Construction Week Magazine .

EXCLUSIVE: Joseph Chidiac, GM of Emirates Building Systems, on the significance of steel for the construction of sustainable buildings

When following green building standards to deliver a sustainable structure, the one thing that matters more is the type of materials used for the construction.

“Steel is a sustainable choice for the green building concept,” these are the strong words by Joseph Chidiac, the general manager of Emirates Building Systems (EBS), which specialises in the construction of high rise steel buildings by providing steel fabrication services.

A subsidiary of Dubai Financial Market-listed Dubai Investments, EBS’s Chidiac recently spoke to Construction Week as part of the Expert Interviews series.

While Chidiac spoke extensively about the growing demand for steel structures, he said that steel was an important element when it comes to sustainable building designs.

He told Construction Week: “There has been a significant global environmental impact of construction, with the usage of water and energy including the the emissions of gases as well as the creation of solid waste. [But] when steel is being chosen as the main construction material, the solutions to fulfil Green Building Standards are quite interesting.”

According to him steel has the characteristics of “durability, adaptability, and recycling”, which "need to be considered during the construction of projects as well as for the principle of sustainability".

EBS has been associated with major projects including the under-construction Duqm Refinery and Duqm Integrated Power & Water Plant, in addition to Dubai CommerCity, Mazoon Dairy project, BP Khazzan project, Oman Museum project, and Dubai Municipality’s (DM) prosecution building and car park facility.

The company has also been responsible for steel structure installation and fabrication works for the Kuwait, Russia, Indonesia, and Uzbekistan pavilions at Expo 2020 Dubai.