The global market for eco-friendly building material is expected to be worth $406 billion by 2015, driven largely by environmental consciousness and high energy costs, said the organisers of an upcoming construction material summit in Dubai.

Hardware+Tools and Garden+Landscaping Middle East 2011, the only dedicated trade event for the hardware, tools, machinery and construction material in the Middle East, will be held from May 10 to 12 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

“The push to conform to global best practices in sustainable real estate development is gathering pace in the Middle East,” said Ahmed Pauwels, chief executive officer of Dubai-based organiser Epoc Messe Frankfurt.

“As construction majors look to decrease their carbon footprint and adopt environmentally-friendly building methods, the demand for green building material is quickly gathering pace.”

Governments around the region are enacting legislation to bring the industry into line with green building standards, he added.

Abu Dhabi recently rolled out the Arab world’s first specialised green building rating system, Estidama. All new development in the emirate must comply with the standards set by the system, including commercial and government projects.

Dubai too has been driving change through increasing implementation of Leed standards across the construction industry.

A growing demand for green building material has been noted in the regional real estate industry.  This is driven by the increasing stress on implementation of green building standards by local governments and civil authorities.

Hardware+Tools Middle East 2011 will reflect the impact the construction industry has on the local environment and a realisation of the need for sustainable development has fuelled a drive to align the construction industry to green building standards.

Green roofs is one of the largest and fastest emerging product categories currently. The practice of planted green roofs is gaining momentum across the industry and is given a strong push by local authorities who are spear heading initiatives to increase the number of green roof projects in the region.

This trend towards green roofs will be reflected at Garden+Landscaping Middle East, co-located with Hardware+Tools Middle East due to shared synergies in visitor profiles.

The trade exhibition will have machinery, tools, construction & building materials and hardware as its major themes. – TradeArabia News Service