Chaired by the State of Qatar, Kuwaiti Public Authority for Industry (PAI) hosted the 5th meeting of GCC Technical Subcommittee for Green Building Specifications at PAI Head Office in Kuwait on Monday, 11 Rajab 1440H (18th March 2019).

The meeting was honoured with the presence of Dr Yusuf Bin Mohammed Al-Hur, Chairman of the Committee, Eng. Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al-Dablan, representative of GCC Standardization Organization (GSO), and Eng. Abdullah Bin Ali Al-Rubaie, representative of the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council and Director of Municipalities and Housing Affairs, not to mention representatives of Member States.

Eng. Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf, Director of Standards and Metrology at PAI, warmly welcomed the guests of the State of Kuwait and wished them a good stay. He also congratulated the Committee on accepting the request to transform into a Main Committee, hoping this would contribute to enhancing the work of the Committee and advancing the process of joint GCC action to achieve the desired aspirations.

The meeting was opened by Dr. Yusuf Bin Mohammed Al-Hur, Chairman of the Committee and Chairman of GORD, expressing his pleasure with PAI hosting of this meeting. Dr. Al-Hur reviewed the Committee’s objectives including standards and criteria, events and scientific activities, and research and innovation. He also looked forward to the prospects for the work of the Committee during the year, including issuance of technical specifications and manuals related to green building and environmentally friendly materials.

For his part, Eng. Abdullah Al-Rubaie delivered a welcoming speech in which he conveyed thanks and appreciation of the General Secretariat of GCC and paid tribute to the role of the State of Kuwait for all its efforts to host this meeting. He also thanked the Chairman of the Committee, its members and all the representatives of the Member States, and commended the Committee’s efforts regarding standards for environmentally friendly green materials. He assured the participants of the Secretariat’s support for the efforts of the Committee in its field of work to fully achieve its objectives and create a sustainable environment.

Eng. Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al-Dablan thanked the State of Kuwait for the warm welcome and extends his thanks to the State of Qatar for preparing and coordinating the meeting. He stressed the importance to define the Committee’s field of work compared to the corresponding international committees for the purpose of coordinating between its terms of reference and that of other GCC committees of technical specifications.

The members of the Committee reviewed the topics presented by each country and discussed the plan of action for standardization of regional specifications regarding standards of green building materials and products, and examined the latest world-wide developments in this regard, along with various relevant region-wide case studies, their results and how to leverage them in the relevant fields.

At the conclusion of the meeting, heartfelt thanks were extended to the representative of the General Secretariat of GCC, representative of GSO, participating members, the State of Kuwait, and Secretariat of the Technical and Administrative Committee for the success of this meeting.