LEADERSHIP & STRATEGY
and professionalism taken to commissioning , which is something we ’ ve been advocating for a number of years now ,” adds Al Abbar .
Value engineering Within the construction industry , increasing importance has been placed on value engineering and innovation and Al Abbar says that has been reflected by the emergence of consultancy service providers and contractors , whose approach to value engineering is led by technical specialists and supported by cost consultants , rather than the other way around . He strongly believes it will be the companies which integrate value engineering into their processes , able to provide more value at a lower cost to the client , that will be successful over the coming year .
“ I think we ’ ve had value engineering here for a good 10-15 years ,” he reflects . “ It ’ s generally driven by cost experts , where they ’ ve had a schedule of costs and are trying to remove things from it . I think we ’ ve seen the consequences of that and they ’ re not very positive . “ Basically , by removing cost , you ’ re removing value . It ’ s not really value engineering . What I think we ’ re going to see , and what we ’ ve been championing and working with clients on , is value engineering driven through the design , supported by the cost experts . So , we work together to say : ‘ okay this facade has this function to achieve ... what ’ s the most cost-effective way of doing that ?’, rather than saying : ‘ let ’ s just remove items from the project specifications to save cost .’”
Management of existing assets The final topic Al Abbar expects to come to the fore this year is the importance of properly managing existing assets . Buildings are always ageing , and he says the demand for recommissioning the mechanical , electrical , fire and life safety and even façade systems of older buildings is becoming more and more common .
To do that properly , he explains , needs “ a holistic diagnosis of all systems in the building is required to ensure their proper functionality ”, including a thorough review of vital systems such as air conditioning , the building management system
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