Leaders of the $1.4 trillion GCC construction industry have been urged to put sustainability at the heart of any agreement between clients and contractors.

The call was made in a presentation by Rod Stewart, regional managing director of Hyder Consulting Middle East at Meed’s Project Risk Management in Construction 2007 conference held recently in Dubai.

Hyder Consulting is an award-winning engineering, environmental, planning and management consultancy.

Stewart explained how the vision to achieve a sustainable environment is evident in the UAE. He highlighted Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s leadership with the recent ‘green building’ standards directive which will commence in January 2008 in Dubai; the soon-to-be-launched eco-rating system and the latest Masdar initiative in Abu Dhabi.

“As a nation we understand the need to become more sustainable but this will only happen when we create a balance between economics, the environment and our social needs,” Stewart explained.

Stewart also elaborated on the sustainability issues currently facing some GCC countries including water supply shortages, inefficient energy usage and production, lack of household, industrial, construction waste recycling, ineffective management of projects and absence of social sustainability with dynamic change of lifestyles. “This profound transformation in the region is causing an imbalance in the quality of the built environment, as all parties try to address the growing need to protect and sustain the world they live in,” he added.

He also highlighted some examples of world class sustainable projects in the UAE such as the platinum rated Pacific Controls headquarters and gold rated Wafi District Cooling plant.

Additional representation by Hyder Consulting at the conference was provided by Brett Doughty, project director North Shore Project who supported one of the keynote speakers, Dominic McPolin, executive co-ordinator, Central Planning Unit of Bahrain Ministry of Works & Housing, in describing the highly innovative application of partnering and integration management in multiple mega projects in Bahrain in a presentation at the conference.

The conference was a great success, and featured several other ground-breaking case studies on partnering, integration management, allocating risk, attracting and retaining skilled staff, as well as successful dispute resolution, said a report.-TradeArabia News Service