The design for the government-sponsored Integrated Workers’ Accommodation Community (IWAC) project will be the first in Qatar to be certified as fully compliant with the Worker Accommodation Planning Regulations issued by the government in 2015, following on from the initial Mandatory Standards of Migrant Workers’ Welfare’ guide, published by Qatar Foundation in 2013, an official has said.
The project, being undertaken by Qatari real estate brokerage and development firm Daruna, addresses the government’s thrust to provide “high-quality” workers’ accommodation in Qatar, according to Daruna projects director Dr Sean Cashin.
“Our predominant customer base will be Grade A national and international contractors, who, by reputation, legally and commercially, cannot risk being out of compliance. So, our whole range of design and the integrated services we provide are very much geared towards that.
“There will always be a range of quality and standards within the country. We’re simply implementing the government’s vision, which is to create their own supply of quality, fully-compliant accommodation that will at least meet Qatar’s ongoing base demand for expatriate workers,” Cashin told Gulf Times on the sidelines of a recently held forum.
Cashin said Phase 1, which was contracted in October 2015, features one of six 4,000-bed single residential facilities (SRF) in Umm Salal Mohamed.
Phase 2 has three IWACs, one in Al Khor and two in Birkat Al Awamer, said Cashin, adding that each IWAC will have seven SRFs, each with at least 4,000 beds, for a total of 28,000 beds. For Phase 3, three additional IWAC sites are expected to be tendered in the first quarter of 2017, he noted.
“These are all tendered projects under the Ministry of Municipality and Environment,” he emphasised. Not only will Daruna deliver for the MME-compliant worker accommodation communities, Cashin said the facility will be operated using a sustainable design and environment-friendly solutions.
Further, Cashin said the workers’ community project will be built using high-efficiency pre-fabricated construction materials, and feature on-site waste water treatment and recycling, LED lighting, low-energy cooling and electric service vehicles with options for adding aquaponic, greenhouse, composting and solar thermal technologies.
“The communities will also utilise waste-to-energy solutions such as pyrolysis, which heats organic waste without oxygen at relatively low temperatures of 400-800 degrees Celsius to produce carbonaceous char, oils and combustible gases,” Cashin said, adding that the systems deal “effectively” with municipal solid waste, plastics, medical waste, biomass and sewage sludge that are “far better than older incineration systems”.
He said it will also utilise a “gasification” process, wherein carbon in waste reacts with air and steam at temperatures of 800-1,200 degrees Celsius to produce combustible gases, ash and tar.
Also, Cashin said other waste-to-energy solutions would include thermal and electrical energy recovery units, which could reduce grid power consumed within the IWAC. Other by-products can easily and safely be used as fertilisers and additives for asphalt or concrete mixtures.
“The advantages of pyrolysis and gasification include a 60% to 90% waste volume reduction depending on composition and system with low noise and clean emission outputs well below EU standards. Additional benefits such as landfill waste diversion, reduced heavy vehicle journeys and reduced GHG emissions make the system attractive,” he said.