Global Summits to be Held at Arabian Construction Week 2011 Addressing Key Topics in the Region’s Construction Sector

Dubai-UAE: 28 December 2010 – Clarion Events Middle East, along with Corporate Publishing International, the strategic partner of Arabian Construction Week 2011, today announced it will host four summits during the event – Building Smart, Infrastructure, Climate Control, and Green Building.

The Arabian Construction Week consists of 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.

Held alongside the tradeshows, 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. There will be three parallel summits supporting Building Smart, covering Green Building, Infrastructure and Climate Control. The conference will demonstrate how using such processes in generating and managing real-time data can result in efficient designs, cost effective build and profitability, specifically in today’s economic environment.

Abdelrahman Muneer, Development Manager of buildingSMART ME, a not for profit international organisation representing businesses across the whole spectrum of construction, said: “At a conference held in Abu Dhabi in November 2010, buildingSMART ME released results of a Middle East survey detailing the construction industry’s awareness of Building Information Modelling (BIM), the desire to deploy these processes and the reasons preventing deployment.

“The conference established that there was desire among government and industry leadership for these new processes, especially the production of measurable standards to guide efficient and profitable deployment. These standards are in the final stages of development and will be launched during Arabian Construction Week 2011.”

With a growing number of construction firms embracing eco-conscious business models, the Green Building Middle East Summit is the ideal complement to the Build Green Exhibition. 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.

Infrastructure is an essential market for the region's construction industry as GCC countries plan to invest heavily in various infrastructure projects, with Abu Dhabi at the forefront of numerous major developments. The Infrastructure Summit will focus on opportunities and challenges in developing key areas of infrastructure, such as building schools, ports and industrial projects, and roads and railways.

According to the Kuwait Financial Centre, the GCC plans to invest over US$123.45 billion (AED453bn) on infrastructure projects over the next 10 years. Abu Dhabi is estimated to spend more than US$81bn (AED297.27) on roads, bridges and railways over the next two decades, while the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has allocated US$5.3bn (AED19.45bn) to upgrade and build over 3,500 schools.

The most substantial of these is the $15bn (AED55bn), pan-GCC rail project, designed to facilitate travel between GCC countries. The Infrastructure Summit will consider the future of these developments whilst also providing a full construction update on Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone, as well insights into the new design and building methods which will pave the way for future ports projects in the UAE and beyond.

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-cooling and process-cooling needs of the Middle East region.

Christopher Hudson, Managing Director of MECOM Forums, a Clarion Events partner, said: “Arabian Construction Week 2011 provides a great platform for key decision makers, high profile delegates and future leaders of the industry to share ideas. The setting makes the event an idyllic place to set a vision for the future - one that concentrates on cost-effective and environmental standards of construction brilliance.”

The Arabian Construction Week will take place from 28-30 March, 2011, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC). The conference will be attended by industry leaders, contractors, developers, urban planners, architects, consultants, government organisations and financiers.

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About MECOM Forums

MECOM Forums is a Clarion Events Partner with offices in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai. MECOM Forums, a Clarion Events Partner has grown into a highly successful business. In 2009, over 800,000 targeted people visited their 200 exhibitions, conferences and seated events across Britain, Europe, North and South America, Africa, Middle East and Asia.

The business-to-business and business-to-consumer, serve 15 different market sectors that include; Defence, Energy, Construction, Retail, Leisure, Entertainment, Finance and Life Sciences.

Clarion Events employs over 400 people in twelve offices: UK (London Earls Court Exhibition Centre, and Birmingham NEC); Germany (Bielefeld); The Netherlands (Maarsen); South Africa (Cape Town); USA (Connecticut and Reno): Brazil (Sao Paulo); United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi and Dubai); Singapore and Turkey.

More information on www.mecomforums.com.

About the Arabian Construction Week

The Arabian Construction Week combines three events dedicated to the construction industries: Green Building Middle East, Future Build Middle East and Civil Enginnering Middle East.

Green Building Middle East will display the best sustainable construction products from around the world and bring together the world’s top sustainable building experts to discuss the latest practices, materials and initiatives that can be implemented on construction sites across the Middle East.

Civil Engineering Middle East will display the latest products and solutions for major infrastructure and transport projects which are rapidly transforming the landscape of the Middle East. The exhibition will focus on various sectors including airports and ports, buildings, bridges, transport, urban planning, roads, railways, power and energy, recycling, environment and major structures.

In addition to the three dedicated exhibitions, the Arabian Construction Week will host four international summits including Building Smart, The Green Building Summit, the Climate Control Summit in association with ASHRAE and the Infrastructure Summit.

More information on www.arabianconstructionweek.com.

About buildingSMART

buildingSMART is a not for profit international organisation managed by its members, representing businesses across the whole spectrum of construction. buildingSMART is delivered via ‘regional alliances’, also known as ‘chapters’, each representing a country or a group of countries. Every alliance promotes interoperability. Interoperability is the dynamic and seamless exchange of information, from design through to facilities management. Building Information Modelling (BIM) is the process, Industry Foundation Class (IFC) is the interoperable technology. buildingSMART International is the governing body responsible for maintaining diligent global operations. buildingSMART ME is the regional alliance covering the Middle East, North Africa and India. Launched in 2009, it is now well established, with a growing membership.