• As part of BARWA and Qatari Diar's commitment towards leading regional and national energy efficiency policies, reducing carbon emissions, minimizing ecological impacts, and ensuring high indoor environmental quality strategy

• BARWA & Qatari Diar's Workshop is conducted by the T.C. Chan Center for building simulation and Energy Studies at the University of Pennsylvania

BARWA Real Estate Company (BARWA) and Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company (Qatari Diar), organized Qatar Sustainability Assessment System QSAS – CERTIFIED GREEN PROFESSIONAL® training workshop conducted by the T.C. Chan Center for Building Simulation and Energy Studies at the University of Pennsylvania (USA) on 12 July at Millennium Hotel – Doha for 3 days. The workshop will be followed, at a later stage, by a Professional Accreditation Exam for participants to be accredited as an official QSAS – CERTIFIED GREEN PROFESSIONAL®.

Once more, BARWA and Qatari Diar demonstrate their commitment and ability to lead Qatar’s sustainable real estate sector by offering 3-day workshop to senior executives, consultants and engineers from Qatar.

As premier real estate developers in Qatar and the region, BARWA and Qatari Diar are supporting the region's real estate industry through empowering industry professionals and engineers with the necessary tools and means of sustainable development. The workshop will provide candidates with:

• • the latest knowledge and understanding of green building practices and principles, and how they are applied in Qatar
• • training for the participants to become QSAS – CERTIFIED GREEN PROFESSIONAL®. This will include an introduction to the certification procedures, tools, and the process of successfully guiding consultants through QSAS application and assessment requirements.
• • the necessary educational materials that support them during their practice.

The 3-day QSAS – CERTIFIED GREEN PROFESSIONAL® training workshop will focus on aiming to empower industry professionals, senior consultants and engineers about “how to create sustainable building projects which minimize ecological impact while addressing the specific sustainable needs of the region".

QSAS was first introduced as the “Middle East’s first performance-based sustainability rating system" by Dr Yousef Al Horr, Chairman and Managing Director of BARWA Knowledge, and Eng. Mohammed bin Ali Al-Hedfa, Chief Executive Officer of Lusail Real Estate Development Company, at the Global City sustainable urban development forum in Abu Dhabi in April 2009.

“QSAS allows Qatar to take the lead in addressing regional and national energy efficiency policies, reducing carbon emissions, minimizing ecological impacts, and ensuring high indoor environmental quality” says Dr. Yousef Al-Horr.

“By developing a system that addresses sustainability goals specific to the area, adhering to international standards, Qatar will have the opportunity to serve as a premier example for nations and companies across the region and the globe. The crucial difference is that the framework and standards, upon which QSAS was developed, correspond to the environment and needs of this region, and other regional practiced methods depend on imported sustainability rating systems that were developed to address different context than ours.” added Dr. Al Horr

“BARWA and Qatari Diar's training workshop will offer selected candidates the opportunity to attend a Professional Accreditation Exam to be accredited as an official “QSAS – CERTIFIED GREEN PROFESSIONAL®,” added Dr. Al-Horr

“As part of our commitment to the welfare of Qatar and the responsibility to support the real estate industry and professionals, BARWA and Qatari Diar will sponsor the accreditation of the selected candidates by waving the QR10,000 attendance fee," added Dr. Al-Horr

BARWA and Qatari Diar series of training workshops will attract individuals with Engineering background and substantial years experience in design and/or construction. Architects as well as civil, mechanical and electrical engineers, whose background and experience are in building design and construction, will fit well within the required qualifications.

Based on proven green building guidelines, a rigorous sustainability rating system and challenging water and energy standards, QSAS integrates best practice from 140 global assessment systems to create the ‘best of the best’ green building benchmark for the State of Qatar.

“Qatari Diar and BARWA set the standards for green building. The growing interest in QSAS demonstrates the importance developers, investors, and engineers increasingly attach to the support of a widely-recognized and robust rating system that QSAS provides," says Eng. Mohamed Al-Hedfa.

“Developing QSAS based on local needs while leveraging best practices is a definite advantage, especially for regions where environmental, economic, social, and cultural conditions are unlike other areas in the world, factors such as desertification, scarcity of water, pedestrian connectivity, and cultural heritage/identity are either omitted or unsuitably addressed,” added Al-Hedfa.

Future QSAS workshops and research will take place at the recently announced BARWA and Qatari Diar Research Institute, to be established in Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP). Providing educational opportunities and state of the art construction concepts and solutions to industry professionals through teaching and research partnerships, the research center will offer several QSAS – CERTIFIED GREEN PROFESSIONAL® workshops each year targeting engineers, architects and policy makers.

The BARWA and Qatari Diar Research Institute will focus its work on three specific areas: Knowledge creation in sustainability systems, Research Applications, Services and dissemination of information and sciences. The Institute will work to achieve the following overall objectives:

• • engage in research that is related to the development of basic knowledge and processes in urban construction. Among the studies and subjects on which the institute will focus are the study of building data energy, where it will seek to collect building energy related data to set the ground for fact-based and benchmarking studies leading to further advanced studies
• • study building design and analysis tools to develop computing standards that promote performance analysis, as well as software comparison and applicability to the local environment
• • deal with building technologies and material research related to a desert climate and low-energy construction solutions
• • concentrate on studies related to Energy planning by relying on Energy driven Infrastructure Planning and research and developing decision making tools such as integrated GIS systems for energy use as well as onsite measurement of the micro climate
• • engage in research-based consultancy and testing services for existing and new buildings which will include computer simulations throughout the lifecycle of the building, in addition to providing advice on optimal systems integration
• • provide educational opportunities to introduce professionals to state of the art concepts and models in the field through teaching and research partnership, engaging students and faculty from Qatar Foundation & Qatar University and other regional universities in collaborative research and training. Several seminars/workshops will be offered yearly targeted at engineers, architects and policy makers.
• • hold an annual meeting and publish all research outcomes.

Barwa and Qatari Diar Research Institute has short, medium and long-term objectives to strategically identify its future direction. In the short term, the institute will focus on the deployment and expansion of QSAS and associated standards (in Qatar) and development of a comprehensive Regional Sustainability Assessment System for GCC & the Middle East by working intensively in three areas: Strategic Needs which include long term objectives and benefits for the State of Qatar, the organizational structure, operation model and governance which includes the role, responsibilities, authority and relationship between various functional entities, for example research, certification, enforcement, legislation, technology; and thirdly the process of expansion through incorporation of building codes, mandatory sustainability rating targets, mandatory energy performance targets, target setting and future updates of the Code.

In the medium and long-term, Barwa and Qatari Diar Research Institute will focus on applying policies in areas such as material ratings, emissions capping, waste disposal, water resource management, urban planning, transportation, underground networks and services. It will enhance development opportunities in areas such as recycling and renewable material and product manufacturing.

“Barwa and Qatari Diar have worked on the development of an evaluation system (QSAS), the first ever in the Middle East, with the aim of creating a sustainable real estate environment which has minimum negative effects on local and regional environments. I would like to take this opportunity to stress on the necessity to support QSAS with legislations that will contribute to shifting the rating system from voluntary application into other horizons. Through co-operation with legislators and policy makers, we will contribute to put QSAS in a spearheaded advanced position similar to its kind in the West which goes in line with the UNEP’s global recommendations.” concluded Dr. Yousef Al Horr.
Eng. Al-Hedfa asserted that the foundation of BARWA and Qatari Diar Research Institute is one main, important step in the policy of the gigantic Qatari Diar Real Estate company to develop the sustainability evaluation system in Qatar, which is mainly directed towards local needs as it will deal with crucial issues like desertification, water scarcity, pedestrians, and cultural identity.