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ITP MEDIA GROUP / BUSINESS SEPTEMBER 2022 • VOL. 17, ISSUE 09 THE RED CARPET IS ROLLED OUT AND THE WAIT IS OVER! SEE YOU ON WEDNESDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER!Available at BAGNODESIGN • SANIPEX GALLERY • AQUAZONE www.sanipexgroup.com Showrooms RIYADH • DUBAI • ABU DHABI • DOHA • MUSCAT • SHARJAH • RAS AL KHAIMAH • AL AIN MEP ME FP 205mmX275mm NOBILI Advert.indd 18/24/22 2:59 PMSeptember 2022 | MEP Middle East 3 www.mepmiddleeast.com SEPTEMBER 2022 VOLUME 17 ISSUE 09 CONTENTS COVER STORY: SHORTLISTS AND SPONSORS The red carpet is rolled out as the annual MEP Middle East Awards return. Introducing the sponsors and the shortlisted nominations in the running for an industry-leading accolade this year. Join us on Wednesday, 21 September, to ﬁ nd out who will win big PROJECT Giles Pendleton, executive director – The Line Proponent (Acting), discusses the construction of NEOM’s THE LINE project and how the megacity will contribute to the rapidly transforming job market in Saudi Arabia 25 PROJECT TRSDC’s chief projects delivery ofﬁ cer Ian Williamson reﬂ ects on the accomplishments of the project ﬁ ve years since its launch VAUE ENGINEERING We explore Himel’s culture which has made it the global name it is today with Shrinivas Chebbi, global head of Himel Business 46 DUCTING B Sadashiv Shetty, GM-Commercial, AGIS, discusses how the steel maker stays buoyant in the face of industry doom and gloom 08 14 404 MEP Middle East | September 2022www.mepmiddleeast.com www.mepmiddleeast.com PO Box 500024, Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 444 3000 Web: www.itp.com Offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, London & Mumbai ITP MEDIA GROUP CEO: Ali Akawi CFO: Toby Jay Spencer-Davies Managing Director: Alex Reeve Deputy Managing Director: Nicky Dawson EDITORIAL Group Editor: Carla Sertin Editor: Almas Tholot Tel: +971 4 444 3845 E-mail: almas.tholotr@itp.com ART Art Director: Amjad Ayche Designer: Tofiq Memon ADVERTISING Commercial Director: Anup Nagpurkar Tel: +971 4 444 3573 E-mail: anup.nagpurkar@itp.com PHOTOGRAPHY Videographer: Julius Garcia Videographer: Muhammad Kaleem Photographer: Marwan Elsayed Video Editor: Liju Cheruvathur ITP LIVE General Manager: Ahmad Bashour PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION Group Production & Distribution Director: Kyle Smith Production Manager: Denny Kollannoor Production Coordinator: Mahendra Pawar Senior Image Editor: Emmalyn Robles CIRCULATION Distribution Coordinator: Avinash Pereira Circulation Executive: Rajesh Pillai MARKETING Director of Awards & Marketing: Daniel Fewtrell Subscribe online at www.itp.com/subscriptions The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for error or omissions contained in this publication, however caused. The opinions and views contained in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Readers are advised to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the reader’s particular circumstances. The ownership of trademarks is acknowledged. No part of this publication or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the permission of the publishers in writing. An exemption is hereby granted for extracts used for the purpose of fair review. The most reliable and respected source of MEP news and in-depth analysis in the GCC region To flip through previous editions of MEP Middle East magazine, visit mepmiddleeast.com/emagazines/digital-magazine Published by and © 2022 ITP MEDIA GROUP FZ-LLC.EDITORÊS LETTER September 2022 | MEP Middle East 5 www.mepmiddleeast.com THE TIME HAS COME... Almas Tholot Editor, MEP Middle East almas.tholotr@itp.com It has been nearly a year since MEP Middle East last examined the brightest of the industry. It’s fair to say that a lot has happened with the pendulum ﬁ nally starting its journey back after the pandemic swung it out of balance! The MEP Middle East Awards have been around for 16 years. Our annual awards is a chance to pause our relentless pursuit of the latest and greatest to take stock of the MEP industry over the past 12 months and recognise those ﬁ rms, projects, and individuals hitting the pinnacle and doing the most to help the industry meet its various challenges in innovative and forward-looking ways. Consider the recently announced shortlisted nominations for the MEP Awards, which are particularly encouraging this season. It’s been inspiring to see the quality and number of entries we’ve received for this year’s awards – the highest we have seen in six years! There have been a lot of new faces and companies joining us in 2022, showing the progress we as an industry are making. In case you missed it, you can ﬁ nd out who they are in our cover story (p24). As businesses are ﬁ nding their post-pandemic footing, we are seeing new waves of changes to which the industry is adapting. New, responsible ways of doing business are being driven by some truly amazing initiatives and innovations, supply chains are catching up after months of stagnation, and employee wellness is now at the top of the list of crucial employee beneﬁ ts, as we saw in the entries that came in for some of our categories. We look forward to celebrating these successes in person at the awards later this month. Shifting the focus to what’s happening in the ducting industry, our research conﬁ rmed that there have been instances where substandard steel has been used, in contravention of the contract with consultants and project owners, thus not meeting the end user’s requirements. Galvanised steel is either procured from unauthorised dealers or the zinc coating thickness is compromised in order to reduce costs stemming from increased steel prices. While it would be all too easy to focus on the negatives, we decided to ﬁ nd out how the local steel manufacturers can help. We hear from B Sadashiv Shetty, general manager - Commercial at Al Ghurair Iron & Steel, on how the stakeholders involved can be educated, the solution to battling increased steel prices and how the top-notch steel maker remains buoyant despite the doom and gloom in the industry (p14). In light of our current situation, we are recovering from a pandemic-hit market with a strong focus on cost savings without compromising on quality. Nabeel Patel of Gulf Duct industries tells us how achieving more for less is possible (p12). Our stories continue with a discussion with Eng. Mohamed Al Hadhrami from the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy about the capital’s energy goals and how they will be achieved (p06). In the pages that follow, The Red Sea Development Company’s chief projects delivery ofﬁ cer, Ian Williamson, reﬂ ects on the project’s accomplishments ﬁ ve years since its launch. He highlights the project’s contribution to Saudi Arabia’s transition to carbon neutrality and its various sustainability dynamics (p40). Talking about gigaprojects in Saudi Arabia, we cannot overlook ‘THE LINE’ in NEOM. Giles Pendleton, executive director – The Line Proponent (Acting), talks about the megacity’s construction and how it will contribute to the rapidly transforming job market of Saudi Arabia (p46). The issue concludes with that and some more interesting reads. See you at the awards!6 MEP Middle East | September 2022 www.mepmiddleeast.com ENERGY EFFICIENCY TOWARDS A BALANCED & SUSTAINABLE INDUSTRY GROWTH As global leaders in tackling climate change, the UAE and Abu Dhabi have for over a decade provided a platform to bring together the world’s policymakers, industry specialists, technology pioneers and the next generation of sustainability leaders to engage in dialogue and take action to advance the global sustainability agenda. Abu Dhabi, in particular, has been making headway in projects supporting the efﬁ cient use of energy which is key in helping to conserve energy while reducing its environmental impact. A pioneer in all ﬁ elds of energy in the emirate of Abu Dhabi is the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy (DoE) which is committed to tackling environmental challenges and improving energy efﬁ ciency across the capital’s industrial and commercial sectors. We had the opportunity to sit down with Eng. Mohamed Al Hadhrami, Energy & Water Efﬁ ciency Regulations Senior Specialist, Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, at the Retroﬁ tTech Abu Dhabi Summit. The summit brought together key stakeholders across the energy efﬁ ciency, sustainability and retroﬁ tting sectors to help achieve Abu Dhabi’s inspiring energy goals. What is that one big vision that we are all united here for? As sponsors for this event, the one key message we want to deliver is that “efﬁ ciency is the new fuel”. We must reduce the consumption of our energy sources so that it is still available for future generations. We believe retroﬁ tting and the technology behind it will aid in making that a reality. The Abu Dhabi Demand Side Management and Energy Rationalisation Strategy 2030 aims to reduce overall electricity consumption by 22 per cent and water consumption by 32 per cent in the emirate by 2030. The retroﬁ t program in the strategy aims to reduce not less than three per cent of the total energy savings that we envisage having by 2030. We believe the three per cent could lead to a lot more savings with time. 60-70 per cent of the energy consumption of buildings in Abu Dhabi is accounted for by air conditioning, which is why we have efﬁ cient cooling service providers participating in the event. It is important that such companies contribute their knowledge and expertise to the private sector so that they can also save energy and eventually beneﬁ t from the monetary, ﬁ nancial and economical savings that the Abu Dhabi emirate achieves. When it comes to meeting sustainability targets and going green, one of the questions that come up time and again is the associated costs of such ventures. How can we ensure that such additional cost is warranted? Eng. Mohamed Al Hadhrami, Energy & Water Efﬁ ciency Regulations Senior Specialist, Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, discusses the capital’s energy goals and how they will be achieved September 2022 | MEP Middle East 7 www.mepmiddleeast.com ENERGY EFFICIENCY Eng. Mohamed Al Hadhrami, Energy & Water Efficiency Regulations Senior Specialist, Abu Dhabi Department of Energy This is where the Energy Service Company (ESCO) concept comes into effect. The customer’s lag time in deciding whether to invest in such projects is reduced. The ESCO concept involves the company providing energy services to inspect the building and propose a plan to save energy by reducing electricity and water consumption using their services. They provide three ﬁ nancing models – guaranteed savings where the customer funds the retroﬁ t costs against a guarantee from the ESCO, shared savings where the ESCO funds the project and shares the savings with the customer and, lastly, the hybrid model which involves both customer and the ESCO funding the project and sharing the savings following a mixed model. It’s a win-win situation and makes it easier for the property owner to take a decision. As a regulator, we ensure that the ﬁ nancing mechanism is fulﬁ lling its purpose and achieving the target that has been set. Companies will conﬁ dently demand these services in the future when they see our projects succeeding. As a government entity, we lead by example by showing that it is a working model and ﬁ nancially viable. This builds trust and conﬁ dence in building owners to follow suit. The Abu Dhabi DoE completed the ﬁ rst pilot project as part of the Building Retroﬁ t Programme with the aim of raising energy efﬁ ciency on eight government buildings in the emirate in early 2020. The DoE has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ﬁ ve Abu Dhabi Government entities in January 2022 to implement the programme on 39 of their buildings, with us ﬁ nancing the programme and Abu Dhabi Energy Services (ADES) implementing the project. For the pilot project, we achieved 8 per cent more savings than what was expected from those buildings. We are leading the way and putting certain rules and regulations in place to protect the customer. Are there any regulatory compliances that must be adhered to when it comes to undertaking retroﬁ tting projects? For the time being, we have the M&V protocol, the Abu Dhabi Measurement and Veriﬁ cation Protocol, which lists the options that the energy service company can follow to measure the consumption in order to set the baseline, which is very crucial to estimate savings and, ultimately, the cost of the project. We provide a mechanism which is in reference to the international M&V standards worldwide that sets the guidelines and protocols to unify the understanding and approach for the ESCO company service provider and the users. How would you describe the role of technology in energy efﬁ ciency? We depend on the private sector to lead in this case. AI and digital infrastructure will allow for more accurate predictions of the consumption by assessing the baseline, the potential savings and eventually, the cost of the project. More investment and R&D in this direction will lead to better consumption predictions in the future. With the emergence of retroﬁ tting, are the building owners in Abu Dhabi poised to perceive retroﬁ tting as the way forward? How has it inﬂ uenced the current projects in Abu Dhabi? We don’t expect all building owners to go with it. It is still new in this part of the world. Financial tools and products are still lacking from providers, such as banks or others, and it may be prudent to start slowly. Over the next ﬁ ve years, I envision a spike in demand. We are here to educate and raise awareness by putting the business function on the right track. Right now, people are doing some retroﬁ t, but it’s not really governed in a perfect or professional way. We are seeing a lot of projects coming in the future. What are some of the real challenges faced when executing net-zero projects? It’s too early to talk about net-zero projects, but it’s not impossible. Starting from retroﬁ tting the existing buildings to building new ones from scratch that are net-zero is the goal. Abu Dhabi is taking a lot of good steps in terms of reducing the carbon footprint of buildings through the whole cycle - from design, construction and operation to demolition. We believe technology will drive us to move faster in that direction. One of the most successful project programmes in our strategy is the Estidama project, which is a green building rating system called the Pearl Building Rating System that is utilised to evaluate sustainable building development practices in Abu Dhabi. The rating system assists in the contribution of reducing water, electricity consumption, and also waste management through different phases of construction. Abu Dhabi also supports low carbon footprint buildings and projects like Masdar. We have a lot of great examples of buildings that have LEED certiﬁ cation. However, a lot of research and development is required in that direction. Net-zero is on our radar, and we are looking to achieve this in the future. It’s a long journey and we have started moving towards it. 8 MEP Middle East | September 2022 www.mepmiddleeast.com VALUE ENGINEERING An engineering approach to value creation “Value engineering is our middle name,” says Shrinivas Chebbi, the global head of Himel Business. We dive deep into the culture of Himel that has made it the global name it is today Affordability and reliability are words often not said in the same breath. Multinational manufacturer and provider of electrical products, Himel, has been doing just that – combining affordability and reliability. With a global footprint combined with technology, the company has been creating an incredible impact on emerging economies around the world. Shrinivas Chebbi, the global head of Himel Business, explains how value engineering is woven into the Himel product portfolio, the brand’s plans to reinforce its footprint in the GCC and how the brand envisions access to safer electricity. After serving a number of different roles, today, he is at the helm of the brand’s global business overseeing sales acquisitions, alliances and mergers in its worldwide operations. Since Himel was founded in 1972, Chebbi says the brand has been a global company whose business model has evolved over the decades. While discussing the brand’s six-decade- long legacy, Chebbi says since its inception, Himel has been a global company whose business model has evolved over the decades. “Himel was born in 1958 in Spain, and the company was built around addressing the needs of the growing market at the time which was radio telecommunications. Today, Himel stands as a champion and a leader known for its value engineering competencies and the ability to address the needs of the discerning customers in the emerging economies.” “Our business model is all about being agile and innovative, with the core as value engineering while working closely with the channel ecosystem, and reﬂ ecting the markets we serve - the discerning consumer who has a strong value focus and needs a reliable product at an affordable price.” Chebbi explains that in emerging and developing economies like Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Southern America, consumer behaviour is quite different. They are relatively newer age consumers seeking a greater return on their investment. It is important to them to buy products from an international brand that supports them throughout the product’s lifecycle, from warranty, serviceability, accessibility to reliability and affordability. “Value engineering is the art and science of building a product to exactly meet the demands so that you do not compromise on the non-negotiables and then question everything else regarding the value that it is creating with respect to the cost you’re spending on it. “Himel does not make products which can be used for 25 different applications. We really value engineer for the application we are creating it for and build it very well,” he adds. Chebbi spoke about how the brand copes with the inﬂ ationary pressures stemming from material shortages, supply chain snafus and uncertainty over the health of the economy that have been driving the prices of electrical products to unpredented heights. He points out that the brand’s plants have got large and enough capacity. As a global supply chain player which is unlike other similar players in the market, the company leverages its ecosystem to grow by partnering with its channel partners. He says: “When you do everything yourself, it becomes a little difﬁ cult to respond quickly to the needs of the supply chain. So, I’m very glad to say that Shrinivas Chebbi, global head of Himel BusinessSeptember 2022 | MEP Middle East 9 www.mepmiddleeast.com VALUE ENGINEERING supply chain. So, I’m very glad to say that while there is deﬁ nitely inﬂ ationary price pressure on all of us, we try to be as efﬁ cient as possible to limit the transfer of the inﬂ ationary pressure onto the market. “So far, we have not been impacting our channel and our markets of consumers with respect to lead times. For example, when some of the suppliers in our industries have moved from a supply lead time of one month to one year now, we are still able to follow the original deadlines. I would like to thank my colleagues and our supply chain partners who have been really working, forecasting and preparing for the stocks in order to address their needs.” “When you look at our growth of business and that of our customer satisfaction indices, it tells us that we seem to be on the right path,” he reﬂ ects. With the last few years being dominated by shifts in technology, especially those related to home automation and buildings, Himel has also been incorporating smart into their portfolio. According to Chebbi, value engineering is a facet of smartness. The company has been focussing on building smart products that enable doing more with less, reduce daily life complexities, and make things safer and reliable without compromising on the main cornerstones of affordability and reliability. “We are more focussed on converting the existing homes Next >