Interview with: Paolo Garretti, Managing Director, Garretti Associati Srl.
The need to address environmental issues is gradually moving up on everyone’s priority lists. However, it is still too far behind. In the construction world especially in the Middle East and Africa, more energy efficient buildings are both necessary and possibly easier: most of the region is still developing and not crammed with 400 year old buildings, and with year round sunshine. But as in the rest of the world, the costs of building such structures are higher therefore developers need to be incentivised, says Paolo Garretti, Managing Director at Garretti Associati Srl. A sponsor at the marcus evans Infrastructure & Property Development MEA Summit 2010 taking place in Dubai, 25 – 27 April 2010, Garretti discusses the hybrid building and what it will take to encourage more efficient developments in the region.
What initiatives would encourage greener buildings in the Middle East?
Paolo Garretti: In some European countries, developers are given incentives if their proposed building is designed to perform above a certain range of energy consumption. They could either be permitted to build a larger structure on the same plot or be given certain tax benefits. Despite the higher costs of constructing environmentally friendly and energy efficient buildings, the gap is covered by having additional space to rent out.
Such incentives could also be very efficient in the Middle East and Africa. Buildings in hot climates consume a lot of energy in the summer; cooling a building costs five to 10 times more than heating it. Most of the buildings in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha are glass boxes in the middle of the desert lacking screens to avoid direct radiation from the sun.
Can you explain the concept of the hybrid building and its associated benefits?
Paolo Garretti: The hybrid building is a flexible building that can be upgraded to suit the activities of the tenant. The height of the building and floors can be adapted, allowing the same building to work in different configurations and for a wider range of uses without changing the structure or design. In today’s rapidly changing markets, you never know what the next tenant will require.
In addition, these buildings are built with environmental concerns in mind. Hybrid buildings are designed to reduce energy consumption through the use of solar panels or insulation depending on financial sustainability and the climate of the country. However, these are additional costs on the developer that the tenant benefits from. Therefore developers of energy efficient buildings must make others aware of the reduced costs of running and maintaining structures in order to incentivise their potential clients.
What are your projections for the future?
Paolo Garretti: Everyone is talking about sustainability these days, but the developers can hardly afford the additional costs involved. There is no clear vision of how constructing these buildings can be financially sustainable. We need to provide more benefits to the developers of sustainable and environmentally friendly structures to encourage such projects.
The more the price of oil increases, the more people become aware of the need to reduce our reliance on energy. If we wanted to lower the petrol consumption of the car, we could do that within a decade or so - as cars become obsolete after a number of years, they can easily be replaced with better models. With buildings, however, it is a different story. In continental Europe there are buildings that are 400 years old and many of the newer ones will last for maybe 100 years. We cannot wait until a tower in Doha is ready to be knocked down to make the next one more efficient. We need to find solutions to make existing buildings more efficient, and that needs to be incentivised. It should not be up to the developer to decide whether to construct an energy efficient building or not. Local authorities need to put the laws and incentives in place to encourage more energy efficient new buildings and even more important, interventions on the extremely energy-thirsty existing buildings.
Contact: Sarin Kouyoumdjian-
Tel: + 357 22 849 313
Email: press@marcusevanscy.com
About the Infrastructure and Property Development MEA Summit 2010:
This unique forum will take place at the Park Hyatt Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, 25 - 27 April 2010. Offering much more than any conference, exhibition or tradeshow, this exclusive meeting will bring together esteemed industry thought leaders and solution providers to a highly focused and interactive networking event. The summit includes presentations on improving the properties framework to attract and retain investors, reinforcing sound business fundamentals to survive and thrive in the wake of the financial crisis and the optimal methods for attracting investment and designing large scale master plans.
For more information please send an email to info@marcusevanscy.com or visit the event website at http://www.ipdsummit.com/
Please note that the summit is a closed business event and the number of participants strictly limited.
About marcus evans summits:
marcus evans Summits are high level business forums for the world’s leading decision-makers to meet, learn and discuss strategies and solutions. Held at exclusive locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, think tanks, seminars and one-to-one business meetings. For more information, please visit http://www.marcusevans.com
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