About GBV
Mission: To assemble the global alliances that have proven capabilities and experiences to launch world-class community developments that fulfill the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 master plan.
Global Business Ventures is bringing together a global alliance of world-class companies that will follow an effective strategic roadmap in developing each project in the KSA Vision 2030 plan. This roadmap includes five key phases:
- Land Identification and Site Control
- Site and Project Analysis (Feasibility, Highest & Best Use, Market Analysis)
- Master Site Planning (Development, Construction, Engineering, Financing)
- Innovative and High Technology (Product Sourcing)
- Implementation
News & Information
KSA Vision 2030
Saudi Vision 2030 is a plan to reduce Saudi Arabia’s dependence upon oil, diversify its economy, and develop public service sectors such as health, education, infrastructure, recreation and tourism. GBV supports this initiative by launching world-class community developments in the Kingdom that include all the elements of Next Gen Housing, including:
GBV seeks to include an eco-friendly, self-contained horticulture facility in the community to grow locally produced food. This indoor facility incorporates artificial light and aeroponic technology in a controlled environment in place of fresh air, soil and pesticides to grow and provide sustainable food sources. This facility shall require only a fraction of the water used by a conventional outdoor farm to produce an exponentially higher yield per acre. This shall provide a new industrialization opportunity as well as a contribution to food security within the community.
New construction strategies and techniques will add to the efficiency and quality of the GBV projects. Scale and ambition add challenges to building world-class communities like these in locations that don’t regularly accommodate projects this large. Prefabrication technology and processes can efficiently accommodate the volume, quality and timeline expectations inherent in a project of this scale. This will help offset the lack of skilled labor and increase the opportunity for Saudi jobs.
Elements that reduce the scale of buildings and provide wind screening and shade encourage spatial hierarchy and a variety of outdoor experiences for pedestrians. Plant selections will be considered based on low maintenance and function (shade, windbreak, ornamental, ground cover, accent, structural aesthetics) to achieve a cohesive design responsive to local climates.
Water recycling has proven to be effective and successful in creating a new and reliable water supply without compromising public health. Nonpotable reuse is a widely accepted practice that will continue to grow. However, in many parts of the world, the uses of recycled water are expanding in order to accommodate the needs of the environment and growing water supply demands. Advances in wastewater treatment technology and health studies of indirect potable reuse have led many to predict that planned indirect potable reuse will soon become more common. Recycling waste and gray water requires far less energy than treating salt water using a desalination system. As water energy demands and environmental needs grow, water recycling will play a greater role in our overall water supply. By working together to overcome obstacles, water recycling, along with water conservation and efficiency, can help us to sustainably manage our vital water resources.
Long-term planning requires focusing on sustainable energy. We know we will never run out of solar energy. It is a natural source of power that’s available to generate electricity. Once concentrated solar power has been installed and working at maximum efficiency, there is little maintenance required each year to ensure they remain in working order. They are silent, as well, with absolutely no noise made from photovoltaic panels as they convert sunlight into usable electricity. Continual advancements in solar panel technology increase the efficiency and lower the cost of production, thus making it even more cost-effective. Perhaps best of all, solar electricity power plants produce zero emissions, supporting clean air.
This horticultural facility will minimize the direct cost of transport as well as indirect costs such as truck exhaust emissions and food grown for transport resiliency rather than for taste or nutrition. GBV seeks to include a farm-to-fork horticulture facility as part of the community. The solar-powered facility will use water recycled from the GBV community. Carbon dioxide captured from building coatings will help maintain community air quality while providing a necessary resource for growing fruits and vegetables. This provides a new industrialization opportunity as well as a contribution to food security.
Connected communities function seamlessly at the home, building and community level, offering residents intuitive access to live graciously, work hard and play joyfully. Integrated security systems provide motion and sound-activated video. An optional home alarm security interface enables first responders to see inside a home when the security system is triggered by intrusion, panic or fire alerts. A distributed fiber optic backbone coupled with Wi-Fi provides continuous connection from the home out into the public. Smart features self-report on repair requirements and encourage resident interaction with the civic and religious community.
Healthy communities begin with human centered design; design that reflects our best understanding of daily activity and nutrition required to live a healthy, fulfilling life (in an economically viable, sustainable community). A walkable community encourages a healthy body by providing paths to gathering points such as mosques, schools, the village center, a shaded gazebo to play backgammon and carom, or sports fields for football and cricket. Nutritious fruits and vegetables grown at the horticultural center using recycled water for irrigation and captured carbon dioxide provide tasty food that requires minimal transport from the farm to the table. The continuous loop approach to community development recognizes that locally grown food enables the community to use resources more efficiently (e.g. recycled water, captured carbon dioxide) and grow foodstuffs that contribute to the national good of food security.
Clean air community begins with clean energy. A focus on renewable solar energy and storage powers vehicles, water generation and treatment, and community furnishings such as bus stops and street lights. Carbon capture technology responds to air-quality monitoring to remove carbon dioxide from the air and store it for use in our greenhouses, where carbon dioxide can improve crop yields by as much as 20 percent.
Resilient communities enhance residents’ sense of security because critical infrastructure such as electricity, water and communications are constructed using a distributed, self-healing microgrid that minimizes impact from disruptions. Resiliency built into the public infrastructure fosters adaptability to technological change and improvement. Recycled waste streams (water, trash and sewer) provide potential low-cost inputs for subsequent uses such as crop and landscape irrigation and waste-to-energy.
Our Smart Home solutions are designed to complement any home décor or architecture—working behind the scenes and blending seamlessly into any environment. Best-in-class technology makes homes and businesses more energy-efficient, comfortable, convenient and secure with personalized features and experiences that transform a dream home into a dream way of living. Homeowners can control humidity and temperature levels, automate shades to lower during the hottest hours of the day, and program the entire house for maximum energy efficiency. Intelligent security gives homeowners peace of mind. They can lock every door and arm the alarm with a single touch, check on the kids from downstairs or downtown, view video feeds from security cameras, and receive alerts of all kinds.
Human-Centered Design
Global Business Ventures and Cover Arabia intend to fulfill Saudi Arabia’s 2030 Housing Development Plan through a community focused, human centered design approach. Human centered design is not a design style but a process for designing and developing building products and communities that is grounded in solutions that enable all users to function at their highest capacity. Human centered design and green design are comfortably two sides of the same coin—green design focusing on environmental sustainability, universal design and social sustainability.
Innovative Design
Innovations in approaches to environments, communities and living spaces continue to evolve at a rapid pace. Designing new cities from the ground up allows the integration of new technologies, materials and systemic approaches that improve living conditions and lifestyles.
When you look at communities as interlocked systems, you find opportunities to improve living spaces, public spaces and the flow of information, energy, food and other important communal functions. Global Business Ventures is engaging the best building and landscape architects to ensure optimal livability and efficiency.
Sustainability
Long-term planning requires focusing on sustainable energy, water and food sources, among other things. Global Business Ventures projects are designed for the future, using the latest technologies and strategies to reduce operational costs and impacts.
It is a commitment to reduce negative impacts on the environment and health of residents, but it is also about managing maintenance and sourcing costs. The long-term return on investment from building cities with sustainability in mind is holistic: economic, ecological, health and well-being, and quality of life.
Human-centered design provides clean and renewable energy.
Human-centered design and clean technologies provide clean air.
Human-centered design provides clean and self-sufficient water.
The GBV Principals
These are the Saudi and United States principals of Global Business Ventures who are organizing the Global Alliances to provide new and innovative housing projects to meet the Vision 2030 challenge.
Principal: Global Business Ventures
Principal: Global Business Ventures
Principal: Global Business Ventures
Principal: Global Business Ventures
Principal: Global Business Ventures
Principal: Global Business Ventures
Principal: Global Business Ventures
The Global Alliances
The Global alliances are entities that are supporting the efforts of the KSA Housing initiatives with Global Business Ventures. The alliances are existing members of GBV, government agencies supporting GBV, partners of GBV, and other industry leaders in consulting, architecture, construction, engineering, finance and marketing.
As a leading boutique law firm in the development of international housing, renewable energy and infrastructure projects, RKJ’s attorneys have developed extensive international experience and have worked on complex projects involving national governmental housing initiatives, mid-scale private housing developments, utility-scale energy and renewable energy projects, and infrastructure projects. In addition to advising clients as to projects and agreements in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, RKJ has worked extensively throughout the Middle East, North Africa (MENA) region.
GDI’s track record incorporates years of experience and more than $50 billion USD of developments with industry best practices and technology. President and CEO Michael Chihoski previously served as Chief Operating Officer for Emaar the Economic City (EEC), a publicly listed Saudi company leading the development of King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC).
Blue Sky Capital is an investment and financial advisory firm headquartered in Washington, D.C., with international offices in Athens, Greece, and London, United Kingdom.
The law firm of Mohamed Al-Sharif in association with Johnson & Pump is a full-service international law firm based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, comprised of 15 attorneys and another 15 governmental relations representatives, paralegals and support staff .
Summa was established to undertake all kinds of turn-key construction projects. These projects consist of public housing, hotels, hospitals, health care and resort complexes. Summa is in the Fortune 500 and Turkish Times 1000. For 14 years in a row, ENR has named Summa one of the top 250 international construction companies in the world. With 2,500 employees on four continents, the company is well positioned to provide sophisticated and innovative construction projects.
As a world leader in Real Estate Services, CBRE works to turn real estate into real advantage. CBRE has more that 75,000 professionals in 110 countries providing exceptional business opportunities and outcomes for clients. CBRE has managed to create a total transaction value of $322.3 billion USD and is currently in its sixth consecutive year of leading the market in global commissioned property sales investment sales activity.
Parthenon-EY is the largest advisor to the education sector globally. The company works with government, public and private sector education providers and operators as well as capital providers. The firm has completed more than 1,500 projects in 95 countries. Parthenon-EV has a continuing relationship with KSA, most notably with KAUST.
WSP is a global multi-disciplinary professional services firm of more than 43,000 professionals with the capability of designing and building entire cities including transportation, infrastructure, buildings, environment, power generation, mining and oil and gas. WSP is the engineer and project manager for projects such as the Palm Jumeirah and the Bluewaters Island development in Dubai.
SWA is a design leader in landscape architecture, planning and urban design. Professionally focused and employee owned, its foremost passion is to create exceptional places for its clients.
Triple Five Worldwide is a multinational, diversified conglomerate, development and finance corporation with offices in U.S., Canada and global cities. The Triple Five Worldwide Group of Companies has developed, owned and operated the 1st, 2nd and 3rd largest tourism and entertainment companies of its kind, as well as an extensive portfolio of diverse and independent divisions that currently employ more than 5,000 professionals, and has created more than 50,000 jobs.
From their beginning in 1952, CCC has become the largest engineering and construction company in the Middle East. Today CCC embraces the ambitions and welfare of more than 110,000 employees, comprised of more than 80 nationalities, and annual sales of more than $4 billion USD.
The PCL family of companies is a group of independent general contraction construction companies. The organization has more than 4,400 employees across the United States, Canada and Australia. The organization is active in the commercial, institutional, multi-family residential, renewable energy, heavy industrial, historic restoration and civil construction sectors.