Sustainability Summit inaugurated

Sustainability Summit 2017, being held under the patronage of HE the Minister of Energy and Industry Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada, was inaugurated by Essa bin Hilal al-Kuwari, president, General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) yesterday at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Doha.
The two-day summit is hosted by Qatar-based Gulf Organisation for Research and Development (Gord) in collaboration with the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy. It features renowned sustainability and environmental experts representing international agencies, research institutions and government
bodies among others.
The event this year also marked the 10th anniversary milestone of Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS). In this decade-long journey, GSAS has built a profile as one of the most comprehensive green building certification programmes. It is the first performance based system in the Mena region for the built environment addressing the specific needs of the region.
All public buildings, including schools, healthcare centres and administration buildings for different government agencies in Qatar are now applying GSAS system in their design and construction. Qatar is now one of the very few countries in the world that implements Green Building Standards at a master planning level as well as the micro level, covering all their buildings.
Sustainability Summit 2017 is an annual event focusing on two main themes: “Carbon and Climate Change” featuring sessions of day one and the “Sustainable Built Environment” related topics covered on day two. It is an initiative of Gord with the objective to provide a platform to practitioners, experts, regulators and researchers to come together to discuss various topics on sustainability
and climate change.
Dr Yousef al-Horr, founding chairman, Gord, said, “Gord is proud to have established this platform for all of us to come together to discuss and learn about the latest innovative solutions related to sustainability and climate change and to collaborate with each other to make a bigger impact in these fields.”
During the event, Gord presented the Sustainability Awards 2017 to a number of organisations for their leadership and commitment to adopt sustainability best practices in the design, construction and operation of different types of developments, including new construction, existing buildings, renovations and interior design projects.