website http://www.pen.com.qa

28 Construction Thursday 8 April 2010

ConstructionTrends

W Hotel in San Francisco makes ‘Green’ historySAN FRANCISCO: Crowning an industry-leading, employee-driven green programme, the four-diamond W San Francisco made history this week by earning the first LEED certification of an existing building belonging to a major hotel brand.

Among the energy efficiency steps taken at W San Francisco without negatively impacting the sensory experience and atmosphere of the hotel: More than 70 percent of guestroom lighting and 90 percent of back-of-house lighting is energy efficient, using CFLs, LEDs, motion sensors, and other technologies; the hotel’s HVAC cooling towers were replaced with energy-efficient models, saving 300kWh/year; motion sensors power off HVAC in unoccupied guestrooms; and Energy Star power management features are activated on all PCs.

Management continues to track energy usage and savings with a third-party vendor through the hotel’s utility company, PG&E. Lastly, to further improve energy efficiency and encourage the use of renewable energy, management is considering installing wind turbines on the hotel’s roof—a first for a commercial building in the city.

Eco Sound Barrier receives award for innovationMOON TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania: Centria has announced that Eco Sound Barrier, a sound barrier system with the industry’s most innovative combina-tion of affordability, sustainability and architectural flexibility, has received the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Charles Pankow Award for Innovation.

Eco Sound Barrier is the industry’s first Cradle-to-CradleCM-certified road product and is a cost-effec-tive, green alternative to traditional sound barriers. This innovative sound barrier is made from 23 per-cent recycled material and is 100 percent recyclable at the end of its useful life. And, at only 4.25 pounds per square foot, Eco Sound Barrier requires far fewer trucks to transport it to the jobsite, which dramati-cally cuts down on emissions and lowers a project’s carbon footprint. Additionally, total installed costs for Eco Sound Barrier are less than those of traditional precast barriers.

MonierLifetile donates Solar Roof System to NGOHENDERSON, Nevada: MonierLifetile has donated an energy-efficient concrete roof tile system to NGO Habitat for Humanity Las Vegas for its first green LEED prototype home.

Located in Henderson, the prototype house by Habitat for Humanity Las Vegas is projected to achieve Platinum LEED certification, the highest level of green building rating available through the US Green Building Council (USGBC). MonierLifetile donated a complete Energy Efficient Roof System comprising sustainable concrete roof tiles, and incor-porating a solar hot water system.

MonierLifetile is the leading manufacturer of con-crete roof tile across North America. The company’s innovative Energy Efficient Roof System utilizes an elevated batten system, vented eave risers and ridge guards to reduce energy costs. Studies have shown the system can reduce the amount of heat penetrating the conditioned space by 50 percent versus direct-to-deck installations, resulting in 22 percent lower energy consumption. AECDaily

By ERIKA WIDEN

DOHA: A series of recent events such as the Mazaya IPO, Barwa Real Estate merger with Alaqaria and plans for the $2.5bn merger between Group of International Housing Co and Ezdan indicated that the strength and determination of Qatari companies amid the current global financial crisis and that the local confidence is rising in the real estate sector.

The first quarterly report released this month from Century 21 Qatar highlights diverse signs of growth in singular types of real estate classes.

A number of mega scale infra-structure projects such as the metro and rail system, the $1bn tunnel con-necting the New Doha Airport with West Bay are expected to trigger expansion of the construction sec-tor in the near future.

On the real estate market, a demand for different real estate asset classes has increased in the months of January and February indicat-ing that the market is continuing to stabilise.

The supply volumes continue to soar with an increasing number of construction projects that are either completed or about to be completed, making the current oversupply not to reach a breakeven point in the near future.

The large supply versus demand has forced real estate companies into aggressive competition which con-tributes to a positive and healthy market. A number of high profile construction projects commenced in the first quarter, boosting real estate investors. Some of these projects include the $110m Al Waab Mall.

What is more, as indicated in the Century 21 Q1 report, the market viewpoint for the second quarter based on the current figures, rental rates are far likely to decline and occupation of flats are predicted to fall by 10 percent by July, putting pressure on villa rentals but the out-come is expected to be slight.

Re-evaluating the current ten-ancy contracts is quite frequent in the market. The Department of Valuation and Advisory of Century 21 Qatar indicated that this trend is combined along with requests to revise the residential contracts for corporate residences.

During the second half of the year, announcements of several new mega scale developments are expected since developers are considering redesigning plans for their projects according to new market variables. Banks are gradually opening doors for personal finance which Century 21 Qatar believes will eventually lead to covering the real estate finance since there is seen timidity in mort-gages and financing.

THE PENINSULA

Confidence rising in Qatar’s real estate sector Mega projects trigger expansion in construction industry: Report

The W Hotel in San Francisco

Two workers, standing on an aerial platform, guide an Eco Sound Barrier into position while a crane lowers the panel into place.

MonierLifetile’s energy-efficient concrete roof tile system.

Apartment rental rates witnessed a heavy decline in March. The decline exceeded 10 percent in areas such as Bin Mahmoud, Bin Omran and Madinat Khalifa while it ranged from 4 percent to 7 percent in other areas.

Growth in villa rents during March ranged from –3 percent to +5 percent in different parts in Doha except for Rawdat Al Matar (more than +10 percent) and Al Dafna and Garrafa (around -8 percent).

It is estimated that commercial office leasing rates declined by approximately 10 percent on average in different parts of Doha since end of December 2009.

This distribution (by bedroom) reflects, to some extent, the higher demand for 2BR and 3BR apartments. However, it is noted that demand for 1BR and 2BR units has increased in the last few years mainly from small size households especially expatriates.

Growth of office rents (Dec 2009 – Mar 2010)Distribution of UF apartments by No of bedrooms

HENDERSONVILLE, North Carolina: GE Lighting Solutions leads an LED charge with its expansion in the roadway lighting seg-ment: the new Evolve LED R150 Cobrahead luminaire features an advanced LED optical system that provides improved horizontal and vertical uniformity, reduced glare and improved lighting control.

Voted as Best-in-Class in the Next Generation Luminaires Design Competition, the Evolve LED R150 Cobrahead can yield a 40-percent reduction in system energy com-pared with standard metal halide systems, depending on roadway applications, and more than 10 years of service life, reducing maintenance frequency.

GE Lighting Solutions combined the tra-ditional HID street light with LED tech-nology and the Evolve optic light engine to

create the new LED luminaire. The Evolve optic design optimises distribution, reduces glare and offers high utilization.

The contoured cobrahead-shaped hous-ing closely resembles existing fixtures in the field, and incorporates a heat sink fin design that not only provides excellent ther-mal management for extended LED life, but also allows for water run-off to minimise the build-up of dirt on the exterior of the fixture.

LEDs are a solid-state light source and more durable than traditional lamps. The LED photometric control contributes to color consistency, greater optical control to provide light only where desired, improved fixture efficiency for lower operating cost, and better control of spill light to reduce light pollution and trespass. AECDaily

The road to energy savings: GE introduces LED street lights

GE’s Evolve LED R150 Cobrahead street lamps.