Gord underscores role in helping local businesses get ‘green’ certifications

The International Green Mark (IGM), an ‘ecolabeling’ system of Qatar-based Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (Gord), aims to help local suppliers and manufacturers achieve international quality standards through IGM certifications, Gord’s top official has said.In an interview with Gulf Times, Gord founding chairman Dr Yousef al-Horr emphasised the organisation’s efforts to help promote the growth of Qatar’s entrepreneurship ecosystem and initiatives that support the country’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startup community.“As a 100% Qatari company, Gord has always supported the country’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Understanding the role of local businesses in the nation’s sustainable development, a key criterion of the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) framework is the use of local materials.“While this is essentially aimed at reducing carbon emissions linked with cross-border transportation, it has also supported the local manufacturers in the market,” al-Horr pointed out, citing the significance of its IGM ‘ecolabeling’ system.Aside from this, al-Horr also said Gord, which is headquartered at the Qatar Science Technology Park (QSTP), has been collaborating with QSTP on programmes that would contribute in accelerating Qatar’s economic growth.“As a research and development organisation, we are proud to be headquartered in Qatar Science Technology Park, which has supported Gord’s sustainability drive in many ways. At the heart of our research activities in QSTP is ‘TechnoHub’, which is home to innovative research programmes exploring the application potential of novel and cutting-edge technologies.“Among these technologies is a patented cooling system that significantly reduces energy consumption and carbon footprint. Then there is low carbon cement produced from novel cement chemistry that utilises sulphur within existing cement production infrastructure,” al-Horr explained.He said: “Another key innovation is sustainable gypsum plaster board produced from carbon capture and mineralisation processes using more than 30% of CO2 by weight. All these research projects along with many others, in areas of sustainable materials and energy efficiency, benefit from QSTP’s state-of-the-art facilities.”In terms of collaboration with QSTP member organisations, al-Horr said Gord recently signed an MoU with Cisco whereby the two organisations will work in areas of sustainable building solutions, research and development projects in the area of green products, and capacity building through trainings and educational programmes, as well as dissemination of knowledge through industry events.Asked about Gord’s role in building more smart cities in Qatar and in the manufacture of smart city solutions, al-Horr said the organisation has been closely working with Lusail Smart City since the beginning of the project. Lusail is Qatar’s first smart and sustainable city, said al-Horr, citing its centrally controlled systems for water, energy, transportation, and information systems, among others.“The project first implemented GSAS on master planning stage and achieved 4 Stars rating under the GSAS ‘Design & Build for Districts & Infrastructure’ scheme. From there on, Lusail City made it mandatory for all developers to obtain GSAS green building certificate with a minimum of 2 Stars rating. “Projects achieving outstanding green building ratings are also incentivised with free floor area ratio (FAR). What makes Lusail a truly sustainable smart city is its efficient wastewater recycling facilities, solid waste management, district cooling, and the world’s largest gas network,” al-Horr emphasised.In terms of smart city solutions, al-Horr said Gord has developed a number of simulation and mapping tools for projects to reach energy and water efficiency. “Gord’s Energia Suite and Water Suite are Python-backed tools that calculate the project’s energy and water consumption and translate the raw data into meaningful performance scores, thereby eliminating the need to spend significant time on implementing modifications for enhanced energy and water efficiency. “Then there is Arcadia Suite, which uses complex algorithms to measure the cooling efficiency of energy-intensive projects. We have also launched the Energy Maps Visualisation Tool that will consolidate energy data to create energy maps for any districts, regions, or countries,” he added.