A first time visitor held a booth this year at Cityscape Jeddah, the biggest real estate exhibition that took place this week. The large exhibition hall was bustling with homebuyers and investors looking for appealing offers and new exciting housing projects in the Gulf. Each booth offered projects and blueprints more impressive than the next. However, a new participant this year was unique in bringing something relatively new to the Gulf region. UL's bright green stand cried for a new issue that should not be overlooked in Saudi Arabia's future in urban development. Their cause was for a healthier environment. UL Environment is a global corporation today having about 12,000 employees and 160 laboratories in more than 50 countries in the world. UL succeeded in producing the world's first green certification scheme in building assessment and preventative maintenance. UL Environment's certification facilities serve customers in 98 countries. What distinguishes it from other newly built green buildings is that it deals with existing buildings and applying environment-friendly solutions for harmful sources. Ali Assi, business development manager at UL, explains that residents in Saudi Arabia suffer from lung diseases. The number of asthma patients is still rising. He further added that the importance in sustainability reflects on the wellbeing of the dwellers. Students in a school or employees in a company are more productive and perform better in a healthy environment indoors. Some buildings contain a strong chemical of formaldehyde clinging in the air, making it difficult to inhale the air indoors and eventually causing headaches. Often the products and materials used in construction emit harmful chemicals. Assi stressed on the importance of this certification program in the GCC countries. “The Indoor Air Quality Certification is recommended for developers and even required in some countries.” UL is a US-based company with its main headquarters in Chicago. In the region, branches have been established in Riyadh and Dubai. When asked about the future in construction and development, Assi stated that the future is in sustainability; urban developers are mostly just focusing on the economic benefit. Awareness in the Middle East is much needed in the health issues in a building because the impact of the building will eventually spill over the public health and safety, he added. One proposition is collaboration between the Ministry of Housing, the Ministry of Health and environmental parties to tackle the issue as well as raising awareness. UL's role in sustainability is inspection inside the building and assisting designers to choose materials. An inspection team collects air sampling and then sends it to laboratories. In the labs, they check factors such as mold, air moisture, VOCs, odors. Depending on the chemicals, they find the source of problem and attempt to solve it. The second option is to award the certification to the existing building and then train the people that can influence the air quality, like cleaning agents, furniture buyers, and others. The most important step is yearly maintenance for continuing sustainability. “We're very glad to participate in Cityscape this year because we've met a lot of interested parties. We've made collaboration with several construction sectors and building owners,” said Assi. UL Environment had a satisfactory experience and plans to participate in the upcoming exhibition next year.
