With 5.6 million units needed by 2014, study pegs residential sector gains at 70% share of real estate market.

Saudi Arabia will need around one million new homes over the next five years to keep up with an estimated 3.3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), according to a study by Saudi-based Jiwar Real Estate Management and Marketing, a real estate company in the Gulf region and the marketing arm of the Saudi Bin Laden Group. This pace translates to around 5.5 million required units by 2014.

The residential sector has grown substantially to account for 70% of the Kingdom’s real estate market, as the housing demand has risen steadily over the recent years, due mainly to a young and rapidly growing population, constantly seeking affordable homes, says the study. The other 30% is distributed among offices, retail outlets, the hospitality and industrial sectors.

The study also revealed that the short- to medium-term domestic residential outlook is very positive as the demand is expected to surpass supply by 50,000 units annually over the next four to five years. The Saudi residential sector encompasses villas, apartments, duplexes, traditional houses, and residential compounds.

According to the report, Riyadh, Jeddah, Mecca, Madina, Damma and Al Khobar are the top residential markets in Saudi Arabia, with the property business in these areas being dominated by rented units, which account for an average of 83% of housing. The number of households in Riyadh city alone is expected to rise to around 1.05 million by 2014, representing a CAGR of 3.7%.

“Saudi Arabia continues to be one of the few property markets in the region capable of sustaining growth within the global recession,” said Dr Saleh Bin Abdullah Al Habib, CEO, Jiwar Real Estate Management and Marketing. “The residential segment has been the main driver; average occupancy within the six major city markets is, in fact, at around 96%,” he added.

Jiwar is actively involved in the Abraj Al-Bait Towers being developed by the Saudi Bin Laden Group in Mecca. Upon completion, the 595meter-high structure will occupy a floor area of 1.5 million square meters and become the world’s tallest and largest hotel. It will equal the area of the current record holder, Terminal 3 at the Dubai International Airport in the UAE, and surpass the Rose Tower in Dubai as the world’s tallest hotel.

Ministry is considering smart buildings technology and sustainable materials for residential buildings

Bahrain’s Minister of Housing, H.E. Shaikh Ibrahim bin Khalifa Al Khalifa will patronise the first Green Building Forum, to be held at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) on May 5, 2010.

The Minister will deliver the keynote opening speech to the Forum delegates, in which he is expected to highlight the concept of environmental sustainability as a crucial element of Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030, the objectives of which are to transform the Kingdom from a regional pioneer to a global contender. The Ministry of Housing is currently considering smart building technology and sustainable materials to build more homes in Bahrain.

According to the ministry communiqué, in addition to Shaikh Ibrahim, the Forum will feature a distinguished line-up of renowned speakers from the government, businessmen and environmentalists. The topics slated for discussion include the Copenhagen Treaty and its relevance to the Gulf; Government regulations and green codes of conduct; Green Building in the Gulf; Environmentallysympathetic design and construction; Challenges for the construction industry and sustainable building materials; Smart buildings; Renewable energy powering the home; Carbon trading or zero emissions; Innovation in building; Recycling waste; and Green Building training and education.

The Green Building Forum is organised by Bahrain based Hilal Conferences & Exhibitions, in association with international event consultancy, North Star Associates.

Commenting on the forthcoming event, Jubran Abdulrahman, Managing Director, HCE, said, “The Green Building Forum is enormously relevant to the construction industry and the world we live in, and the patronage of HE the Minister of Housing demonstrates the significance of the event to Bahrain’s housing and construction sector.”

Ahmed Suleiman, Managing Director, North Star Associates, added: “At a time when conventional building strategies are mainly about steel and cement, the Forum provides a platform to reconsider conventional thinking and demonstrate that green building methods do not necessarily compromise quality or translate into higher construction costs.”

Among others, the Forum is supported by the Bahrain Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Emirates Green Building Council, the Federation of GCC Chambers of Commerce and British Council. It will run concurrently with the fifth gulfBID exhibition, the leading exhibition for the construction and interiors industry in the Northern Gulf, which will be held from May 4 to 6, also at the BIEC.

High-Efficiency combined cycle power plants are part of Siemens’ Environmental Portfolio.

The Shuaibah IWPP steam power plant with integrated seawater desalination facility in Saudi Arabia has started commercial operation, announced Siemens Energy. The company built the power plant as a turnkey project together with its consortium partner, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Company for Shuaibah Water and Electricity Company (SWEC).

The overall plant has an installed capacity of 900 megawatts (MW). According to Siemens Energy, the seawater desalination plant, supplied by Doosan, will produce approximately 880,000 m3 of drinking water daily for the cities of Mecca, Jeddah, Taif and Al Baha.

In addition to turnkey erection of the plant, the Siemens scope of supply also encompassed three backpressure steam turbinegenerators, each rated at 400 MW, the associated electrical equipment and an SPPA-T3000 instrumentation and control system. The power plant is also equipped with an advanced flue-gas cleaning plants, said Siemens Energy, which was supported by the regional entity, Siemens Ltd Saudi Arabia, in its implementation of the crude oil-fired power plant.

According to Siemens Energy, by 2024, it is anticipated that the population of Saudi Arabia will have almost doubled to 40 million. New power plants, with a combined capacity of at least 3,000 MW, will be required annually to meet the pronounced increase in power demand. The Kingdom is, therefore, making significant investments in the expansion of capacities for power and drinking water supply. After Jeddah III, Ghazlan and Al Khobar, Shuaibah is the fourth large-capacity steam power plant built by Siemens in Saudi Arabia.

Company will supply technology for stabilisation of high-voltage transmission network in Saudi Arabia

Siemens Energy recently announced that it has received an order worth EUR65 million from Saudi Arabia to supply three turnkey static reactive-power compensation systems. It will supply three static Var compensators (SVCs) for different high-voltage levels to Saudi Electric Company (SEC) for stabilisation of the country’s 60-Hertz power transmission network.

According to Siemens Energy, the parallel compensation systems will be deployed at three sites in the Hiteen, Qassim and Afif substations and are scheduled to be ready for operation between mid-2011 and early 2012.

“We are pleased that our field-proven technology will be deployed to stabilise the Saudi power transmission network,” said Udo Niehage, CEO of the Power Transmission Division of Siemens Energy.

The three systems ordered are intended for the 380-kV, 132-kV and 33-kV voltage levels and will have a dynamic compensation capacity of as much as 800 MVAr.

B Surendar

For several decades at a stretch, the US has been exploring and producing shale gas. It is only in the last 10 years, though, that it has ramped up production, thanks to the combination of horizontal drilling and hydro-fracking. A case-in point is Barnett, in Texas, which a decade ago, had a handful of wells. Today, that modest figure has swelled to over 12,000 wells. Another example is the Marcellus Basin, in the north-eastern part of the country, which is said to contain an estimated 500 trillion cubic feet of shale gas. At the risk of stating the obvious, these numbers are phenomenal.

Today, thanks to the ramp up, there is conviction in the voice when the US says it has moved that much closer to securing its energy needs for the foreseeable future. Figures vary, but it is generally agreed that while the country imported 11% of its gas needs in 2008, it imports only four per cent today.

Shale gas in the US is for real, said Aloulou Fawzi, at the recently concluded MEGAS Summit in Abu Dhabi. Fawzi works for the Washington DC-based Energy Information Administration (EIA), which is part of the US Department of Energy.

It is not just the US but also Canada, China and Australia that are shale-gas rich. The volumes of gas they contain in their boughs are widely regarded as significant in the oil and gas sectors. Further, the cost of production is comparable to that of producing conventional gas. Yes, there is concern about the potential contamination of aquifers through the exploration of the gas, but experts agree there are adequate leak-prevention measures in place to minimise the risk. With barriers, such as this, falling, it is little surprising to hear of talk that shale gas will impact demand for natural gas worldwide. That’s precisely what speaker after speaker at the MEGAS Summit conveyed to the delegates in no uncertain terms. Prices are coming down, they said. Russia and the countries of the Arabian Gulf will no longer be able to dictate higher prices for export, they added.

To put things in perspective, Qatar is the world’s largest exporter of LNG. It is LNG that contributes significantly to the country’s GDP. In that context, the extent of the impact of shale gas on the peninsula remains to be seen. It is important in the interests of the construction and HVACR sectors that Qatar formulates a formidable response to the challenge.

The contract brings the total value of projects awarded to Dh1 billion for the first quarter.

Drake & Scull Water and Power (DSWP), a Drake & Scull International (DSI) subsidiary has won the entire utilities development works at the residential compound in Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa City.

According to DSWP, it was earlier awarded the district cooling works at the same compound, and it will now begin relevant infrastructure works that include sewer lines, irrigation, telecommunications services, fire fighting, sub stations, and all related civil works, such as roads and paving.

“This contract win marks the eighth for DSI in 2010, bringing the total value of the projects awarded to date to Dh1 billion,” said Khaldoun Tabari, CEO and Vice Chairman of DSI. “Reaching such a milestone so early in the year has exceeded our expectations. These results are a testament to our progressive growth strategy, and such achievements assure us that we are on the right path with our plans for 2010.”

Tawfiq Abu Soud, Executive Director of DSWP, commented: “One of the motivating factors for us in deciding to form a business stream dedicated to managing and controlling infrastructure, water and power (IWP) works was the surety that we would continuously have a demand in the market to cater to – this has, indeed, been the case till now, due to the non-diminishing demand for water and power, which are the basic elements needed in any community.”

Company looks forward to a fruitful alliance with Italian partner

Paolo Gasparini, Managing Director, FAST, with Aslan Al-Barazi,

IMEC recently signed an exclusive agreement with FAST-Italy for serving the UAE and Qatar markets. FAST is part of the Giordano Riello Group, and include in their range of products, chillers, AHUs, FCUs, air conditioning and rooftop units.

“The reason we chose FAST is the quality code of manufacturing that FAST follows, including their 18,000-square-metre, completely automated, state-of-the-art production factory,” said Aslan Al-Barazi, Executive Director, IMEC. He added that Eurovent Certification on their main products as well as being part of the Giordano Riello Group, which is well known in the cooling sector in Italy, were additional factors.

Expressing optimism, Al-Barazi said, “We are, therefore, sure the products will be of high quality and fully compliant to the end-user requirements.”

Jose Franco writes about the need for manufacturers to modify their heat-removal devices in tune with present and future requirements.

Cooling towers with ultra low-noise fan installed by Baltimore Aircoil Gulf at Emaar Plaza Baltimore Aircoil Gulf

Customisation is the now the name of the game when it comes to cooling towers. The market calls for various innovations in these heatremoval devices, which send process-heat waste into the atmosphere. Manufacturers should, therefore, incorporate into their products a number of features like noise attenuation systems, hybrid towers for low plume and optimal tower sizing with respect to space availability.

Jeevan Joy

These needed modifications to creating specialised cooling towers are necessary, says Jeevan Joy, the managing director of Spig Middle East, since large-capacity plants for district cooling call for customisation. And the Gulf region has great demand for cooling towers, especially in the power, petrochemical, process and district-cooling industries. Joy remarks, “The largest demand is from the power and petrochemical sectors.”

HYBRID CT

Frank van Leemput, the area sales manager of Dubai based Baltimore Aircoil Gulf, sees in the future hybrid cooling towers which minimise the use of water, are easy to maintain and have more features against Legionnaires Disease (LD). He says manufacturers are currently busy finding ways of installing cooling towers indoors and in “difficult” space layouts, reducing noise emission by these devices and improving their safety and maintenance as well as coming up with LEED-driven solutions.

“At the product level,” van Leemput says, “there is now interest for ‘silent’ solutions – as some areas are fully built-up and residential towers are close to each other – and ‘enhanced reliability’ solutions like closed-circuit coolers which protect the chiller against sand and dust.”

While a number of district cooling projects have been cancelled due to the economic slowdown, van Leemput says the situation in which buildings are forced to find places within themselves for their own HVAC plants presents some opportunities. Consider, for instance, a project that needs modular or mobile chiller plants, and the demand for versatile products.

“Cooling towers are now to be fitted in a building which was not foreseen to be equipped with cooling towers,” says van Leemput, “and the roof is very often not an option.” He adds, “At a geographical level there is a shift in market activity – that is, cash-rich and areas filled with government projects are now taking the forefront, such as in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.”

A hybrid cooling tower, which relies on both water and air to cool the working fluid, is being introduced in the market, notes Rami Al Khalil, the Abu Dhabi-based sales manager at Morex, which has for 18 years served as a full-service manufacturerrepresentative company for the HVAC&R industry in the Middle East. He says there are big tenders involving various projects in Saudi Arabia, such as the King Abdulla Financial District, as well as in Qatar and the UAE.

‘L8’ and LD

Cooling towers, whose common applications include cooling the circulating water used in oil refineries, chemical plants, power stations and building cooling, are covered under ‘L8’, a code of practice approved by the international community to control the spread of LD. The towers vary in size from small roof-top units to very large hyperboloid structures of up to 200 metres in height and 100 metres in diameter, or rectangular structures that can be over 40 metres tall and 80 metres long. Smaller towers are built in the factory while the larger ones are constructed on site.

Brought about by bacteria in aerosols or water droplets which people inhale, LD is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia. L8, which applies also to hot and cold water systems and evaporative condensers, calls for risk assessment of these devices, including cooling towers, and the appointment of a manager, rather than a technician, to be in charge of such. It also provides for ongoing review and reassessment of exposure to the bacteria, called legionella, and the development, implementation and management of a risk-minimisation programme.

Anti-LD legislations exist in most countries, along with measures for energyefficient and green solutions in the HVAC&R industry, van Leemput stresses, but are not always implemented. “This makes it more difficult for manufacturers who live up to international standards and code,” he says, especially now that cheaper solutions have become the focus due to the economic crisis. “LEED-driven projects will, however, place a premium on these solutions.”

TURNKEY SOLUTIONS

The Bridge Way Hotel project in Abu Dhabi, where Morex supplied

Companies also have started offering turnkey solutions for district cooling projects, Al Khalil says, and they maintain these projects for a longer period as part of a strategy to improve customer service and package offering. Another strategy being used by some companies nowadays is the build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme, which addresses mainly the high costs of a district cooling plant and, eventually, the transfer of technology.

“These are manufacturers which have ‘total concept’ offering – that is, the unit plus service,” says van Leemput. After-sales service should be formalised via contracts, as cooling towers need to be maintained by factory-trained technicians, not by those unfamiliar with the products. The spare parts should be genuine, as well, van Leemput adds, in order to ensure good performance and longer lifespan.

Spig Middle East brings its customer service further to include online monitoring for preventive maintenance, and a global reach for trouble-free operation and maintenance of cooling towers. Joy remarks, “We also have online monitoring solutions which we are offering our customers to have an effective, preventive maintenance by keeping online track of the condition of rotating equipment, and also to evaluate the performance of the cooling towers.”

DEMAND DRIVER

Government projects, such as schools, hospitals and administrative complexes in Saudi Arabia, will mainly drive the demand for cooling towers and other related components within the HVAC&R systems, van Leemput says. Other economies that will dominate the market are Qatar and Abu Dhabi, he adds, citing good economic situation which is much better compared to that in, say, European states.

The various ongoing and planned developments in the Middle East will require millions of tonnes of refrigeration for the next 5-10 years, the beneficiary of which will mainly be the district cooling sector and the industrial and commercial projects. This has been pointed out by Al Khalil, saying that companies may take advantage of the growing markets, such as Saudi Arabia, by teaming up with local suppliers or representatives.

Spig Middle East’s 60,000 TR district-cooling plant at Jumeirah Beach Residence

This is echoed by Joy, who emphasises the big potential for cooling towers in Saudi Arabia, which is having a flurry of gigantic development projects involving universities, hospitals and residential communities. Large requirements from the petrochemical, power, process and industrial segments also make the Saudi market more lucrative.

What Joy wants to see realise is manufacturers working with local partners in promoting the advantages and merits of using watercooled systems in large tonnage applications like district cooling. He stresses that the benefits of using seawater-cooling towers, considering that most of the petrochemical, power and process plants are close to the sea and need large capacities of water flow to cool the process. “The clients need to be made aware that the capacity of existing intake channels is diminishing, and environmental guidelines need to be strictly adhered to,” he adds.

VARIOUS PROJECTS

Spig Middle East is executing some prestigious projects in various developments across the Gulf region, such as the Dubai Motor City, New Doha International Airport, SIDRA Medical Hospital and Research Centre (in Doha) and Hadeed District Cooling Plant (in Saudi Arabia). “We are awaiting orders for a couple of major districtcooling projects, which are in the pipeline,” says Joy, “and we are also awaiting some big orders from the petrochemical sector in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.”

Baltimore Aircoil Gulf, which focuses mainly on Abu Dhabi and Qatar, has a number of ongoing projects in the UAE. These include three closed-circuit coolers at Ramada Hotel, in Dubai; five open cooling towers at Wahat Hilli Mall, in Al Ain; 10 open cooling towers with ultra lownoise fan at Marina Plaza Plot (Dubai) and four open cooling towers forced draft with double attenuation package at Landmark (Abu Dhabi).

While Baltimore does not disclose its spending on research and development, Spig says it allots 20% of its annual revenue for R&D and programmes on corporate social responsibility, or CSR. Joy says that Spig, which places at $20 million its estimated turnover in the Gulf for this year, has always focused on technology enhancement and innovations in cooling systems.

This move is reflected in the number of patents and certificates that Spig has received from various accredited bodies for its excellent components and innovative manufacturing techniques. Joy proudly remarks, “We still strive to keep on moving forward and bring out the best for our client, so that they could benefit from powerand water-saving, with utmost considerations to environmental aspects.”

Having components designed for low-supply temperature, Danfoss’s CKL Flat Station is compact and environment-friendly, easy to install (designed for wall mounting) and use and has quiet cooling solutions.

Danfoss said in a note that district cooling flat stations are used in the process of distributing cooling energy into a building, and do not include hazardous refrigerants.

“Of course, the cooling flat stations can also be used in connection with loal chilled water process chillers and traditional chillers,” Danfoss said in a product note.

A standard range of flat station types includes six stations in different sizes and capacities. “When necessary, tailored cooling stations are designed and manufactured according to specification and requirements given by the customer,” Danfoss stressed.

Fitted with plate heat exchangers, the CKL cooling flat stations enable heat transfer via the heavy turbulence and counterflow principle. The cooling substations have internal electrical connections, and are built with prefabricated parts.

These parts are made with automatic pipe-bending equipment, giving supreme quality and short delivery time, Danfoss said.

Buildings do not need traditional chillers when using district cooling, where energy is utilised efficiently from a centralised production system by distributing it to the industrial, commercial and residential buildings to cool the indoor climate.

The new Trane Voyager rooftop units that replace the existing Voyager rooftop unit line are more energy-efficient and suitable for supermarkets, movie theatres, warehouses and other commercial and industrial buildings.

A refurbished house roof with solar energy panels

According to Trane, the new Voyager rooftop units are Eurovent-certified (Class A efficiency for a number of units), with a high Coefficient of Performance (COP) and Energy Efficiency Rating (EER).

Additional energy savings can be achieved with technologies like heat recovery and a modulating and condensing gas burner, making it particularly suitable for cold chain and storage applications, such as chocolate and flower storage.

“Trane Voyager systems combine high reliability and energy savings, easier installation and less maintenance to deliver reduced cost of ownership,” said Pierre Cazal, vicepresident of equipment systems for Trane’s commercial business in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India.

He added, “This flexible system ensures seamless integration with building management systems to improve customers’ heating, ventilating and air conditioning system performance.”

The new design allows the units to perform in extremely warm or very cold environments.

The 15-165 kW-packaged units offer the following:

• A choice of cooling-only, gas-fired, heat pump or dual fuel technologies to meet specific customer cooling and heating needs
• Additional energy-saving options like plate heat exchanger, heat wheel, adjustable fresh air volume and free-cooling
• Plug-and-play design, with a single-point power connection and factory-installed accessories, ensuring easy installation and commissioning