Lusail Real Estate Development Company (LREDC) today commences the application of the Qatar Sustainability Assessment System (QSAS), which will ensure that all of its commercial, residential and school projects in Lusail City will be QSAS-certified. Lusail City’s adoption of the QSAS is part of the company’s efforts to promote sustainable and responsible development and operation techniques that protect the natural environment and community health.

LREDC Vice Chairman Eng Mohammed bin Ali Al Hedfa commented, “I am proud to announce our adoption of the QSAS, as we strive to fulfill the State of Qatar’s 2030 national vision for sectors across the board to invest in sustainable and environmentally conscious initiatives. As the developers behind the country’s largest domestic real estate project, Lusail City, we have a unique responsibility to serve as a national role model in sustainable development. We at Lusail are committed to leading the country’s real estate sector in achieving a responsible, forward-looking development community.”

In order to receive approval for development design plans, consultants will hereafter be required to submit QSAS-compliable designs to LREDC for approval. The QSAS Sustainable Design Guidelines cover a range of factors for considering submissions, including effects on traffic congestion and pollution, land use, harmful emissions, water consumption and its associated burden on municipal supply and treatment systems. Material use and disposal, indoor building air quality, cultural conservation and support of the national economy, and other issues related to building management and operation are also taken into account.

These design submissions will be subject to a series of reviews by the LREDC administration before being moved forward to the QSAS Review Board at BARWA & QATARI DIAR Research Institute. After the preliminary review, project applicants will be notified of any insufficient or incomplete sustainability criteria and will be given the chance to resubmit their designs for a final review and an overall design phase score in sustainability.

“The Lusail QSAS will require every aspect of our projects to meet the highest standards in green building. Our goal is to design, construct, and operate our development projects to be environmentally-sensitive and energy efficient. We are confident that these measures will result in a variety of environmental, economic and social benefits for local residents, from increased resource conservation to reduced operating and maintenance costs to improved quality of life,” said LREDC Acting CEO Eng Essa Kaldari.

BQDRI Chairman Dr. Youssef Al-Horr commented, “The implementation of QSAS in Lusail City is a milestone in the progress of the system. Being the initial project to adopt the system in the country and region accentuates Lusail City as a leading sustainable development.” He also added, “The adoption of QSAS in the assessment of buildings within Qatar and the Gulf region will create an architectural language which both adopts ideas form the past and adapts it to meet the current required criteria of the system. As a result, a contemporary regional architecture is created as more sustainable and site specific developments.”

Lusail City, which covers 35 km2 north of Doha is not only Qatar’s largest domestic real estate project, it is one of the most prestigious community developments currently being undertaken in the region and world at large. Lusail represents a new way of thinking about the environment in which 190,000 residents, 170,000 workers, and 90,000 visitors will live, work and play. Lusail City will encompass not only new residential, commercial, and retail opportunities, but a full array of community needs, complete with schools, hospitals, and entertainment and gathering centers. Lusail City is a visionary development master-planned by QATARI DIAR to become a unique state-of-the-art city in Qatar, the region, and worldwide.

Lusail Real Estate Development Company, a subsidiary of QATARI DIAR Real Estate Investment Company, was established in September 2008 and is dedicated to executing the development, construction and ongoing operations of the flagship Lusail City development project at the highest environmental and health standards.

The Qatar Sustainability Assessment System was launched in April 2009 by Qatar real estate conglomerates BARWA and QATARI DIAR, and won the Excellence award for outstanding contribution to sustainable development at the 2009 International Real Estate Financial Summit in London. It is the Middle East’s first integrated and performance-based “green” building assessment rating system of its kind.