In the Middle East, construction activity has increased in recent years as the region has strived to become a leading global hub for business and tourism.
This growth has put pressure on the region’s resources, particularly power and water supply and material availability. The region is one of the most globally sensitive to climate change with a high susceptibility to rising sea levels. With global geopolitical and socioeconomic factors affecting resource readiness and disrupting supply chains, the regional construction sector must adapt to new ways of thinking to build resilience against the imminent climate crisis.
While construction companies will need to adapt their operations to deal with these challenges, in parallel, there is a more pressing need for the construction industry itself to do its part in reducing its impact on the environment, by engaging and investing in more sustainable construction practices.
“The decarbonisation of the region’s built environment is feasible and has the potential to generate significant value, but the industry must work together to define a shared and a unified approach if impact at scale is to be realised.”
Mark Hamill, Regional Real Estate Lead, Middle East
Survey findings
Sustainability awareness and country-wide net-zero ambitions
Over 70 percent of our survey respondents were aware of country-level net-zero policy and ambition, and over 90 percent were aware that COP28 is taking place this year (though only 79 percent were aware that COP28 would be convened in the UAE).
Despite this general awareness, the majority of survey respondents said that their existing projects do not exceed minimum regulatory requirements. This demonstrates the significance of regulation as a driver of market impact and the increasing importance of regulatory evolution to improve standards over time. In this respect, the region is relatively immature and could do significantly more. There is a need for action on regulation, specifically to deploy enhanced standards aligned to national policy ambition, along with a mechanism to evolve these standards over time to effectively drive continuous improvements within the construction industry.
Sustainable construction: an ever-evolving target
Conversations around sustainability are taking place, and in general, appear to be emerging at an appropriate time. Over 70 percent of respondents, including the majority of developers, investors, consultants, and government respondents, are discussing sustainability requirements at the project briefing stage, ensuring that the proper considerations are made from the outset.
This engagement reduces considerably as projects move from design into construction and operation, with fewer than half of respondents who consider sustainability at design continuing to do so through operation. This highlights one of the key challenge areas for the industry to address in relation to the achievement of sustainable performance in operation. In markets such as Australia and the United Kingdom, sustainability planning and green standards with integrated operational performance requirements are now the pillars of the design and construction process. This results in a smaller disparity between design expectation and operational reality, providing reliable and efficient performance in newly built assets. There are also increasingly stringent regulations for existing buildings that continue to drive reductions in energy and water consumption while ensuring assets remain commercially viable for lease and resale.
discuss sustainability requirements at the project briefing stage, ensuring that the proper considerations are made
Changing perspective: broadening our focus to consider the whole life cycle
Developers are increasingly considering the wider impacts of construction work in the region, a trend driven by increased awareness and interrogation of Scope 3 emissions. This is leading to higher rates of life cycle assessment and increased levels of multi-factor decision-making informed by more than just cost.
Demonstrating this trend is Expo City in Dubai, which not only took a life cycle perspective from the outset but additionally considered the transitional nature and changing purpose of the project across its life cycle. From bringing the world together for six months during Expo 2020, the site has transitioned into an innovation-driven, people-centric city of the future that will be home to businesses and residents, and engage visitors through educational, cultural and professional experiences galvanising action on its decarbonisation journey.
The operation of buildings with a low ecological footprint has consistently risen to the top of the agenda for owners and managers of physical assets. Progressive design, which provides optimisation techniques to address potential operational challenges throughout the design and construction phases, is now the norm for developing new assets with sustainable living environments on a global scale.
In the Middle East, particularly the UAE and Saudi Arabia, reducing energy and water consumption and lowering GHG emissions are the primary environmental reasons for turning green. Nevertheless, it necessitates a comprehensive strategy that incorporates sustainability standards that track through to deliver operational performance gains throughout the asset's life cycle. This is a mindset shift for the region, where the predominant development model of build-to-lease inhibits robust life cycle consideration due to its focus on capital outlay. There is a need for action to bring focus to life cycle performance and to provide a consistent approach backed by technical expertise using carbon and cost to inform decision-making during design that will enhance and deliver operational performance and value. Furthermore, a life cycle focus will increase worker productivity, enhance occupant health and well-being and promote sustainable business practices – all of which provide long-term enhancements in asset values.
*The above graph indicates where survey respondents noted sustainability being discussed, during the development process of their projects.
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