ASTAD Project Management, Qatar’s leading project management consultancy for building and infrastructure, has won the Sustainability Initiative of the Year for its contribution to the Qatar Foundation Solar Smart Grid project, at the Construction Week Awards 2014.

The prestigious award was presented Eng. Abdulaziz Al-Mulla, Chief Commercial Officer of ASTAD Project Management, at an exclusive ceremony held at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel in Dubai last week.

This is the tenth year for the Construction Week Awards, which have attracted extensive interest from companies and individuals across the GCC construction industry. The awards seek to recognise and reward individual excellence, corporate prowess and project success, across a total of 16 categories.

The honour for Sustainability Initiative of the Year is awarded to a company within the GCC construction sector that has made a positive contribution to the advancement of environmental considerations in construction, while also demonstrating clear practical applications and results over the last 12 months.

The Qatar Foundation Solar Smart Grid project, which is located at various facilities within the Education City campus in Doha, represents an unprecedented opportunity to move the energy industry into a new era of reliability, availability, and efficiency. It is composed of solar photovoltaic (PV) installations that generate 7,922 kilowatts of clean energy annually and result in savings of approximately 3,961 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year.

The most cutting-edge feature of the project is the design and construction of the Energy Monitoring Centre (EMC) that will enable real-time administration of all solar and power quality monitoring systems from a central location, aiding in their efficient operation and maintenance.

Having demonstrated a significant contribution to sustainable development over the last year, the environmentally-friendly initiative is also the first commercial PV project in Qatar to be granted approval for grid connection from KAHRAMAA (Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation).

Commenting on the award, Ali Al-Khalifa, CEO of ASTAD Project Management, said, “We are honoured to receive this outstanding regional award. ASTAD and Qatar Foundation share a common set of values and goals that are in keeping with Qatar National Vision 2030, which calls on us to harness climate action solutions through abundant natural resources like solar energy. This project has proven to be a catalyst for increased growth in the renewable energy sector as it demonstrates a successful application of the economic and environmental benefits of solar technology.”

Apart from the clean energy generated, the Qatar Foundation Solar Smart Grid project will contribute to an unprecedented transfer of knowledge through the Energy Monitoring Centre. The centre will allow visitors, students, and researchers to view individual system outputs and technical grid data, while familiarising themselves with Qatar Foundation’s various green initiatives that are well aligned with the Qatar Green Building Council.

The Sustainability Initiative of the Year is just one of numerous accolades that ASTAD Project Management and Qatar Foundation have garnered this year. In September, ASTAD and Qatar Foundation won the Health and Safety Initiative of the Year at the 2014 Construction Week Qatar Awards for the QF Migrant Workers’ Welfare Initiative (Karama). Moreover, as a reflection of ASTAD’s exemplary contribution to the National Museum of Qatar, it received the coveted ‘Most Innovative Project of the Year’ award at the Qatar Contractors Forum.

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