Qatar buildings can be 'greener' in one year

The US delegation discussed three core focus areas with the Qatar National Food Security Programme

Buildings in Qatar can be retrofitted in as little as one year if the industry wants to achieve greater energy efficiency, a senior US state official said yesterday.

Nancy Hamilton, a senior policy adviser for economic development and workforce at the office of the Oregon state governor, said “healthier” buildings should have locally-sourced material as well as material that is less toxic.

“We (companies in Oregon) build more ‘green’ buildings than any other in the world. It’s a core area of our expertise,” she said during a trip to Al Sulaiteen Agricultural and Industrial Complex (SAIC), a 40-hectare farmhouse north of Doha.

“Even though power here is cheap or free, Qatar can look at ways to recycle a building’s water, since water is scarce here,” said Hamilton.

The official was leading a delegation from Oregon to Qatar to explore possible partnerships in energy efficiency and food security.

“We do close-system water, composite toilets … we take black water and turn it into potable water within a building.

“To us, the water, crop, power … is all connected,” Hamilton said.

Three core focus areas were discussed in the visit to Qatar, which concluded yesterday.

“We discussed the subject of water conservation, growing food with less water and using technology to get a higher yield with poor quality ground and so we’ve had significant discussions on that from with the Qatar National Food Security Programme (QNFSP), and for instance, the SAIC farm,” the official said.

Established in 1995, the SAIC produces 4mn flowers a year and is a major landscaping leader in the country.

However, it is its pioneering techniques in producing vegetables that is being closely monitored by experts.

The company sells its produce to hypermarkets.

“One area, for instance, has been seed coating. This helps the seed grow stronger under harsh conditions and so that’s another area,” Hamilton said.

Another area of expertise, according to her, was the food security certifications.

“Japan has the most stringent requirement to trade with. And ours is the only technology they will accept … things like wheat and other commodities,” she said.

“The QNFSP is very interested in food safety technology,” Hamilton added.

“We have an entity called Oregon Innovation Council, which pools the resources from all the universities in the Oregon University System and brings them to bear to solve problems,” she said.

“We’ve had significant discussion here with Qatar University and QNFSP,” Hamilton maintained.

The delegation was given a tour of the sprawling SAIC farmhouse by officials, led by owner Abdullah Saleh al-Sulaiti, where they were briefed on some of the technologies companies dealing in agriculture in Qatar employ against the harsh climate.

Oregon state’s eastern side is also a vast expanse of arid land, but the locals there have successfully utilised some of the pioneering techniques in agricultural industry.