Ahead of the upcoming COP28, at a time when the Middle East is amplifying its commitment to net-zero targets, the significance of sustainable infrastructure has never been more pronounced.
Wherever you go in the region these days, it is impossible to overlook the metal cranes dotting the landscape. They are visible signs of a massive construction boom that is bringing forth whole new cities, from NEOM in Saudi Arabia, to Lusail in Qatar, and the Mina Rashid Redevelopment Project in the UAE, to name just a few.
Nowhere else in the world is building so much; in our joint research undertaken on the issue, Dar al Handasah and Strategy& Middle East estimate that spending on construction in the region will amount to $2 trillion by 2035. And, consequently, nowhere else has such a large opportunity to establish global leadership in ensuring that the built environment is sustainable.
The construction boom will not just alter the landscape across the Middle East: it could and we believe, it should become the testing ground for innovative technologies and processes that reduce carbon emissions from the construction and operation of buildings and their supporting infrastructure systems such as water supply and energy networks. This would mean adding a focus on sustainability, quality of life, and localisation to the existing strategic objectives of cost, time, and building quality.
Pioneering the development and use of sustainable technologies and techniques could give a significant push to efforts by Middle East governments to reduce emissions.
We estimate that adopting a sustainable approach to the built environment could reduce life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions for urban development by about halfand that this would also take the region half way toward meeting the goal of achieving net zero emissions in the next 25-40 years (Exhibit). Fully achieving net zero would require one critical other step, namely developing a clean electric grid powered by renewable energies.
The tangible benefits of rigorously applying sustainable methods and materials to the built environment will be measured not just in tons of carbon dioxide that is not emitted, but also in terms of better quality of life, incremental economic growth, and the development of enhanced local skills and jobs.
The spending amounts to about 10% of GDP annually, and we estimate that it could create about 4.3 million jobs per year. More broadly, the push for innovation in the built environment could set a new global standard for all.
What would it take to get there? The starting point is a paradigm shift, a change of mentality among government planners, regulators, investors including sovereign wealth funds, architects, and developers about how to use investments in the built environment to further the region’s sustainability agenda.
In the research, we took a detailed look at 17 sets of innovations including more than 50 technologies that would make a significant difference. These range from the use of innovative construction materials, such as recycled plastic instead of steel in concrete, to switching energy systems to green hydrogen, and installing green or “vegetated” roofs and kinetic floor tiles that capture the energy of the people walking across them.
The four dimensions
Seizing the opportunity on offer will require focused efforts to innovate on both systems and materials. We see at least four dimensions.
First, investment will need to flow to technological innovations that hold the most promise for the built environment. This could include, for example, new low-emissions processes for making steel and concrete, the two materials most used in building today whose emissions are currently hard to abate, or developing hydrogen storage solutions for energy systems. One way forward here would be to set up a dedicated fund for sustainable built environment technology.
Second, regulators have a significant role to play in creating demand for more innovative construction by developing green building codes tailored for the region and regulations that mandate changes to current practices to make then more sustainable. Architects and engineers have a critical role here, by providing detailed insights into what is possible and building libraries of case studies.
Third, research and development in the region will need to put a new emphasis on the built environment. Higher education has a role to play in developing new curricula that will be core to preparing the next generation of engineers and skilled workers. Regional and international research and innovation clusters could be created, for example sustainable materials research and innovation industrial clusters that focus on waste-to-energy systems or sustainable materials such as graphene concrete, green steel or cement, and natural refrigerants.
Finally, there will need to be an upgrade in capabilities and workforce skills to put the new techniques and products to use. There is an urgent need to rethink ways to fill both short-term skills gaps and put in place long-term educational programs that will boost the region’s capabilities in civil engineering, material science, and chemistry, among other disciplines.
The Middle East has a unique $2 trillion opportunity to pioneer sustainable construction. The efforts would be considerable and concerted, but the outcome would easily be worthwhile in terms of achieving three key objectives: sustainability, higher quality of life, and localisation.
Source: constructionweekonline