Qatar's Green Buildings: a Examination of Water Efficiency

Dissertation aims and objectives

In its World Water Assessment Programme Report, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO, 2009) stipulated that water conservation is the most important global problem, and this issue is only expected to increase in importance considering continued population growth and the effects of global warming (Cheng et al., 2016).

Qatar is an arid country that faces a unique set of challenges with respect to water scarcity (Darwish and Mohtar, 2012). For example, natural renewable water resources such as rainfall are scarce in Qatar, as Qatar gets only seven inches of rain per year. In addition, water demand in Qatar is only estimated to grow as the country expands its agricultural and industrial sectors in the coming years (Al-Kuwari, 2016).

As a result, Qatar has a dire need to manage water resources efficiently and effectively (Al-Kuwari, 2016). Reducing water usage and improving water sustainability on construction sites are strategies that can achieve water management (Waylen, Thornback and Garrett, 2011).

Studies (see Ali and Nsairat, 2009; Das et al., 2015; Cheng et al., 2016; Latief et al., 2017) indicate green buildings can greatly increase water efficiency by reducing water usage. Increasing water efficiency is one of the most effective processes towards sustainable water management that also effectively combats global warming and climate change (Cheng et al., 2016).

Therefore, this dissertation aims to examine the green building criteria related to water sustainability and efficiency currently used for individual buildings in Qatar. Despite the development of environmentally-friendly building criteria in Qatar, efforts to implement these criteria are hindered by several natural and operational challenges, such as a lack of awareness in sustainability and environmental issues (Issa and Abbar, 2015) and retrofitting existing buildings, along with other social and cultural challenges such as lack of positive attitude towards water reuse (Ahmad, 1991; Ibrahim, 2012). This is an issue of concern because it has been estimated that there will be an increase in demand for non-residential and residential building space in Qatar in the future (Kemp, 2017).

The increased demand for residential and commercial buildings will lead to more water consumption, both in terms of water consumption for construction purposes and once people move into the building spaces. This will affect Qatar’s already scarce water resources. As a result, it is important to ensure that individual buildings built in the future have maximum water efficiency.

Water scarcity and the increased demand for building space in Qatar in addition to the natural, operational, and cultural challenges Qatar faces when implementing green criteria motivate the present study. The main motivation in assessing green building criteria is to understand whether an update to the green building criteria is needed to increase the water efficiency of individual buildings (Issa and Abbar, 2015).

To achieve that understanding through this study, the following research question will be examined: To what extent do current green building criteria need to be changed to help improve the water efficiency of individual buildings in Qatar? Considering these points, the main aim of this dissertation will be evaluating green building criteria related to improving water efficiency for individual buildings currently in use in Qatar. The objectives of this dissertation are as follows:

• To identify the factors in building criteria of Qatar that needs to be improved to increase water efficiency of buildings
• Based on the findings of the dissertation, suggest ways to improve the water efficiency of the individual buildings of Qatar

To answer the research question, interviews with two officials from the Gulf Organisation for Research and Development (GORD) will be conducted. The GORD is a not-for-profit organisation that develops sustainability and green building standards and works towards the sustainable development of the Middle East and North African Region. Apart from GORD officials, interviews with officials from the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS) of Qatar and officials from the Ministry of Municipality and Environment will also be included in the study.

To achieve the aims of the dissertation and answer the proposed research question, the building criteria of individual buildings in Qatar will be evaluated based on environmental assessment methodologies such as the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. These environmental assessment methodologies are known to address environmental and sustainability issues and they were selected because they focus on key design areas such as water savings, materials selection, sustainable site development, indoor environmental quality and energy efficiency and (Abdullah et al., 2016).

However, these methodologies need to be evaluated to take the unique needs of Qatar into consideration (Ibrahim, 2012). Hence, selecting the two rating systems will assist in identifying whether the two systems can lead to increased water efficiency in individual buildings when implemented in Qatar (Gomaa, 2016). Additionally, using the methodologies to evaluate the building criteria of individual buildings in Qatar can also provide crucial insight regarding whether Qatar needs to develop newer building systems with green building evaluation criteria or whether it simply needs to add to the existing green building framework.

This dissertation also aims to present recommendations to develop and update the current green building criteria in Qatar to increase the water efficiency of individual buildings. These recommendations will be drawn from the findings of the study as well as the analysis of literature on the green building criteria used to increase water efficiency of individual buildings in developed countries. These recommendations could be seen as suggestions to develop green building criteria to conserve water and meet Qatar’s unique water needs.

Methodology

A qualitative research methodology will be used to conduct the study. Interviews with GORD officials as well as interviews with officials from government agencies such as the MDPS and the Ministry of Municipality and Environment will be used as primary data for this dissertation. Secondary data in the form of a literature review of studies examining different green building criteria used in developed countries will also be analysed. To achieve this end, the dissertation will first define the concept of a green building.

It will then examine the differences between green building criteria for water efficiency in Qatar compared to countries that use the BREEAM and LEED rating system, such as the United Kingdom and United States. An analysis of both the primary and secondary data will then be conducted. Based on this analysis, recommendations to update the existing building criteria to increase the water efficiency of individual buildings in Qatar will be provided.

Expected findings/Contributions

This study expects to find current loopholes that exist in the green building criteria related to improving water efficiency and water conservation in Qatar by conducting an in-depth analysis of Qatar’s green building criteria for water efficiency. This study also aims to provide important information towards resolving the water shortage in Qatar by evaluating water efficiency in the green building criteria of individual buildings and providing recommendations to update the green building criteria.

Examples of Key literature

This dissertation will be based on the conceptual framework to implement sustainability in the building sector; a sustainable building approach is an effective way to build and move the industry toward achieving sustainable development by considering different socioeconomic factors (Akadiri et al., 2012). To achieve the objectives of the dissertation, this dissertation will engage with theoretical perspectives related to sustainable architecture and green design or the development of green environmentally sustainable buildings with a view to create a better and green environment for the population.

Reports examining different green building criteria and papers examining and measuring the impact of individual green buildings on increasing water efficiency will constitute the primary sources of data. In addition, documentation in the form of academic papers, previous studies, and industry reports will be utilised to meet the aims and objectives of the dissertation. The following are examples of the types of articles that will be referenced to meet the objectives of the dissertation.