Gulf Organisation for Research and Development (GORD) being the Chair of the Technical Subcommittee of the Gulf Green Building Specifications TC06-SC1, organized the fourth meeting of the Committee jointly with the Public Authority for Industry, Kuwait on 6-7 March 2018 in Kuwait.

The meeting was attended by representatives of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the GCC Standardization Organization (GSO) along with the members representing member countries of the GCC. Also, representatives of various Standardization Organizations from Gulf states such as Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait attended the meeting in addition to experts from academic and research bodies.

The meeting commenced with the opening address by Committee Chairman Dr. Yousef Alhorr (Founding Chairman GORD) who welcomed all members and appreciated their continuing efforts of collaboration and coordination towards upgrading of specifications of materials and equipment for green buildings and their performance standards suited to the environment and the climate of the region.

Mr. Abdullah bin Ali Al-Rabai from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was also present while Mr. Mohammad bin Abdullah Al-Dablan was attending on behalf of the Standardization Organization for the GCC States (GSO).

The committee members reviewed current and future projects and actions of Member States for the development of green building standards and shared their experiences in green building projects. It was also agreed to identify international bodies and institutions related to the work and competences of the Committee for the purpose of communicating and benefiting from their outputs in this regard in coordination with the Standardization Organization for the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Field visit

On the second day of the meeting i.e. March 7, 2018, all delegates visited the Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) Head office building in the Al-Ahmadi city which has been recently awarded the GSAS Gold Standard Certificate for green buildings in the Operations category. Representatives of Public Authority for Industry and Kuwait Municipality accompanied the delegation. The delegation was received by Dr. Suad Al-Radwan, Director, Department of Research and Technology, KNPC who briefed them about the office building project and its various facilities being the first building of its kind in the State of Kuwait to have received the GSAS Gold Standard Certification in Operations. She also mentioned the other successful joint activities for which KNPC has collaborated with GORD.