This endeavor aims towards encouraging green building initiatives such as conservation of energy, water and such materials to achieve economical and environmental stability; maintain the architectural identity of Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE) has recently entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Gulf Organization for Research and Development (GORD). This agreement was sealed by HE Eng. Hamad Bin Nasser El-Shakawi, SCE Chairman on behalf of the Council, and Dr. Yousef Alhorr GORD Founding Chairman on behalf of the Organisation.

The strategic partnership aims to build new channels of cooperation and to promote sustainability on a large scale through effective initiatives for reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions, encouraging the use of environmentally safe materials, and supporting green building projects. These in turn will help to achieve economic and environmental balance and maintain urban identity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE) and GORD will work on research and development programs related to environmental issues and human resources development within the real estate sector. SCE will hold seminars and interactive training workshops in collaboration with GORD to refine the skills of professionals working within the construction industry in KSA, and to provide them with the knowledge needed to develop and apply sustainability concepts in future projects.

In a press conference which followed the signing ceremony, HE Eng. Hamad Bin Nasser El-Shakawi commented: “We are pleased and confident that such collaboration with GORD, will create a positive impact on our continuing efforts to develop the capabilities of concerned practitioners, such as engineers and related professionals, making them more proficient with environmental sustainability concepts. We look forward to closely working with the Organisation and to benefit from GSAS and its various initiatives like workshops, seminars and other activities which provide an integrated platform to promote and encourage the adoption of sustainability concepts in various Real Estate and Infrastructure projects across the region”.

Dr. Yousef Alhorr reiterated this by saying:" We will be collaborating with the Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE) to put the Gulf region at the forefront of the ecologically sustained countries of the world. This huge stride will be achieved through spreading the standards of sustainability, solidifying the culture of creativity and innovation, encouraging openness to experience exchange and benefitting from successful trials. This is under the guidelines of the “GSAS", which is a fully integrated system of evaluating green buildings. It ones of the most comprehensive regulation systems internationally, having been built on the trials of 40 other local, regional and international systems. The system adapts to local the Arab cultural and environmental data. It was also provided with a generative system which keeps up with the latest technologies through the usage of the internet in conducting all managerial, and technical tasks required to establish its main concepts".