Saudi Oger - Design & Sustainability - Case Study Example

Saudi Oger - Design & Sustainability Description of Saudi Oger Saudi Oger Ltd is a construction company based in Saudi Arabia, with headquarters in Riyadh. Since its establishment in 1978, it has become a leading company with operations in Saudi Arabia as well as abroad, by stepping into other industrial sectors, apart from its core area of construction business. “Since its inception, Saudi Oger has become one of the leading Construction, Facilities Management Service Provider and Infrastructure Project Development companies in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the region.” (saudioger.com 2006). It has successfully completed projects in not only Middle-East Asia, but in Africa and Europe as well. By utilizing a combination of both local employees with apt knowledge and experience, as well as foreign employees with skilled and technical expertise, it is able to come up with quality projects and services. Even while providing quality services and garnering good profits, Saudi Oger as part of ethical responsibility or to heighten its ethical image, have involved itself in many Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. Being primarily a construction company, it could make major imprints (mainly in the negative sense) on the natural environment. These negative imprints have to be lessened to prevent any major environmental, social or even legal problems for the company. For that, they are incorporating or have to incorporate sustainable designs or strategies as part of their functioning or in their projects or services. “Saudi Oger takes into account the economic, social and environmental impacts, and acting to address the key sustainable challenges based on the core competences wherever we operate – locally, regionally and internationally.” (saudioger.com 2006). Description of a possible sustainable opportunity In the quest to achieve advancement, humans or business organisations have invented or coming up with many tools or process, which help them to develop rapidly in their particular fields. However, the same tools and processes are damaging many lives and importantly the earth’s environment, which sustain those lives. One of the major industrial sectors which contribute to the environmental damages is the construction field or industry. Sizable sections of the world population are raising concerns about the environmental damage, global warming, pollutions, etc the earth is being subjected due to the heightened activities of industries including construction activities. Most of the industries including construction companies with their ‘known’ and ‘unknown’ emissions in all forms of matter from solid, liquid to gas particularly in the form of CO2 negatively impact the environment leading to skewed climate change. The use of eco-damaging products and faulty coordination by the construction industry has bringing in host of problems to the people mainly in the form of global warming. That is, during the construction phase and also during the operational phase, there will be optimal carbon dioxide emissions due to various factors. These carbon dioxide emissions are the prime reason for global warming. For example, cement, which is the primary component of concrete, is a major contributor of carbon dioxide emissions. That is, during the production of cement a lot of Carbon dioxide emissions happen. Alok Jha, green technology correspondent for the British newspaper, Guardian validates this fact, by stating, “Making traditional cement results in greenhouse gas emissions from two sources: it requires intense heat, and so a lot of energy to heat up the ovens that cook the raw material, such as limestone. That then releases further CO2 as it burns.” (ecoworldly.com, 2009). So, the chief proponent of global warming, carbon dioxide is maximally emitted by the construction industry, leading to dangerous repercussions. According to the US government’s new report North American Carbon Budget and Implications for the Global Carbon Cycle, “The buildings sector of North America was responsible for annual carbon dioxide emissions of 671 million tons of carbon in 2003, which is 37% of total North American carbon dioxide emissions and 10% of global emissions.” (McMahon) So, in the construction as well as property development industries, the contemporary trend is against using eco-damaging products and going for sustainable products and designs. So, due to that climate, the industry in particular the construction companies like Saudi Oger has maximally adjusted or trying to adjust to the demand of the people and the government agencies, by incorporating sustainable strategies in the construction of buildings and various other structures. In response to the fact that global warming is a matter ought to be addressed by man to avert the impending possibility of climate change, invention of construction and design with less impact on the environment has become obligatory (Hiemstra 2008). This way, the final constructed building will be “environmentally friendly” or “green” or importantly “sustainable” in every sense of the word, thus preventing any social and legal problems for construction organisations like Saudi Oger. So, if Saudi Oger implements sustainable strategies in an optimal manner, it will not only provide positive benefits to them, but also to the occupants of the constructed projects, plus various sections from community, country to the entire world. Sustainable strategies and the resultant benefits As far as Saudi Oger is concerned, it is implementing some sustainable strategies, but need to incorporate more. “Corporate social responsibility at Saudi Oger goes far beyond the philanthropy – donating money to good causes and is instead an all year round responsibility that accept the environment around us.” (saudioger.com 2006). With focus on safeguarding environment and at the same time make its projects or construction sustainable, Saudi Oger has set into motion various initiatives, altering their existing practices. As a first step, Saudi Oger is reducing CO2 emissions in its operations by constructing buildings incorporating sustainable designs. These sustainable designs are mainly incorporated in energy providing options. Maximally, the energy needed for electricity and other functions are mainly sourced from non-renewable and carbon emitting options like coal energy. So, energy sources for their constructions are made eco-friendly and sustainable by going for renewable and safe energies like solar panels. Saudi Oger is implementing solar energy options particularly for projects in Saudi Arabia, because of its geographical advantages. “With its arid climate and vast desert landmass, Saudi Arabia is geographically optimal for harnessing solar power,” (Abadie cited in saudigazette.com.sa). It has implemented sustainable options at a hotel coming up in King Abdullah Financial District. The hotel building is being incorporated with sustainable options to provide apt lighting as well as shading. “The project incorporates many state-of-the-art sustainable strategies, including energy modelling, daylight control and solar shading.” (e-architect.co.uk). The other prestigious project, in which Saudi Oger is implementing sustainable energy options, is in the Riyadh’s Princess Noura Bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh, one of the leading female educational institutions in the region. By working with ABB, a leader in power and automation technologies, Saudi Oger is implementing power or energy solutions like KNW intelligent building control system, which apart from increasing comfort levels, could significantly reduce energy consumption. By reducing energy consumption and limiting carbon imprint, Saudi Oger with ABB is able to actualize Princess Noura Bint Abdulrahman University as the first green building campus in Saudi Arabia. “Buildings which have implemented ABB’s KNX technology have reported energy savings of up to 40%. As the first green building campus in Saudi Arabia, we believe that Princess Noura Bint Abdulrahman University will further the drive for significant cost savings and a lower carbon footprint in the Kingdom’s construction sector” (Nazzal cited in buildgreen.ae). Thus, the aim of Saudi Oger lies in creation of buildings that are capable of producing more energy than their consumption and generation of less waste. More than that, by reducing carbon emissions, it can become socially and environmentally responsible, plus safeguarding the occupants of the buildings as well as others. With these sustainable initiatives, Saudi Oger can become Carbon neutral in the near future, so it does not contribute to the construction industries’ impacts on environment and their destructive effects. Saudi Oger can become a Carbon neutral construction company in Saudi Arabia, and thereby inspire or push other Saudi Arabian companies to follow them. That is, Saudi Arabia's energy consumption having nearly tripled over the past two decades from 1794 million GJ in 1980 to 4853 GJ and in terms of per capita carbon emissions, Saudi Arabia is the regional leader at 3.7 metric t of carbon per person. (powergenworldwide.com). So, with Saudi Oger taking sustainable steps, it can reduce its carbon imprint, and thereby become an ethically and environmentally responsible organisation. Sustainability can be a win-win solution In the present scenario, for a construction and property company to sail into the territory of success without raising any environmental and ethical problems, it has to adopt sustainable strategies and designs, thereby offering eco-friendly products and services. This is because with the increased awareness about environmental issues, organisations in every field or sector are going for environment friendly initiatives to maintain a positive presence in the market, thereby actualizing a win-win situation for all ‘stakeholders’. “We all live in an increasingly complex and dynamic world in which organisations feature significantly. We work for organisations, we shop at them, we spend our leisure time in them and use them to improve the quality of our life.” (Capron 2004). Environmental issues have become the key because in a quest to reach an ‘exalted’ (or a dubious status) humans are putting earth under severe damage, strain, pressure, etc through the phenomenon of global warming. This constant damage by global warming caused by the human manufactured or construction industry emitting greenhouse gases will stay for a longer time with repercussions affecting every form of life. So, to eradicate global warming and its bad effects, positive steps should be taken by every section of the society and industries, including construction and property development industry. If global warming and its extensive but preventable damages are eradicated or even minimized, the world of tomorrow will be a better and safer place to live. So, construction industries have to play their part in saving the earth and its people. Every organisation and its worker’s survival and success hinges on the safe products and services, it provides. For that to actualize, the manager of the construction and property development should play a prominent role. Organisations including Saudi Oger will be mainly judged by the success they achieve or by their failures. Judged in the sense, Saudi Oger will be appreciated, feted, etc and on the other hand discouraged, criticized, etc, by the success or the lack of success respectively. In today’s world, success is mostly correlated with the organisation’s ability to garner profits and market share. Although this perspective cannot be considered a wrong one, nowadays, importance is given about whether the organisation is able to achieve that success through ethical means. That is, whether the organisations like Saudi Oger are able to achieve their success through ethical, eco-friendly and sustainable means. “Environmental risks are a serious and growing issue for the construction industry… To succeed in today's litigious environment, forward-looking contractors are incorporating sound environmental risk management practices throughout their business operations.” (aon.com). However, all the construction companies including Saudi Oger may not favor this new orientation towards sustainable designs because it may not be practical in all the situations and could also impact their economic goals. Although, Saudi Oger is implementing sustainable designs in various parts of its projects and buildings, it still has to incorporate more. For example, there is no evidence of it trying the eco-friendly Green Cement, which does emit carbon and is a key part of sustainable designs followed by many construction companies in the West. The other factor, which may limit Saudi Oger to go for more sustainable designs, is the lack of official support or formulation of legislations regarding sustainable designs from the government side. Although, there are resisting forces like the above mentioned ones, the fact is, if Saudi Oger continues to follow the sustainable strategies and options eve more, their achieved success will be counted and appreciated even more. Apart from elevating their economic and ethical image, in an indirect way, it will also protect common people from the ill-effects of global warming, thus actualizing a win-win situation for all. Future business opportunities in view of a sustainability perspective Among the many developmental activities, the heightened activities of the construction industry itself have led to the generation of sizeable wastes, particularly Greenhouse gases. Also, the important parts or aspects of construction industry, the lighting and the heating component of buildings have also lead to negative repercussion like the heightened generation of carbon dioxide emissions. As discussed above, cement is the other major component of the construction industry, which is emitting high Carbon emission. The negative effect of cement can be averted, if Saudi Oger as part of future business plans and opportunities follow positive sustainable strategies and go for ‘green cement’. Green Cement is the term given to cement, which instead of emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere absorbs the outside carbon presence. This green cement is manufactured from magnesium silicates in addition with other special mineral additives instead of problematic calcium carbonate or limestone. Magnesium Silicates does not release Carbon during the manufacturing process of cement and importantly on the beneficial side, it absorbs many greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide as it ages. As this new generation and sustainable option of green cement can lock Carbon, Saudi Oger can try using it for all their construction projects, instead of the traditional cement. By adopting this sustainable option, industries can achieve the tag of eco-friendly and can keep on functioning optimally without any concern about their negative impacts on the environment. Thus, to change the negative image and gain positive ethical and environmental image, the construction industry as a whole and Saudi Oger in particular is transforming a lot, however they need alter their strategies in a more optimal manner by going for eco-friendly products and sustainable designs. Most of the firms of the construction industry are following the plan, “three zeros - zero carbon, zero water and zero waste," (Seager 2007). Although, Saudi Oger will need to input a lot of resources from financial to technological to achieve that distinction, it need to take every step to actualize that vision or distinction for a better future for the organization, stakeholders and importantly the people. To sustain an environmental friendly ecosystem and importantly business practices, Saudi Oger has to make better choices in designing and constructing structures that put into perspective the importance of the environment, even while focusing on their economic goals. Therefore designs like the Green Cement that can sustain the Saudi Oger’s growth as well as human health, need to be incorporated and implemented in future as well. References aon.com, Environmental Risk Management for Construction Industry, viewed on November 24, 2010 http://www.aon.com/us/busi/industry_specialties/construction/environmental.jsp buildgreen.ae 2010, University embraces sustainable technology, viewed on November 24, 2010 http://www.buildgreen.ae/v1/Content.aspx?sID=4&fID=119 Capron, C. 2004, Understanding Organisational Context, Prentice Hall, Harlow Essex e-architect.co.uk, King Abdullah Financial District Hotel, viewed on November 24, 2010 http://www.e-architect.co.uk/saudi_arabia/king_abdullah_financial_ district_hotel.htm ecoworldly.com, 2009, British Engineers have developed a new environmentally friendly Cement that is Carbon-negative, viewed on November 24, 2010 http://ecoworldly.com/2009/01/02/cement-that-eats-carbon-dioxide-invented-by-british-scientists/ Hiemstra, G., 2008, Sustainable housing for Universities and Colleges, viewed on November 24, 2010 http://www.futurist.com/articles/environment-and-energy/sustainable-housing-for- colleges-universities McMahon, JE, Buildings, viewed on November 24, 2010 http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/sap/sap2-2/final-report/sap2-2-final- chapter9.pdf. powergenworldwide.com, Regional Focus: Saudi Arabia - A private invitation, viewed on November 24, 2010 http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/display/articledisplay/208598/articles/ middle-east-energy/volume-1/issue-1/features/regional-focus-saudi-arabia-a- private-invitation.html saudigazette.com.sa, KAUST to build solar power plant, viewed on November 24, 2010 http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=20 08121324172 saudioger.com 2006, Company Overview, viewed on November 24, 2010 http://www.saudioger.com/index.html saudioger.com 2006, Corporate Social Responsibility, viewed on November 24, 2010 http://www.saudioger.com/corp.html Seager, A 2007, Construction sector rises to challenge of building eco-friendly homes of the future, The Guardian, viewed on November 24, 2010 http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/feb/28/communities.society Read More