Big Buildings - Dirty Secrets

The CTBUH uses the term "vanity spires" to describe tops of buildings where a ton of extra height is added, even though that space isn't used for people.

The List: how big buildings are cleaned - How big buildings are cleaned – from the Burj Khalifa in Dubai to the Empire State Building in New York. This week, a specialist team ascended London’s Houses of Parliament to clean the clock faces of the Elizabeth Tower – home to the famous Big Ben bell. The hands on each of the clock’s four faces were frozen for the week-long task but its chimes still rang out and the workers on the 96m-tall tower wore ear defenders to protect their hearing. Kasia Delgado reveals how four other big buildings around the world are cleaned.

1. Burj Khalifa, Dubai

The 24,830 windows of the world’s tallest building are made from a million sq ft of glass. When the 830m tower was cleaned in 2012 a team of 36 people needed three months to wash them. They started from the top floor and worked down, standing on specially designed machines that emerged from cavities in the skyscraper and moved along rails skirting its curved towers. The project manager at Grako, the cleaning company that took on the task, said that coping with the height was “all about mindset”.

2. Empire State Building, New York

Window-washers at the 6,500-window Manhattan landmark have reported how, in winter, food and drink thrown out of windows of high-up floors often freezes on glass lower down – and that frozen coffee and yoghurt, for example, can be particularly difficult to scrub off. This is, of course, far from the only problem when cleaning a New York skyscraper. Richard Hart, head of the Empire State window-washing team in 1937, remarked casually that, “I’ll be working away, and a gust of wind will come screaming up from 34th Street and for a moment I’ll be doing a tap dance on nothing. Anyway, it keeps me interested.”

3. Petronas Towers, Malaysia

When the Petronas Towers were opened in Kuala Lumpur in 1996 there was a dispute over whether they were taller than the Sears building in Chicago (now called the Willis Tower) – the world’s tallest when it was completed in 1973. What is not in doubt is the cleanliness of the skyscrapers’ glass. The two towers are fitted with a total of 11 cranes that allow cleaners to move up and down between the 32,000 windows. It takes workers a month to clean the panes on each tower and, when they finish, they go back to the top and begin again.

4. Hearst Tower, New York

It took engineers three years to build a machine that would enable cleaners to wash Norman Foster’s 182m tall skyscraper, which opened in 2006. The windows, made up of concave diamond shapes, were impossible to access using ordinary means so a rectangular steel box the size of a small car was designed to move around the roof of the tower on an elevated steel track. The project’s construction manager described the car as “like a ride at Disneyland”.

The 10 Tallest Vanity Spires - click to enlarge.

The World's Tallest Skyscrapers Have A Dirty Little Secret - The Burj Khalifa in Dubai and the Bank of America tower in New York count among the worst offenders: Supertall skyscrapers aren't necessarily built to fit as many people inside as possible, sometimes they're just aiming to be, well, really tall. Large portions of these buildings are designed to increase height, but remain unoccupied. Wasteful!

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), a not for profit organization that tracks the world's skyscrapers, just released some data on that subject. Surprise! Some really tall buildings don't need to be so tall. The CTBUH uses the term "vanity spires" to describe tops of buildings where a ton of extra height is added, even though that space isn't used for people. By unused height, above are the 10 buildings with the most ridiculous spires (click to enlarge picture).

So the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the World at nearly 830 meters, has 244 meters of unoccupied space. To put that in context, as the CTBUH does, if that 244 meters were itself a building, it would be the 11th tallest in Europe. Pretty crazy, right? But it's also not new. Think about classic skyscrapers like the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building, which were similarly designed with big spires. You might notice that the skyscrapers with the largest vanity spires were all built fairly recently (the oldest is from 1999) but there are also just more supertall buildings being erected. It would take a little more math to say buildings like this are on the rise, so to speak.

It's also not clear how these spires change the buildings' environmental footprints, although we know at least one of them listed above, the Bank of America Tower in New York, has some pretty serious efficiency issues. One of the study's authors, CTBUH's Daniel Safarik, wrote in an email to PopularScience that "we did not explicitly look at how vanity height affects environmental footprint for this study, but that is clearly one of the most vital issues implied by the findings." Just having the title of "tallest" is a draw for a building, he says, it matters less what all that space is used for. So what to do? "If [a tallest building] criteria were based on 'highest occupied floor,' in theory, there would be less of an incentive to have the 'vanity height,'" Safarik writes.

Until that changes, more buildings may add vanity height just to top other structures. Or maybe we can keep things the way they are, and just have a skyscraper where you can't go above the lobby.

So the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world at nearly 830 meters, has 244 meters of unoccupied space. To put that in context, as the CTBUH does, if that 244 meters were itself a building, it would be the 11th tallest in Europe. Here, meanwhile, are those buildings broken down geographically. Click to enlarge.

Window Cleaning The World’s Tallest Building

Daring window washers clean world's tallest building.

Window-cleaning the world’s tallest building: Dubai, United Arab Emirates — It’s hard work cleaning the windows of the world’s tallest building, but somebody has to do it. The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is covered in 24,000 panes of glass. The workers who clean them start at the 160th floor and work their way down. That’s more than 2,700 feet. Before they start their work, they check and double-check their harnesses and ropes. They also measure wind speed because a gust of wind could be dangerous. It takes three months to clean every window, and then crews start all over again.

Meanwhile in China..

Climbing duo Vadim Makhorov and Vitaliy Raskalov scaled the 632 metre building without any ropes.

Shanghai Tower skywalkers climb second tallest building in world without safety equipment: Two Russian climbers filmed themselves defying gravity (and death) by climbing the world’s second tallest building without any ropes or climbing gear. Vadim Makhorov and Vitaliy Raskalov used head cameras to film themselves breaking into and climbing the still unfinished Shanghai Tower in China, as they scaled the 632m structure without any safety gear.

Their cameras show vertigo-inducing panoramas of Shanghai hundreds of metres below throughout their ascent. The pair even passed clouds on their journey to the top. The Tower will be one of the tallest buildings in the world upon its completion, second only to the 830 metre Burj Khalifa in the UAE, the tallest man-made structure in the world. When both climbers reach the top, their head-cams show them peering down into the abyss below. Makhorov told Yahoo! News: "We had to wait for hours for the clouds to part but it was well worth the wait, the view was like something from an aircraft window. "As soon as we saw a gap in the clouds were climbed right to the top of the crane and were able to get some great shots of the city below."

Don't look down! Vadim Makhorov sits in a cage above the Shanghai Tower, with the city sprawled more than 2,000 feet beneath him.

Vadim Makhorov and Vitaly Raskalov captured these shots from a height that would make most people sick.

The Worlds Tallest Gets StreetView

New frontier: Google's new Trekker technology allowed them to be able to capture the images - it is held on using a backpack device. Pascal Malite, Street View program manager went outside on the window cleaning apparatus to capture the snaps.

Google Street View takes to the skies: Cameras map the stunning views from top of the world's tallest building: Google Street View has now reached the dizzying heights of the world's tallest building. A 360 degree camera shot has mapped the breathtaking sight from the top of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Described as a 'vertical city,'  the building is the world’s tallest manmade structure, towering over the Dubai skyline at 828 meters (2,717 ft).

How high? The Burj Khalifa compared to other tall buildings around the globe. Click to enlarge.

It takes in Dubai’s many landmarks, including the iconic Burj Al Arab hotel, the world’s biggest mall, the Dubai Mall and the Meydan Racecourse and shows the remarkable growth of a city still on a fast track to developing as a business hub and tourist destination. 'This is the first time we’ve captured a skyscraper on Street View—making Google Maps even more comprehensive,' Google explained. 'The imagery was collected over three days using the Street View Trekker and Trolley, capturing high-resolution 360-degree panoramic imagery of several indoor and outdoor locations of the building.'

The Burj Khalifa, which stands 2,717 feet tall. Virtual tours of the 'Vertical City' include a visit to the highest occupied floor in the world -- the 163rd floor -- the highest swimming pool in the world at floor No. 76, and the world’s tallest observation deck, up 124 stories high. Click to enlarge.

80th floor: The 'Trecker' outside on a window cleaning gantry aka.. maintenance building units.

The 'Trecker' at the top of the spire.

You can also look down on Dubai from the 124th floor observation deck or peer off a window-washing unit on the 80th floor.

'In addition to the breathtaking views from the world’s tallest observation deck on the 124th floor, you can also see what it feels like to hang off one of the building’s maintenance units on the 80th floor, normally used for cleaning windows!' The Trekker was created a year ago by Google explained  Pascal Malite, Street View programme manager. 'It allows you to go to all the places you want to go where no other device will.'  Pascal used the window cleaning apparatus to capture the stunning images. 'It was amazing to be able to stand outside the building and see the beautiful Dubai,' she said.

Construction of the $1.5billion tower began in 2004, with its official opening in January 2010. Initially called the Burj Dubai, its name was changed to honour Abu Dhabi leader Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan after he bailed out indebted Dubai to the tune of $10billion. It boasts the world's first Armani hotel on the bottom floors, houses 900 Dubai residences, 37 floors of office space, a fine dining restaurant and an observation deck. It has the most stories and highest occupied floor of any building in the world, and ranks as the world's tallest structure. The building’s elevators, which reach the 160th floor at speeds of some 10 metres per second.'

Tom Cruise climbing the building in the latest Mission Impossible film. Click to enlarge.

Finally, to give users the same view Tom Cruise had in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, the team used window cleaner baskets to hang from the outside of the building on the 80th floor. Buffeted by winds that usually gust up to 40 miles per hour, the Street View team captured stunning exterior views that bring home exactly how amazing the mapping tool can be for those looking for a little virtual adventure on the other side of the world. You can see some behind-the-scenes footage of the mapping expedition in the video above, and you can start exploring the Burj-Khalifa yourself on Google Maps.

Photo Shoot From The Tallest Building In The World

Just an everyday job. Dangling from the spire of Burj Khalifa for a photo shoot.

Dangling from the spire of Burj Khalifa for a photo shoot (DUBAI) - A local window cleaning professional has spoken for the first time about how he took part in a National Geographic photo shoot at the top of the Burj Khalifa. By day, Johnny Salvador is the operations manager for Grako, the company contracted to clean the outside of the world’s tallest building. But on March 18, he and his colleague, Mike Flamson, helped famed National Geographic Society photographer Joe McNally scale the Burj and then posed for the camera while dangling from its spire.

“At the time of filming you’re quite blase about the whole thing as I am there doing my job the same way I would with anyone else,” Mr Salvador said. “It’s nice to show my mates at home so they see what I get up to. I’m just proud to go up the tallest building in the world and happy Grako gives me the opportunity to do it.”

In a behind-the-scenes video published on McNally’s YouTube channel last week, the National Geographic photographer explained he didn’t want to just climb to the top and shoot the view. “You want a person in that frame, you want to have a reference point – you want to sense some humanity in the midst of this giant structure,” said the 61-year-old American. “And also, you want to celebrate this very unique skill that these guys have. ” McNally and Mr Salvador were both suspended outside a bucket-like structure at the tip of the spire – 828 metres in the air.

“For a 60-year-old, hats off to him,” said Mr Salvador. “We called him afterwards Joe ‘the Iceman’ McNally. He didn’t grumble once and he held his own the whole way up,” Mr Salvador said. Mr Salvador also worked with Alain “Spider-Man” Robert, the French climber famed for scaling towers without any ropes or assistance.

Thunder, Lightning & Earthquakes In Dubai For Window Cleaners

If the rain begins to fall in the middle of a job, the cleaners sometimes have to start all over again.

Weather that leaves UAE men swinging in the rain: Window cleaners who hang from ropes outside skyscrapers in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are constantly watching for change in the weather. "The last time we saw rain like this was a few years ago. In 2012 it only rained once. It's not the hard rain that cleans things, it's a muddy rain and things get even worse," said Alain El Tawil, the managing director at Gecko.

If the rain begins to fall in the middle of a job, the cleaners sometimes have to start all over again. Gecko cleaners were halfway through cleaning a building in Abu Dhabi when it started to rain. The job that should have taken 20 days will now probably take 30. "We have to do it again," Mr El Tawil shrugged.

Rain is not their only problem. Amel Vriesmann, head of the rope access division at Megarme, said: "We need to stay within the parameters of the winds. The limit is 20-25 knots depending on the scope of work you do. When the rain becomes severe, we pull out. But a few drops don't stop us."

Last week's thunder and lightning had cleaners abseiling down to safety. "Once we saw lightning, we were off the building. We have a daily weather forecast email among all the management. Rain is OK but thunder and lightning is a no-go," he said.

World's Highest Window Cleaners - It Took Us Three Months To Clean Burj Khalifa (Nick Vassilev) -  It took an Australian window cleaning company 3 months to clean the windows of the tallest building in the world - Burj Khalifa. Ever wondered about how they keep the windows of these skyscrapers clean? The usual options available to window cleaners such as ladders and high-level Reach and Wash cleaning systems aren’t an option there.

London, UK -- Travel and tourism websites, programmes and brochures continually bring us pictures of tall skyscrapers in some far-off land, man-made mountains of glittering glass and steel. But pause to think about what has to go on to keep the windows of these skyscrapers, such as the Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sparkling and clean.

Usually, window cleaners working with exterior windows above the ground have several options. “We encourage our window cleaners to use high-reach window washers that can be operated from the ground for health and safety reasons,” said a spokesperson from the London-based cleaning company Anyclean, which offers window cleaning alongside a range of other cleaning services. “Ladders are OK if used correctly for two-storey houses and skylights on bungalows.  The Reach & Wash machines can reach up 75 feet, which takes care of most domestic and office window cleaning situations, but for anything higher than this, you need cradles, harnesses and cherry pickers.”

So what did the company responsible for keeping the windows of the Burj Khalifa clean do? The Burj Khalifa is the world’s tallest building at 2717 feet tall with a total of 24,830 windows, which make up 1,292,500 square feet of glass to clean.  The Australian company CoxGomyl, which is responsible for getting the windows clean for the opening ceremony (held back in 2010), took three months to complete the process of cleaning the windows.

This window cleaning team specialises in making equipment known as Building Maintenance Units (BMUs) as well as other high-rise high-tech window cleaning equipment. A number of these BMUs are permanently in place on the Burj Khalifa and the machines use a system of tracks and cradles to reach every single window. The tracks are built into the exterior façade of the building, and window cleaners are carried in these cradles (which are housed in special cavities inside the building when not in use) to where they can work at washing the windows. To clean the windows, they use ordinary soap and water. “You can imagine how expensive it would be if they used chemical window cleaning products,” said the representative from Anyclean. “But water does work well at cleaning just about everything.”

The window cleaners who operate in the highest BMU on the Burj Khalifa hold the current record for world’s highest window cleaners.  “Good for them,” said the Anyclean representative. “But I think I like keeping my feet on the ground!”

909 high-rises, 448 skyscrapers in Dubai... But do you know how to survive an earthquake? Tall order: Dubai has 909 completed high-rises, including world’s tallest tower, tallest hotel and tallest residential buildings (By Vicky Kapur) -  Two major earthquakes have rocked the Arab world and the UAE in the month of April: the first one on April 9, and the second one on April 16. Both the earthquakes were follwed by minor aftershocks. A 6.3 magnitude earthquake shook Iran and the rest of the Arab world at around 4pm UAE time on April 9, 2013, followed by smaller aftershocks. The death toll from the quake was last reported at 37, with hundreds others injured, mostly in Iran.
 

The epicenter of the April 16 quake, of 7.8 magnitude, was also in Iran, near the border with Pakistan, and it rocked the region at 2.44pm UAE time (10.44am GMT). The UAE's official seismology authority, National Centre of Metrology and Seismology, confirmed to  Emirates 24|7 that the epicentre of the most recent quake was 650km off the coast of Ras Al Khaimah in UAE. However, the tremors from the quake could be felt in locations as far and wide as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Manama, parts of Saudi Arabia as well as in Oman, with minor swaying of high-rises reported in these locations.

Earthquakes are not common in Dubai and the rest of the UAE, but nature has its way of showing who’s the boss every once in a while. Perhaps because we are not used to experiencing frequent tremors, residents of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, especially those living and working in high-rises, may not necessarily be adept at knowing what to do when tremors strike. It is no secret that Dubai is home to the tallest residential skyscraper cluster in the world. Not only does Dubai boast of the tallest building in the world, the imposing Burj Khalifa, but also the tallest residential tower (Princess Tower), the tallest hotel in the world (JW Marriott Marquis Dubai), among many more.

According to Emporis, a global provider of building information, Dubai has 909 high-rise buildings , including 448 skyscrapers (comprising 40 floors or more). According to SkyscraperPage.com, Dubai has 387 towers that are more than 99 metres in height, of which 84 are more than 202 metres tall and 26 are 301 metres or more in height. Indeed, there are three towers in Dubai that are at least half a kilometre (500 metres) in height. That’s a tall order, indeed, if there was one.

While we’ve all come to live and love our high-rises in Dubai, we can’t all claim to know about what do in case an earthquake strikes. Proof of this was the recent Iran quake, tremors of which were felt by us here in Dubai. There was confusion all along, with a number of office and residential buildings evacuated on the one hand, and with others going along with their daily chores as if nothing had happened. But if you need to be prepared the next time tremors strike, wherever in the world you are, you’ll do well to understand the following pointers (SOURCES: Earthquake Country and Go Los Angeles.

INDOORS: DROP, COVER, HOLD ON…

• DROP to the ground; take COVER by getting under a sturdy table or other piece of furniture; and HOLD ON until the shaking stops. If there isn’t a table or desk near you, cover your face and head with your arms and crouch in an inside corner of the building. Check out this PDF .

• Stay away from glass, windows, outside doors and walls, and anything that could fall, such as lighting fixtures or furniture.

• Quickly move to a safe location in the room such as under a strong desk, a strong table, or along an interior wall. The goal is to protect yourself from falling objects and be located near the structural strong points of the room. Avoid taking cover near windows, large mirrors, hanging objects, heavy furniture, heavy appliances or fireplaces.

• If you are cooking, turn off the stove and take cover.

• Stay in bed if you are there when the earthquake strikes. Hold on and protect your head with a pillow, unless you are under a heavy light fixture, window or anything else that could fall. In that case, move to the nearest safe place (i.e. under a desk or in an inside corner).

• Use a doorway for shelter only if it is in close proximity to you and if you know it is a strongly supported, load-bearing doorway. Brace yourself on the side with the hinges to avoid the door swinging at you.

• Stay inside until shaking stops and it is safe to go outside. Research has shown that most injuries occur when people inside buildings attempt to move to a different location inside the building or try to leave.

• Be aware that the electricity may go out or the sprinkler systems or fire alarms may turn on.

• DO NOT use the elevators, even if they are working. There may be aftershocks.

• If you’re in your hotel room, stay there. There are usually aftershocks, and sometimes they may be worse than the original earthquake. Under a sturdy desk or in an inside corner of your room is the safest place to be, even if you’re on the 40th floor. If there’s a heavy bookcase next to a match-stick desk, don’t get under the desk.

• If you are in a restaurant, get under the table.

OUTDOORS: Stay Put

• Move to an open area where falling objects are unlikely to strike you.

• Move away from buildings, powerlines, streetlights, utility wires and trees.

• Once in the open, stay there until the shaking stops. The greatest danger exists directly outside buildings, at exits, and alongside exterior walls. Ground movement during an earthquake is seldom the direct cause of death or injury. Most earthquake-related casualties result from collapsing walls, flying glass, and falling objects.

TRAPPED UNDER DEBRIS

• Do not light a match.

• Do not move about or kick up dust.

• Cover your mouth with a handkerchief or clothing.

• Tap on a pipe or wall so rescuers can locate you. Use a whistle if one is available. Shout only as a last resort. Shouting can cause you to inhale dangerous amounts of dust.

AFTER THE QUAKE

• Check for injuries, attend to injuries if needed, help ensure the safety of people around you.

• Check for damage. If your building is badly damaged you should leave it until it has been inspected by a safety professional.

• If you smell or hear a gas leak, get everyone outside and open windows and doors. If you can do it safely, turn off the gas at the meter. Report the leak to the gas company and fire department. Do not use any electrical appliances because a tiny spark could ignite the gas.

• If the power is out, unplug major appliances to prevent possible damage when the power is turned back on. If you see sparks, frayed wires, or smell hot insulation turn off electricity at the main fuse box or breaker. If you will have to step in water to turn off the electricity you should call a professional to turn it off for you.

Cleaning The Most Difficult Windows In The Middle East

The UAE’s expanding array of towering and bizarrely shaped buildings requires ever more extraordinary measures to keep them clean. Burj Khalifa, Dubai Height 828 metres, Emaar’s Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world.

Window cleaning reaches for new heights in the United Arab Emirates: Dangling on ropes 150 metres in the air in the desert heat, six young men are systematically washing down the 12,500 glass panes that clad the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Company's (Adnec) striking Capital Gate centre. Not a job for anyone with a fear of heights, the precipitous descent involves clinging to the underside of the world's steepest man-made tower using specially designed suction cups. Meanwhile, a team at the bottom of the tower has the less terrifying task of hosing down the lower floors from a moving platform.

It takes the team 30 days to wash the entire building (pictured below). And the moment they finish they have to start again. "We have to use a variety of techniques to clean our buildings, from rope access to boom systems, gantry systems, cradles and spraying with high-pressure hoses," says Alain El Tawil, the managing director of Grako, the company in charge of cleaning the tower, which leans at an angle of 18 degrees off vertical. It is also responsible for keeping the Burj Khalifa gleaming as well as a host of other oddly shaped and difficult to clean edifices.

The Capital Gate tower has gondolas built into the design to clean it's exterior.

With some of the world's tallest and most bizarre buildings, the Middle East has become a study in the art of the possible. For window cleaners, it's becoming more and more of a challenge to keep up. "Each company wants to build something different," says Mr El Tawil. "And that means making their buildings bigger and more complicated. Over the last eight years we have seen the company grow by 100 per cent each year in terms of staff numbers and we always have to keep recruiting in order to meet the demand."

Mr El Tawil's firm is not the only one challenged by the growth of bizarre building design. The struggle to maintain such structures is a problem faced throughout the construction process. "As tall buildings grow more sophisticated, systems to maintain them are increasingly addressed in the initial designs. Architects need to determine how workers will handle issues, where materials will be stored and how crews can move around the building without affecting tenants," says Kevin Brass, the public affairs manager at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, a think tank based in Chicago. "In buildings, space is always at a premium. Anything that takes up rentable space slices in to the economics of a building. As buildings grow taller, the designers spend an extraordinary amount of time determining where to locate the mechanical apparatus," he says.

 Capital Gate, Adnec headquarters, Abu Dhabi- Height 160 metres Known as Abu Dhabi’s “leaning tower”, this 53,100-square-metre building leans four times as steeply as the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy. Although the building has sets of gondolas built into the design to clean its exterior, Grako’s Alain El Tawil says abseilers are used instead because the unusual building’s lean makes it hard for ordinary machinery to reach the windows. Abseilers can also work in bigger teams, making the cleaning process quicker. To reach the underside, each window cleaner must first descend on a rope then use suction pads to overcome gravity and get to those hard-to-clean surfaces. The bottom of the building is cleaned using a device on wheels with a mechanically raised and lowered platform and high-pressure jets of water.

The trend is big business for Theo van der Linde, the operations manager for CoxGomyl, a company that specialises in installing the gondolas used to clean many tall buildings. As a rule of thumb, the more complicated and bizarrely shaped the building, the more work for specialists such as Mr van der Linde. "We work from the start with the architects who will be doing the overall design of the building and then assist them to ensure that the building maintenance units can reach all areas of the building to do cleaning or maintenance on the facade," he says. "Our specialist design team then design the gondolas according to the geometry of the specific building. The actual cleaning process is conventional using water, detergent and a applicator with the window wiper to remove the access water, the same as what they will do when they clean your car windows at the filling station, except that it is a few hundred meters above ground level. Whoever is going inside the cradle needs to have an aptitude for heights."

Aldar headquarters building, Abu Dhabi - Height 110 metres
 The world’s first and only circular tower, Aldar’s 23-storey, 666,000 square feet head-office building requires some of the most complicated and advanced cleaning and maintenance equipment in the world to scale it. “The building shape is quite interesting here as it is round in the one plane and oval if you look at it from the side,” says Cox Gomyl’s Theo van der Linde. “The BMU [building maintenance unit] was designed to cover the whole building, therefore it can travel all the way around the building from one side to the other side in order to offer access to all the facade. “This BMU has three cradles to carry out the cleaning of the facade. We have two cradles on either [circular] side of the building. Therefore, two teams can work simultaneously.”

Facilities management companies, too, say the job is getting more demanding as the shapes and sizes of buildings become ever more complicated. "We use a number of techniques to carry out facade and roof cleaning, including abseiling or rope access, man-lift equipment, suspended platforms and, finally, cleaning from the ground with a water-fed pole system," says Mark Cooke, the general manager of business operations in the Middle East at the facilities management company UGL. "It depends on the type of buildings and the possible accessibility for facade cleaners to conduct their cleaning. Each building is treated individually, which includes a risk assessment and a safe work method statement."

So how much does all this cost? Mr El Tawil says an average tall building can cost anything between Dh30,000 (US$8,167) and Dh60,000 per cleaning. A large part of that relates to the access requirements and the skill sets, training and the certification required in carrying out the cleaning, says Mr Cooke. Labour costs and the level of safety standards adhered to are also important. Window cleaners and their managers can earn anything between Dh1,500 and Dh25,000 a month. 

Aspire Zone, Doha Sports City, Qatar - Height 300 metres for the tower, making it the country’s tallest The futuristic tower, which makes up the centrepiece of the 250-hectare Aspire Zone, was designed to resemble a torch during the 2006 Asian Games. It also has a special video screen woven into a wire mesh measuring more than 1,000 square metres. The rest of the complex includes a mosque, sports dome and football stadium. The Australian company UGL is charged with facilities management at the site, which requires cleaning from ground level using a telescopic pole and abseiling down the tower to clean the facade by hand. “We need to complete six cleaning cycles per year and each cycle comprises of 60 calendar days with a team of six facade-cleaning specialists,” says Mark Cooke, UGL’s general manager for business operations in the Middle East.

Why We Build: the story of storeys, getting ever taller. The past few years have seen the development of a certain sport among western writers in gently mocking Dubai. Astronomical construction figures are laughed at, outrageous designs ridiculed and architecture intellectuals pretend to be vexed about what Dubai might represent as a model for the cities of the future. Readers are invited to shake their heads at the state of affairs at the Burj Khalifa, a building that boasts an Armani Hotel and the world's highest restaurant but needs sewage trucks parked at its base to take away the waste. Read more..

 

 From the many skyscrapers of JBR and the flamboyant Palm Jumeirah to the elegance of the Burj Al Arab and the colossal Burj Khalifa, Dubai has a wealth of imposing structures.

Burj Khalifa, Dubai Height 828 metres, Emaar’s Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world. The Burj’s complicated shape makes it one of the most challenging buildings a window cleaner is ever likely to face. Designed to incorporate traditional Islamic patterns into a tri-petalled flower resembling a desert rose, the problem for window cleaners is to get around the glass curves in order to clean. The building is cleaned using both abseilers and cleaners standing on elevated gondolas. CoxGomyl has set up 18 gondolas to maintain the building including the highest building maintenance unit in the world working at a height of 715 metres. Three sets of machines – stationed at levels 40, 73 and 109 – are mounted on horizontal tracks, which means they can travel across the facade.

Tall Orders For Window Cleaners

The team washes and cleans 24,348 windows, or about 120,000 sq meters of glass.

Workers clean the windows of the world's tallest skyscraper the Burj Khalifa.

Could these be the world's bravest workers?

Now that's a tall order, boss! Workers hang from world's tallest skyscraper. Could these be the world's bravest workers? Window cleaners have taken to the world’s tallest skyscraper the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, hanging only by ropes. Measuring 828m high, it was no easy task. The team of workers washed and cleaned 24,348 windows – or approximately 120,000sq m of glass covering the super-structure. Construction of Burj Khalifa began in 2004 and cost $US1.5 billion. Also checkout the Worlds best roof top bars & tall buildings.

It's a two-minute ride to the top of the recently completed Burj Khalifa in Dubai, at 828m the world's tallest building.

A brave worker put the final touches on the Anzhaite Long-span Suspension Bridge.

300m up on the world's highest suspension bridge - who cares about safety? Meet the world's most relaxed duster as he puts the finishing touches to China's record-breaking Anzhaite Long-span Suspension Bridge. The bridge, which is located in Jishou, Hunan, measures 1176 metres across and is 336 metres above the ground, making it the world's highest and longest suspension bridge. Construction has taken nearly five years, with most of the work finished at the end of last year. It was built to ease traffic in the area mainly caused by its numerous narrow, steep roads. Pedestrians can walk along it on a special walkway and take in views of the Dehang Canyon.

Tom Cruise Window Washing Spoof

"Hey, don't leave any finger prints."

Ellen DeGeneres Gives Advice to Tom Cruise in 'Mission Impossible 4' Spoof - "Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol" has become the latest movie spoofed by Ellen DeGeneres. On Thursday, April 19, the comedienne played for her audience her scene which, she claimed, did not make the cut in the final version of the action movie. It turns out the host of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" plays a window washer, who crosses paths with Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt when he scales the outside of the Burj Khalifa tower. After telling him not to leave any fingerprints on the glasses, she shares some advice as saying, "Don't look down."

DeGeneres keeps throwing quips while Cruise is climbing the building. When he reaches the floor he wants to infiltrate, the IMF agent does the former "Ellen" star a favor by grabbing her a lunch, though she fails to catch it. Ellen's "Ghost Protocol" spoof came just in time for the movie's DVD release on April 17. Earlier this month, the former "American Idol" judge poked fun at "Titanic" which released its 3D version in the U.S. theaters on April 4.

Ellen DeGeneres has a wonderful sense of humor and she loves to share it with her fans. The comedian and talk show host shared how once again she would be part of a movie by making a comedic skit of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. On Thursday DeGeneres shared that she was part of some of the scenes and shared some spoof outtakes where she is next to Tom Cruise. Placing herself on one of the tallest buildings in the world, Ellen DeGeneres is seen window washing as Tom Cruise comes up the tall building. With a hard hat on and standing next to the windows, she was pretending to wash the windows as the actor was climbing beside her just outside the building. 

Interacting with the window climber, the entertainer is spoofing one of the most unique scenes of Tom Cruise as he slowly crawls up the windows. As everyone knows for this Mission Impossible movie, Tom Cruise did his own stunts during the film. "Hey, don't leave any finger prints. Just clean those,” said Ellen DeGeneres pointing at the prints that were allegedly on the windows. The Ellen DeGeneres Show obviously sliced actual parts of the movie with a green screen segment of Ellen DeGeneres being funny

RopeTec Window Cleaners Excel In Ghana, A Stuntman In Dubai

Like ‘spider men’ embarking on a rescue mission, Ropetec operators were observed hanging and washing the windows of the ‘Opeibea House’ suspended only by ropes.

"Labourers On Rope" Hit Town: High-rise buildings in Ghana can now be serviced without the hassle of a scaffold, following the entry of Ropetec Ghana Limited, a registered rope access company, into the Ghanaian market. This resulted from the recognized need for specialised inspection and maintenance services in elevated, almost inaccessible locations. According to Bobby Dicks, Country Manager of Ropetec, the company specializes in Rope Access and Accessibility, offering inspection, maintenance, industrial and civil solutions. Speaking to The Business Analyst after a demonstration of its operations in Accra last Saturday, he said the company offered a wide range of specialized services to both the marine and industrial sectors.

Like ‘spider men’ embarking on a rescue mission, Ropetec operators were observed hanging and washing the windows of the ‘Opeibea House’ suspended only by ropes. The job, which would have taken weeks if scaffolds had to be used, took a few hours to complete in a clear demonstration of the ‘high-tech’ involved. Bobby Dicks said Ropetec Ghana had completed various projects in the past few months, all located on offshore installations, involving non-destructive testing (NDT), blasting, painting and general maintenance. He indicated that the company, which was established in September 2010, became operational in September 2011, after successfully completing all registration legalities and requirements. The Country Manager told the paper that Ropetec Ghana currently employs five (5) rope access technicians all of whom have the internationally accredited and required IRATA (International Rope Access Trade Association) Level 1 certification.

In addition, he stated that two of the technicians are certified Level 2 UTM Inspectors (ultrasonic thickness measuring) which is used in NDT. Trained in South Africa and based in Accra and Takoradi, the five technicians now form part of Ropetec Ghana’s operations, which has identified skills development of the local labour force as a key component to sustainable and equitable growth in Ghana. Ropetec Ghana is a division of Ropetec International (RI) which has its Head Office in Dubai and Operations Office in Cape Town, South Africa. In addition to Ghana, S. Africa and Dubai, RI also has registered offices in Brazil, Namibia, Congo, Nigeria, Abu Dhabi and Angola, which is its largest operational base. Over 400 skilled contractors work for RI across the globe, which began trading in 2000 in a response to the need for the quick mobilization of specialized Inspection and Maintenance Services in elevated and inaccessible locations such as offshore installations.

In keeping with the international standards of RI by providing skilled staff to clients with minimal delay, Ropetec Ghana offers Inspection and Maintenance services to the Offshore and Industrial sectors. However, Ropetec Ghana has taken the lead in RI by training and employing local Ghanaians prior to commencing operations. Traditionally, Ropetec International ensures projects are procured prior to employing full time staff. IRATA rope access system is a safe method of working at height, where ropes and associated equipment are used to gain access to and egress from the work place and to be supported by it. The advantage of using rope access methods mainly lies in the safety and speed with which workers can get to and from difficult locations and then carry out the work, with minimal impact on other operations. There are three Levels of rope access technicians: L1, L2 and L3 with the third level being the highest.

All work sites must have at least one L3 rope access safety supervisor on site as the designated person responsible for the safety of the rope access systems plus the L1 and L2 rope access technicians who work under his supervision. The different levels are as follows: At L1 – the technician is able to perform a specified range of rope access tasks under the supervision of a L3; At L2 – the technician is experienced with L1 skills plus more complex rigging, rescue and rope access skills under the supervision of a L3 and; At L3 – the technician is capable of taking complete responsibility for rope access safety on all work sites and has the extensive knowledge of advanced rigging and rescue techniques, plus holding an appropriate and current first aid certificate and can become a site supervisor.

In order to progress to the next Level the L1 technician must have logged at least 1,000 working hours using rope access techniques and have worked for a minimum of at least one year; the L2 technician must have logged a combined total of 2,000 working hours and a minimum of two years’ experience, a minimum of four days further training followed by stringent assessment conducted by an independent international IRATA assessor. Before any work scopes are undertaken whether onshore or offshore, strict safety precautions are taken in the form of Client liaison , Job Safe Analysis , Risk Analysis , Work Method Statements , Rescue plan , Medevac procedure and daily toolbox talks before any work commences.

The rope access technician is able to add additional skills to his rope access certification in fields such as Welding and gas cutting – aerole rigging, NDT (Non Destructive Testing), blasting and painting, NACE painting inspector, mechanical and electrical, roller painting and window washing. The rope access technician together with his other certifications will be able to work on almost any work site and provide a quick, safe and productive solution to the Industrial and Oil and Gas sector. Ghana currently contributes to the oil production on the African continent, which boasts the highest worldwide growth of oil and gas production. Between 1999 and 2008 Africa’s oil production growth grew at a rate of 3.4% p.a. compared to the Middle East, which only averaged 1.8% and placed it higher than any other region in the world. Looking at the future growth in Ghana, Ropetec Ghana has analyzed the local labour force and realised the critical need for investment into it if both international companies and local Ghanaians are going to be able to dually benefit from the oil boom in Ghana that is currently on the horizon.

Ropetec Ghana firmly believes that for local Ghanaians to equally benefit from oil exploration and extraction in their country, there needs to be a substantial investment by both the private sector and government into skills transfer and development of the local labour force, specifically in the artisan sector which is where rope access technicians are positioned. Not only will local artisans become employable in a specialized niche market but it will make foreign investment into Ghana far more attractive as the local labour market will be able to service the requirements of the oil and gas industry.

Continuing on their strong belief in education as a key component of upliftment, Ropetec Ghana has entered into an exciting partnership with the Computer Centre Project, located in Beyin in the Jomoro District in the Western Region. As part of their CSI (corporate social investment) policy, Ropetec Ghana has identified the Computer Centre Project as a vital project to equip learners with essential computer skills when entering the job market. Ropetec Ghana is therefore committed to both the on-going development of local skilled labour and looks forward to long term and sustainable investment into Ghana.

If allowed, Eskil Ronningsbakken would become the second daredevil to carry out a life-threatening stunt on Burj Khalifa. Above, he does a balancing act on the Great Wall of China.

Stuntman aims to balance on Burj Khalifa, Dubai: In the 23 months since it opened, the world's tallest building has been a magnet for base jumpers and free climbers. Now, an extreme balancing artist wants to perform a death-defying handstand on its summit. Eskil Ronningsbakken, a former circus performer from Norway, has asked the owners of the Burj Khalifa for permission to perform the stunt, which he hopes to be "contrary to all physical laws". He would set up a ladder, secured with rigging, at the spire of the Burj Khalifa, then balance on one hand at the top of it, his body pointing out at an angle away from the building. "Why would I not want to do it?" he said. "This is how I live. This kind of performance is as natural to me as meeting in court is for a lawyer." If he gets the go-ahead, he would become the second daredevil to carry out a life-threatening stunt on the building.

Earlier this year, France's self-proclaimed "Spiderman", Alain Robert, climbed the height of the tower. He was granted permission on condition - grudgingly accepted - that he used safety harnesses. Ronningsbakken is no more willing, but said he too would use a harness if he had to. "If use of safety is the only way to get the necessary permissions, then I will be open to discuss it," he said. "But I don't like the thought of it. "People around the world commit mistakes and end up in accidents every day, even they have a safety system, a harness or a life vest. That's mainly because they rely too much on external equipment, instead of using the natural tools they were born with."

Robert himself slipped and fell briefly on his way up the 828metre building, a fact he later attributed to the psychological difference between climbing with a harness rather than without. Traks, a company that trains the abseiling window cleaners on the Burj Khalifa, helped set up the rigging for Robert's ascent. The company founder, James Falchetto, said the stunt was possible, in theory. "It's pretty windy up there, though," he said. Ronningsbakken is unconcerned about the wind, though, having spent part of his career learning to adjust to wind pressure. "I always have to work with the wind, and never try to force it to be the way I want it," he said. "I also learned how to read the intervals of different winds, the directions and strength without using modern instruments."

A spokesman for Emaar was unavailable for comment. However, Ronningsbakken said he had previously applied for permission, soon after the launch, and been rejected. He hopes Robert's climb had opened the company to other artists. "I just hope they will loosen the bag and shake out some positive energy my way," he said. Ronningsbakken was inspired at the age of five by the visit of an Indian yogi to his village in the rural wilds of Norway. As soon as he was old enough, he joined the circus and later became a more serious balancing artist. Although he comes close to death on a daily basis through his art, he rejects any suggestion that he has a death wish. "No one who wants to commit suicide behaves like us," he said. "I would rather like to describe my art as living 100 per cent in the moment."