Desert sand and date seeds: that is the stuff that buildings in the UAE could soon be made of.
And it is not far off in the future. Dubai-based start-up ARDH Collective is already transforming these unused resources into construction materials amid a push by developers in the UAE to reduce their environmental impact and create more eco-friendly living spaces.
This shift has led to an increase in companies offering environmentally-friendly building materials, which are becoming increasingly accessible and affordable.
ARDH Collective, which has been in production since 2021, offers signature products such as DuneCrete, a low-carbon concrete alternative made from desert sand, and DateForm, a solid surface material made from discarded date seeds.
They originated from separate university projects inspired by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, says Alhaan Ahmed, the company’s co-founder and chief executive. Mr Ahmed studied at Imperial College London, the Royal College of Art and the Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation.
He co-founded the company with his sister Alyina Ahmed, who is its chief operating officer, and Maximo Tettamanzi, its architectural director.
“[When researching for DateForm], we were tasked with looking at how we can consume and produce within the UAE and Dubai specifically more sustainably,” Mr Ahmed says.
“We had to figure out what was produced and consumed over large scale to find that opportunity … We found that date farming was quite big, and that some of the largest date farms in the world are over here.”
The UAE is the seventh biggest date producing country in the world, with 6 per cent of the world's total date production, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Date palm accounts for 15 per cent of the total area of crop cultivation in the UAE, with Al Ain and Liwa – both in Abu Dhabi – accounting for the biggest portion of national date production.
The massive size and scale of the industry led ARDH Collective's founders to further investigate the process and they found that one of the largest by-products was date seeds. Although date seeds are small, they are produced in large quantities daily, with small farms or factories generating between two to five tonnes of seeds, Mr Ahmed says.
The typical process involves harvesting dates from trees and using machinery to extract the fruit from the seeds. The seeds were considered waste and were mostly discarded and sent to landfills.
“We did a variety of different testing and lots of research and development, and initially we [thought] we could use this to replace single-use plastic, and actually created a material that worked,” Mr Ahmed says.
“[However], we found that not many people would be willing [to pay] that slight premium for something sustainable at that time (2019-2020), so we shifted and said: Why don't we look at architecture, interiors in the construction industry?”
ARDH Collective’s other product, DuneCrete, offers an alternative to traditional concrete, which has a large environmental cost. The concrete mix is “just as strong” as traditional concrete and the company has managed to use 50 per cent less cement, Mr Ahmed says.
“We have a material that is about 50 per cent less in terms of its embodied carbon when you compare it to traditional concrete.”
Another key component of concrete is sand, and ARDH Collective uses local desert sand instead of riverbed sand imported from other countries.
“There’s sand everywhere in the Middle East, but it’s quite funny because we are importing sand from East Asia and other parts of the world where the sand is extracted, mined and harvested from beaches and rivers,” Mr Ahmed says. “We have desert sand at our doorstep over here.”
Up to 50 billion tonnes of sand and gravel are used each year across industries, including for concrete, road asphalt, glass production, oil and gas extraction, and land reclamation projects, making it the second most used resource worldwide, after water, the United Nations Environment Programme said in a 2022 report. The amount of sand and gravel used is enough to build a wall 27 metre wide and 27 metres high around the planet.
Extracting sand from rivers and coastal ecosystems can cause erosion, damage water supplies, harm biodiversity, and reduce protection against storms. This threatens livelihoods by affecting water, food, fisheries and tourism, the UN body said.
“To achieve sustainable development, we need to drastically change the way we produce, build and consume products, infrastructures and services,” it urged.
ARDH Collective's revenue is currently in “millions of dirhams”, Mr Ahmed says. The company aims to scale that to “tens of millions” by expanding sustainable production, increasing additive manufacturing capacity and growing its presence in the Mena region.
In addition to providing materials to small-scale developers in the UAE, the company also offers personalised products for a variety of clients. ARDH Collective made eco-friendly pins for the UAE's Year of Sustainability initiative last year, as well as a signature incense holder for fragrance brand Appellation.
ARDH Collective partnered with Samsung and Frame to produce a phone case made from recycled date seeds, which was featured in Samsung's exclusive Drip collection.
Some of the start-up's customers like the company’s materials but have different requirements. In these instances, it works closely with them to understand their needs, helping with the design process and handling the production and manufacturing of custom products, Mr Ahmed says.
Some clients also provide detailed specifications for the products or simply ask for the raw materials to be used in their own manufacturing facilities, he adds.
The company received two early grants of $3,000 and $4,000 during university competitions, which funded the initial R&D for DuneCrete and DateForm. “For now, we're doing well enough to continue funding ourselves, and it gives us the ability to really be lean and agile in our operations,” Mr Ahmed says.
Looking forwards, ARDH Collective is keen on partnering with potential investors and clients who are focused on the long-term.
“There's environmental sustainability, but there's also social sustainability. How do we create something that people will want to appreciate for a long time? How do we build relationships that are long term? And then finally, how do we create economic sustainability?” he says. “So, we look for individuals who have a similar way of thinking.”
The global market for sustainable construction materials was worth $381.24 billion in 2023. It is projected to grow to $429.77 billion this year and reach about $1.26 trillion by 2033, according to Precedence Research.
ARDH Collective receives many inquiries from firms interested in building eco-friendly properties and achieving LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, Mr Ahmed says.
In the UAE, the Green Building and Sustainable Building standards were approved in 2010, and the application of these standards started in government buildings in early 2011. The move is expected to save Dh10 billion by 2030 and reduce around 30 per cent of carbon emissions.
“There are a lot of developers who are looking to differentiate themselves from everyone else. Everyone's developing wonderful, luxurious [and] convenient properties with lots of amenities, but now there's also lots of government initiatives and schemes that are promoting green buildings,” Mr Ahmed says.
Q&A with Alhaan Ahmed, co-founder and chief executive of ARDH Collective
What successful start-up do you wish you had started?
I think I'm doing that currently. There are a lot of start-ups and people in this space that I've followed quite closely, and I look up to, but I think sustainability in construction has been missing. Something that we want to do at our collective as we grow is give a platform to other innovators in university or in early stages and help them industrialise and commercialise their solutions with our clientele, industrial knowledge, and facilities and processes.
What new skills have you learnt in the process of launching your start-up?
Negotiating. If you focus solely on your own interests without considering the other party’s needs, you might not build lasting relationships or secure repeat business. Conversely, if you only prioritise the other party’s interests and neglect your own, your business might not be sustainable in the long run.
Storytelling is another important skill. This involves getting people to believe in your vision and getting them to also champion what you're doing.
If you could start all over again, what would you do differently?
I would try out more ideas quickly instead of taking a slower, more deliberate approach. Over the past few years, we have tried different strategies and made adjustments as we went along.
Who is your role model?
My role models would be my parents and the leaders of the UAE because they really built something that I enjoy, admire, and I also feel supported by.
Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
I still see myself in sustainable building materials, hopefully in a place where we have 10 wings of different products and materials combined.
