FOUR summits, namely Building Smart, Infrastructure, Climate Control, and Green Building, will be held as part of the Arabian Construction Week (ACW) this year. ACW 2011 will take place from March 28-30, 2011, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (Adnec) in Abu Dhabi, UAE, bringing together industry leaders, contractors, developers, planners, architects, consultants, government organisations and financiers. Clarion Events Middle East along with Corporate Publishing International, the strategic partner of ACW 2011, said it will host the summits alongside three dedicated trade shows – Green Building Middle East for sustainable construction solutions; Future Build Middle East, for innovative construction products; and Civil Engineering Middle East, highlighting major infrastructure developments. The summits have been designed to give delegates the opportunity to understand construction processes, define suitable technologies for projects, and examine how successful builds are completed. Central to the event is Building Smart, which refers to the concept of integrated construction and how it can be achieved with the other three parallel summits supporting it. New standards for implementing building information modelling (BIM) processes will be unveiled at the event, says Abdelrahman Muneer, development manager of buildingSmart ME, a not-for-profit international organization representing construction businesses. A selection of the world's leading sustainable building experts will speak about ‘green' technologies, practices, materials and initiatives that can benefit construction sites across the Middle East. They will also discuss and update delegates about global perspectives on rating systems, power projects, educational development and carbon reductions. The Infrastructure Summit, meanwhile, will focus on opportunities and challenges in developing key areas of infrastructure, such as building schools, ports and industrial projects, and roads and railways. The Climate Control Summit will see advocates of district cooling and standalone systems discuss various issues, providing vertical and horizontal residential, commercial and mixed-use developments with technologically viable and economically-sustainable comfort cooling solutions, that conserve energy and meet the comfort- and process-cooling needs of the Middle East region.
