Gulf Construction Online - Qatar leads the way in smart buildings

Regional News

Qatar leads the way in smart buildings

01 June 2016

Qatar is well on its way to deliver on its smart city goals and is strongly positioned to lead the way for smart buildings on a global scale, a recent survey by global technology leader Honeywell has revealed. The survey placed Doha as the overall leader for smart buildings in the Middle East.

The Honeywell Smart Building Score, developed in partnership with researchers Nielsen and global advisors Ernst & Young, highlights Qatar’s dedication to smart and sustainable development. The results fall in line with the priorities outlined by Qatar’s leadership and is in line with its National Vision 2030, it indicated.

The Qatari capital scored 70 points out of a possible 100 in the study, which evaluated 620 buildings across seven major Middle Eastern cities: Abu Dhabi, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait City and Riyadh. The average score across the Middle East was 48 out of 100, with Doha scoring 22 points above the regional average, Honeywell said.

The study evaluated a building’s use of 15 technology assets to find out which systems are in place to make the facility green, safe and productive — the three main indicators of smart buildings. The systems’ overall capabilities, coverage of the facility and uptime were then factored in.

According to Honeywell, increased investment in smart building technologies and improving integration between subsystems that manage functions such as energy usage, access control, fire safety and CCTV systems from a single point of access, are key to achieving a higher smart score.

Although 40 per cent of buildings in Doha have robust integration between subsystems, about 60 per cent were found to have limited or no system integration platforms that can help centralise facility information, streamline processes, and reduce energy and operating costs, it said.

Doha’s high scores are also likely explained by the presence of strict building regulations and the enforcement of codes as laid out by the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS), and early engagement among developers, designers, contractors, technology companies and end users during the building planning phases, said Honeywell.

Qatar also leads the region because it uses internationally proven building safety codes for the approval of building blueprints, follows strict Ministry of Interior safety and security directives, and has developed leading fire and safety codes in conjunction with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

Honeywell also announced that it is launching a competition to crown the Gulf region’s smartest buildings, across a variety of industries. The Honeywell Smart Building Score Awards has been officially launched on the Middle East Honeywell Smart Building Score website at http://smartbuildings.honeywell.com/MEhsbs_home for building owners and facilities managers to register and score their facilities, with results scheduled to be released in Q4 2016.