Sustainable Construction Essay: Impacts In Oman.

You are asked to write a critical essay which evaluates the extent to which the construction ?industry within Oman is delivering sustainable construction and to consider a path for the future.

The essay should consider the following:?

• Critically examine a case for delivering sustainable construction in Oman

• Critically appraise the role and effectiveness of current government strategies and legalisation within Oman over the last decade to delivering sustainable construction.

• Identify and explore the key barriers which are restricting the progress of delivering .

• Applying a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats). evaluate how the construction industry within Oman can become a global leader in sustainable.

• What lessons can Oman draw from the experience of the United Kingdom in developing a ?more sustainable path for the future within its construction industry?

The Growth of Building Industries in the Middle East

Preferably, continuous related activities in line with the construction and development impacts negatively not only on the environment but also on the surrounding. Over the past decades, there has been rapid development often recorded in the construction and the building industries worldwide. The extensions and the expansion of the growth in the building industries have also improved and advanced in the Middle East region and this, booming the economic status of the area. The per capita growth and overall levels have increased tremendously in line with energy consumption. Furthermore, the worldwide analysis has established that overall most buildings tend to consume at least 40% of the total energy produced from different sources worldwide (Al-Belushi, Stead and Burgess 2015 p.158).   

Moreover, the production from the Middle East countries mainly termed as one of the largest production worldwide with the high content of carbon iv oxide emissions per capita recorded at high rates in the long run. However, the application of sustainable building is not only fundamental but equally important. In essence, it helps in hastening and enhancing the work productivity, creating a healthy environment as well as improving the life quality. Thus, the application of the overall sustainable construction or the green building plays an essential and vital role in line with the overall response of the matters affecting the sustainable development in the construction sector (Tsiouri, Kakosimos  and Kumar 2015 p.67-80).

Subsequently, it is important to note that most of the sustainable constructions often uses the overall ingredients such as the green materials, save water, reduces the parametric energy consumptions as well as assists in the preservations of the indoor air quality. Oman often regarded as one of the Middle East countries and their economic income classified at middle level (Rajasekar and Khan 2013 p.37).

Factors like income level, the rapid growth of population, urbanization alongside rapid development do possess a direct impact on the water demand, energy increase, and construction. For quite some time, there has been an increment in the construction projects of the Omani. This increment has risen annually by 9.4% in the years between 2012 and 2016. However, there is an expectation of an expansion in the successive years of between 2017 and 2021. Thus, the Omani government has decided against exercising a practice on a broad angle to sustain the mitigation of the green construction on the rising demand for water needs and energy. This, therefore, follows the minimization of the impacts of environment in close association with the development and rapid construction (Jaiswal, Verma and Singh 2018 p.16).

Importance of Sustainable Building Practices

In reference to the 2020 vision of Oman, the Oman government has tremendously made advancements in the investments made on the development and construction. This incorporates large-scale infrastructural projects. Part of the projects in question is already underway in undertaking not only the sustainable practices of the building but also the use of green materials of building supporting the country's scheme of growth. The use of sustainable materials can reduce environmental constructional damages significantly.  It is important to note that green materials affecting the impacts of the environment; also the building methods pose a huge impact on environmental conditions. Important to this is also the selection of the materials of the building which proved to be complex in the project construction. This arrangement follows the determination of numerous preconditions, considerations and decision making. Therefore, deep information and details on materials of building and product are constantly studied with a selection of the best materials. This usually occurs during the designing phase in every project of construction. Sustainable material use in construction replacing traditional materials enhances the whole sustainable environment in the life circle of building project.

This paper therein gives an attempt to discovering these obstacles highlighted in Oman. The literature review of the same material provided a key tool in the data findings, interviews, and later the analysis of the results of the expert survey gave a generic set of factors which discourage the implementation of material sustainability in the industrial construction of Oman (Al-Belushi, Stead and Burgess 2015 p.158).  

SWOT analysis is a major consideration in the construction industry.  It determines the future of the industry and also helps in the continued management and implementation of different procedures to meet the market requirements (Jaiswal, Verma and Singh 2018 p.16).

The construction industry within Oman has embraced strong management skills which have helped the industry in the continued existence despite the high competition rate.  These management skills are such as the ability to deal with clients well and understanding their specific requirements (Bakar, Bin, Ali, Onyeizu and Yusof 2012 p.2). It helps in the maintenance of the industry for a longer time as well as reducing possible challenges which may arise as a result of lack of adherence to requirements (AlSehaimi, Koskela, and Tzortzopoulos, 2012 p.410).  Additionally, the brand name of the industry has also helped in the attainment of customer loyalty.  This keeps the industry alive since most of the customers prefer the services offered by this industry. This loyalty provides for the longer existence of the company in its construction operation.

Oman's Economic Level and Construction Activity

The lack of key team member skills is a great challenge in the construction industry within Oman.  This leads to the poor performance of the construction activities and as a result poor product (Al-Belushi, Stead and Burgess 2015 p.158).  This makes clients to lose interest in the contraction of the construction industry to put up the structure.  This leads to losses and instability of the construction industry.

Adding new divisions in the construction procedures is a major opportunity that can be embraced to enhance the quality of services offered by this construction industry.  This opportunity can also be used to enhance customer satisfaction.  It can be made more effective by ensuring that the requirements of the clients are well met, and the structures did to meet their needs (Al-Shaqsi 2015 p.30).  Additionally, proper customer relation improves the quality of feedback, and as a result, the management can determine what the customers expect and work closely with that to meet their needs.

Economic instability has been a major threat to the construction industry.  This includes the rise in the cost of materials which in turn affects the general output of the industry.  Clients may not be able to adapt to the changes, and as a result, the construction industry faces the challenges (Islam and Khadem 2013 p.427).  Additionally, changes in market needs and preferences have become a major threat.  Most clients prefer getting multiple bids from the internet and at the end choose the lowest bid.  This becomes a threat to the construction with Oman Company.

The government has set strategies which help in the running and maintenance of standards in the construction industry within Oman.  The adoption of ICT is a major strategy which helps in the improvement of standards of the structures.  Through the internet, contractors get to know of new methods of doing their construction work (Subramani, Lishitha and Kavitha 2014 p.115). There are also new and better models of structures within other continents which construction industries within Oman can adopt to improve their output.

Additionally, Oman has improved on infrastructure which is a major determinant of development.  Good infrastructure improves the construction industry within Oman in that the movement of materials and communication is made effective.  The role of the government is to ensure that all the construction tenders within Oman are credited to construction companies within the country (Oman, Tumer, Wood and Seepersad 2013p.90). This reduces the reliance of other construction companies that come from other companies.  As a result of this the country’s economy is generally improved.

Barriers to Implementing Green Construction

This section highlights the key barriers experienced when implementing green construction. Quite a number were identified using the methods of data collection used (Krarti  and Dubey 2017 p.12). Most of the questionnaires and the interviews prepared on the same response among which included:

It is a general outcry which comes about with inadequate demand for green construction. The latter is therefore rated as the most common barrier to this effect on green construction. It came out clear that lack of both public awareness and private contributed immensely to this barrier. It was also revealed that its dependence on individuality also paved the way for the problem since majority lost hope in pursuing it. Also, the authorities have also distanced themselves from it hence dealing with a smaller group (Tsiouri, Kakosimos and Kumar 2015 p.67).

According to Powmya and Abidin (2014), the majority believes that the government should play a key role in the promotion of green construction. This could be by legislation enforcement, coming up with new policies to govern the sector. A problem, therefore, came since the government has failed to give pressure for doing green buildings for private or even projects of the government.

Powmya and Abidin (2014) noted that most there is inadequate incentives which often come from the government sides. The past studies depicted that the problem is immense and this is supported by the average respondents established at 40%. On the other hand, about 30% of respondents in the analysis indicated that the inadequate government support when it comes to the overall incentives mainly propagated it as a moderate problem. However, it is vital that the government embarked on the incentive support as a makeable measure to assist in the overall boosting of the green construction in the Oman area (Chaichan and Kazem 2016).

Construction organizations need to identify all the lessons learned from previous encounters and work on making an effective response to such issues.  The market in which such challenges were faced should be well evaluated to ensure that the challenges will not be encountered again (Verner 2012 p.10).  Additionally, the challenges encountered in the construction industry in the United Kingdom should be well evaluated to determine the cause as well as the effective method of response to be used.  The United Kingdom has put measures to help in the managing of the challenges that they have experienced in the past in the construction industry.  Proper training and maintenance of the structures is a major aspect that had been a challenge (Yafai, Hassan, Balubaid, Zin, and Hainin 2014 p.56). Once continued training is done to the construction industry they will be in a position to maintain the quality expected for their structures and as a result attain customer loyalty. Moreover, the construction industry in the United Kingdom learned the importance of team work which occurred as a result of the challenges they faced in the construction work.  Teamwork helps in the improvement of the quality of output

SWOT Analysis of Oman's Construction Industry

(Leong, Zakuan, and Saman 2014 p.106).  This also helps in the reduction of workload on an individual.  The sharing of responsibilities helps in faster performance of tasks and hence a high output rate.

Conclusion 

Environment-friendly building materials make it possible to preserve natural resources hence reduce pollution. Also, there are specific benefits offered to the owners of the buildings versus the occupants of the building. However, most of the construction projects still apply traditional materials. Some shortcomings are also experienced in elements of sustainability of the project constructions. It is also important to highlight that these obstacles can aid in the application of green structures in the country.

References

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AlSehaimi, A., Koskela, L. and Tzortzopoulos, P., 2012. Need for alternative research approaches in construction management: Case of delay studies. Journal of Management in Engineering, 29(4), pp.407-413.

Al-Shaqsi, S.Z., 2015. Emergency management in the Arabian Peninsula: A case study from the Sultanate of Oman.

Bakar, A., Bin, A.H., Ali, K., Onyeizu, E.N. and Yusof, M.N., 2012. Evaluating risk management practices in construction industry: evidence from Oman. International Journal of Academic Research, 4(2).

Chaichan, M.T. and Kazem, H.A., 2016. Energy conservation and management for houses and building in Oman-case study. Saudi Journal of Engineering and Technology, 1(3), pp.69-76.

Islam, M.A. and Khadem, M.M.R.K., 2013. Productivity determinants in Oman construction industry. International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 12(4), pp.426-448.

Jaiswal, K., Verma, S. and Singh, B., 2018, February. Preparing to lead the bandwagon: A case of growing Indian aviation industry. In 2018 Advances in Science and Engineering Technology International Conferences (ASET)(pp. 1-8). IEEE.

Krarti, M. and Dubey, K., 2017. Energy productivity evaluation of large scale building energy efficiency programs for Oman. Sustainable Cities and Society, 29, pp.12-22.

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Subramani, T., Lishitha, P.T. and Kavitha, M., 2014. Time Overrun and Cost Effectiveness in the Construction Industry. International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications, 4(6), pp.111-116.

Tsiouri, V., Kakosimos, K.E. and Kumar, P., 2015. Concentrations, sources and exposure risks associated with particulate matter in the Middle East Area—a review. Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, 8(1), pp.67-80.

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Yafai, K.N., Hassan, J.S., Balubaid, S., Zin, R.M. and Hainin, M.R., 2014. Development of a risk assessment model for Oman Construction industry. Journal Teknologi, 70(7), pp.55-64.