ALEC Engineering and Contracting LLC (ALEC), part of the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), has unveiled its first-ever Sustainability &Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report, detailing its ESG and decarbonisation strategy, plans and quantifying the impact of its current initiatives, highlighting the Group’s commitment to the three pillars of environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and business governance.
ALEC’s decarbonisation strategy involves further investment into offsite and modular volumetric construction technology and leveraging digital construction to achieve higher productivity, improve safety and quality, reduce material consumption, and deliver quality projects in shorter timelines, thereby reducing overall emissions. Its decarbonisation plans also include reduction in the carbon footprint of its onsite operations by implementing onsite solar energy generation and use, electrifying site equipment and leveraging its supply chain partnerships to test low-carbon alternatives as part of its innovation strategy, as per the report.
“At ALEC, we’re aligning our decarbonisation plans with the UAE’s strategy to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The construction industry plays a pivotal role in shaping our world, and with that influence comes a profound duty to protect and preserve our environment. Today, we can make a significant difference in the construction sector and set an example for others to follow. We invite our industry peers to join hands with us to build a better world – one that is environmentally responsible, economically prosperous, and socially equitable,” said Kez Taylor, Director – ALEC Board.
“We have always held the belief that our success as an organisation is not measured by our financial performance alone. Rather, with our enviable position as a leader in the regional construction industry, we have embraced environmental stewardship as our responsibility,” said Barry Lewis, CEO at ALEC. “We have a robust roadmap for our journey, marked by specific milestones and metrics which will guide us in successfully achieving this vision. Our commitment to this journey is a testament to the core values which underpin our daily actions.”
ESG of Growing Significance in the GCC
This first-ever report from ALEC comes at a time when the ESG movement is gaining momentum in the region. Earlier this year, the GCC Exchanges Committee published a unified set of ESG Disclosure Metrics, comprising categories across Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, energy usage, water usage, gender pay, employee turnover, gender diversity, data privacy, ethics and more. Directed at listed companies, these metrics are voluntary and serve as a guideline for companies wishing to embark on their ESG disclosure journey.
“It is encouraging to see this development which provides a world-class framework against which organisations can assess and rethink their operations. While it is a prescription for exchange-listed companies, at ALEC, we always strive to hold ourselves to the highest benchmarks — even if these are not currently mandated by regulations for all corporations. Our ESG report stands as a testament to our clients, partners and employees that our words and ambitions are backed by demonstrable action,” said Lewis.
The report covers the operations of ALEC and some of its subsidiaries in the UAE between 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022. The company has used several international frameworks and reporting guidelines as a guide for its sustainability reporting. These include the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, Dubai Financial Market’s ESG reporting guidelines, United Nations Global Compact’s 10 principles, United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) – Engineering & Construction Services (IF-EN) metrics. The report highlights that the company is developing its carbon emission inventory to create a robust baseline for target setting and will be increasing its reporting scope to include its remaining subsidiaries as well as investments made in 2022.
Highlights of the report under the three categories are as follows:
Environmental
ALEC’s environmental management system conforms to the ISO 14001:2015 standard. In line with the UAE’s Energy Strategy, the company is increasing the share of renewable energy used to power its operations. While in 2022, around 158,600 kWh of energy was produced from the 0.5 MWP on-site solar PV plant at the ALEC yard in Dubai Industrial City, the company plans on increasing the total installed solar capacity for its owned properties to 1.45 MWp by early 2024. The company is also increasingly leveraging electric/hybrid solutions to power equipment at its construction sites. This includes a state-of-the-art solar-diesel hybrid generator being utilised at one of its main construction sites.
As it seeks to further decarbonise the construction industry, ALEC offers prefabricated modular units through its subsidiary LINQ Modular, which is based in Dubai Industrial City. This enables significant reductions in material waste, as well as impressively high levels of predictability and quality. In a similar vein, ALEMCO, the Group’s MEP arm, currently services15% of its MEPD system installations through modular and prefabricated solutions and aims to increase this to 20-25% by 2025, signalling the company’s unwavering dedication to sustainable construction practices.
The report also highlights ALEC’s Green Building experience. Across the portfolio, a total of seven projects earned the distinguished LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, including the platinum-rated Saudi Arabia and UAE Pavilions atExpo 2020 Dubai.
In Abu Dhabi, three ALEC projects earning the esteemed 2 Pearl Estidama rating, along with the achievement of a 3- star Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) certification in Qatar.Several of ALEC’s ongoing projects are aiming for ambitious Green Building certifications.
Social
ALEC implements the ISO45001:2018 standard, which enables it to provide a safe and healthy workplace by preventing work-related injury and ill health, as well as proactively improving its OH&S performance. This system is enforced by the company’s Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) managers, 100% of whom are National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) certified.
Over the course of 2022, around 43,337 employees and directly supervised contractors underwent the worker welfare induction training, while 8,700 of its employees were upskilled at the company’s trade skills training facilities. A further 484 employees were engaged in the company’s innovation incubator programme, with 73 being presented with rewards for their innovative ideas.
“We take pride in the diversity of our workforce which is composed of professionals from over 49 nationalities. Moreover, 10% of our senior managers are female, as is 20% of our board. This positive workplace environment and support structure at ALEC is further evidenced in the fact that last year, 100% of employees who took parental leave returned to our workforce,” said Lewis.
Governance
ALEC has worked to ensure conformity with ISO9001:2015 — the most widely used quality management standard in the world.In addition, the company has also achieved the BSI Kitemark ISO 19650 certification for information management using Building Information Modelling (BIM).
The company has also defined and strictly enforces a Code of Conduct which sets out the behaviours and norms that employees and business partners are obligated to follow in their day-to-day activities, in line with ALEC’s values of Integrity, Reliability, Courage, Valuing its People and Innovation. The Code empowers employees and subcontractors to do the right thing, speak up and make suggestions for continual improvement.
The Group has also become a member of the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, and has publicly committed to implementing the 10 principles of the UN Global Compact in the areas of human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption, and reporting its progress on the same annually. ALEC has also joined the Emirates Green Building Council, the industry forum focussed on enhancing sustainability in the built environment in the region.