Global News

Taipei 101 World’s Tallest Green Building

Taipei 101 has been officially announced as the tallest energy conservation building in the world by Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED), the globally recognised green building ranking system of the US Green Building Council (USGBC). The building has been honoured with a Platinum LEED certification.

This skyscraper has set three records: it is the tallest green building (508 meters); the largest green building (about 1,50,000 sqm); and the highest-use green building (90 tenants).

Harace Lin, president of Taipei Financial Center Corp, the company which owns the building, says, “The efforts made by Taipei 101 show that environmental protection will save more on costs and create earnings in the future.” According to him, the company spent nearly US$2.08 million and over 10,000 man-hours over the past two years to acquire the LEED certification, and in return the building has achieved annual savings of 14.4 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, equivalent to NT$36 million, or an 18% energy-saving over three years. The design specification for the carbon dioxide level in Taipei 101 is 600 ppm, which is lower than the national standard of 1,000 ppm.

On the other hand, USGBC chairman Mark MacCracken has said that it was difficult for Taipei 101 to acquire Platinum LEED certification because it is being used by so many different companies.

At present, nearly 40% of newly built skyscrapers have submitted green building certificate applications.

Source: www.eco-business.com

Veitnam Building Products Market Faces Setback

The building products market in Vietnam is going through a rough phase as the construction industry sees a downfall, contrary to the increased production. According to the Vietnam Building Material Association, production at factories making cement and ceramic tiles had increased against the same period last year while consumption had reduced.

A typical building material shop in Tay Ho Street, Ha Noi had a year-on-year reduction of 70% in revenue to US$14,527 in June. On the other hand, sales have always fallen in the wet season, but this year they have been down since the beginning of the year and haven’t recovered. To promote sales a lot of producers and retailers are offering large discounts.

“Consumption of steel had fallen to 298,000 tonnes in June and recovered to 359,000 tonnes in July, still much lower than the average consumption of 400,000 tonnes a month,” avers Nguyen Tien Nghi, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Steel Association. Moreover, he expects no improvement in sales before the end of this year due to reduced public investment and expenditure on construction in a period of high inflation. According to data provided by Vietnam Cement Association, the consumption of cement in July had also reduced by 360,000 tonnes against June to 3.59 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, in order to keep their sales intact, large steel and cement producers had sought to export their products. Exports of clinker and cement reached 2.5 million tonnes in the first half and 133,000 tonnes of steel in the first seven months.

Source: www.vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn

Engineered Wood Products Gain Momentum in West

The growing demand for cost-effective wood products being used by construction industry, like flooring and structural panels, are driving the growth of North American and European engineered wood market. According to a Frost & Sullivan report, entitled Strategic Analysis of the North American & European Engineered Wood Markets in Construction & Buildings, despite the decline in house building and RMI markets, the volume consumption of engineered wood products is expected to rise as consumer acceptance grows.

Another factor that is benefiting this market is the trend for products which improve the environmental performance of buildings. “In the US, the development of ‘green building standards’ has been initiated in several states,” says the report. “These standards are comprehensive and provide impetus for certified wood and wood products that are associated with low emissions.” The effect was a gradual recovery in 2010, when engineered wood use was encouraged in new housing.

In Europe, the European Commission’s Competitiveness and Innovation Programme is propagating significant implications for wood composite products, and coming up with new policies to promote green buildings. “Europe has the highest level of penetration for engineered wood products in industrial applications, and the ones that benefit from this trend are particleboard, MDF, and plywood,” the report says. “The majority of these products catering to industrial applications are speciality and value-added products, such as fire rated and melamine faced.”

The use of Glulam is rising and the product is also gaining greater market penetration as compared to in North America. In Europe there is greater penetration of engineered wood products in the non-residential construction and industrial markets, while in North America they are more widely used in house building. Although the prospects for the market look bright, volatile energy costs would continue to be a challenge.
Source: www.ttjonline.com

Building Product Prices Shoot in Abu Dhabi

The price of building products is soaring in Abu Dhabi, calling for increased pressure on the construction sector and further on the property market. According to a report by the Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi (SCAD), the price of building products including cement, steel and wires for residential towers increased steeply in July as compared to that in June.

The report suggests that the price of sand-based products recorded the largest increase last month, rising 17.7%. Costs for the material have grown more than 52% since July last year while power cables cost 3.3% more as compared to June. The price of cement moved up 8.1%, according to the report.

“When it comes to the cost of construction, cement and sand account for a significant portion of the total cost,” says Praveen Bhatnagar, the chief executive of hotels and wellness at Landmark Hospitality.

“If the cost of construction continues to increase, this will have an effect in a year or two because the properties which are under construction will get more expensive,” he added.

The price rise has affected companies at every level in the construction sector.”The price has increased,” says Khalid Al Hammadi, who owns Aldana House, a small construction company that has completed seven villas in Abu Dhabi and is working on four more. “We have all the suppliers we can find. Maybe the price will increase more.”

Though there are products that remained untouched by this sudden rise in prices, such as natural stone, concrete and glass, others including wood, tiles, marble, certain kinds of pipes and some decorative materials saw a drop in price.

But if a comparison is made over the past year, certain key categories of products have increased significantly in cost and made it much more expensive for construction companies which plan more buildings. Wires for residential towers and transport equipment now cost at least 25% more than they did in July last year. Meanwhile, the price of power cables for carrying electricity through buildings has surged nearly 45%.

The scenario of fluctuating prices has been a part of this industry from the past few years, as prices for steel and other raw construction products were near record highs before the global downturn started in 2008, largely driven “because of a massive demand in the Middle East and China,” said William Dewsnap, the head of valuation for Abu Dhabi at Cluttons, a property consultancy.

“But then as developments stopped, and the economy slowed down quite considerably, those raw material costs dropped quite sharply,” he said. “What you’re seeing is something of a correction.”

Source: www.thenational.ae

Danube Opens Six Showrooms, Targets 75 by 2015

Danube Building Materials has opened six new facilities in Gulf and India keeping pace with its expansion programme for 2015, which is part of the ongoing Dh200 million expansion initiative. The new facilities will include building material showrooms in Al Dibba and Sharjah, the company’s first showroom in Qatar, first B2B building materials showroom in Salalah, Oman, and its second Buildmart showroom in India.

Further, the company recently inaugurated its Danube Buildmart showroom in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The new retail facility is the company’s fifth showroom to be located in a shopping mall and complements the company’s move to create a stronger market presence in the UAE. “The Middle East is going to go through lots of construction in the next five years,” said chairmanRizwan Sajan. “We have the pulse of the market.” He also cited housing projects in Oman and the construction boomin Saudi Arabia.

In UAE although the industry had been going through a slow phase, Sajan fully expects stalled projects to restart and further change the current situation. He also noted the many projects planned in Abu Dhabi in the next few years. Besides, Qatar, which will host the FIFA World Cup in 2022, is seeing a great drive in its infrastructure sector. In this growth, Danube plans to play a key role with its retail facility in the country. This 100,000 sft facility will comprise of a showroom and warehouse.

The company’s Oman showroom measures 12,000 sft, and the Al Dibba showroom is 30,000 sft. The new facilities are part of an initiative where in it aims to open 75 new outlets in the region by 2015. This year, Danube opened eight facilities, with four more due by the end of the year, Sajan said.

“Danube is playing a very important role in the industry by providing more than 25,000 products,” said Sajan. Construction companies can purchase all their requirements, such as cement, glass, and aluminium from one place, making for a much easier life for everyone, he added.

Source: www.gulfnews.com