Dubai, UAE, 22 March 2018:  Over 400 participants saw industry experts present façade solutions to reduce energy consumption in the Middle East, at ZAK World of Façades, on March 20, at Conrad Hotel, Dubai, the organisers said in a Press communiqué.

Jason Pardesi, General Manager, Wintech Middle East, said 80% of all the energy produced in the UAE is consumed by buildings and in Dubai, residential buildings consume more than commercial buildings. The current building stock is inefficient, with some buildings being thought to consume 220–360 kwh/m2/year, he added. While best practice in the UAE shows its most energy-efficient buildings consuming 110–160 kwh/m2, the aim, as detailed at the Emirates Energy Efficient Summit 2016, is to reduce this to 40–60 kwh/m2/year, he explained.

Pardesi also highlighted that thermal engineering is of great importance in the UAE, due to chances for fire during the summer. The actual façade performance that companies are achieving in Dubai is often not what they set out to achieve, he said. As a solution, the construction process should be monitored effectively and the cooling loads will be reduced by up to eight per cent for the worst buildings, if the air tightness is controlled, he added.

Werner Jaeger, Director Technology and Marketing, Hydro Building Systems, talked about the cities of the future and the main challenges they look at when constructing buildings – heat, dust, smog, noise and fire. In the UAE and the GCC region, there have been many instances of fire, which has prompted the new UAE Fire and Safety Code that outlines stringent measures and regulations that building contractors must follow to protect façades, he said. One such requirement is compliance with the EN-1364-4 fire resistance test for curtain wall assembly, he pointed out. Jaeger said that Technal’s new non-fire-rated curtain wall assembly, with Siderise perimeter fire protection, has successfully undergone the EN-1364-4 fire resistance test required in the UAE.

The conference also focused on emerging façade materials such as liquid glass and carbon fibre, the communiqué said. Carbon fibre is a type of façade which is much stronger in strength compared to steel, although it is much lighter in weight; therefore, carbon fibre is now being increasingly used in architectural projects, said Mathieu Meur, Director, DP Architects, during his presentation. He also spoke on the latest emerging materials in facades, which is liquid glass, a type of glass that reflects the heat back to its source depending on the amount of light coming in, the communiqué added.

The communiqué further said the event had two panel discussions – one on digital impact on modern façade design and construction and another on façade engineering matrix for desired project delivery targets.