The Ministry of Water and Electricity with the Saudi Council of Engineers will act as partners for the forum, to be held under the support of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. The Al-Turath Establishment and Saudi Green Buildings Council are among the other partners.
Prince Miteb has invited more than 20 national and international leaders to attend the forum's ceremonial opening in Riyadh.
The forum’s secretary-general Faisal Alfadl said the event is organized by MEED and features leaders from the green buildings industry.
The three-day event, beginning with a master class on sustainability on Saturday, is billed as a must-attend for those keen to catch up with Saudi Arabia’s fast developing green development market.
The pre-event master class will be conducted by Yousef Al-Horr, chairman and managing director of the Barwa Qatar Diar Research Institute, and Ali Malkawi, founder and executive director of the T.C. Chan Center at the University of Pennsylvania. “Saudi Green Buildings 2010 will be an excellent networking opportunity for officials, business people and professionals,” MEED Events chairman Edmund O’Sullivan said.
The first two sessions of the event on Sunday will focus on Saudi government policy and regulatory codes for green buildings.
The first session will review the perspectives of key government entities in the Kingdom regarding urban land-use guidance, regulations and policy, building codes and the implementation of rating systems.
The second session will discuss the latest regulatory codes in the Kingdom, including a timeline to make green guidelines legally binding and the implications of going green for the construction market in the region.
Over two days, the forum delegates will hear five case studies covering some of the most prestigious organizations or projects in the region: King Abdullah Capital Market Authority’s headquarters, Princess Noura bint Abdurrahman University, Qatar’s experience in developing a sustainability rating system, Arriyadh Development Company and Riyadh Techno Valley.
Alfadl said that the forum’s panel sessions –- dedicated to design, energy, technology, water, building materials and the role played by NGOs -– promise to be in-depth and constructive for businesses and professionals.
The session will also seek to identify the latest energy technologies relevant for Saudi Arabia. The session dedicated to water consumption will discuss effective water conservation, harvesting and reuse methods, strategies to reduce consumption by up to 30 percent, and new technologies available to assist developers in reducing consumption.
