Qatar: Sustainable Construction On The Rise

Even with the rapid decarbonisation of industries, sea levels are predicted to rise, meaning most of the Middle East’s coastline is now at risk. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) predicts global sea levels will increase by 52-98 cm by 2100. The risk stems from the inundation and contamination of the entire water supply infrastructure, several onshore operations, and the risk of salinisation of the central water supply system.

Qatar’s construction sector has been given impetus through government funding and has redone ecosystems in a way that will help construction organisations find mutually beneficial partnerships and shared investments. The combination of the two will help to reduce overall emissions. The industry has set new benchmarks and highlighted a few fundamental strategies that need to be implemented more effectively.

With average daily sunshine of 9.5 hours, low-cloud cover conditions, and plentiful space, there is excellent scope for the country’s small, medium, and large-scale solar power projects.

The construction of a utility-scale solar power plant with a capacity of up to 500MW, the third-largest solar power plant in the world, will provide a legacy of clean energy and decarbonisation for long after the tournament, supporting Qatar’s National Vision 2030.

The Qatar government has implemented the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS), billed as the world’s most comprehensive green building assessment system. Qatar has incorporated QSAS into Qatar Construction Standards 2010, and it is now mandatory for all private and public sector projects to get GSAS certification. The system highlights the importance of implementing a whole-life carbon vision on any construction project.

To reach a net-zero world, we must embrace modular construction on a larger scale in the industry. The advantages of modular construction are endless; it uses less energy, wastes fewer materials, and results in far lower transportation emissions. It requires much less rework, thanks to standardised and efficient processes. The adoption of modular construction in Qatar is still in its infancy.

A major environmental challenge in Qatar is an end-to-end waste management programme.  Qatar is said to produce more than 2.5 million tons of municipal solid waste each year, composed mainly of organic materials (circa 60 percent), with the rest made up of recyclables like glass, paper, metals, and plastics. Currently, Qatar’s waste management systems handle only 10% of the country’s waste, with a target of 15% solid waste and 20% construction waste by 2022. This figure is relatively low; however, with the increased construction of public infrastructure 90% of waste is diverted from landfills and designed with operational waste management systems.

The construction industry will need to evolve as the global knowledge base for net-zero construction expands. It will be an extremely challenging task, but Qatar has set a precedent by achieving carbon neutrality on large-scale construction projects.