< PreviousMEP CONFERENCE 10 MEP Middle East | July/August 2020 www.mepmiddleeast.com The 2020 edition of the MEP Middle East Conference broke new ground – moving to an all-new digital realm to overcome the obstacles thrown our way by the global coronavirus pandemic. The event featured three in-depth panel discussions, covering Engineering Net-Zero Carbon Systems; Evaluating the Current Landscape of the MEP Sector; and Transi- tioning Towards a Digitalised Future. MEP Middle East Editor Tom Oxtoby said: “The switch to a virtual platform allowed us to deliver our usual high quality event in a safe and secure setting – welcoming even more participants than we’d be able to host in our traditional physical spaces. “From a personal point of view I was very proud to be part of the team that helped guide our publication into this new space, and my colleagues deserve great credit for demon- strating their agility in this sense. “There was no denying the incredible stan- dard of conversation and insight provided by our expert panelists, and the feedback we have received so far pays testament to the quality of our guests. I owe them my personal thanks. “I also need to thank our man in the middle Prabhakar Kesavan, Regional General Man- ager at Voltas, who guided the day’s talks as chair with a skilled hand despite the odd curveball thrown his way. “I’d also like to thank our sponsors for the day – Voltas, Polyfab and Trimble – who helped make the conference possible.” The entire conference will soon be avail- able to rewatch on the Construction Week YouTube channel. But until then, read what some of the leading fi gures in the industry “There was no denying the incredible standard of conversation and insight provided by our expert panelists...” The MEP Conference 2020 was kindly sponsored by: Cundall’s Alan Fogarty. AESG’s Philippa Grant.Voltas’ Prabhakar Kesavan. EGBC’s Majd Fayyad. had to say about some of the burning issues dominating the MEP and HVAC sphere today. Engineering Net Zero Carbon Systems Cundall Sustainability Partner Alan Fogarty “I think MEP is vital to net zero solutions. HVAC engineers in particular can see where energy is going in a building. “On that basis they can advise architects on the opportunities for passive solutions, the impacts on energy systems, and best design of those system. Getting to net zero means every aspect of low carbon energy must be considered. It’s an incremental challenge. “Sometimes building codes can restrict the way people think about buildings, preventing innovation. But then there are some aspects which will drive design forward. “Codes can make poor practice visible, catch it, and lift standards of all buildings as a result. You need a balance of looking at what elements can bring the industry up, but leaving enough room for innovation. “The performance gap is an issue. As an industry we have not done proper energy calculations in this sense. By trying to actively predict what a building will consume at the design stage we can see what systems are likely to do and make the changes as necessary. “As an industry we have failed very badly in closing the gap to how a building is performing, and learning lessons from existing buildings and how they are working. “The more diffi cult task is the net zero 2050 target for existing buildings. “There are so many – so many in poor condition and getting up to standard is a massive task. People need to think about it as the sheer number of buildings is phenomenal.” AESG Director Philippa Grant “Every situation offers opportunity. It has been a terrible circumstance we’ve all had to manage over the past six month. You have to make the best of the situation. “Before coronavirus, a lot of discussion was taking place around the number of MEP_1507_8-13_MEP CONFERENCE_11301382.indd 1029/06/2020 12:30:21 PMMEP CONFERENCE July/August 2020 | MEP Middle East 11 www.mepmiddleeast.com deaths linked to poor air and water quality. The pandemic has really thrown a light on the issues we face today. “A stronger focus has been on the health and wellness factor of sustainability, and it is spoken about more and more. “We are seeing new technologies looking to improve air quality in cities and buildings, and a lot of interesting research and outcomes will come from this. “We need to be constantly questioning how we can improve this, not just copying and pasting the last project. But it needs full collaboration and the whole industry to engage. If everyone tomorrow woke up and said ‘we want all projects to be net zero’ we could achieve it now. Everything is available, but it needs a concerted effort from people to seriously want to do this. “Legislation comes from both sides. There needs to be a push from government, and here in the UAE there has been a top-down approach with forward thinking leadership – and that has driven uptake. “But it also needs the industry to want to drive it. Realistically, we are a few years off, there will be the pioneers and slowly everyone will get on board.” EmiratesGBC Technical Director Majd Fayyad “We all agree that climate change is a global crisis, but for us in the Middle East the consequences are more critical. “The Arab region is considered one of most vulnerable, as per an IPCC report in 2014. “Here in the UAE, if you look at the projections you will see an increase of 2-3 degrees in the summer months. We need to take rapid action to avoid harmful impacts. For us from the building sector the solution is net zero carbon buildings. “Buildings worldwide contribute to 39% of global CO2 emissions. Here, buildings consume 70% of electricity. Looking at current stock you will fi nd many ineffi cient buildings. Compare them to best practice and you fi nd a huge difference. “We need to look at buildings in supporting health and wellbeing. Coronavirus has underlined the importance of urban resilience, the need fore more walking and cycling spaces. We don’t have the luxury of time. We need to act fast and act now. We have only 10 years to do it and the coming couple of years are foundational to working to achieving net zero. “This requires work from all stakeholders and government. I’m optimistic that partnerships between the private and public sector are the key to achieving it.” Evaluating the Current Landscape of the MEP Sector Associate Director at Burohappold Pedro Cadima “My experience dealing with small practice sub consultants is very interesting. Where you have relationships with clients there is still work to be done. “It has not stopped because of Covid-19, but clients are more wary and cautious. The onus has fallen on showing value to clients. “Smaller fi rms are still doing OK. To a certain extent bigger fi rms with thousands of employees are doing OK – but those employees themselves are less OK as the work that supports them is no longer there. BuroHappold’s Pedro Cadima. KEO’s Martin McFadden.GRFN’s Omnia Halawani. Voltas’ Suresh Kumar. The move towards net zero carbon building in the UAE and the rest of the world is a key debate within the industry. The MEP Conference 2020 was kindly sponsored by: MEP_1507_8-13_MEP CONFERENCE_11301382.indd 1129/06/2020 12:30:29 PMMEP CONFERENCE 12 MEP Middle East | July/August 2020 www.mepmiddleeast.com “In terms of coronavirus everyone has been learning. Change is happening rapidly and the industry is able to attract better people. “There was a time when taking three months to do a heat loss calculation was the norm and totally acceptable. “But it is no longer boring to be a building services engineer. I don’t think we will be replaced by AI anytime soon, but in terms of the pandemic what it’s doing is bringing in work sharing collaboration. “It’s not really new, but the platforms are second nature to the people coming out of university.” Partner at GRFN Omnia Halawani “At the moment we have cities that are reactive and not proactive. “[In the future] we will be seeing more requirement for dynamic models. “We will look at our reliance on man power; we will be seeing advanced technology and robotics used in construction, plus 3D MEP and HVAC systems have a central role to play as the world moves towards a sustainable future. printing in design. There will also be more use of drones.” Director MEP at KEO Martin McFadden “For industry collaboration to take effect properly we need an appropriate amount of time so all optimal solutions can be advised and incorporated. “Looking ahead, prefab modular assemblies created through 3D digital printing will also necessitate collaboration and integration of the supply chain like never before. It is a big challenge for all of us. “We have a fractured arrangement right now where different entities are participating at different times. “The type of collaboration necessary isn’t capable of being undertaken when we only have design on board before the contracting entity. “As they come in, design step back, so no there is participation between them and the end-user for occupancy and FM. “That’s how we sit. Not exclusively in this region, but also elsewhere across different markets and sectors.” VP and Head of IOGB at Voltas Suresh Kumar “In 2004 we had the SARS outbreak in China and Singapore. Voltas learned to be cross- functional as a team, to communicate from top to bottom. “We moved quickly in terms of requirements when it came to coronavirus. “Voltas has an FM division, and the government supported us to collaborate between client and end-user and gain an understanding of what needed to be done. “While there were impacts we could continue to work. Everybody was new to this problem. Each one of us had to come up with our own solutions. “We had issues because we were told you couldn't transport a group of 60 workers at a time, or start at 6am. “Coronavirus taught us that there were a lot of options we were not utilising. Imagine all these digital solutions. We never thought we could do things we are doing. “A lot of change in MEP in terms of automation is coming: offsite prefabrication, BIM, modular fabrication. But you will fi nd availability of labour in the market harder. People will not be moving for work. “MEP has never had a revolutionary change in automation. But we will see more products that go from shelf to site. These revolutions are coming.” Transitioning Towards a Digitalised Future Senior Engineering Consultant at Ramboll Mahmoud Hameed “Great progress has bee made over the last 10 years. What coronavirus has done is expedite the conversation. “Business has to move quicker than ever before to meet the demand of clients. In some cases this situation has built on initiatives of the past – working from home, investment in IT infrastructure, and webinars – we are seeing more and more of that. “However, we have also seen ideas coming from scratch. We were more offl ine – even The MEP Conference 2020 was kindly sponsored by: MEP_1507_8-13_MEP CONFERENCE_11301382.indd 1229/06/2020 12:30:42 PMMEP CONFERENCE July/August 2020 | MEP Middle East 13 www.mepmiddleeast.com WME’s Nicholas Byczynski. Voltas’ Gumeet Nanda. Trimble’s Paul Wallet. AECOM’s Reid Donovan. today you see fi rms draw out designs for review. “The train is moving and if you don’t jump on you will be left behind. Revit saves a lot of time and can be accessed by everyone.” Head of Operations at Voltas Gumeet Nanda “If you look at construction in general it has lagged in adopting technology. There is a lot of room for improvement, so why have we been held back? “Everyone in isolation is adopting tech in some way but it is not integrated. If standardisation comes in, it will be a good opportunity.” Technical Director at AECOM Reid Donovan “We had a week to get ourselves organised [when Covid-19 arose]. “From a project perspective we had already shifted to 360, so all our work was Cloud- based anyway. We can all access models from anywhere and all the info of a project is available. “We have brought in a digital director to oversee a ‘one common data source’ for the business. We don’t do drawings any more, we play with data in a model and one of the outputs is a Revit model. We are trying to eradicate all mundane tasks like manual calculations, Excel sheets. “It’s about taking that away and having one common data environment where all our outputs are generated from.” Regional Director at Trimble Paul Wallet “Discussion about what we need to be doing to improve has changed. “When people went into lockdown the scenario was to continue operations. For many it was all of a sudden. There was then a big surge of people wanting to use services to enable them to continue business. “Digitalisation conversations have always been on going. BIM has been talked about for a number of years but there has been inherent resistance. “The majority see it as a big investment. People knew it was available but didn’t want to take the time to invest. Now there is no choice but to, and once started they saw the value of deploying digital tools. “The premise of BIM is to build well co-ordinated and highly detailed model, but then have enough info to actually replicate on-site as originally created in virtual space. “We see contractors going on to site with 2D drawings, and it needs a very skilled tradesperson to work out how the 2D and physical build relate. “Taking a digital model and projecting it out to physical world gets the information fl owing in the right direction.” Director of MEP at WME Nicholas Byczynski “We found that with the tools we already had, MS Teams etc, we were only scratching the surface of what was possible. “First thing we did was look at how we can change the way we operate with what we had. There was so much power in what we had, we just had to embrace it. “Consultants had the advantage over other industries because they are already working remotely with people around the globe. Clients meanwhile expect people to come to them. “This whole process has shown we need to do more with what we already have. We seriously started looking at digitalising last year. We were in a bubble.” Digitalisation is a core subject of conversation for professionals working in the MEP and HVAC space. Ramboll’s Mahmoud Hameed. The MEP Conference 2020 was kindly sponsored by: MEP_1507_8-13_MEP CONFERENCE_11301382.indd 1329/06/2020 12:30:50 PMCIBSE UAE 14 MEP Middle East | July/August 2020 www.mepmiddleeast.com It’s an early Wednesday morning here in Dubai. The early rise was necessary as Reid Donovan had his packed work diary on his mind as tonight, it is the launch of the CIBSE UAE Dubai Mini- mum Standards for Building Services. The CIBSE UAE committee was formed back in 2014 and Reid was a part of the original group. He has held various roles over the years, but for the past two years he has been cham- pioning the CIBSE UAE committee, holding the chair position. CIBSE is a network that includes regions across the globe. The institution is organised on a regional basis with 16 regions in the UK and four overseas in the Republic of Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, Hong Kong and the UAE. There are also CIBSE members in 94 countries outside of the UK. In addition to this, the UAE region alone has over 400 dedicated members. Following many years of work by the UAE committee, and with support from staff, in 2018 CIBSE gained a license from the Dubai Association Chamber to operate as an offi cial UAE region. This was a milestone for the local commit- tee in the UAE and for CIBSE; it was the fi rst new region launched in 29 years. The committee consists of several threads. The main committee is complemented by the dedicated Technical Committee, Abu Dhabi Chapter, Young Engineers Network (YEN), Women in Building Services Engineering (WiBSE), and the Society of Public Health Engineers (SoPHE) CIBSE regions are in place to support the charitable objectives of the institution. Namely, the promotion of the art, science and practice of building services engineer- ing for the benefi t of the public in general. The 2014 formation of the original com- mittee was a key milestone for all those who were invited to join. Donovan remembers the fi rst chair, Richard Smith, director with Atkins at the time, skilfully chairing the initial committee meetings. He recalls feeling positive about the CIBSE UAE family being formed and that they could continue the journey that began in the UK. Part of the committee is attentive on its technical focus, which is led by Isaac Coker, WSP MEP Technical Director. In his role of Technical Committee chair, he is supported by a wealth of volunteers. Donovan recalls that these guides were born through an idea during one of the many workshop discussions. He said: “These discussions passionately debated the need to raise the Building Ser- vices (MEP) engineering profi le in the re- gion, whilst also providing technical content to educate and assist other fellow engineers working on projects.” The original idea was initiated over two years ago, and now the committee can pub- lish the fi rst series of guides. It’s a proud moment for the committee, all of whom are volunteers, many having been part of the CIBSE family since the start of Reid Donovan, AECOM Technical Director MEP Middle East, discusses the launch of CIBSE UAE’s Minimum Design Standard Guide “We stuck to the facts and a these will complement the f authority guidance we alread THE STORY BEHIND THE GUIDELINES THAT MEP_1507_14-15_REID_11309768.indd 1429/06/2020 12:32:20 PMCIBSE UAE July /August 2020 | MEP Middle East 15 www.mepmiddleeast.com their careers. Donovan said: “The guides are important, and we have had to take small steps to understand that the UAE Emirates, as well as wider regions across the Middle East, all have unique nuances with respect to local codes covering mechanical, electrical and plumbing/fi re system design.” Donovan also recalls when back in 2008 many code requirements were not fully pre- scriptive, and these were determined by gain- ing and building relationships with the local authority representatives. He continued: “Understanding the re- quirements from the utility provides perspective and then applying them to our building designs. Our fi rst step has focused on Dubai, and now the fi rst series DGD01 Mechanical, DGD02 Electrical and DGD03 Public Heath are published, the techni- cal committee will focus on Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia this year.” Donovan notes how the challenge is the content and getting that right. He said: “These are guidance tools not textbooks, they are in the domain to support and guide, set out the necessary framework to assist design- ers in understanding those nuances and focus on the code driven requirements that must be fi rstly understood from a technical standpoint and then followed to ensure compliance. “Less is more was the mantra in many re- view meetings. As engineers we love to get into the granular detail of such texts. “The challenge was pulling back and en- suring the standards were pitched right, these are written to complement, and in many cases, highlight the wealth of local authority codes and standards, it was never the inten- sion to replicate these or somehow take a view. “We stuck to the facts and were confi dent these will complement the fantastic local au- thority guidance we already use daily.” The launch of the guides has been a great success; the webinar was well attended and the recorded live session logged over 160 at- tendees. Donovan said: “These included a wide spec- trum of people from our local industry includ- ing clients, developers, contractors, manufac- turers, and of course, our building services design community. In the last six years of hosting CPD seminars and industry events, this was by far the largest attendance, except for our inaugural annual dinner in February 2019 that welcomed over 200 attendees.” The guides are available on the CIBSE website knowledge portal and are free to all. They are downloadable from the members area, but this does require CIBSE yearly sub- scription membership. Donovan continued: “There are many subscription options staring at zero cost for student members in full time education, only AED 192 for part-time students and non-stu- dent entry level affi liate memberships are available. A whole range of grades are acces- sible to suit everyone’s needs.’ In Donovan’s case this started 26 years ago, when he joined the then CIBSE two-year training scheme, whilst working as a junior building services engineer. Then, after almost eight years of part-time study, this concluded in completing his BEng (Hons) Degree in Building Services Engineering. He said that with the support of CIBSE, his employers and supportive colleagues at the time, he obtained his full CIBSE member- ship, MCIBSE, and his Chartered CEng sta- tus soon followed. After his move to the Middle East 12 years ago, he was working on mega projects, but CIBSE was not present in the region. He said: “I was extremely proud when I was asked to join the original committee … the rest is his- tory.” Donovan joined the AECOM MEP team a year ago after taking up the role of Techni- cal Director MEP Middle East. He continued: “The past 12 years in this region have been an amazing journey career wise. “From relocating with my family with Arup to work as one of a few design leads on the Raha Beach project, to then moving on to my Technical Directorship with WSP and MEP Regional Director roles at Arcadis, I have had the privilege to lead some of the largest and most prestigious projects and teams in the re- gion... this explains all my grey hair.” Donovan’s involvement in the CIBSE UAE committee continues, but after two years as the committee’s chair he has decided to pass on the torch to allow another commit- tee member. Farah Naz, Sustainability and Innovation Leader at BuroHappold, has been voted in. He said: “I wish her all the best. Farah will bring an immense amount of energy to the role and will keep pushing the committee for- ward for the coming year.” Donovan notes how the reshuffl e this year has been signifi cant as many positions have changed with new members joining the com- mittee. He also states how the committee has a full balance this year with 27 members con- tributing in a whole range of activities. Whilst Donovan has stepped down as chair, he has happily taken up the role as member- ship champion, which is something he is passionate about. The role supports other en- gineers through the various CIBSE member- ship routes and ultimately, chartered status. He concludes: “Many thanks go to all those that have been involved and contributed in the past as well as those who sit on the cur- rent committee. Further work can now be done to support members and prospec- tive members in the country with technical events and conferences and much more.” are confi dent fantastic local dy use daily...” T WILL SHAPE UAE MEP_1507_14-15_REID_11309768.indd 1529/06/2020 12:32:27 PM16 MEP Middle East | July/August 2020 www.mepmiddleeast.com REGULATION Uncertainty due to ambiguous laws has been identifi ed as the top regulatory challenge facing business leaders in the UAE – that’s according to a new report ‘The Making of an Investment Powerhouse: The Future of the UAE’s Regulatory Frame- work’ by international law fi rm Pinsent Masons. The study combines the results of a cross-sector survey, conducted prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, with in-depth, one-to- one interviews with leading experts from the energy, fi nancial services, infrastruc- ture, real estate and technology, sectors to better understand perceived barriers to suc- cess in the market. Although a number of sector-specifi c is- sues were highlighted in the report, 40% of those surveyed stated that ambiguous laws present their number one challenge. The other two barriers identifi ed in the study are foreign ownership restrictions (39%) and employment laws – particularly the hiring of top talent (29%). The report aims to analyse the evolution of the UAE’s legal framework across the key industries that have been instrumental to the nation’s growth and offer expert coun- sel on how businesses can navigate existing challenges and take full advantage of the op- portunities that exist in this market. Catherine Workman, head of Pinsent Masons Middle East Region, said: “The UAE’s business landscape has evolved over the past decade at tremendous speed, and although this has brought with it immense opportunities, certain challenges have of course been borne from such rapid progres- sion. “In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are now in unprecedented times, and that will no doubt lead to further uncertainty from a regulatory and business perspective. “We hope that this report will help to insti- gate important conversations about how the UAE business community and the Govern- ment can work together to ensure that the UAE builds upon its unique business propo- sition. “We advise clients to maintain a constant dialogue with other industry stakeholders and decision makers. “The regulatory framework is not set in stone and ensuring that your voice is heard can make the difference between a project doomed to fail and one that will strive and expand across borders. “Regulatory frameworks are not only for the purposes of compliance, but are used as a competitive advantage by governments. Businesses should devise and implement fl exible strategies that will align with, or be easily adaptable to, future regulations. “Pinsent Masons is deeply committed to working with businesses to understand how to best navigate these identifi ed challenges and succeed during this incredibly turbulent period and the uncertain times that are yet to come.” Although ambiguous regulations can pro- vide uncertainty for businesses, Pinsent Ma- sons recommends that businesses develop a collaborative and agile strategy that can “We are now in unprece will no doubt lead to fu a regulatory and bus COVID-19 UNCERTAINTY IS KEY CHA MEP_1507_16-17_LAW _11301387.indd 1629/06/2020 12:33:16 PMJuly/August 2020 | MEP Middle East 17 www.mepmiddleeast.com REGULATION be quickly amended if new regulations are introduced. In sectors such as technology, uncertainty can actually be an advantage as it enables companies to think creatively and provides the fl exibility to innovate and expand quickly – which can be tricky in markets that are heavily regulated. Whilst some of the challenges identifi ed in the report are certainly unique to the UAE and the Middle East, many are caused by globalisation effect on the business envi- ronment. The report reveals the different levels of support required by each sector. Some 44% of energy sector participants found the regulations especially challenging; compared to only 11% in the infrastructure sector. A total of 78% of those surveyed in the infrastructure sector revealed hiring top talent as their key challenge. About 62% in the fi nancial services sector confi rmed that support was required to help them navigate an increasingly digital world. And 100% of participants in the technology sector and 83% in real estate emphasised the need for more regulation to ‘level the play- ing fi eld’. Whilst these challenges exist, participants highlighted the UAE as a leader in the devel- opment of regulation. Some 89% of infrastructure and 85% of en- ergy leaders believe that the UAE represents the ‘gold standard’ in terms of regulation, compared to other jurisdictions globally. Interestingly, 97% of all of those surveyed believe the country to be either “extremely business friendly” or “somewhat business friendly”; this highlights the strength of the UAE’s regulatory framework overall. Workman said: “Although challenges exist, the report highlights that business confi dence is strong and this will be instru- mental in ensuring the UAE’s recovery post Covid-19. “At Pinsent Masons we fi rmly believe that the UAE is indeed extremely business friendly and it is up to us to ensure that our clients understand the extent of the UAE’s unique business proposition and to help them to thrive in this extremely dynamic business landscape.” edented times, and that urther uncertainty from siness perspective...” ALLENGE FACING BUSINESS LEADERS The regulatory framework is not set in stone and ensuring that your voice is heard can make the difference between a project doomed to fail and one that will strive and expand across borders... MEP_1507_16-17_LAW _11301387.indd 1729/06/2020 12:33:24 PMNext >