05 December 2013
The concept of green buildings had grown rapidly in the Kingdom during the last three years, Faisal Al-Fadl, general secretary for the King Abdullah Initiative for Green Buildings said on Wednesday.
Al-Fadl was speaking with Arab News on the sidelines of the distinguished sustainability lecture series convened by Carrier and OTIS at the Ritz Carlton.
The general secretary, who delivered a lecture at the program, described green buildings as a benchmark for humanity in general. He recalled that the green building was an initiative made by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in 2010.
During the first year of the launch of the initiative, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology was the only green building in the Kingdom. "Today, we have 140 such buildings throughout the Kingdom and 40 of them are in the capital," Al-Fadl said, adding that there are two platinum buildings as well.
The existing green buildings, he said, are covered by an area of 12 million square meters, which is 10 percent of the green building in the GCC region and four percent in the world.
The concept has been fast spreading to several sectors such as tourism and education.
"In addition to green buildings, we now have green hotels and green schools too in the Kingdom," he noted, adding that the King Abdullah Financial City in Riyadh, which will be completed soon by the Binladin Group, will remain an icon for green buildings in the capital.
The concept of green buildings had grown rapidly in the Kingdom during the last three years, Faisal Al-Fadl, general secretary for the King Abdullah Initiative for Green Buildings said on Wednesday.
Al-Fadl was speaking with Arab News on the sidelines of the distinguished sustainability lecture series convened by Carrier and OTIS at the Ritz Carlton.
The general secretary, who delivered a lecture at the program, described green buildings as a benchmark for humanity in general. He recalled that the green building was an initiative made by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in 2010.
During the first year of the launch of the initiative, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology was the only green building in the Kingdom. "Today, we have 140 such buildings throughout the Kingdom and 40 of them are in the capital," Al-Fadl said, adding that there are two platinum buildings as well.
The existing green buildings, he said, are covered by an area of 12 million square meters, which is 10 percent of the green building in the GCC region and four percent in the world.
The concept has been fast spreading to several sectors such as tourism and education.
"In addition to green buildings, we now have green hotels and green schools too in the Kingdom," he noted, adding that the King Abdullah Financial City in Riyadh, which will be completed soon by the Binladin Group, will remain an icon for green buildings in the capital.
© Arab News 2013
