ZEMCH 2019 International Conference Proceedings April.2020 | Page 28
was performed in the city of Al Ain, UAE by a multidisciplinary team from the UAE University [11].
The study identified energy upgrade opportunities and proposed national priority‐based retrofit
solutions to be considered for the existing UAE residential buildings. One of the prominent results of
the study was the intrinsic relationship between workmanship, construction quality and the thermal
behavior of the building’s envelope. However, here is still a lack of relevant studies addressing
construction quality in the UAE. Addressing the issue of construction quality by introducing
pioneering and recognized quality testing procedures to the construction site remains to be thoroughly
developed.
2.2 Case Studies
The case studies include different construction sites of single‐family residential buildings in the
city of Al‐Ain located in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (UAE). Two main types of residential buildings in
Al Ain dominate the landscape. The first one is in the form of detached private villas mostly for
nationals whereas the private market is dominated by housing developments of relatively similar
layouts. This research investigates both housing typologies for construction defects in different sites
within the city (Figure 1). The construction method of the residential units or villas is concrete
blockwork infill with reinforced concrete post and beam structural system. The exterior envelope of the
residential units adhere to Estidama Building Regulation Code, where U‐value of the exterior walls and
roof are 0.29 and 0.14 W/m2K respectively. Separate thermal thermography investigations were
carried out in four construction sites at different stages of construction process. They are summarized
in Table 1.
Table 1: Construction site information
Construction Site
General Information
Site 1
Single family house/ two levels/ blockwork stage
Site 2
Single family house/ Three levels/ finishing stage
Site 3
Single family house/ two levels/ blockwork stage
Site 4
Single family house/ residential compound/ complete for mock up unit
2
3
1
4
Figure 1. Location of the under construction residential units in Al Ain
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