(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
DOHA: Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC), a member of Qatar Foundation, will take part in the first regional round table event aimed at advancing net zero carbon buildings in the MENA region this week.
The event, organised with the support of nine Green Building Councils throughout the region, takes place from January 9 to 11 at Kempinski Hotel, Ishtar, Dead Sea, Jordan.
The round table will address the work being carried out by the World Green Building Council's (WorldGBC's) pioneering ‘Advancing Net Zero' project, which aims to accelerate the uptake of net zero carbon buildings to 100 percent by 2050.
Delegates will also discuss the opportunities for greater collaboration towards increasing net zero buildings in the region, and global trends towards reducing emissions from the built environment.
'Net zero carbon buildings are a critical part of achieving global emission reductions, said Victoria Burrows, Project Manager, Advancing Net Zero, who will speak at the round table event.
The project supports the implementation of mass scale highly energy efficient buildings, with the remaining energy demand provided by on-site and off-site renewable power sources. In terms of building sustainably, the savings and wider benefits of net zero carbon buildings in energy, water, maintenance, operations, and healthcare offer short and long-term investment returns. Applying sustainable strategies to a building can ensure that both economic and environmental performance is maximized.
'Our world is inexhaustibly sustainable if we support the mandates of Green Building Councils. The MENA network, with over 350 million people undergoing rapid urbanisation, understands that it is our universal responsibility to pass a healthy Earth on to our future generations, said Khaled Bushnaq, Chair, World GBC's MENA Regional Network.
The round table will see Victoria Burrows discuss developing market mechanisms and resources such as net zero carbon building rating systems, their role in catalysing the industry towards transformational change, and the unprecedented impacts on the wider industry. It will also host Ed Garrod, Principal with global engineering firm Integral, who will present case studies of net zero buildings they have successfully completed, and share the critical elements to address in delivering such high-performance buildings.
The round table will raise awareness of net zero building and help key partners to learn about opportunities and challenges in the MENA region, in addition to encouraging regional cooperation and investments in MENA building sector.
'Never has humanity faced such huge environmental challenges. Nine GBCs from the MENA region will be coming together to discuss the means and mechanisms through which they could work in tandem with our global GBC family to reduce the negative impacts of global warming through green building, said Mohammad Asfour, Regional Head, World GBC MENA Regional Network.
The round table will be sponsored by Majid Al Futtaim and will be followed by a regional meeting, whereby regional GBCs will be providing updates on their latest developments and joint ventures.
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