC) by 31 May 2021. Taking Construction Week through the journey into the pavilion, Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor explains: “The pavilion will MALAYSIA’S “RAINFOREST CANOPY” FOCUSES ON “ENERGISING SUSTAINABILITY” Dubai-based main contractor RAQ Contracting is working with Malaysia’s Pico International to build the pavilion [Image: Supplied]EXPO EXCLUSIVE WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COMMAY 2021 CONSTRUCTION WEEK 17 be portioned into four segments. The first is the “Energising Today” segment, which will journey visitors through a narrative about agricommodity and how it has shaped the socio-economic development of the country. “The middle segment of the pavilion will be on “Energising Tomorrow,” showcasing Malaysia’s commitment to becoming a developed and high-income nation, driving the agenda of carbon reduction and climate change with future-ready and green energy technologies as the core drivers.” He continues: “The third segment of the pavilion, “Energising Harmony”, will encapsulate how Malaysians of diverse cultures, traditions, ethnicities, and languages live harmoniously, contributing to the nation’s progress, unity, and stability. This segment will host an exotic ensemble of multi-cultural heritage and contemporary experiences through daily shows of music and dance. “The final segment, “Energising Business” is a business centre where Malaysia will promote its sustainable industries, where 26 weekly thematic trade and business programmes will be hosted.” Scaling a height of 16m, while standing tall on a site area of 1,240m2, the Malaysia Pavilion will have a total built-up area of 1,769m2. “Our pavilion is Net Zero Carbon and we have committed to ensuring our participation in Expo 2020 Dubai does not leave any carbon footprint,” stresses Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor. He further explains: “This encompasses carbon emitted during the pavilion construction, operations activities to dismantle the pavilion, which is estimated at 1,500 tonnes. The carbon will be offset through a combination of measures involving forest conservation, tree planting activities, and purchase of renewable energy certificates, which will generate verified carbon credits.” Also supporting the pavilion’s Net Zero Carbon move is the installation of solar PV panels on the rooftop. “The contractor will install a 100m2 photovoltaics (PV) panel array on the roof. The roof design for solar readiness should encompass provision to accommodate the easy electrical installation of solar panels on the rooftop, — which refers to isolator connection to DB and cabling routes, — spatial readiness, and the space provision for inverters,” Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor tells Construction Week. He continues: “The total PV panel system shall generate approximately 16.4kw/p or more, including transmission, switch gears, and convertor losses to further reduce the building energy consumption by approximately 10% of the total energy consumption. [Meanwhile], the total PV array outputs during the period of Expo 2020 Dubai is estimated to be 13,500 kWh/year.” In terms of its design, the building blocks of the pavilion are elevated from the ground level. The structure is split into two tiers, including the floating exhibition spaces above and the business centre underground. Supporting such a design, the pavilion uses timber cladding on the façade, which is Malaysian Meranti wood. According to Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor, the wood has been used “to showcase and realise a sustainably sourced Malaysian timber material representing Malaysian sustainable forestry sector”. He adds: “The use of standard timber batten façade panels was also considered for ease of construction and taking the complex circular geometrical form”. All other materials except for the timber are locally sourced from Dubai. The pavilion mainly uses structural steel for the structure that is being built above the ground. Most of the steel sizes were optimised and standardised so that few elements could be used for modular construction. When the World Expo closes its doors on 31 March 2022, Malaysia Pavilion will be decommissioned, “unless it is decided that the building is to be utilised for other purposes,” according to Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor. However, prior to that, on 1 October 2021, when visitors journey into the pavilion, they will get to experience, what the country calls, “Malaysia, Truly Asia.” Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor, CEO, Malaysian Green Technology & Climate Change Centre (MGTC) [Image: Supplied] The pavilion mainly uses structural steel for the structure that is being built above the ground [Image: Supplied]INDUSTRIAL GROWTH 18 CONSTRUCTION WEEK MAY 2021WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM Saud Abu Al-Shawareb, Managing Director of Dubai Industrial City, talks to Construction Week’s Digital Editor Ranju Warrier about the industrial hub’s increasing support for manufacturing facilities to be sustainable and shares future outlook supporting Dubai’s “Operation 300bn” In Stephen Gardiner’s words – “ The Industrial Revolution was another of those extraordinary jumps forward in the story of civilisation”. For Dubai, which recently welcomed the Industrial Strategy “Operation 300bn” launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Gardiner’s words are being replicated in the emirate as the city continues to expand its industrial sector to become a driving force of a sustainable national economy. While the strategy primarily aims at developing future industries that implement advanced technology and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) solutions and applications, it will empower the industrial sector to increase its contribution to the GDP from the current $36.2bn (AED133bn) to $81.7bn (AED300bn) by 2031. Supporting “Operation 300bn” is Dubai Industrial City, a key enabler of Dubai Industrial Strategy 2030. “We co-lead two of Dubai Industrial Strategy 2030’s priority subsectors — Food and Beverages and Machinery and Equipment — and are pleased to have made excellent progress by welcoming new companies to our business district,” says Saud Abu Al- Shawareb, Managing Director of Dubai Industrial City. Talking to Construction Week in an exclusive interview, Al-Shawareb explains: “We will continue to welcome new F&B manufacturers and machinery companies — including those of importance to the construction sector — to support the Dubai Industrial Strategy 2030.” In 2021, Alliance Foods Company (Asmak) opened the region’s largest fish processing factory that will initially process 40,000 tonnes of seafood per year at Dubai Industrial City, with an investment of over $54.5m (AED200m). Another star to Dubai Industrial City’s belt is the development of the world’s largest privately-owned date factory by Al Barakah Dates. The new factory will cover a total area of 55,741.8m2, including 39,019.3m2 of dedicated processing and cold storage space. A sustainable project, the expanded facility is scheduled to be completed in early 2022. ‘Made in UAE’ The development of the industrial sector is affected by several factors including telecommunications, energy, transport, and infrastructure, among others. For Dubai Industrial City this supports the nation’s ‘Made in UAE’ ambitions, infra development continues to be a key catalyst. In November 2020, the industrial hub completed construction and infrastructure projects worth more than $111.6m (AED410m). It included two highway extensions to Emirates Road, giving heavy-tow trucks direct access to a causeway linking Abu Dhabi with Northern Emirates, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. According to Al-Shawareb, this “enhanced the business landscape”. He says: “It [infrastructure projects] has made it easier for companies to leverage our strategic proximity to Al Maktoum International Airport and Jebel Ali Port and reach two- thirds of the world’s population in “ACCELERATED SHIFT” TOWARDS “SUSTAINABLE” MANUFACTURING FACILITIES Dubai Industrial City is a key enabler of the Dubai Industrial Strategy 2030 [Image: Supplied]INDUSTRIAL GROWTH WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COMMAY 2021 CONSTRUCTION WEEK 19 eight hours.” “By developing high-quality infrastructure, we enable our business partners to sell UAE goods around the world.” He adds: “We continue to explore infrastructure projects to enhance our industrial ecosystem and cement Dubai’s position as a global hub for talent, investment, and innovation. “To ensure access to reliable power and meet the demand for industrial activity, four 132KVA substations with a total of 800MW, supply electricity. Our advanced road network is 127km-long, which provides mobility across our business district.” Al-Shawareb stresses that the infrastructure development is part of Dubai Industrial City’s “strategic masterplan” that divides it into sector-focused zones covering minerals, base metals, food and beverages, trading and distribution, transport, chemicals, and machinery and equipment. Solar is the way forward One of the main catalysts of sustainable infrastructure development is renewable energy. From solar plants to wind farms, renewable energy sources contribute to carbon neutrality, which helps achieve net-zero carbon emissions. In the Middle East, the UAE is continuing to boost the contribution of solar energy into the national grid, with the development of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai as well as Noor Abu Dhabi. Going by the UAE’s Energy Strategy 2050, which aims to increase the contribution of clean energy in the total energy mix, Dubai Industrial City is supporting manufacturers within the industrial hub to go greener. “We are seeing an accelerated shift towards the development of sustainable manufacturing facilities. Greater investment in automation, the construction of new solar panels, and a push to ensure zero- waste production through water treatment and solid-waste recycling continue to gain momentum,” says Al-Shawareb. He adds: “We encourage business partners to consider climate change and decarbonisation and we have been seeing great progress. Al Naboodah Automobiles, Future Pipe Industries, Al Barakah Dates, and Unilever are among many companies that are part of the move towards sustainable production here [at Dubai Industrial City].” The industrial hub is also home to Enviroserve, the world’s largest e-waste recycling plant, which according to the Managing Director adds another “eco-friendly element to the integrated supply chain” within Dubai Industrial City. Catering to storage demand The outbreak of COVID-19 resulted in the popularity of the e-commerce sector. With an increase in demand for e-commerce services came the need for more storage space for retailers, which eventually made way for more warehousing facilities. Highlighting Dubai Industrial City’s efforts to facilitate such spaces, Al-Shawareb tells Construction Week: “We provide flexible, high-powered, and scalable warehouses ranging from 464.5m2 to 10,219.3m2. They provide cost- effective storage and distribution with the flexibility to accommodate cold, chemical, and general storage. “We support the growth of the e-commerce sector by providing warehousing and logistics infrastructure for companies.” Last year, the industrial hub also provided storage facilities to the International Humanitarian City, which enabled the World Health Organisation, among others, to store, pack, distribute over 150 shipments of critical COVID-19 medical aid to more than 100 countries. Looking into the future Since its establishment in 2004, Dubai Industrial City has attracted more than $2.3bn (AED8.4bn) in indirect investment and invested approximately $1.4bn (AED5.3bn) in infrastructure. “We continue to explore investment opportunities to enhance ease of doing business, attract local and global companies by offering state-of-the-art infrastructure to our 750 business partners,” says Al- Shawareb. He envisions Dubai Industrial City to attract “dozens of sustainable, futuristic factories equipped with automation, artificial intelligence, and disruptive technologies” that will further help meet the growing demand for high-quality, locally- produced products. “We will continue to offer industrial land for the construction of new factories so companies can export high-quality UAE goods globally,” concludes Al-Shawareb. Saud Abu Al-Shawareb, Managing Director, Dubai Industrial City [Image: Supplied] Dubai Industrial City is supporting manufacturers within the industrial hub to go greener with the installation of solar panels [Image: Supplied]Next >