Qatar's desire for sustainable building design

Qatar Green Building Council

With economic growth comes the need to make it sustainable - as such, Qatar has seen rapid growth in its construction sector and reported that it is planning on switching to greener buildings and more sustainable design.

According to Zawya, this decision was brought up at the first public lecture for industry leaders and the wider community organised by the Qatar Green Building Council, one of the latest environmentally conscious initiatives in the country.

Eliminating environmental impact

The recent infrastructure boom and economic growth in 2009 has revealed that Qatar is among the countries with the highest electric and water consumption per capita. As such, the Qatar Green Building Council believe things have to change.

"Qatar's water consumption per capita was 675.5 litres last year, higher than the US," said Rami El Samahy, Assistant Teaching Professor, School of Architecture, Carnegie Mellon University, in his presentation on 'Why Sustainable Design Matters'.

Not just that but the construction boom in Qatar has seen over 18,000 building permits awarded and infrastructure growth has seen 120,000 new vehicles registered on the road. As such, Samahy argues that sustainability is needed in the country to protect Qatar's environmental future.

"Sustainable design is geared towards eliminating environmental impact completely," he said at the conference.

Primarily, he said, Qatar had to focus on reducing water use and utilising recyclable and regional materials as well as improving the country's energy efficiency and finding renewables sources of power.

Ways to do this, he suggested, included designing "walkable communities, providing alternative transportation, using indigenous landscapes, utilising smart passive techniques to reduce energy loads and creating culturally appropriate public places."

Sustainable building design recently made the headlines when renowned architect Frank Gehry said that combating climate change was a 'political issue' and criticised the LEED certification that aims to make buildings as environmentally efficient as possible.

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Timon Singh

Timon Singh is a graduate of Liverpool University where he received a degree in Social and Economic History. He has previously worked for BBC Magazines on BBC Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, the publication for the popular genealogy show.

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