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| QGBC officials at the meeting |
QGBC hosted the successful fourth series of Doha Green Discussions under the banner “Green Building Guidelines” at the Education Student Centre of Qatar Foundation. As the green movement gains interest and momentum in Qatar the series is becoming increasingly relevant.
QGBC is leading the efforts to educate the industry to build skilled labour capacity for green building design, construction and operation. Those skills are needed to meet the growing need for environmentally-friendly design and construction.
The forum was led by Martin Hay, head of QGBC Technical Committee along with Norman Flout, member of the technical committee and Parsons Landscape Design manager.
Guest speaker A J Colletti, AIA, Senior Advisor of Building Affairs of the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) gave a lecture titled “Sustainable Design / QSAS and its Implementation within Ashghal.”
The event focused on fundamental elements of green buildings, specific means through which sustainability can be promoted and green design implemented. As a worldwide concern this colloquium is particularly pertinent given the current level of development in Qatar and the expected rapid growth leading up to the 2022 World Cup, a spokesman for QGBC said.
Hay introduced the ideology of QGBC and the reason for compiling and issuing fact-sheets as Green Building Guidelines had been developed. The Green Building Fact-Sheets are designed to be used by the local community, schools and universities, private and government clients, consultants and contractors or any interested person.
Flout presented examples of Green Building Fact-Sheets in detail comprising technical information on sustainable principles which will be available in electronic format on the QGBC website. These will be accessible online or can be downloaded.
Flout welcomed the professional community participation in compiling the fact-sheets. A number of participants signed up to volunteer their services in their field of expertise in compiling the green building fact-sheets.
QGBC green building guidelines was followed by a presentation by Colletti addressing the work conducted by Ashghal and its sustainable orientation moving forward. He outlined Ashghal’s commitment to sustainability and showed examples of current projects that will apply the Qatar Sustainability Assessment System-(QSAS) and how this work subscribed to Green Building practices.
The event provided a forum for debate and lively discussion setting the stage for exchange of views and analysis of environmentally-friendly building practices.
Professor Ashraf Salama, founding head, Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, emphasised that besides effective the scientific implementation of green building guidelines, the need for buildings to fulfill humanistic aspirations should never be overlooked and trivialised.