Middle East > Bahrain > Bahrain starting eco-friendly building regulations

Bahrain: Bahrain starting eco-friendly building regulations

2012/09/19

The construction sector will be operating in a new environment starting next year when building regulations mandating the use of eco-friendly best practices are due to be implemented. Nevertheless, the shift toward better sustainability may prove challenging for some.

 

Scheduled approaching into force at the beginning of 2013, the proposed building regulations will require new developments to be constructed using international environmental standards. Current guidelines for greener building practices include making better use of natural lighting; widespread use of high-efficiency light bulbs, air conditioning and heating; improved ventilation; noise and emissions reduction; and green building materials, among others.

As set out in the new code, new developments must as well incorporate a minimum 50% of greenery in their total land space, which should include the planting of palm trees and indigenous vegetation. Additionally, each new development’s rooftop must have a green zone that makes use of at least 50% of available space.

When the draft legislation was unveiled in July, Abdulrazzak Al Hattab, the chairman of the Central Municipal Council, said that once the code is in place, the Kingdom will become a leader in sustainable building practices.

“The law is so comprehensive and detailed that pollution rates would sharply drop, whatever their sources are,” he said. “It includes strict criteria for new buildings, which for now excludes villas and homes, and will reduce the level of amount pollution, whether noise, gas, sewage, electricity, water, eyesores and others.”

While the finishing touches are being finalised by various national agencies, the code and its criteria is expected to be presented well in advance of January 1, the date of implementation.

Bahrain’s green building credentials will be showcased in a largest new development project, which could serve as a model for next projects. In mid-June, plans were unveiled for the construction of a new town development comprising an area of 356 ha, divided almost equally between the Northern and Central Governorates. In addition to high-end villas, the township will as well have schools, a library, a theatre, a health centre, and office and commercial complexes, amount of which will be built to eco-friendly industry standards.

According to Joel Oana, the senior urban planner at the Ministry of Municipalities and Urban Planning, the green community will attempt to provide the best of two worlds. “Our plans are eco-friendly … while at the same time enabling urbanisation and modern development,” Oana said.

It is not just the upper end of the market that will benefit from the introduction of green standards, nevertheless. In its new tender for national housing, a $550m project awarded in January to Chase Manara – a consortium including Manara Developments, a local real estate development firm, and Chase Perdana, a Malaysia-based construction firm – the Ministry of Housing specified that green building practices must be utilised in the construction of extra than 4000 units. There is a long waiting inventory for affordable homes in the Kingdom, nevertheless, and the new legislation could be seen as a deterrent for some developers looking to enter that market.

This shift to environmentally friendly building practices looks set to have a very real impact on the construction industry. Firms will be required to adapt their methods to best utilise the new technology and materials. This will as well open doors to firms, both local and foreign, that until now may have struggled to break into the highly competitive construction and materials market in Bahrain.

Nevertheless, it may take time for contractors to get up to speed with the new regulations and the changes in market conditions, as companies who have shifted to green construction methods in other markets have incurred rather high costs at the outset. Talik Chalabi, a founding partner at Austria-based Chalabi Architekten & Partners, said a lot of regional building firms have been slow in adopting green construction standards, failing to see any short-term financial benefits, a blind spot that could harm their longer term prospects.

“I believe the majority of construction companies perceive the change to green methods as a nuisance, but they must adapt for the long term or perish. Green building practices serve a function to improve industry standards, raise the bar in terms of quality and, above amount, protect the community and public interests at large,” Chalabi said in an interview with industry magazine Construction Week previously this year. 

Related Articles
  • Bahrain’s Al Baraka Islamic Bank Gets Approval to Operate in Morocco

    2016/05/12 The Bahrain based leading Islamic banking group, Al Baraka Banking Group, will establish a banking unit in Morocco very any minute at this time, the Islamic lender said in a statement, according to Reuters. Next receiving approval from Morocco’s central bank, Al Baraka Banking Group will invest in the Moroccan Islamic banking sector by launching a new business any minute at this time.
  • Bahrain Severs Ties with Iran, UAE Reduces Diplomatic Representation in Tehran

    2016/01/05 Bahrain has severed its diplomatic relations with Iran, national news agency BNA reported on Monday. The decision comes a day next its neighbor Saudi Arabia as well severed relations with Tehran. Saudi Arabia cut ties with Iran on Sunday next Iranian protesters attacked its mission there, angered by the kingdom’s decision to execute a leading Shi’ite cleric.
  • Bahrain ramps up energy spending

    2015/12/29 Against a backdrop of weaker hydrocarbons prices, Bahrain is stepping up counter-cyclical downstream investments aimed at boosting energy and economic security. In mid-October Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza, minister of energy and chairman of Tatweer Petroleum, said a contract for a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal to handle and process gas imports on the island would be awarded by the end of the year. Specifications According to the minister, the $400m terminal – which will be located near Khalifa Bin Salman Port, the country’s main maritime hub – will be brought online by early 2018, helping to ensure Bahrain’s long-term energy security.
  • Investcorp, the Bahrain-based alternative investment company,

    2015/12/09 Investcorp, the Bahrain-based alternative investment company, has announced that its US real estate arm has acquired a portfolio of office and industrial properties in Atlanta, San Francisco and Boston for about $400 million. The acquisitions are part of Investcorp's strategy to invest in well-occupied properties with healthy cash flows located in major US markets displaying strong economic fundamentals and employment increase, the company said in a statement. Investcorp said it partnered with several local and regional operating partners to acquire the properties. The properties acquired total additional than 5.5 million square feet with an average occupancy rate of approximately 85 %.
  • Shaping a regional GCC rebound

    2015/11/28 Analyses of the prevailing global economic conditions and outlined key elements that could drive GCC to register a modest economic rebound in 2016.