Gulf Construction Online

UAE Focus

Update

01 July 2013

Al-Futtaim to provide MEP services

AL-FUTTAIM Engineering will provide mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) and civil maintenance services to more than 500 buildings across the UAE under two contracts it signed with the Ministry of Public Works.

The two-year multi-million-dirham contracts will see the Al-Futtaim company’s facilities management division (FM) maintain 334 buildings in the Eastern and Northern Emirates and 189 buildings in Dubai and Ajman. The buildings are a mix of schools, mosques, healthcare centres and hospitals.

Opple launches new LED products

CHINA-based Opple Lighting has launched a series of new LED (light-emitting diode) products in the Mena (Middle East and North Africa) region that conform to stringent environmental standards.

The products, launched in Dubai, feature distinct designs that meet the requirements of Energy Star standard and provides perfect lighting experience to the end user, said the company. The cooling technologies and mechanical designs ensure long-lasting performance, with the lifetime of every product’s driver lasting up to 50,000 hours. Opple Lighting has a presence in more than 50 countries through 5,000 franchised stores and 20,000 outlets.

Daikin unveils new WCT chiller

DAIKIN the global leader, innovator and provider of advanced air-conditioning solutions for residential, commercial and industrial applications has introduced the new WCT 6,000 water-cooled centrifugal chiller.

With cooling capacities up to 6,000 TR (tons of refrigeration) WCT chillers are the most efficient and largest commercial capacity district cooling chillers in the world, said the company. The WCT chillers provide industry-leading efficiencies, resulting in low operating costs and excellent return on investment, it added.

“Chiller compressor design is a key factor to attain highest levels of sustainable plant room, energy-efficient performance, that’s why Daikin McQuay’s WCT 6,000 TR system includes a pair of two-stage centrifugal chillers arranged in series-counter flow to reach the high lift typically required in district cooling systems,” said Maged Makar, business development manager at Daikin McQuay Middle East.

Khalifa Port ‘is the best data centre’

ABU Dhabi Ports Company’s (ADPC) Khalifa Port bagged the ‘Best Data Centre Project of the Year’ title at the Network World Middle East Awards 2013 for its data centre project.

ADPC’s data centre project is based on Schneider technology and is executed by the global specialist in energy management. The award recognised ADPC’s outstanding achievement, leadership and innovation demonstrated in building and operating data centres.

WH International design backed

THE designs by architect and engineers WH International for a new polymer processing facility in Abu Dhabi have received planning approval.

The new polymer processing plant at Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad) will provide a new purpose-designed facility and warehousing in the general industry zone of the industrial zone for Polysys Additives Technologies Middle East (Patme). The plant will be used for the production of polymer additive, one-pack systems, which will be supplied to the major polyethylene and polypropylene producers in the region.

The design by WH International for the site layout ensures the most efficient site usage in terms of building orientation, building entrance, service yard and car-park location as well as protecting the site and options for future expansion.

The proposed development has been designed to achieve a Pearl One Estidama rating.

WH International is one of a limited number of consultants approved to provide designs for the Kizad development.

Readymix firms told to register

UNDER a new ordinance, readymix concrete companies and on-site mixing units in Dubai are required to register with the Dubai Municipality.

Yusuf Abdullah Al Marzooqi, acting director of buildings department at Dubai Municipality, said that the civic body has taken this initiative to ensure the safety and quality of work in the construction work sector.

A joint team from the buildings department and Dubai Central Lab has been formed to take care of the registration, monitoring and issuing conformity certificate for the readymix concrete companies and on-site mixing units.

The deadline to complete registration formalities is December 31, 2013.

UAE companies win IDEA honours

TWO UAE-based district cooling companies have been honoured for their initiatives in energy conservation at the 104th annual International District Energy Association (IDEA) conference held in Miami, US.

National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed), the leading Abu Dhabi-based district cooling utility company, received two awards.

It won IDEA’s top prize – the Gold Award – for ‘total building area committed’ outside of North America, reflecting Tabreed’s connection of a significant area of real estate to district cooling in 2012. The Silver Award took into account the number of buildings connected to district cooling outside of North America last year.

Meanwhile, Emirates District Cooling (Emicool) received the Gold Award for the ‘greatest number of buildings committed to district energy beyond North America’. This is Emicool’s third consecutive win of the prestigious award.

China firm to invest in Dubai resort

CHINese State Construction Engineering Corp (CSCEC), one of the world’s largest construction firms, said it had agreed to invest in a $1-billion resort project in Dubai – its first real estate investment in the Middle East.

CSCEC declined to specify how much money its Middle Eastern arm would put into the Viceroy Dubai Palm Jumeirah project, on which it is the main contractor.

The project, which includes a hotel and furnished residences, is being developed by SKAI Holdings, a Dubai-based real estate investment firm. It is scheduled to be completed in 2016.

Yu Tao, chief executive of the CSCEC’s regional arm, said that such projects could appeal to the rising number of Chinese individuals investing in real estate and other alternative investments abroad.

Syska Hennessy expands Dubai office

SYSKA Hennessy Group, a global consulting, engineering and commissioning firm, is expanding its Dubai office in order to meet the increasing demands of the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.

The group has moved its Mena office into expanded space in Dubai’s Internet City, in addition to increasing its engineering staff strength to support growing demand in the facilities management (FM) consulting, commissioning (FMCx), hospitality and healthcare markets. The expanded facility will now accommodate staff that has doubled in size since its opening in the past year.

Syska Hennessy is supporting global client requirements for high performance consulting, collaborative design, commissioning and facility management consulting of complex facilities from its new location, as a full-service practice for its Mena customers. These services have grown into a backlog that is 150 per cent over last year.

Emirates Steel widens range

ABU Dhabi-based Emirates Steel’s $1.6-billion heavy sections mill is diversifying its product range to include a new range of structural steel, for supply of offshore oil and gas structures.

The 15-year-old steel maker has a capacity to produce one million tonnes of structural steel per year, with enhanced mechanical properties that are often specified in offshore oil, gas and petrochemical projects.

The new structural steel being developed is the S355J2 which maintains its impact strength even at -20 deg C.

CEO Saeed G Al Romaithi said: “We are ramping up production to reach the one million tonnes level possibly in three years’ time when we would have developed our product range and optimised our rolling mill efficiency.”

The mill currently has a wide range of products from medium light sections to heavy jumbo sections with sizes from approximately 200 to 1,000 mm in depth, he said.