Municipal and Rural Affairs Minister Prince Mansour bin Miteb highlighted the Kingdom’s green building initiatives at the inaugural annual Saudi Green Building Forum.

He added: “The private sector’s role in engaging green building innovations and the urban development boom in public and private sectors, and the citizens’ active participation enrich the green buildings idea.”

Faisal Alfadl, secretary-general of the forum, said: “What became apparent from the inaugural event in 2010 was an issue that unites green building interest worldwide. That issue is how new technologies use renewable resources and materials that are sensitive to the environment and the effect this has on innovation in design, construction and operations.”

Edmund O’Sullivan, chairman of MEED events, said: “For truly sustainable building, every link in the project chain needs to be seeking the best applicable technology and products that use renewable resources and materials and which are sensitive to the environment.”

It is anticipated that regional participation at the event will underline the importance of this subject to the Kingdom, which is looking to take the lead in developing a sustainable future for the Middle East region.

The challenge of containing the rate of increase in Saudi Arabia’s electricity and water demands is huge, but there is a range of tools that can be used to reverse the current trend.

Innovative energy saving technologies in glass, lighting, thermal insulation, water reuse and building materials are in the market and currently being developed.

Many of these innovations will be presented at the event from leading private sector organizations including Schneider Electric, ABB, Somfy, Jotun Paints, Phillips and KIMMCO.

More than 300 people will attend the forum over the three days.

The Ministry of Water & Electricity, the Ministry of Higher Education, the National Water Company and the Saline Water Conversion Corporation will represent the Kingdom at the event.

This year’s pre-conference master class will see the introduction of a special training workshop hosted by the US Green Building Council that will focus on the ‘Core Concepts & Strategies’ of the green building rating system.

With many buildings now being designed for Green Building Certification, training of this sort is becoming more and more crucial for those in the construction sector. Completion of the workshop is a precursor for those looking to sit the LEED Green Associate Exam.

The Saudi Green Building Forum, conference, workshop and exhibition have assumed importance for regional players in the construction industry, especially as the issue of renewable energy and efficiency in “green buildings” is particularly acute in the Arabian Peninsula.