QATAR is set to become the newest member of the World Green Building Council (WGBC), under a new initiative which sees the formation of the Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC) - an independent non-profit organisation committed to developing a sustainable property industry for Qatar. The initiative is supported by Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (Qatar Foundation). QGBC will encourage construction industry in Qatar to adopt environmentally friendly “green building” practices and will develop a new model for green building. This new model will become the standard for all developers in Qatar and will take into account local culture and traditions. The initiative has the full support of HH Sheikha Mozah Nasser al-Misnad who was recently named ‘Environmental Person of the year 2008’ by the Arab League Union for Youth and Environment. QGBC will operate as a member of the World Green Building Council (WGBC) which represents over 50% of global construction activity touching more than 15,000 companies and organisations worldwide. A further 16 countries are also in the early stages of setting up their own Green Building Councils; joining the 12 countries already members of the WGBC. Issa Mohamed al-Mohannadi, projects development director at QF and founder of the QGBC initiative explained: “Qatar’s economy is growing at a phenomenal rate and with growth comes development and construction on a significant scale. Over 800 more buildings are expected to be built in Doha’s city centre alone in the next few years – not to mention the massive housing developments currently underway. “Establishing the QGBC is a significant step forward in becoming more environmentally sustainable practices. The building process is resource hungry and, as a growing community and economy, we have a responsibility to ensure that our developments are environmentally and socially sustainable,” al-Mohannadi added. “The QGBC will work together with government institutions to ensure the integration of initiatives and efforts towards constructing green buildings across government and industry in Qatar.” On a global scale, more than 32% of the world’s resources are used in the building process including 40% of the world’s energy and 12% of the world’s fresh water. In addition, construction produces 40% of the world’s landfill and air emissions respectively. “QGBC will not only work to create awareness of the importance of sustainable environment management practices, it will also act as the central co-ordination point for the development of our own set of Qatar-specific green building solutions. These solutions will form the basis of a ‘Green Building Model’ which will be adapted to specifically suit our culture and architecture,” al-Mohannadi said. Through involvement of government, public, private and semi-private industry, and other stakeholder groups, the initiative is set to make a significant difference to the way building design and construction practices are carried out in Qatar in the future, he added. http://gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=274911&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

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