Doha

A 26-year-old ministerial decree on technical specifications related to electricity conservation in Qatar's buildings has been amended, as a result of joint efforts of the Qatar General Electricity &Water Corporation (Kahramaa) and Ministry of the Municipality and Urban Planning.

According to a statement issued by Kahramaa, new ministerial decree No.108/2015 has now replaced the provisions of the Ministerial decree No 6/1989 and made good thermal insulation mandatory.

Kahramaa, through its Tarsheed campaign on conservation of electricity and water, submitted a proposal in September 2013, which included an amended specification for the thermal insulation and its feedback.

Amendments were proposed for Decree No 6 /1989 for the thermal insulation on buildings and included in its Section 12 some regulations, for the installation of electrical wiring, that came into effect in December 2010.

Kahramaa termed the decree amendment as a vital step towards achieving a comprehensive economic and environmental development in the country in line with the goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030.

Good thermal insulation (including windows insulation), it said, saves 30-40% of the energy consumption in buildings, maintains the room temperature, and improves the environment in the surroundings. It reduces emissions and noise and enhance the building's durability, it is felt.

The new amendments come in line with Tarsheed objectives to reducing electricity per capita consumption by 20% and water by 35%. It is also felt that it would reduce harmful carbon emissions and contribute to achieve the sustainable development within the comprehensive development the State witnesses.

As per a recent report Tarsheed managed to reduce per capita consumption of electricity by 11% to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 2mn tonnes and made an effective saving of QR600mn in 2014.

A trend is gaining ground in the GCC States on the issue of thermal insulation in the building specifications.