Participants at the opening session of the Green Expo Forum 2016 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel yesterday. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
All leading organisations in Qatar have embraced Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS), committing to its stringent criteria, which require all new buildings to achieve a minimum of 30 percent or more energy saving as compared to the conventional buildings.
This was disclosed at the three-day sustainability event Green Expo Forum 2016 which opened at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel yesterday.
Lusail is among those companies that have adopted the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS). It has also worked on establishing an integrated public transport system that involves long distance passenger and light rail transit within the city.
Lusail city has also provided necessary services in all areas to reduce dependence on transportation to get the necessities, and hence reducing the carbon emissions caused by transportation, said Eng. Essa Kaladari, CEO Lusail Real Estate Development Company
He was addressing the opening session of the Forum hosted by the Gulf Organisation for Research and Development (GORD) in collaboration with the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) and Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company.
The aim of the Expo is to gather experts and practitioners from International Energy Agency, the European Union and UNFCCC in addition to experts from the government as well as the private sector to discuss various topics on sustainability and climate change.
He said that in the area of the use of modern technology, the city has been working to reduce the need of air conditioning of buildings, which consumes two-thirds of the energy consumed for civil uses.
The establishment of district cooling plants as well as working to provide the entire city natural gas network and introducing the automatic waste collection technology for the first time in the Middle East are just some of these examples.
Dr Yousef Alhorr, Founding Chairman, said that the GORD was providing solutions to the problems and challenges faced by the urban sector, such as the need for modern technical solutions in the field of energy saving and eco-friendly materials.
Inspired by the aspirations of Supreme committee to develop new cooling technology for 2022 tournament, the efforts have resulted in achieving a patent to develop an innovative air conditioning system that is responsive to the climatic and environmental conditions of the region. The initial findings suggest that it can achieve more than 50 percent energy saving in some conditions compared to conventional units, he added.
Hassan Al Thawadi, the General Secretary of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, said that the adoption of sustainability is not only to maintain a legacy for a long time for Qatar and region, but it also derives from Qatar vision.
“I am glad to announce that the preparation and development of GSAS have been adopted by Federation International Football Association (FIFA) as international standards for buildings friendly with environment.”
Several local and international companies were given the sustainablity awards which were presented by Dr Yousef Alhorr, Founding Chairman of (GORD).
SCDL got an award for applying sustainability in the world Cup projects (4GSAS stars), while Ashghal won the award for applying sustainability in civil buildings, schools and hospitals (3 GSAS starts). Al Diar Real Estate and Manateq were awarded for applying sustainability in economic areas among others.
