Another batch of thirty-six professionals, mostly from the construction industry, attended the three-day GSAS-CGP Workshop from 3-5 October 2017 at the Qatar National Convention Center. The workshop was organized by GORD Academy for these professionals as a prerequisite before clearing the online exam to become a GSAS-CGP (Certified Green Professional). This qualification enables industry professionals to play a vital role in the implementation of GSAS on macro as well as micro levels in projects of diverse natures and scales.

We spoke to a few workshop participants before, during and after the workshop to find out what expectations and perceptions they had of GSAS before the workshop and what changed after attending the three days session. Also, we tried to find out about the different areas where they planned to use the learnings.

Talking about his experience, Mr. Gurubasu Katageri, a Senior Sustainability Engineer from Green Construct Dubai told us before the workshop that being familiar with most of the established sustainability systems, he found GSAS quite different from the rest. He thought the complex scales and formulae made it seem a little off the grid. However, when we spoke to him towards the end of the workshop, he admitted that his view had changed a great deal since it was explained to them the approach and thinking behind GSAS with its focus on the specific needs and challenges of the region. He understood the logic behind the intricately designed system that he found to be more performance based and suited to this region while most other programs are usually prescriptive in nature.

Another workshop participant Mr. Keyur Shah, an Environmental Expert at the Ministry of Municipality & Environment expected to get an in depth understanding of GSAS from the workshop which can be applied to the assessment of projects that apply for an environmental permit. These are developmental projects of diverse natures including infrastructural, industrial, agricultural, etc.

Mr. Luis O’ Connor, an Architect at Khatib Alami (CEC) expressed his satisfaction at the content and guidance he received regarding GSAS. Speaking about his nature of work, i.e. architectural projects, he found the ‘Site’ category of GSAS very useful in particular. He said the other systems that he worked with in Europe focused only on the building itself and not much on the surroundings whereas the GSAS ‘Site’ category takes everything related to it into consideration.

At the end of the workshop Dr. Yousef Alhorr (Founding Chairman GORD) also welcomed the participants into the CGP community and wished them well for achieving their goals. He also briefed them about various other initiatives of GORD.