The inaugural Qatar Green Building Conference, which opened yesterday, aims to review and address some of the pressing sustainability challenges facing Qatar and the region.
Organised by the Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC), the conference which takes place over the next two days along with an exhibition, will allow free entry to the public.
More than 500 leading local and international green buildings experts, researchers, academics and sustainability activists are attending the event being held at the Qatar National Convention Centre.The Qatar Green Building Conference is a key initiative in Qatar Foundation’s commitment to promote sustainable best practice and infrastructure development in the nation’s journey to a knowledge-based economy as outlined in the Qatar National Vision 2030.
Issa al-Mohannadi, chairperson of QGBC and Qatar Tourism Authority, said: “Qatar Green Building Council is taking a balanced approach to addressing sustainability challenges in the country. We believe that a combination of research and innovation, education and awareness, and building cohesive networks of stakeholders, is key towards achieving environmental sustainability on a national and a regional level.  The Qatar Green Building Conference has indeed created a platform for the green building industry to make this possible collectively.”
Meshal al-Shamari, director, QGBC explained the conference is hosting a number of leading sustainability and green building experts from Qatar and around the world to advance the important sustainability agenda.
“The conference will focus on the pressing needs in the country and the region and will come out with several suggestions which will be published in a comprehensive manner soon after  the conference.” Rick Fedrizi, CEO and founding chair of the US Green Building Council, said: “Green buildings are a hallmark of economically sound business decisions, thoughtful environmental decisions and smart human impact decisions. As our world shrinks, because of ever more precious natural resources, technology and trade, it’s becoming very clear that while the decisions to build green are local—one building, one home, one school, one hospital—the aggregate impact is global.”
The participants will discuss key green building topics themed around four areas, including Passivhaus in Middle East and North Africa region; Retrofitting Doha’s existing building stock; Measuring Carbon Footprint and Future Sustainable Cities. Qatar’s first Passivhaus experiment, which aims to reduce energy consumption by half and currently going through its research phase, is a breakthrough in the country’s green buildings industry. It will be under the spotlight during the conference workshops.
Alongside discussions on Qatar’s first Passivhaus experiment, the expert workshops will study the importance and feasibility of the country’s mega green building projects, including the Msheireb Downtown, and Lusail City. The conference exhibition, open to the public daily from 9am until 8pm, features some of the most innovative green buildings solutions available in Qatar.