58
June 2014
• Muharraq Sewage Treatment Plant
• Profile: Eng. Abdulrahman Fakhro
• BSE News and Activities
EDITORIAL
It gives me immense pleasure to present to you the Issue 58 of “Almohandis” magazine, and would like to express my sincere
thanks and gratitude to our members for your strong support to the Magazine Committee.
In this issue, we provide a full coverage to one of the most important national important projects, namely, Muharraq Sewerage
Treatment Plant and 16 Kilometer, a deep gravity, conveyance system project. This is project was implemented based on Public
Private Partnership (PPP) model between the Public and Private Sectors. The project includes deep gravity sewerage which is
constructed, for the first time in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
This issue also covers many interviews and technical articles as well as university students’ projects, which I hope you will find
intriguing. Also covered, are all the activities conducted by BSE during the period from December 2013 until May 2014.
I hope that you will enjoy this Issue and looking forward for your contributions, comments, ideas and suggestion to enhance the
contents and quality of the magazine.
Best Regards
Abdul Nabi Al Sabah
The Board of Directors
Masoud Ebrahim Al Hermi
President
Abdulla Janahi
Vice President
Mohamed Alkhozaae
Executive Secretary
Ahmed A. Rahman Alkhan Ayman Mohamed Nasser
Director of Training
Director of Membership Affairs
Editing Team
Abdul Nabi Al Sabah
Director of Information &
Editor-in-Chief
Effat Redha
ISSUE 58 June 2014
Journal Committee
Shahraban Sharif
Dr. Isa Qamber
Elham Rajai
Abbas Ali Alwatani
Treasurer
Jameel Khalaf Alalawi
Director of Conferences
Abdul Nabi Al Sabah
Director of Information
Reem Ahmed Alotaibi
Director of General Activities
Ahmed Al Ghurbal
Ebrahim Abdul Ameer
BSE Public Relations &
Media Officer
Amal Al Aradi
P.O. Box: 835, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain
Tel: +973 17 727100, Fax: +973 17 827475
From the Desk of the President.
4
Profile: Eng Abdulrahman Ahmed Fakhro
6
Interview with Swiss Former Minister
of Transportation, Environment,
Energy and Communication
12
Muharraq Sewage Treatment Plant and Swer Conveyance System Project
14
Technology Update
19
IGCC Technology Overview and its Role in Carbon Capture Market
20
Book Review: 21st Century Skills
26
Please send your articles to the
Bahrain Society of Engineers.
The Quest for Sustainability: Lean,
Mean and Green
28
For your ads please call
Bahrain Society of Engineers.
The Thermal Efficiency of Artificial Roof Garden for Residential Buildings:
Bahrain as a Case Study
31
In Quest of Value for Productivity
36
E-mail:
[email protected]
Website:
www.mohandis.org
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The Bahrain Society of Engineers in not responsible
for opinions published in “Almohandis”.
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Under the Patronage of
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Kingdom of Bahrain
social goals ENVIRONMENTAL
IDEA giving back
responsible
BUSINESS PERFORMANCE
community giving back
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community COMPANY
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responsible goals
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GIVING BACK
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This is therefore an open call to all members to take part in various activities of BSE. We welcome any suggestions that contributes
to enhance BSE programs.
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BSE Board has laid down challenging activities that can only be achieved through collective efforts and wide participation and
supports of all members.
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In this occasion we, BSE; would like to express our appreciation and thanks to all Ministries, Government Institutions, Industrial
Companies and Private Sector that have sponsored and supported BSE and its activities over the past years. We are confident that
such support will continue enabling us to exert our efforts and expertise for the benefit of our Country and Profession.
IDEA
This Board will build on, and continue the efforts of previous boards throughout the past forty years. It will steadily continue the
drive to achieve plans and goals aiming towards enhancement of engineering profession and community welfare while assuming
the responsibilities as President of Bahrain Society of.
PROTECTION
Supported by:
Best Regards
public BUSINESS
Dear Members,
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
In partnership with:
Engineers, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the members for their valuable confidence given to me and to my
colleagues Board members, hoping to meet your expectations.
voluntary activity
Masoud Ebrahim Al Hermi
VOLUNTARY ACTIVITY
President
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CONSCIENCE
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ISSUE 58 June 2014
ISSUE 58 June 2014
4
www.bicsr.com
Masoud Al-Hermi
President
Organised by:
From the Desk of the President
Architect A.Rahman Fakhro …
Story of a Man (Chronicle)!
Interviewed by:
Mr. Jaffar Alsameikh
During that time there was a midwife in Muharraq called
Mary, of Indian nationality, living in our neighbourhood. The
people of Muharraq used to call her Doctorah Mariam.
When and where he was born?
Mutawa and School Memories
His full name is A. Rahman Ahmed Yousif A.Rahman Fakhro. He
was born in Muharraq, specifically in Alsangal Suburb located
south of Muharraq. He lived in the house of his grandfather
who had five sons, Ahmed, Mohamed, Abdulla, Ebrahim and
Ali, who were living in the same house with their families.
At the end of his grandfather’s life, the size increased in the
house to the extent that it was about to explode. This was the
beginning of separation, when some left the grand house and
moved to private homes in Qudaibiya.
My oldest memory was when I went to Mutawa (Quran
recital teacher), whose name was A. Karim. We used to go
in the morning and learn to read the holy Quran, until we
completed it. By age five, I joined AlMa’awdah private school.
This school has now became a clinic. I had a fight with the
son of the owner of the school and hence my father took
me in 1942 to Al Hedayah School which was an hour’s walk
from my home.
“I am the eldest son of my mother who was of Iraqi origin
and my father married her in 1925. My brother, the late
Qassim bin Ahmed Fakhro, was the eldest son to my father. In
that time nobody was concerned with recording birth dates,
but I managed to find my birth date by coincidence. When my
father was away, my uncle Mohammed was keeping the books
of my grandfather”. A. Rahman said . “When I was reviewing
the same old books, I reached the month of Rajab (1936)
where there was a page handwritten by uncle Mohammed.
In this page he wrote: “6 Rupees cost of two sheep, 6 Rupees
cost of 3 goats for sacrifice for the birth of the son of my
brother Ahmed”, the total 12 Rupees for 5 sheep, the meat
of which was distributed to the neighborhood to celebrate
the new-born boy. The dates were in the Hijri calendar, by
some calculation I reached the date of October 5, 1936. I was
named after my great grandfather who had just died and my
maternal Iraqi uncle.
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ISSUE 58 June 2014
At that age I was able to read and write the Quran which
meant that my level was higher than the class I was kept in.
In the past the first three years of school were called “garden
classes” followed by first, second, third and fourth years of
primary school. Among the teachers at that time were Mr.
A.Rahman (the calligrapher), A. Rahim Buallay in addition to
two other teachers whom I can’t forget; the late A. Rahman
bin Ali Mattar who was teaching sports and his brother
Mohamed bin Ali Mattar who was teaching arithmatics. I
also remember some students like Mr.A. Rahman Al Saie who
is still my friend and in constant touch and the late Ahmed
Rashed Al Khan. This was in the year 1942, then and we
moved from Muharraq to Qudaibiya in 1943.
The school was headed by the principal and his assistant. The
principal was Lebanese named Mamdooh Al Daooq whom
I can’t forget all my life, since the marks of his stick are still
on my feet as he was flogging us always. His assistant was
1950, with Isa Al Khalifa and A. Azir Al Hasan
High School Graduation, 1954
Mohamed Al Habbal. I also remember Jassim who was a
famous school keeper. The school was in the form of an
open courtyard surrounded by classes and a mosque, and
the floor was made of sea shells. I remember the students
who preceded me in this school whom I used to call the “big
boys” such as Hasan Mansouri, Ebrahim Yacoub, Ali Fakhro,
Rashed Fulaifel and A.Aziz Al Hasan. The school was open
morning and afternoon.
all week except on Friday. At the end of the second world war
in 1945, my parents went to pilgrimage (Haj), and I had to
move back to Muharraq.
Later we moved to a house that was bought by my father
in 1943 in Qudaibiya for himself and his brothers Mohamed
and Abdulla. It was a very large house which was owned by
A.Rahman bin Mohamed Al Zayani. Accordingly, I moved to
the New School (Aljadidah) in Manama, located on Shaikh
Abdulla Road which was later called “Al Sharqiah” and now
it is replaced by the National Bakery and other shops.
There was another school called “Al Jaffariah” which was
later changed to “Algharbia” and now called Abu Bakr Al
Siddeeq School. At this “New” school I met many students
including Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa (the
present Deputy Prime Minister), who was our neighbor in
Qudaibiya, and Ely Khedhoori who has now passed on. In
that year, our principal was Mr. Arif, a Palestinian national.
Mr. Khalil Zubari was teaching us calligraphy and Mr. Salman
Zuloof was teaching us arithmetic. Also the famous poet and
writer Sayyed Radhi Al Mosawi was teaching us Arabic. I
remember some of the boys in my class, such as Mohamed
Jaber Zubari and the late Mohamed Abdulla Alzain. Our
principal at that time was the late Mr. Hasan Al Jishi. After the
third (Garden) class I moved to the primary stage. There were
only four schools in Bahrain including Algharbia, Alsharqia,
Muharraq and Hidd. The number of students was very small;
for example the number of boys who sat for the Primary
Education Certificate was 58 from all over Bahrain. Due to
the lack of transportation some students had to be boarding
Pens, Exercise Books and
Text Books
The Education Department provided books to students free
of charge, while exercise books were sold by Moayed Ahmed
Al Moayed. The writing book cover was red on which was
written “Exercise Book”. In other times, writing books used
to be brought from Iran in blue colour with cheap quality
paper. The curriculum was purely Egyptian.
Wakelyn ..
First Education Director
At that time there was no ministry of education but the
schools used to be run and managed by the Education
Department that was headed by a British man called Wakelyn.
His 12 year-old son needed the removal of his tonsils. At that
time anesthesia was relatively primitive. The operation was
performed by the famous physician of that time, Dr. Richard
Snow, but unfortunately the child died and his family was so
shocked and left Bahrain for good. Then came Mr. Ahmed
Al Omran as the Director of Education. This was in the year
1946-1947.
The Era of Shaikh Hamad Bin Isa
When I was born, Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (greatgrandfather of the present King) was the ruler of Bahrain. I
was around three or four when he was bringing me presents
ISSUE 58 June 2014
7
was waiting for me and he convinced me to continue my
studies in England. He communicated with one of his friends
Colonel Galloway who was formerly a political agent in
Bahrain. I joined the second year engineering when I was
19 years old. The period of study was five years and it was
not possible to practice engineering before completion of two
years in a recognized Architectural office.
Graduation of Qasim Fakhro (Middle) 1950
At FAE 45th Anniversary, 2006
during his visits to our house in Muharraq. The first time he
presented me with a golden sword, then a dagger and a rare
gold watch. When I travelled to Beirut for my studies, the
bag that was containing those gifts and many other antiques
mysteriously disappeared. .
Opening of Muharraq - Manama
Causeway
When Shaikh Hamad Causeway was opened in 1941 I
was around 5 years old. My father had the passion of
photography and was always carrying his camera during
events. Unfortunately most of the photographs went in a
house fire and only three are left with me. These three photos
show some prominent personalities including the ruler Shaikh
Hamad bin Isa bin Ali and his brothers Mohamed and Abdulla
and his son Shaikh Salman bin Hamad, grandfather of the
present King, in addition to others like Khalid Al Owjan and
Mohamed Saleh Al Shattur, Head of the Manama Municipality
and and the Ruler’s Advisor Charles Belgrave.
Friends in the Neighborhood
My friends in the neighborhood were the sons of Abdulla bin
Jabr Al Dossary, Shaikh Mohamed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa,
Shaikh Sulman bin Daij and a number of Zayani children
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ISSUE 58 June 2014
including Mohamed bin Salman bin Abdulla Al Zayani. We
were not allowed to go to coffee shops, which never existed
in Qudaibiya, since it was not suitable at that time for a
young lad to go to coffee shops. We used to play football
with the cousins like Dr. Ali Fakhro and his brothers Jasim
and Dr. Hasan.
Sea Plane Trip
My first time to fly was from Qudaibiya Airport when I
travelled to Iraq with my father in 1946; we landed in Shatt
Al-Arab in Basra. Most Kuwaiti merchants like Al Ghanim and
Al Marzook used to live in Basra. King Faisal II was ruling Iraq
then under the regency of his uncle Abdul Elah.
Studies in Beirut
My first day for studies in Beirut was 25th June 1950, which
coincided with the start of the Korean War. We travelled on
a BOAC plane from Muharraq to Kuwait then Basra and
Damascus and then on by car to Beirut. A number of Bahraini
students were with me on the same plane including Jassim
Mohamed Fakhro, Jameel Al Orayyed and Ali Humaidan, in
the company of Mr. Ahmed Al-Omran. I had my secondary
education at the International College for a period of four
years and joined the American University in 1954. There
were a number of Bahraini students studying with me in
the secondary stage including Abdulla Kamal, A.Aziz Ismail
A. Hadi, A. Rahman Mohamed Al Saie, Ahmed Mohamed Al
Musalam and Jassim Mohamed A.Rahman Fakhro.
After completing the first year, I was qualified to join the
faculty of engineering in 1955-1956 in general engineering
without specialisation. I had only the opportunity to study
either mechanical, civil or electrical engineering. However,
since there was no architecture at that time, I had to leave the
university in 1956. When I was in my first year engineering,
Majed AlJishi was the only Bahraini in his final year. He was
the first Bahraini engineer. His thesis was related to designing
a highway from Tripoli to Homs.
After completing my studies, I worked in London for a short
time then returned to Bahrain to join Bapco as assistant
engineer for a period of less than one year and then opened
my own Architectural office in Bahrain in 1959 under my
own name. This office continued operating until 1961 during
which I designed a number of residential projects. I returned
to England in 1963 as assistant engineer so that I could
complete my fifth year. After graduation, I worked in Oxford
on some projects and then moved to Holland for a short
period of time. Later, I returned to London where I qualified
to be a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects
without which one cannot practice the profession.
Marriage & Practice of
Architecture
During my fifth year at college I met my ex-wife Vojsava,
a Serb, and we go married in 1966, then we had two
daughters, Shireen and Sara. We returned to Bahrain by car
in 1967 and the trip took 49 days in a long and complex
My father wanted me to study business and he was not
happy that I should leave Beirut. I had wanted at that time
to go to the USA and applied to Harvard University, MIT, and
the Carnegie Institute and was accepted. I left the university
without my father’s consent and travelled to Europe by land.
I travelled to Palestine in 1951 together with Jassim Fakhro,
A. Rahman Taqi and Karim Al Saffar. We visited Hebron,
Jerusalem, Ramellah and Nablus but unfortunately I do not
have any photos. When in Palestine we inquired about our
old principal Mr. Arif, then returned to Nablus and Alkhaleel
and returned to Jordon after visiting the Dead Sea. The ruler
of Jordan was King Abdulla, grandfather of the present king.
Trip to Austria and London
I had an Austrian pen friend since 1947 and visited him
in Vienna where I lived and worked as a translator for an
engineering periodical. I travelled to London and my father
L to R: Qasim, Abdulrahman and Ali (1950, Lebanon)
ISSUE 58 June 2014
9
middle of November 1972. I was appointed treasurer and
was assigned to prepare the articles of association of the
BSE and translate it into English in addition to organizing an
introduction party for the members.
was in charge of the Maghreb Countries, and later became
minister and Ahmed Al Hakimi from Morocco. The meetings
of FAE used to be held in Cairo, Casablanca, Baghdad and
Tunis.
I participated in organizing the Industrial Building Conference
that was organized by the BSE in collaboration with the
British Council in September 1972. Then I resigned from my
post as treasurer on 4th March 1973 but continued as a
member of the Board of Directors. I was later delegated by
the Federation of Arab Engineers to attend the meetings of
the World Federation of Engineering Organization “WFEO”.
“I do not remember the most important achievements of the
Federation since it used to be a stage for political disputes
and the Arab Countries were passing through a very delicate
period. The members had their political disputes in the
federations but since the Bahrainis held good relations with
all, we tried to keep away from such quarrels and concentrate
our efforts on managing the sessions only. The position of
the Federation’s chairman was honorary and not executive”.
Mr. Fakhro added.
“Promoting the activities of the BSE used to take place
through personal contacts. The BSE was progressing and
its ties with other engineering institutions were strong. The
BSE used had the support of the government in the form
of covering the costs of air travel for official delegations in
addition to sponsoring its conferences”. Mr. Fakhro said.
With Jafar Al Samaikh at BSE
tour through many countries including Yugoslavia, Greece,
Turkey, Iran and Iraq. When we reached Bahrain, we opened
a joint architectural office from 1967 until 1983. Since then
he quit the profession, leaving behind piles of memories
related to the projects that we had participated in designing
residential complexes, the Gulf Hotel in Doha, the Diplomat
Hotel in Bahrain, Awal and Andalus Cinemas in Bahrain. He
worked on all the foregoing projects in participation with
other consultants. Among the major companies that we had
worked with was the Iraqi Consultant that came to Bahrain
to design cinemas for the Bahrain Cinema Company. The
company appointed some Bahrainis for such purpose. In order
to understand the method of their work and their designs this
had required practicing the profession with them in their own
country. For such purpose I travelled with my wife to Baghdad
to work in 1968.
Founding of Bahrain Society
of Engineers
The idea of the BSE emerged after the number of engineers
and architects increased in Bahrain. Since other professions
like doctors had their own association, they found themselves
in need of a structure to bring them together taking into
account that they belonged to a profession in the community
and in order to identify the professional qualifications
of those who specialized in petroleum, electrical, civil,
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ISSUE 58 June 2014
mechanical, chemical or structural engineering. The
concept of establishing the society was not led by a person,
but we could say that Dr. A. Latif Kanoo was pushing the
idea forward. Despite the fact that A. Rahman Fakhro was
enthusiastic for establishing an engineering society, he was
unable to contravene the rules of the Royal Institute of
British Architects. The idea was to establish a gathering that
embraced all engineering disciplines so that such gathering
enlarges, matures, develops and branches into individual
specializations. It was not a limited view for one or two years
but for many generations. However, this has not materialized
yet since the engineering institutions have not yet matured
enough in the same manner as those abroad but it was a
good beginning since it has maintained the professionalisms
and regulated them despite the differences in backgrounds.
Immediately upon convening the first meeting of the BSE
Board of Directors on 17th July 1972, Majed Al Jishi and
Engineer A. Rahman Fakhro were delegated to attend the
meeting of the Supreme Council of the Federation of Arab
Engineers (FAE) that was held in Tripoli, Libya, during the
period 4-6 August 1972.
We had to use the articles of association of the Kuwait
Society of Engineers since the Federation of Arab Engineers
had just started. The first meetings of the BSE members were
mostly held at the house of Dr. A. Latif Kanoo as their number
was small. Later, Yousif bin Ahmed Kanoo Establishment gave
us a temporary place at Mahooz to which we moved in the
In 1974, the BSE at the meeting held in Tunis by the FAE
Supreme Council, nominated him to chair the Federation.
This was during the period when Dr. Hasan Fakhro was the
chairman of BSE. The headquarters of the FAE was in Cairo.
He remembers also Engineer Sadiq bin Juma, a Tunisian, who
Outlook of Engineering
Profession
Mr. Fakhro is very optimistic about the future of the
engineering profession since it is a progressive discipline and
its wheels will never stop. “Each graduate is a new blood for
the profession and usually he/she is loyal to the profession,
which has a great future in Bahrain”. Mr. Fakhro concluded.
The Founding Members of BSE, 1972
With H.Shihabi in Cairo, 2006
With Father, Ahmad (San Francisco,USA, 1979)
ISSUE 58 June 2014
11
Here is an interview with Mr. Moritz Leuenberger.
What is your assessment of the wastewater
industry in Bahrain in general?
MORITZ LEUENBERGER BAHRAIN
Swiss Former Minister of Transportation, Environment,
Energy and Communication
- I was impressed by the infrastructure in
Bahrain and modern life
- STP project in Muharraq causes no fears
on ground water pollution
- Using tunnels in collecting and conveying
wastewater to treatment plants is the most
up to date technology
- Recycled water will have an added value
to the water resource in Bahrain
- (Implenia) is a strategic office to serve
Bahrain and the GCC markets
Mr. Moritz Leuenberger (Swiss former minister of Transportation, Environment,
Energy and Communication from 1995 to 2010) visited the kingdom of Bahrain
to participate in the official launching by the Ministry of Works of the new
tunneling technology to be implemented in Bahrain for the first time. The event
was attended by high ranking officials and other related guests.
Mr. Leuenberger is a Member of the Board of Directors of Implenia in Switzerland.
Implenia is the tunneling company executing the tunnel for Muharraq Project.
Implenia’s Regional Business Development Office is in Bahrain.
Moritz Leuenberger was also the President of Switzerland in 2001 and 2006
(Presidency of Switzerland is rotated every one year).
I had an interesting briefing and information about the
project of Muharraq from the Assistant under SecretarySanitary Engineering Engineer Khalifa Al Mansour and from
Samsung Company, in addition to the information provided
by our office in Bahrain. The Muharraq project is strategic
for the Public Health in Bahrain and I am sure the recycled
water will have an added value to the water resource in
the Kingdom of Bahrain. Across the world, the wastewater
treatment and system management is an ongoing process
and requires continuous investment. It is a vital process for
the health of the people and reflecting the ambitious modern
approach of the Kingdom in attracting the best technology.
What is your opinion regarding the use of
tunnels for conveying the wastewater using
tunnels in Bahrain?
Using tunnels in the collection and conveying wastewater to
treatment plants is the most up to date technology. It is safe,
long operation life, lower cost of operation and maintenance
and it should reduce the use of pumping stations. The
(designed) life time of tunnels could reach 80 years and
more, so on the long term it is also economic approach.
How would you compare modern tunneling
to the traditional method of open and cut
sewers constructions?
Construction of sewers by tunnels is faster, less nuisance for
the residence and more economic once you reach deeper
requirements. In addition, it is easier and more economical
to maintain.
How would the type of soil affect the
tunneling in Bahrain?
For the depth of the tunnel (from 7m to about 15m) we
expect to tunnel in the mixed (sand/rock) layer. This requires
an in depth Geotechnical knowledge to design the right
cutter for this type of soil. We have in Bahrain world class
engineers and geotechnical people who are working hard to
provide the right machineries for this project.
Would there be any concerns of the tunnels
damaging existing infrastructures (water
pipes, cables etc.)?
The Ministry of Works and Samsung have done the proper
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ISSUE 58 June 2014
surveys to ensure the tunnel routes will not affect or damage
existing or future infrastructures. Our engineers were heavily
involved with respected authorities in the Kingdom to ensure
that no interference with the existing facilities will occurs
now or in future.
Would there be any effect on ground water?
I believe the Ministry of Works looked deeply into this subject
and decided on the depth of the tunnels (from 7m to 15m) to
protect ground water from pollution.
What sort of view you have on Bahrain and
its progress on Infrastructure?
I served for about 15 years as the Minister in charge
of Transportation, Infrastructures and Environment in
Switzerland and this is my first visit to the Kingdom of
Bahrain. I must admit that I was pleasantly confident of the
level of infrastructure in your country. I will go back with new
views on Bahrain and I hope that I will visit Bahrain again.
Implenia has an operating office in Bahrain and we consider
our office in Bahrain is a strategic one to serve Bahrain and
the GCC markets.
What can you tell us about the Swiss
tunneling experience and expertise?
As you are aware that there are many mountains in
Switzerland and tunnels for rails and transportations goes
back to 1850. Without these tunnels, the transportation
system will not function properly or economically. Implenia
constructed many tunnels in Switzerland and currently are
constructing the world largest tunnel for rails. It is called
the Gotthard tunnels, 57 kilometer twin tunnels (about
9m diameter), extended under the Alps mountains linking
Switzerland to Italy. It is considered as an engineering miracle
and we are so proud of this achievement.
How would you consider your meetings
with the officials at the Ministry of Works
during your short visit to Bahrain?
First I must say that we are proud to be in Bahrain and we are
the first Swiss construction company to serve the market of
Bahrain. I was warmly received by His Excellency Essam Bin
Abdulla Khalaf the Minister of Works and by the Assistant
Under Secretary, Engineer Khalifa Al Mansour. We would be
pleased to maintain such courteous relationship and I will go
back to Switzerland with more positive views on the warmth
and welcoming I received in Bahrain.
ISSUE 58 June 2014
13
international leading companies such as Implenia and
ICOP for tunnelling, Hyder and Environment Arabia for
consultancy.
ROBERT MITCHELL
SIMON ABRAHAM
Project Company Engineer
Commissioning Manager
The scheme provides additional capacity to meet the
needs of existing and future development in Muharraq
Governorate in line with the Kingdom of Bahrain’s
strategic plan and 2030 Vision. It will also allow the decommissioning of two major sewage pumping stations
and 22 minor ones across Muharraq, most of which are
in residential areas, providing a cleaner environment
and reducing the ongoing environmental issues at
Tubli Bay due to the over-loading of the Tubli Sewage
Treatment Plant (STP).
The route of the DGS at contract award is shown below,
with the associated pumping stations denoted by red
triangles.
The flow in the DGS is to be treated to a very high
standard in a robust new treatment plant, located
away from the densely populated areas of Muharraq.
This will reduce the load on Tubli STP and will contribute
to the improvement of the environment in Tubli Bay.
The new plant will produce high quality Treated
Sewage Effluent (TSE) which will be suitable for reuse in industrial applications, irrigation or landscaping
around Muharraq. This type of water recovery is
environmentally and financially sound as it reduces the
amount of new fresh water that needs to be produced
for irrigation. The whole life project costing takes into
account the beneficial reuse and a contribution to the
water conservation policy of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Muharraq Sewage Treatment Plant and
Sewer Conveyance System Project
Constructing a Deep Gravity Sewer through an
Urban Area
1.Introduction
The purpose of the Muharraq Sewage Treatment Plant
and Sewer Conveyance System project is to provide
Muharraq with its own sewage treatment facilities,
served by a new deep sewer.
The project is categorised as being of national
importance and is Bahrain’s first privatization project
relating to wastewater infrastructure. The Government
of Bahrain signed a Sewage Treatment Agreement
with the Muharraq STP Company (MSC) on 2 February
2011 under which, the MSC undertook to fund the
construction of a 16km Deep Gravity Sewer (DGS), a
100,000 m3/d Sewage Treatment Plant (with provision
14
ISSUE 58 June 2014
2.Background
Muharraq is a busy and crowded island with a rich
cultural heritage, whose road corridors already contain
multiple underground services.
In order to reduce to a minimum any potential for
damage to buildings or buried services the Government
decided that the new deep sewer would be constructed
by tunnelling rather than by excavating deep trenches.
This decision has greatly reduced the impact of the
project on the communities through which the DGS
passes, although it is unfortunately not possible to
construct new infrastructure on this scale without
causing some disruption to normal life.
The benefits of transferring flow to a gravity system
included reduced risk of odour nuisance, the elimination
of traffic disruption during maintenance and the
prevention of sewers backing up and associated
sewage flooding when an old pumping station fails. A
gravity system also uses less energy, in line with the
Government’s policies on the environment.
to expand to 160,000 m3/d), a Sludge Incineration Plant
and a Long Sea Outfall. The MSC further undertook to
operate and maintain the new system for a period of
up to 27 years thereby relieving the Government of its
construction and environmental risks.
The MSC is a Bahraini registered company with three
shareholders: Samsung Engineering Co Ltd of Korea,
STP Infrastructure Holdings Ltd of Abu Dhabi and
United Utilities International Ltd of England.
Samsung Engineering is also the EPC Contractor for
the project and has engaged a number of local subcontractors, such as G P Zachariades, Al Hassanain
and Poullaides Construction Company, as well as
3. Shaft and Tunnel Construction
Techniques
The DGS and most of the associated Waste Water
Collection Network (WWCN) is being constructed
ISSUE 58 June 2014
15
by micro-tunnelling. This is a trenchless technology
technique for the installation of underground pipelines
(between 500mm and 3500mm in diameter) by jacking
specially designed pipes through the ground from a
jacking pit or shaft.
Micro-tunnelling has many advantages for the
environment, for traffic flows and for those living in the
area, because no major earth shifting is necessary at the
tunnelling site and excavation at ground level is limited
to a number of shaft sites which can be up to 300m
apart.
The shafts themselves are temporary structures.
Once the tunnelling is complete, a manhole will be
constructed within each shaft. The upper part of the
shaft will then be removed and the area back-filled,
leaving only a manhole access cover at ground level to
indicate what lies beneath.
In order to reduce the risk of causing damage to
existing buried services and to reduce the noise of
the construction activities, the decision was taken to
construct the DGS shafts using secant piling rather than
sheet piling. This allows a solid concrete circular wall
to be created in the ground, formed from over-lapping
circular concrete piles, before the excavation is started.
The smaller diameter WWCN shafts are being
constructed as caissons, by jacking concrete rings into
the ground.
Ground conditions especially through reclaimed
land can be very variable. The spacing of the ground
investigation boreholes was carefully considered to try
to detect any abnormal ground conditions and so avoid
drive problems.
5.Wayleaves
With Planning Permission granted, the EPC Contractor’s
permitting team focussed on securing the necessary
wayleaves in the order required by the construction
programme. Quite quickly, it became clear that this was
not a feasible approach. The construction programme
had been structured for maximum efficiency and to
reduce the period of occupation of the shaft sites as
much as possible, with five Tunnel Boring Machines
(TBMs) driving the tunnels in a logical sequence
from one shaft to the next. However, it soon became
apparent that the availability of shaft sites which were
free of land issues, had been cleared of existing services
and had wayleave approval would be the determining
factor for where the EPC Contractor could progress the
works.
This led to the development of a contingent approach to
the programming, where the programme was regularly
reviewed and adapted to take advantage of the work
sites which were available in order to keep the TBMs
working and to maintain progress.
One of the disadvantages of carrying out the tunnelling
of the DGS in this discontinuous manner has been that,
at a number of locations, work sites have been occupied
for significantly longer than was first expected. This has
caused understandable frustration within the authorities
who have responsibilities for roads and traffic.
To reduce the risk of this in the future, where tunnel
shafts need to be constructed in areas known to
contained underground services, consideration should
be given to an advance works contract in order to
establish accurate information on the position of the
services through a programme of trial holes.
6. Sewage Treatment Process
The sewage treatment process is designed for a flow
of 100,000 m3/d expandable to 160,000 m3/d and
consists of:
• A Terminal Lift Station provided with automatically
raked 70mm coarse bar screens
• Fine screening to 6mm through double chain raking
screens
• Aerated grit channels with skimmers for the
removal of grit, fat, oil and grease
• Biological treatment in Sequencing Batch Reactors
designed to provide biological nutrient removal of
nitrogen and phosphorus
• Screening through disk filters of particles down to
10 micron
• Disinfection using ultraviolet light
• Disinfection using chlorine gas
The SBRs, which are at the heart of the process, provide
the function of primary settlement, biological treatment
and secondary settlement in a single tank.
4. Planning Permission
The major risk to the project programme was finding
sites where the DGS and WWCN shafts could be
constructed and obtaining approvals to occupy those
sites.
Recognising that the construction works would impact
on a large number of stakeholders, all of whom
needed to be informed and consulted, it was decided
to organise a workshop at the Gulf Hotel so that the
approving authorities could be briefed on the project
together and would have the opportunity to make the
project team aware of concerns and constraints relating
to the proposals.
This event was very well supported by CPO and the
approving authorities and was undoubtedly a major
16
ISSUE 58 June 2014
factor in Planning Permission being granted by all
twenty-seven authorities on 2 October 2011.
ISSUE 58 June 2014
17
The sequence of process stages in the SBRs is shown in the diagram below.
Eman Al Sabah
BSc, LEED Green Associate
Project Specialist, Program Cost Consultancy,
AECOM Qatar
The 8 Amazing Features of Evernote
The plant includes two incineration streams which burn
the sludge at approximately 840oC to allow constant
sludge processing. The volume of ash produced is much
less than the volume of feed sludge, which reduces both
the cost of transportation and the demand on the land
fill sites in Bahrain. The ash is currently a waste but
research is ongoing around the world to take advantage
of the reuse potential of ash.
7. Current Status
18
The flows from five of the larger pumping stations have
been connected to the DGS, resulting in an initial flow to
the STP of about 48,000 m3/d. Three of the SBRs have
been commissioned and the plant is producing Treated
Sewage Effluent (TSE) which is generally compliant with
the specified standard. The next major milestone on the
project will be to undertake the Acceptance Testing
prior to the start of the Commercial Operation period.
Safety has been a major consideration in the planning
and delivery of this complicated project and the project
team are proud to note that over nine million manhours
have been worked on the project with no recorded lost
time incident.
ISSUE 58 June 2014
Conclusion
The construction of the sewage treatment plant and sludge
incineration plant were susceptible to standard project
management techniques and proceeded generally as
planned.
By contrast, the programme for the construction of the Deep
Gravity Sewer (DGS) using micro-tunnelling was determined
by the availability of sites for the many shafts and the
processes of gaining approval to occupy those sites and
arranging for existing underground utilities to be diverted.
A contingent approach has therefore been adopted to the
programming of the DGS, to take advantage of shaft sites
as they became available. This demanded an agile response
from the EPC Contractor and his supply chain but created
some friction with the authorities who have responsibilities
for roads and traffic.
If reliable underground utility information had been available
earlier in the project, the need to adapt the construction
programme for the DGS could have been reduced.
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ISSUE 58 June 2014
19
gas removal processing for removing H2S and COS impurities. The clean gas — with generally total sulfur less than
10-15 ppmv — is supplied as fuel to the gas turbine generators. Waste nitrogen from the air separation unit is
compressed and used as a diluent for NOx Control or for power augmentation in the gas turbine generator. The acid
gas from the acid gas removal system is sent to a sulfur recovery unit (Claus Sulfur Plant) for sulfur production. The
tail gases are further treated in a tail gas treating unit for further sulfur recovery. The solids from the gasifier are
handled in black water and solids handling process, where unconverted carbon is separated from slag and water for
recycling back into the feed stream.
IGCC Technology Overview and Its
Role in Carbon Capture Market
First Energy Management Conference & Exhibition 2013, December 9-11,
Kingdom of Bahrain.
Figure-3 IGCC Block System Diagram
Authors: Sampath K Bommareddy, Jaafar A Sheef, Muhammad Al-Harbi; Saudi Aramco.
Abstract:
Low
Pressure
Oxygen
Gasification
Raw Syngas
Cooling
(Quench or Heat
Recovery)
Black Water
Process
Condensate
Black Water and
Solids Handling
IGCC operation majorly relies on gasification process where a partial oxidation process to the feedstock takes place
at high temperature (1300-1450 °C) and produces a raw synthetic gas, known as syngas, which is mainly composed
of hydrogen (H2), carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2). The gasification operation requires oxygen,
which is sourced out through another chemical air separation process. Gasification processes have been developed
using a variety of designs including moving bed, fluidized bed, entrained flow and transport gasifiers.
Technology Overview
Typical IGCC consists of several blocks as shown in Figure-3. First, gasification of the hydrocarbon feedstock takes
place through oxidation with oxygen produced by the air separation unit. The gasification process produces a raw
syngas mainly composed of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and other impurities such as H2S. The raw
syngas leaving the reactor is too hot and requires cooling, hence the opportunity to recover energy exists. The hot
syngas is cooled in an effluent cooler which produces high pressure steam. As the hot syngas leaves the effluent
cooler, it is still too hot and requires further cooling and energy recovery through a low temperature gas cooling
section, until the temperature drops to around 40-50 °C. The raw gas has to be then cleaned up through acid
ISSUE 58 June 2014
Acid Gas
Removal
HP/MP/LP
Steam
Heat Recovery
Steam Generator
Stack Gas
Acid Gas
HP Steam / MP Steam / Feed water
Solid Byproducts
2.
Gas Turbine
and Steam
Turbine
Grey Water
Traditionally, pulverized coal (PC) has been applied where low value fuel such as coal, coke, vacuum residue (VR), and
heavy fuel oils are burned to generate high preserve steam that expands out in steam turbine to generate electric
power. Over the past 20 years, the IGCC technology turned to be a commercially viable alternative to PC technology
due to superior thermal efficiency, environmental performance and its integrated production of multistreams, such as
power, steam, hydrogen, chemical and other marketable byproducts such as sulfur.
Moist Nitrogen
Clean
Syngas
1.Introduction
20
High
Pressure
Oxygen
Hydrocarbon Feed
I- IGCC Technology Overview
Nitrogen
Saturation and
Heating
Nitrogen
Air Separation
Unit
Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plants, which utilize low value fuel such as coal, coke, vacuum residue (VR) and heavy
oil fuels to generate electric power, have been commercially viable worldwide and new plants at various stages of commissioning
and construction are ongoing. IGCC technology stands out for superior thermal efficiency and friendly environmental performance.
This paper will first provide an overview of the IGCC technology and worldwide applications. Then, performance comparison
between the IGCC technology and the classical pulverized coal (PC) plants in capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) will be discussed to
shed light on superior efficiency and great environmental performance of the GICC.
LP Steam/Feed Water
Extraction Air
3.
Sulfur Recovery
Unit
Tail Gas
Product Sulfur
Worldwide Applications
Figure-1 (Source Data: Gasification Technologies Council Database) shows the number of gasification plant
installations worldwide. Figure-2, from the same data source, shows the number of gasification plant installations
that use petroleum low value fuel such as petcock, heavy fuel oil and vacuum residue in power generation.
ISSUE 58 June 2014
21
Figure-1 World-Wide Gasification
steam and reproduce recycling solvent for the absorption column. The recovered CO2 is then cooled and compressed.
The compression power required is excessive due to the CO2 low pressure at the exhaust. Figure-4 shows a typical
conventional boiler, post-combustion CO2 block diagram.
# of Gasification Plants - World Wide
140
127
120
100
2.Pre-Combustion
IGCC designs employ pre-combustion capture due to higher CO2 partial pressure in the fuel. As the gas is cooled
down and prior to acid gas removal, a series of water gas shift reactors can be added to the conventional IGCC
process to covert CO to CO2 and hydrogen, as shown in figure 5. The hydrogen rich acid gas from the water gas
shift reactor is then processed in the acid gas removal through a physical solvent — either selexol or rectisol — to
capture the acid gas and CO2 in a two-stage absorption process. The cleaned up hydrogen rich fuel is mixed with
compressed waste nitrogen prior to combustion in the gas turbine generators. The captured CO2 is then further
compressed and transported.
Pre- and Post-Combustion Comparison
80
60
32
2
11000
9500
8500
Syngas Production MWth
9000
7100
6500
7000
5500
6000
4500
5000
4000
1
3000
2500
1000
1500
0
500
2000
13 11
0
Qatar
Pearl
GTL Gas
Sasol-Coal
3500
20
8000
40
3.
The graph in Figure-6 developed according to data from the MIT/NETL studies illustrates the advantages of the
pre-combustion carbon capture in IGCC technology, when compared with those in the conventional boilers postcombustion. In post-combustion technology, the CO2 compression power requirement is extensive and it drops the
overall efficiency by 9%, compared to 7% in IGCC pre-combustion technology.
In addition, the traditional boiler plant emissions are approximately three and ten times higher than that of the IGCC
plants for SOx and NOx emissions, respectively, as shown in figure-7. Therefore, pre-combustion in IGCC technology
offers superior performance and produces very low quantities of air pollutants. This superior performance implies
higher sulfur recovery and higher economic advantages.
Source: Gasification Technologies Council Database
Figure-2: Worldwide Gasification Plant Experience-Petroleum Feed Stocks
# of Plants-Primary FeedStock- Petroleum
18
17
16
16
Figure-4 Post-Combustion CO2 Capture Block Diagram
14
12
Sannazzaro
10
Lime Stone
8
Sarlux/ISAB
6
5
4
2
3
0
0
200
400
600
Feed Stock
3
Air
2
800
1200
1300
2000
Syngas Production MWth
3000
4000
5000
Boiler/Superheater
Flue Gas Clean up
CO2 Capture
Fly Ash/Wet Solids
Compression
7000
~9 Plants Primary Product - Electricity total 6414 MWth
Source: Gasification Technologies Council Database
Steam Turbine
II- Carbon Capture Technologies
22
CO2
Storage/Transport
1. Post-Combustion
Traditional boilers mixes air and hydrocarbon in a combustion chamber to produce very high pressure superheated
steam, which is expanded in a steam turbine to produce electricity. The CO2 captures the process in these plants
which employ the post-combustion clean-up, which relies on low CO2 partial pressure in the exhaust gas. Chemical
absorption with amines is presently the only viable available technology. The CO2 is first captured from the exhaust
gas stream in an absorption column. The absorbed CO2 is stripped from the amine solution using a large amount of
ISSUE 58 June 2014
Electricity
ISSUE 58 June 2014
23
Figure-7 Emission Comparison Across various technologies
Steam
Feed Stock
Water Gas
Shift
Syngas Cooling
O2
Acid Gas/CO2 Removal
H2 Rich Fuel
Waste Nitrogen
700
CO2
Acid Gas
BFW
Air Separation
Unit
Steam
High Purity
Nitrogen
Air
Power Island
(Gas Turbine,
HRSG,
Steam Turbine)
Sulfur
Recovery
Unit
CO2
Storage/Transport
Sulfur
Electricity
Compression
grams eimitted per net MW-hr
Gasification
SOX emitted
per net MW-hr
600
500
400
NOX emitted
per net MW-hr g
300
200
PM emitted
per net MW-hr
100
Figure-6 Pre-combustion vs. Post-combustion plant efficiency impact
0
Plant Efficiency Impact CO2 Capture
IGCC
PC Boiler
SubC
40%
SupC
CFB Boiler
SubC
SupC
38.5%
38.4%
38%
36%
REFERENCES
34.8%
34.3%
1. Anand, et. al., “New Low Cost IGCC Designs for Competitive Power Generation,” presented at the Pittsburgh Coal Conference,
October 12, 1999.
34%
32%
31.2%
30%
2. Jahnke, et. al., “High Efficiency IGCC using Advanced Turbine, Air Separation Unit, and Gasification Technology,” presented at
the 1998 Gasification Technologies Conference, October 4, 1998.
29.4%
3. Cost and Performance Baseline for Fossil Energy Plants, Vol. 1, DOE/NETL-2007/1281, May 2007.
28%
26%
25.5%
25.1%
4. Stephen A, et. al., “The Future of Coal, An inter-disciplinary MIT study” ISBN 978-0-615-14092-6, 2007.
5. NARCU (National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners), “Clean Coal Generation Technologies for new power
plants,” March 2008.
24%
22%
6. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, University of Stavenger, Norway, “IGCC State –of- the –art report,” April 2010.
20%
With Out CO2
Capture
CO2 Capture
IGCC
Pre Combustion
With Out CO2
Capture
CO2 Capture
PC Subcritical
With Out CO2
Capture
CO2 Capture
PC Super Critical
With Out CO2
Capture
CO2 Capture
CFB Super Critical
Post Combustion
Conclusions
IGCC is one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly technologies for power generation and other steams including
hydrogen. Since it became commercially viable, IGCC applications have increased worldwide. In addition to the high efficiency,
IGCC technology provides excellent NOx and SOx control through pre-combustion absorption and produces higher commercial
sulfur than its thermal conventional boiler competitors.
24
ISSUE 58 June 2014
7. Gasification Technologies Council, “http://www.gasification.org/database1/search.aspx?a=66&b=103&c=85”
8. National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), 2007. Cost and Performance Baseline for Fossil Energy Plants, Volume 1:
Bituminous Coal and Natural Gas to Electricity, Revision 1. DOE/NETL-2007/1281. U.S. Department of Energy, National
Energy Technology Laboratory, Pittsburgh, PA. August 2007. Available at: “http://www.netl.doe.gov/energy- analyses/pubs/
Bituminous%20Baseline_Final%20Report.pdf”
9. National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), 2010a. Overview of DOE’s Gasification Program. Presentation by Jenny
Tennant, Technology Manager, Gasification, U.S. U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Pittsburgh,
PA. January 25, 2010. Available at:
“http://www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/coalpower/gasification/pubs/pdf/DOE%20Gasification%20Program%20
Overview%202010%2001-25%20v1v.pdf
ISSUE 58 June 2014
25
Reviewed By:
S. ALI HASHIM
st
21 Century Skills
Authors:
Bernie Trilling & Charles Fadel
LEARNING FOR LIFE IN OUR TIMES
“We are currently preparing students
for jobs that don’t yet exist .. using
technologies that haven’t been
invented… in order to solve problems
we don’t even know are problems yet.”
With this statement, the authors of this book initiate the first
chapter of their book “Learning Past and Future”. The most
important reality that confronts the reader is the fact that
the world has already taken the a paradigm shift from the
industrial age to a knowledge age economy – information
driven, globally networked – which was one day Agrarian
that moved to the industrial 350 years ago. This very fact
has changed the requirements of the market and pushed
towards new skills that fulfils the dynamics of the market
and the increasing role complex communication & expert
thinking versus routine and manual cognitive thinking was
prevailing at one day. (Fig.1)
The fact presented above implies a change within the
educational methodology and it’s delivery styles as per the
authors, for countries willing to keep a competitive edge in
today’s globalized economy, that is going to revolve around
innovation and creativity to address today new upcoming
needs. (Fig.2)
26
ISSUE 58 June 2014
The remaining chapters are then dedicated to explain each
rainbow spectrum and the change required within the
regular old practices along with the foundations required to
achieve this change. The strategies and action plans needed
to remap the existing situation under terms of retooling &
reshaping the existing educational establishment. The book
is furnished all over with examples depicting trials, facts and
tests that reveal the dynamic changes already going within
the developed world that combines public and private sector
within a win –win strategy and action plan.
The book is a must read for teachers, parents and decision
makers who are striving for their children’s future. Finally,
I have to mention that this book is one quotient of a
collaborative work lead by an organization called Partnership
for 21st century (http://www.p21.org/) that supports adopting
a step change towards meeting the millennium challenges.
From these facts, the Fadhel & Trilling move towards defining
the storm required to achieve a shift in the educational
system by defining the pillars of change that can lead to 21st
century skills being met, as the following:
Learning and
Innovation Skills
• Knowledge work
• Thinking tools
Life and
Career Skills
Core Subjects and
21 st Century Themes
• Digital life styles
• Learning research
The above factors are buckled up to come up with a 21st
century knowledge & skills rainbow that needs mastering to
work and live successfully in the 21st century. (Fig 3)
Information,
Media, and
Technology
Skills
Standards and
Assessments
Curriculum and Instruction
Professional Development
Learning Environments
Partnership for
21st Century Skils
ISSUE 58 June 2014
27
AYESHA WAHID
Department of Civil Engineering and
Architecture College of Engineering
University of Bahrain
P.O. Box: 32038، Kingdom of Bahrain
[email protected]
Figure : (a) The development zones and two energy centres (indicated in red)
The Quest For Sustainability: Lean, Mean And Green
Abstract
The paradigm shift in contemporary green movement has
gathered much momentum. Sustainability can no longer be
confined to as an afterthought but has become a prerequisite.
There are many examples to validate this argument be it
the efforts of mammoth organizations such as the London
Olympics 2012 with their ambitious vision to leave a legacy
of sustainable blue print , the efforts of Hollywood to reduce
adverse environmental impact by recycling dismantled
movie sets to provide raw materials for low income housing
projects or the small nonetheless significant endeavours such
as the use of recycled aggregates in demonstration projects
and modified earth architecture in low carbon projects in
developing countries . No project is too big or small, no effort
inconsequential.
In this paper, emphasis is laid on the London 2012
Sustainability Plan which has incorporated strategies for
realisation of its’ strong sustainability objectives, ‘To deliver
a low carbon Games and showcase how we are adapting to
a world increasingly affected by climate change.’ The paper
attempts a study of the strategic approach incorporated
for delivering low-carbon Games based on optimising
resource efficiency in energy and materials use, incorporating
renewable energy et al.
Objectives: The objectives of the research include a study of
the best practices that have been proposed or incorporated
in pursuit of sustainable development.
Conclusions: The best practices can serve as a guideline for
similar projects and should not remain confined to academic
references. Sustainability, a powerful unifying concept,
bringing together social, economic and environmental
28
ISSUE 58 June 2014
factors, needs to be a vital consideration in developing the
framework of both macro and micro projects.
INTRODUCTION
Sustainability was embedded as part of the London 2012 bid
when the sustainable development vision encapsulated in
the theme ‘Towards a One Planet Olympics’ was developed
as a proposal. Some of the priority issues identified include
Carbon management to deliver a low- carbon Games
– Delivering a zero-waste Games
– Providing sustainable and accessible transport solutions
– Using the Games to showcase the economic benefits of
sustainability
– Promoting sustainable living by making sustainability a
visible part of the Games
–Ensuring the Olympic Park legacy contributes to the
regeneration of communities
A mean, lean, green approach – reducing CO2 through
energy efficient venue design (mean), through an efficient
energy supply (lean) and through the use of renewable
(green) energy sources was advocated.
Urban Regeneration
The Olympic Park comprises of an area of approximately 250
hectares constructed on a former industrial site at Stratford,
East London.(The Games also made use of venues that
already existed before the bid.). This has resulted in urban
regeneration with parklands having restored waterways
providing a range of habitat for flora and fauna having
emerged from a post-industrial landscape – derelict, polluted,
inaccessible and unsafe.
(b) Olympic Park Aerial View
Carbon Management
Temporary Structures
An ambitious endeavour to measure the carbon footprint
over the entire term of the project was undertaken, using the
foot printing assessment for decision-making. The key venues
of the London 2012 have each significantly reduced their
carbon emissions when compared with the original designs:
Stadium (38% lower than original design); aquatics (10%);
velodrome (15%) and structures, bridges and highways
(14%).
The greatest savings recorded have been in the form of
embodied carbon from the temporary overlay at venues.
Through design modifications and material specifications, a
saving of 84ktCO2e (64 per cent) from that portion of the
reference footprint. Additionally, by reducing the planned
physical footprint of the venues by 25 per cent against a
2008 baseline,
To deliver a low carbon development, a three-pronged
approach was considered.
1. Minimising the energy demand of the Park, venues and
Village;
2. Efficient energy supply through low carbon technologies;
3. Supplying energy from new, renewable sources.
Olympic Park Venues
The ODA has successfully completed the construction of the
Olympic Park and its venues on time, on budget and to high
sustainability standards. Notable amongst these has been
the delivery of the Kings Yard Energy Centre and the district
heating scheme, which feeds all of the permanent venues
and the Olympic and Paralympic Village. This was targeted to
reduce the carbon footprint of the Park in legacy by around
30 per cent and help the ODA exceed the target of a 50 per
cent reduction in carbon emissions for the built environment
by 2013 (representing the post-Games operational carbon
footprint of the venues).
90,000 square metres of floor area was removed. This
equates to a saving of 15ktCO2e of embodied carbon.
Efficient Energy Supply
Combined Cooling, Heating and Power Plants (CCHP)
recover the heat that is a by-product of electricity generation,
and distribute it alongside electricity in the form of hot water,
which can be used for space heating and domestic use. The
heat will also be used to generate cooling via absorption
chillers to the IBC/MPC. The use of CCHP allows for more
efficient energy generation, as it uses the heat which is
generally lost by centralised power generation distributed
through the National Grid. CCHP can be up to 90 per cent
efficient, whilst central generation is approximately 37.5 per
cent efficient by the time it is used.
Waste Management
It was the aim to stage an Olympic and Para Olympic
Games that pushes waste performance to a new level
across demolition, construction and Games-time operation
ISSUE 58 June 2014
29
and leaves an improved waste infrastructure in legacy. The
target was to reuse or recycle more than 90% in each, the
demolition and building phases. These targets have been
recorded to substantially exceed with figures of 98.5% and
99% respectively. A total of two million tonnes of soil was
decontaminated, during the building of the Olympic park,
which meant 80% of the excavated soil was re-used and
much less soil was sent to landfill.
Conclusions
Significant achievements have been recorded with reference
to the Olympic park (A reduction of 31 per cent in the
Velodrome’s CO2 emissions and a reduction 1,630 tonnes
CO2 per annum (compared to 2006 Building Regulations)
in the Park’s carbon emissions.) The Park was approached
as an infrastructure project rather than as a series of
individual venue projects which has delivered economies
of scale and efficiencies that would not have been possible
at individual venue level. The emphasis on sustainability as
a core principle has rendered a framework according due
priority to low carbon, minimal waste strategies. It can no
longer be confined to as an afterthought but has become a
prerequisite. The success of this ambitious project validates
that sustainability, a powerful unifying concept, bringing
together social, economic and environmental factors, needs
to be a vital consideration well embedded into the decision
making matrix.
Recommendations
The LEAN-MEAN-GREEN Approach can serve as guiding
tool. As evidenced in the case of London Olympics 2012, a
mean, lean, green approach – reducing CO2 through energy
efficient venue design (mean), through an efficient energy
supply (lean) and through the use of renewable (green)
energy sources can have tremendous benefits.
GO LEAN: In the case of London Olympics 2012, by reducing
the planned physical footprint of the venues by 25 per cent
against a 2008 baseline, 90,000 square metres of floor
area was removed. This reaped significant payback in terms
of financial and environmental benefits. The fundamental
start for any energy strategy should be to minimise energy
demand (in passive terms) as far as possible. This is the most
sustainable and cost effective way of reducing CO2 emissions
and will always be the best primary investment. Energy
efficient design should be addressed from the onset as it
will affect the building design (and the various disciplines
involved in it). Detailed energy modelling early in the design
can help projects achieve the optimum result.
MEAN SUSTAINABLE (Endeavour to promote Sustainable
Development): To work towards sustainability, optimal
supply solutions depending on technical, environmental
and financial feasibility should be incorporated. The use of
renewable energy technologies, building integrated systems
etc should be carefully evaluated. In the case of the London
Olympic park, decentralised energy supply was selected after
careful consideration of various parameters such as energy
demand profiles from the buildings, physical site specific
circumstances, neighbouring energy supply opportunities,
financial viability, technical feasibility, holistic environmental
impacts (for example, the effect of using biomass) and the
optimum location for large-scale infrastructure (for example,
on site, near site or off site).
GO GREEN: Sustainability should be a core principle in the
development framework from the very inception of a project.
A project-specific and sustainable energy strategy early in the
project with guidance from expert energy/carbon consultants
(rather than adopting arbitrary targets and technologies);
communicating
the strategy clearly to stakeholders;
integrating it into design briefs, procurement documentation
and contracts; and developing contingency plans in the event
of unforeseen circumstances should be incorporated.
DR. SAAD FAWZI AL NUAIMI
Assistant Professor
University of Bahrain Department of
Architecture and Interior Design
The Thermal Efficiency of Artificial Roof Garden for
Residential Buildings: Bahrain as a Case Study
1- BACKGROUND:
The increasing of energy consumption becomes very
important, because of the future shortage in energy
and also global warming. The Efficient use of energy has
turn out to be a key issue for the most energy policies,
especially for Buildings as it is one of the most energy
consumers (Yilmaz, 2007).
Designing buildings which use less energy has become
extremely important, and the ability to evaluate
buildings before construction can save money in
design changes(Stoakes, 2009). Since 1998, energy
consumption in the kingdom of Bahrain has risen
from 5773 GW to 10689 GW in 2007as shown in
(Error! Reference source not found.). According to the
published data by the Bahrain Ministry of Electricity
& Water (BMEW, 2005), the residential buildings in
Bahrain consumed 54.5% of the total energy use
(Error! Reference source not found.2).
References
Greater London Authority. Sustainable Design and Construction. The London Plan Supplementary Planning Guidance. England; 2006. Available from: static.london.gov.uk/
mayor/strategies/sds/docs/spg-sustainable-design.pdf (accessed 15 November 2012).
Olympic Delivery Authority. Sustainable Development Strategy. London; 2007. Available from: www.london2012.com/documents/oda-publications/oda-sustainabledevelopment-strategy-full-version.pdf (accessed 15 November 2012).
Olympic Delivery Authority. Implementation Guidance for Project Teams, Energy. London; 2008.
Olympic Delivery Authority. Olympic Park Energy Centre. London; 2010. Available from: london2012.com/publications/mean-lean-green-olympic-park-energy-centre.php
(accessed 15 November 2012).
2200
12000
Energy Consumption (M/W)
Olympic Delivery Authority. Energy Statement. Olympic, Paralympic and Legacy Transformation Planning Applications. London; 2007. Available from: planning.london2012.
com/upload/publicaccessODAlive/Vol%205%20Energy%20Statement%20(264).pdf (accessed 15 November 2012).
The Building envelope design typically has a
considerable impact on the residential buildings’
energy performance. Many researchers were studied
the problem of the energy consumption in the buildings
2000
10000
1800
8000
Commerical
2112 (27%)
Agriculture
41 (0.5%)
Domestic
4309 (34.5%)
1400
1200
6000
1000
800
4000
600
400
2000
200
0
0
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Energy Consumption
Figure 1
ISSUE 58 June 2014
2- E-QUEST MODEL:
This study will simulate the thermal performance of the
precast concrete which has been used to construct the
roofs and adding the artificial garden for the test model. It
will use a single computerized residential building to be as
a test building by using e-Quest simulation program. The
building will be considered in this study is one small single
room for residential house in Bahrain. (Figure 3 shows
the layout of the room is (3 x 3 x 3 meters)). The room
consists of two plain walls, one wall with window and the
other wall with a door. The walls are built with the typical
material used in Bahrain “ the building material is 0.2
meter hollow block”. The ceiling made of concrete slab with
and gypsum interior finishing. The test case study building
is located under Bahrain weather conditions with a total
floor area of (9 square meter) and total volume space (27
cubic meter). The building has the dimensions as shown
in Figure 3. Which taken as viewed from e-Quest energy
simulation tool.
1600
London 2012. Olympic Park Energy Centre powers to finish line delivering sustainable legacy for 2012. London; 2010. Available from: london2012.com/press/mediareleases/2010/10/olympic-park-energy-centre-powers-to-finish-line-deliver.php (accessed 15 November 2012).
30
and focused on the building design, while this research will
study the problem of energy consumption in an existing
building.
Industrial
1435 (18%)
Figure 2
ISSUE 58 June 2014
31
Since the building is residential test model, the operation
schedule is 24 hours a day and 7 days per a week. The
internal temperature for the building is considered
to be 24 ̊ C, which is considered as the appropriate
temperature for human comfort. Hourly weather data
of Bahrain for the years from 1998 to 2010 is used as
Figure 3: Shape and dimensions of experimental room the case study
the weather file required by the simulation program
e-Quest. The weather file contains hourly data for dry
bulb temperature, wet bulb temperature, wind velocity,
cloudiness, direct radiation and diffuse radiation. The
values of physical parameters are to be used as basecase values shown in table 1.
Characteristics
Description of the case study
Plan View
Square
Number of Floors
1floor
Floor to Floor Height
3m
Floor Area
9 m2
Total Area of Opaque Walls
32.6 m2
Total Area of Glazing
Total Area of doors
The concept of green roof normally deals with the
natural grass and all natural vegetation, but in Bahrain
the natural grass will not be useful over the existing
roofs. The nature of using precast concrete roof type
(which has been used for the residential building) will
not allow use the natural vegetation. In addition to
that, the natural grass needed for the irrigation; will
lead to water leakage problem. That is why the research
will use artificial grass or artificial roof garden instead
of the natural grass.
The artificial grass will be with the following
specification (Neda,2009) and (www.diytrade, 2012)
over the existing concert roof:
1.2 m2
1- Artificial grass model Number: AJ-QDS 36-4
2.2 m2
2- Artificial grass conductivity = 0.242833913 Btu/h.
ft-F.
Interior Temperature, Tj
24 ( ̊ C)
Occupancy density
25 (m2/person)
Table 1: Characteristics and description for the case study.
In order to investigate the effect of artificial grass
on energy consumption, the modeled simulated
using e-Quest 3.64 energy simulation program. The
simulation was performed using weather data file for
the years from 1998 to 2010 for Al-Hidd in Al-Muharaq
Bahrain (TMY2). From the web site Weather Analytics
3- ARTIFICIAL GRASS:
3- Artificial grass thickness = 0.12 ft
4- Artificial grass density = 60.0 lb/ft cubic
5- Artificial grass specific heat = 40613000 Btu/lb-F.
4- ANALYZING RESULTS:
After input the previous data using the e-Quest
program, many new results appear. Actually the
program will run for two cases; the first case will be for
existing concrete roof and the water proof which used
in residential buildings, while the second case will be
for existing concrete roof with water proof and adding
the artificial grass or artificial turf. Figure 4 is shown the
monthly energy consumption for the existing concrete
roof by using e-Quist program.
Figure 5 is shown the monthly energy consumption for
the existing concrete roof and artificial grass by using
e-Quist program.
Figure 4: Monthly energy consumption for the existing concrete roof by using e-Quist program.
Inc. “Precision, On-site Weather Data for Energy Use
Profiling, Modeling and Management” (Inc, 2012)
(http://www.wxaglobal.com/GetWeatherData.html).
The weather file used for the e-Quest consists of a
group of parameters as describe in Table 2
Table 2: weather data file descriptions (Inc, 2012)
32
Name
Description
cDateLT
Date and hour string in Local Time [YYYY-MM-DD-HH].
The year(YYYY)
Is set to “1001” for easier plotting.
Ta_C
Air temperature [Celsius]
Td_C
Dew point temperature [Celsius]
Ta_F
Air temperature [Fahrenheit]
Td_F
Dew point temperature [Fahrenheit]
Rh_Pct
Relative humidity [Percent]
Pa_Mb
Surface air pressure [Millibars]
ExtGlobHorz_WpSqM
Extra-terrestrial solar radiation [Watt hours per square meter]
ExtDirNorm_WpSqM
Extra-terrestrial direct normal solar radiation [Watt hours per square meter]
GlobHorz_WpSqM
Global horizontal solar radiation [Watt hours per square meter]
DirNorm_WpSqM
Direct normal solar radiation [Watt hours per square meter]
DifHorz_WpSqM
Diffuse horizontal solar radiation [Watt hours per square meter]
WindDir_DEG
Direction whence wind is blowing [Degrees]
WindSpd_MpS
Wind speed [Meters per second]
WindSpd_KTS
Wind speed [Knots]
LiqEquivPcp_MM
Liquid-equivalent precip [Millimeters]
LiqEquivPcp_IN
Liquid-equivalent precip [Inches]
ISSUE 58 June 2014
Figure 5: Monthly energy consumption for the existing concrete roof and artificial grass by using e-Quist program.
ISSUE 58 June 2014
33
Figure 6 is showing the total annual electric
Consumption for the existing concrete roof and with
the artificial grass by using e-Quist program. To analyze
the results the table 3 showing monthly and annual
energy consumption for the two cases.
The table 4 is showing the differences between the
existing concrete roof and the existing concrete roof
with the artificial grass. While the figure8 is showing
these differences because of the added layer (artificial
grass) .
Table 4: The differences between the existing concrete roof and the existing concrete roof with the artificial grass.
Figure 6: Total annual electric Consumption for the existing concrete roof and with the artificial grass (artificial turf) by using
e-Quist program.
Concrete roof
With Artificial grass
2984
2916
Annual energy
Electric Consumption (KWh)
800
Figure7: differences in energy consumption kW.h caused by the artificial grass.
600
400
3000
200
0
Jan
Jan
189.7
184.5
Run 1.
Run 2.
Run 3.
Run 4.
Run 5.
Feb
Feb
178.4
172.6
Mar
Mar
306.0
298.5
Apr
Apr
373.9
364.6
May
May
502.9
490.9
Jun
Jun
626.1
613.1
jul
Jul
666.6
652.6
Aug
Aug
673.2
659.8
Sep
Sep
579.0
567.7
Oct
Nov
Oct
484.1
474.0
Nov
343.3
336.3
Dec
238.7
233.4
Concrete roof
2950
Dec
Total
5,161.9
5,047.9
2900
With Nonnatural grass
2850
Total energy
1. saad - Baseline Design (10/31/12 @ 19:33
2. saad - 12 (10/31/12 @ 19:33
5- RESEARCH FINDINGS:
Feb
Mar.
Apr.
May
Jun.
Jul.
Aug.
Sep.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Ann.
Concrete roof
6.9
11.6
117.8
195.9
316.5
444.6
483.8
485.1
401.1
299.5
165.3
55.9
2984
Plus Artificial grass
5.6
9.3
114.2
190.3
308.4
435.4
473.7
475.5
393.4
293.2
162.1
54.5
2916
In all months and the annual energy consumption which
used for the air-conditioning there are reductions in the
energy consumption because of using the new layer of
Artificial grass will be one of the new strategies to
increase the durability of existing concrete roof if it will
be used instead of the natural roof garden.
According to this study and by using the Artificial grass
over an existing concrete roof which used for residential
buildings in Bahrain, the following conclusion can be
conceders:
artificial grass (artificial turf). The graph in figure 7 is
showing the differences between these cases.
Figure 7: Monthly energy consumption by (kW.h) for the existing concrete roof and the existing concrete roof with the
artificial grass.
2- The annual energy use for the study model by using
the concrete roof with the water proof (as used in
Bahrain) is (2984 kWh), while the annual energy
use for the study model by using the concrete roof
with the water proof and Artificial grass is (2916
kWh). As shown in table5.
3- The maximum reducing for energy consumption was
in July. It was (10.1 kWh) used for air-conditioning
which act (2.1 %) from the energy consumption in
the same month. As shown in table 5.
4- The minimum reducing for energy consumption was
in January. It was (1.3 kWh) used for air-conditioning
which act (18.8 %) from the energy consumption in
the same month.
5- The energy consumption which used for the
equipment and for the lighting will be the same.
The research try to discuss new concept by find a new
solution to reduce the annual energy used for air
conditioning inside the residential buildings in Bahrain
by using non –natural grass.
Table 3: Monthly and annual energy consumption by (kW.h) for the existing concrete roof and the existing concrete roof with
the artificial grass.
Jan
1- Using the Artificial grass will reduce (2.3%) from
the total energy which used for air-conditioning the
space. As shown in table 5.
Table 5: Reducing energy consumption (kWh) and reducing percentage for each month and annually by using the artificial grass.
400
Concrete roof
200
With artificial grass
0
Jan
34
ISSUE 58 June 2014
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
Jun.
Jul.
Aug.
Sep.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Annual
Reducing energy kWh
1.3
2.3
3.6
5.6
8.1
9.2
10.1
9.6
7.7
6.3
3.2
1.4
68
Reducing percentage
18.8%
19.8%
3.1%
2.9%
2.6%
2.1%
2.1%
2%
2%
2.1%
2%
2.5%
2.3%
Dec
ISSUE 58 June 2014
35
DR. AKBAR JAFFARI
PhD (LSE), FMS, FCMI
Delivered at University of Cambridge
In Quest of Value for Productivity
By 1998, and after 20 years of field experience, I had
accumulated ample empirical evidence that, on average,
70% of the firms’ total inputs consists of non-value-added
activities. It is inherently strenuous to substantiate this fact,
because of two reasons: the first is having no or limited
channel to postulate it in the Middle East, (where I live
and work); the second is that it is inconceivable to expect
a Director to admit that three quarters of what he/she does
is futile and goes to waste. For these reasons, I had to veil
for a long time my findings, until Year 2004, when I received
an article titled “Vast Untapped Resources”, by Tor Dahl, a
leading Norwegian-American Productivity Practitioner. In his
article, he asserts that 72% of the firms’ total activities is
a waste, 20% is necessary but requires improvement; it is
only 8% that we perform with a good degree of precision.
Now you can guess what euphoric feeling went through my
chest!!
Let me shed light on the 72% non-value added issue and
why it is so high and why it has been tolerated for so long.
In another article, Tor Dahl confirms that 80% of the firms
focus on ‘Efficiency’, in isolation of ‘Effectiveness’; namely
that the firms believe that what they strive to improve on
is necessary, in the first place; this is an appalling mistake!
We must first and foremost test every method and process
for its effectiveness, before attempting to improve on them.
Improving
on non-value added methods and processes is actually,
producing wastes in better ways (more efficiently). To
produce any business waste is bad, but to go a long way
36
ISSUE 58 June 2014
to better produce business waste more efficiently, is a sin!!
Therefore, to correct anything, is to disbelieve your belief and
confirm the necessity of activities. It is only then that you
have the legitimate right to improve on them.
Having acquired the legitimacy to improve, there can be no
greater legitimate right than to improve on the performance
and productivity of the human resource; for this resource is
the key determining factor to improve total productivity; in
another way, where there is a waste, by default, there is a
waste of a human resource, as a major part. Let me explain
this further. Some years ago a friend sent me an article he
had published in an Arabic Science Journal. In that article
he referred to a report published by UNIDO (United Nations
Industrial Development Organization), noting the fact that
in any organization the total performance depends on the
performances of: the human resource by 64%, infrastructure
by 20% and the capital by 16%. This implies that the success
of any organization is largely due to the people’s performance.
These facts reinforce our inherent belief that the human
resource is the most important factor in the organization.
Therefore, by implication, the organization’s productivity
cannot improve, unless and until the human resource
performance is improved. Yet, the human resource cannot
function empty handed. Adam Smith pinned this fact in year
1776, in his famous book ‘The Wealth of Nations’,about the
workers engaged in useful work, that their productivity and
technology can never reach a state greater than the amount
of resources available to them; implicitly, people can only
produce less than the amount of the resources they utilize,
that is to say that productivity never reaches 100%. Thus, our
prime duty is to reduce waste in our quest for performance
excellence. To reduce waste is simply to increase the output.
This approach was eloquently advocated, by Adam Smith
(The Wealth of Nations), nearly two and half centuries ago,
through his ‘Division of Labour’ theory. He explained it in
his famous ‘Pin-making’ case, where one man could only
produce one pin a day; but when the pin-making process
was divided into ten separate processes, performed by ten
men, collectively, they produced 480,000 pins in one day,
that is 48,000 pins produced by one man in one day. This
is 48,000 times the original work method, where one man
could only make one pin in a day. The division of labour
was explored by Adam Smith as part of his Political Economy
which was then a branch of philosophy. In this context, and
by definition, productivity is a byproduct of the philosophy
of work, which we now call ‘Management of Work’. In both
cases, conceptualizing human output starts as a philosophy
that originates only in the human mind; in this case in the
mind of the Directors. Therefore, if productivity is low, it is so
because the philosophical concept of productivity is low in
the mind of the person-in-charge (The Director).
Adam Smith repeatedly emphasized the need to free the
market place, and removing the barriers between the trading
boundaries, what we now call free market economy and
globalization, to increase the output and benefits to all. In
accepting that the market and trading are only two zones
of the workplace, the concept is equally applicable to the
work place within the firms. For a better performance of the
economy, it is not enough to free the market, we must also free
the workplace and avoid management’s intervention, as much
as Adam Smith asked for avoiding government intervention.
In both cases, and unless we reduce interventions, it is the
monster of protection that will be there to repel anything
useful to society’s productivity and prosperity.
It is a widely mistaken assumption that management has
superior wisdom and knowledge than the individuals
themselves in the workplace. Management, like government,
needs to see its role as enforcer of what the collective
propensities wish to practice in order to reach a higher
objective, in a most orderly and efficient manner. Management
is equally required to separate productivity from profitability;
though in a good deal of performance behavior, good
productivity can lead to profitability, there is ample evidence
to prove that this is not a constant correlation. Four years
ago, I conducted an extensive productivity measurement of
the manufacturing SMEs in Bahrain. Total productivity was
measured at 54.1%. It, implicitly, implies that nearly half of
the resources were not utilized (or utilized - which way you
want to look at it). This level of productivity did not surprise
the survey team. What surprised every one, was that with
nearly half of the resources untapped, 90.9% of the SMEs
were satisfactorily profitable, and 93.9% of the owners were
contentedly satisfied with their capital investment. A strong
message we can have from this contrasting feature of the
Productivity-Performance relationship is that profitability
can be influenced by the market condition, in isolation of
productivity and performance, as long as we have isolated
productivity measurement from monetary units infiltration of
profitability.
Today, I believe, that we are, living vastly more productive,
enjoying a safer and more affluent life, than at any time in
history. However, we must remain vigilant and amusingly
propulsive to improve the human race’s performance, and
avoid the mistake, as Schumacher, the author of the book
‘Small is Beautiful’ utterly disqualifies, that we are done with
productivity. Yes, we have come very long way, but we still
have a longer way in front of us. I pray God we all live long
enough to live and enjoy more interesting times.
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