When Second Saudi Green Buildings Forum was launched in the Saudi capital Riyadh, it monitored a number of challenges that face the activation and spread the culture of green buildings. The political will in the Kingdom has revealed to move forward in the search for successful solutions to advance the culture of green buildings on a large scale.

This has been represented in the power of appointment by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, to the points of the sovereign in the kingdom on the need to care the green buildings forum. It was the turn of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs of the forum direct sponsorship to ensure follow-up and implementation of strategies and recommendations reached by the participants, great attention of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, in addition to the attention of government and private institutions related to support this vital trend that the Kingdom is making unremitting efforts for the deployment of renewable energy, and expansion in the field of green buildings.
His Royal Highness Prince Dr. Mansour bin Miteb bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs has recommended of interest to green buildings and take advantage of research and innovative inventions in every area, including construction techniques , materials of construction , developed housing designs and methods of operation and maintenance.

His Royal Highness said in his speech during the events of Saudi Green Buildings Forum 2011, which delivered on his behalf by general supervisor of his office, Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Dahmash, "The universities, laboratories, factories production lines, and laboratories do not stop every day to provide the Human Track research and innovative inventions in every area including construction techniques, construction materials, developed housing designs and methods of operation and maintenance, and remains the role of architects and engineers, owners of private housing, to work on the adaptation of these innovations and employ the maximum possible extent to serve the idea of green buildings and foundation to create urban-friendly oases in our local environment.

Common Features with our construction heritage 

His Royal Highness added, "In our architectural heritage and traditional local construction methods, a lot of common features with the principles of green buildings and the responsibility of such a forum of experts and researchers will be to remove the dust from those ancient legacies, to work to harmonize with the natural building concepts and to mix with the new of modern technology to be closer to the spirit of the local environment and more appropriate to apply."

His Royal Highness indicated that this meeting represents a valuable opportunity to review the achievements of the steps and executions of previous recommendations included more than one axis, either as assigned to the government sector, professional bodies or entrusted to the private sector as a shared responsibility, solidarity is duty to ensure the implementation of these recommendations as possible, and His Highness guesses that many of the serious initiatives take some time, long or short to settle down and take root and that the idea of green buildings will become entrenched over time to increase awareness of the importance of urban and environmental balancing in national development programs, and have sought the public as long as we were able to develop economic alternatives compelling design requirements and construction materials for private housing, and it is possible to turn this initiative from just an idea to strong and independent industry.

The second Saudi Forum has started its activities, which lasted over three days, with Engineer Faisal Alfadl speech, Secretary General of the Second Saudi Green Buildings Forum, and then visual presentation entitled: "Innovation in Energy, Water & Materials" followed by speeches of Sheikh Abdullah Al-Naim, Head of the Arab Institute for Development, and Dr. Saleh Al-Awaji, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Water, Electricity, and culminated in the ceremonial speech by His Royal Highness Prince Dr. Mansour bin Miteb bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, and then presented Saudi Green Buildings Forum Awards for Princess Nora University, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Ministry of Higher Education, Saudi Bin Laden Group, the winners were chosen because of the unique contribution to promoting sustainability in the architectural environment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Giant green projects

Princess Nora University Project, which opened in September 2011, is considered the largest institution of higher education for women in the world with a capacity of 40.000 students, and the distinguished project award was provided by the Saudi Green Buildings Forum to the Ministry of Finance, Dar AlHandasah (Shair and Partners), and a total of 3 buildings of Princess Nora University for leadership in energy and Environmental Design certification (LEED).

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology won the Saudi Green Buildings Forum Award for the use of existing technology. When it was opened in September 2009, the University of King Abdullah was the first platinum building (LEED) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Green Buildings Forum granted distinguished Leadership Award in green buildings to the Ministry of Higher Education, and considered its headquarters in Riyadh "the first smart building in the Middle East," also Saudi Bin Laden Group, the main contractor for Princess Nora University and King Abdullah financial district won Saudi Green Buildings Forum award as the best developer.

The opening speeches expressed the political will, which emphasizes the importance of cultural and environmental balance for national strategy plan for urban development, to consolidate and enhance their applications, and promote the concept of building through the environmentally friendly buildings, the forum recommended the need for continuity, follow-up achieving and audit recommendations issued in the first version of the forum, and find out what has been achieved and what remained to be done.

Figures confirm K.S.A trends

Engineer Faisal Saleh Al-Fadl, the Secretary-General of the Saudi Green Buildings Forum, reported that the Forum works to promote research in the techniques of green and compatible environmentally buildings, also is interested in discussing and supporting the guideline principles, sustainability and building codes and rating systems and green initiatives that are being developed and implemented in Saudi Arabia.

Engineer Al-Fadl noted that the number of Saudi public and private institutions have been registered in the councils of the World Green Building were eighteen institutions, in addition to eighty nine people involved in green buildings, and related offices recognized by the World Green councils, which shows that we are moving at a steady pace in this area. As a result, Saudi Arabia also presents forty-seven green buildings, racing for world registration as high efficiency buildings, the capital Riyadh alone, including twenty-nine buildings to jump so great universal leap.

Islamic era architects succeeded by more conventional means to achieve human comfort

Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ali Naiem, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Arab Institute for Urban Development, said, "The importance of the green building goals to build structures that are environmentally sustainable and able to sustain the natural resources of the land to reduce the depletion of natural resources and invest them best, and so by several methods including the use of amounts less water and improve energy efficiency, and generate less waste and pollution, and the provision of health to its residents as compared to traditional buildings. In contrast, studies have shown that the architecture in the Islamic era have succeeded using traditional means to achieve peace of heat through the design of the inner courtyard, oriels and air vents at the top of buildings, making the atmosphere pleasant and therefore psychological comfort to man, while the contemporary architectural trend and the emergence of modern innovations such as air conditioning and elevators that lead to life in industrial atmosphere cause discomfort and psychological laziness and inactivity, in addition to the increase in use of electric power."

David Hansen, Director of Engineering Design in Dar Alhandasah (Shair and Partners), declared, "Dar Alhandasah presented original master plan for pioneer project for all those promoting sustainability in the built environment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East designed to accommodate up to 40,000 students and 12,000 staff, also participated with American Perkins and Will in designing about a third of project facilities, and that the project involves delivery of 2.8 million square meters of green area near King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, and 38 of the project buildings seeking to Leadership in Energy, environmental Design and the accreditation of (LEED).

He reported, "I think that some of the measures for energy conservation are particularly effective including outside shading and control of occupancy." use of technology are being used on a large scale, and when there is no study in the university, the lights will be turned off. Where we use the Islamic sun block system to reduce the impact of solar energy, there are energy savings as a result of blocking the sun, and also our academic colleges and the Faculty of Health Sciences building save water by about 45% and the rest of the campus save 35%, and the landscape is a very large part of the way to achieve sustainability, we use treated wastewater blended with the non-potable water for irrigation."

He added, "We have achieved 10-50% of recycled content in steel , structural steel, metal doors and other metals, walls and artificial ceiling, the concept we had was the construction and waste management to prevent the dumping of waste. We were able to succeed dramatically. The contractors we had were innovators in developing ways to recycle waste, and is well-known that there is a misconception that (LEED) may not be appropriate for the Gulf countries, and what we found in return was that it was entirely appropriate, and logical in our ways of saving energy and recycling."

Mario Sinevertn, Managing Director of Green Technology in the Saudi Green Buildings Forum, stated that the green building movement has become influential in a growing number of countries. There are more than 80 countries signed on the agenda of green buildings. This includes the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Applying a coherent approach of green building principles achieves economic and environmental benefits. Green buildings are the solution to meet the environmental and trade challenges, and leadership in the energy system. Green Environmental Design and Building Rating (LEED) is still dominant in the Gulf.

He added, "There are more of those buildings for (LEED) to be classified by any other system. That classification was used in the area for 13 years, and was easily-adaptable in the Middle East. However, you can still use any system of green building classification systems. "

King Abdullah Financial District

In a related context, the King Abdullah Economic District in Riyadh (KAFD) is the largest project in the world seeking the classification within the green building, and said in the Saudi Green Buildings Forum, 2011 that the project includes the construction of 34 towers at the site with a total area of 1.6 million square meters, will provide more than 3 million square meters of space for different uses, and 62.000 parking places to accommodate 12.000 people, and also aim to create 44.000 new job opportunities, making it the largest financial center in the Middle East.

Wissal Numan, the (LEED) Project Manager in Saudi Bin Laden, said that endeavors seeking to achieve the highest standards in the field of sustainability and included a wide range of initiatives to raise environmental standards during construction and after the opening of the project. This is due to be in 2014, and the design Saudi Bin laden group design and construction of the main contractor on the project for sustainability initiatives in the project and include a plan to combat the conditions of erosion and sedimentation to reduce pollution caused by dust and erosion control, we irrigate the land in the project every hour every Day and other measures to control the dust coming from the site, and control movement speed within the project for the same reason.

Wissal added, "Construction program, waste management, aims to convert at least 50% of our construction waste to disposal in landfills and incinerators, and the plan includes the quality of indoor air to reduce the health risks to construction workers, the project will use the alternative transportation systems, KAFD will use the single railway system with six stations that will be communicating through the parking areas, public and there will also be a parking space, bicycle and changing rooms for people who come to the region by bicycle, and by the requirements of LEED, we must reduce water consumption by 20%, and the technology that will be used in the project will include a double toilet systems and reduce water flow."

The most important energy performance

He adds, "LEED requires a reduction by 10% in the use of our energy and a lot of strategies to achieve this, including very low in ultraviolet radiation materials; shading systems; heat recovery and effective lamps, and we strive to use at least 50% of the materials from recycled materials. This involved the use of recycled steel, ceramic and steel. We aim that at least 10% of the total cost will be in the form of recycled materials, and we can get to 20% and even more than that."

Christophe Campagne, Local President of Schneider Electric, reported, "It is possible to reduce energy consumption in buildings by 30% through the integration of electronic systems in the design of the building, rapprochement between technology and systems is critical to provide energy efficient buildings, and we supply systems for King Saud University endowment project of 10 buildings."

He added, "We are also working on the ITCC project in Riyadh, and both projects are currently under construction, Schneider Electric has provided energy management systems for Albait towers and the Holy Mosque in Makkah."

Abdul Hameed Al-Mansour, CEO of Saudi Tabreed, stated that the demand for district cooling systems in new areas is growing strongly in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and his company has a contract for the installation and operation of the cooling system in the Jabal Omar project in Makkah, as well as EPC for the installation of a cooling station, capacity of 100,000 tons in King Abdullah Financial district, it has also been selected to run the system.

Julian Herbert, Director of MEED product development projects, said, "It is expected a wave of giant contracts in the gulf countries before the end of 2011, and there will be large activity of the market in the last quarter of this year as in the past three quarters."

Herbert added that the expectations of GCC Meed company will grow again in 2012, and we expect that the volume of contracts in 2012 will be between $150-180bn, it has been awarded a total of $42bn of major projects in Saudi Arabia to begin in October, more contracts worth more than $30bn will be granted by the end of 2012. and approximately $20bn of these projects will be by public sector clients.

Herbert added that the expectations indicate that the major contracts projects totaling between $90-100bn in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2012 and there are very large and important projects next year in Saudi Arabia, and that the data refer to project contracts for at least $250bn in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2016.

Keith Clark, the former chief executive of "Atkins" company and the current director of sustainability and the President of the business sector in the Middle East, reports, "The green buildings is an important means to contain climate change, but there is need to be more committed to reduce carbon emissions, and must look to reduce the rate of 80% in carbon dioxide emissions globally, and we are not talking about not using oil, but about a fundamentally different way to run the economy in the world."

He added, "Since the industrial revolution, the talk was always about power, and we had a gross domestic product, growth and our standard of living need more energy increasingly, and we expect to go further and faster, the climate modification in order to be comfortable, and we expect to get on clean water and waste disposal, all this need more energy consumption , it means that the challenge is not putting more insulation in your building, but the challenge is: How can we change our economic growth with lower carbon intensity level?"

Clarke said, "The United Nations Conference on Climate Change (UNCCC) in Durban, which opens at the end of November, will be crucial. What they need to do is to provide a credit for the carbon to make the market work better. If you look into the water, there is no relationship between the cost of water production and what people pay in consumption. The free market has never worked in the provision of water, so the law of the carbon is a way to start sorting this issue. There are 7 billion people in the world, and will be between 9-10 billion in 2050. We cannot meet their needs by doing what we are doing now."

Practical application of green building

F. E. Joffe, CEO of Engineering Consultants, reported, "One of the achievements that we are working to accomplish currently, is to build a house with an area of 350 square meters in Al-Hada, district and this building is considered the first of its kind in the region, dealing with green buildings systems and standards worldwide, and to achieve lead by 80%, which is the highest category in the manufacture of green buildings, building, design, operation and recycling of friendly environment construction, and this experience will open the way for Saudi engineers and those interested to gain the necessary expertise in process on the ground in how to apply necessary techniques and tools, as it is known that there are 89 people who obtained the certificates of customary universally adopted in the field of green buildings, and this project will contribute to the involvement of a greater number of experiences in the field of green buildings in the Saudi market."

Joffe added, "All consultants, suppliers and contractors I have been invited to contribute to the support of these efforts provided by the consultant to gain knowledge experience of the project state on the ground, and this will certainly support the efforts and objectives of the Forum, and trends of the Government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques."

Joffe explained, "Participation in this work and its implementation on the ground is a sight to trade studies and concepts about green buildings and its impact on the Saudi consumer first in terms of promoting the goals of Saudi Green Buildings Forum, continuity, and push to invest in this promising industry, which serves the environment in the Kingdom , and shows the vital role to reduce the emergence of carbon dioxide, and the negative effects of traditional buildings in the world."

Recommendations of the Conference

Participants in the Saudi Green Buildings Forum see that we should be cautious and to deter attempts to penetrate the concepts of the High Commissioner for Green Culture and the exploitation the term "green" to pass green fraudulence in marketing products that do not belong to engineering standards

With regard to the recommendations of the Forum to the need to engage the contractors in perpetuating this tendency, which is in their interest, and interest of the country, and urge them to play an active role in the adoption of the concepts of work related to green buildings, and the claim of the Ministry of Education of need to incorporate the approach of environmental education, through primary stage curriculum to inculcate a culture of environment friendship, and work to raise awareness of the importance of this architectural approach.

The Forum stressed the importance of taking the Consultative owner the building standards in all existing and future projects, and urged at the same time to review all existing buildings, both public and private, in terms of engineering study to respond to the system, of world green building, that will save energy and water consumption and electricity as well as to activate the application of environmentally friendly materials, which in turn translate into facilities that meet user needs without harming the environment. The Green Building Forum held in Riyadh for three consecutive days, urged the different media means , printed , radio and broadcast, to carry out its mission to educate the community of positive aspects of green buildings culture, and benefits for the community and environment alike.

It was also stressed the importance of the forum success through the establishment of a center for the care and follow-up regarding the environmental print and emergence carbon resulting from the facilities and urban centers in the urban range aiming to supervising the implementation of the Forum recommendations, and to provide appropriate statistics to the concerned authorities to take whatever measures and applications supporting this trend.

Second Saudi Green Buildings forum has been sponsored by the Ministry of Water and Electricity, Ministry of Higher Education, the Arab Institute for Urban Development, and Silver Sponsor: ABB company and Schneider Electric, sponsor of Lunch: Phillips, Bronze Sponsor: Jotun, and the sponsor of the conference: Bentley Systems International.