01 February 2009

BAU draws 211,000 visitors
BAU 2009 — a biennial trade fair for architecture, materials and systems — held in the German city of Munich from January 17 to 22, attracted 211,000 visitors this year. The theme for the show was energy-efficient and sustainable buildings.

About 1,924 exhibitors from 42 countries took part in the six-day event, which drew 36,000 visitors from 151 countries, 96 per cent of whom were trade visitors. Some 180,000 sq m of exhibition space was almost entirely booked a year before the event. “We were virtually overrun with visitors; 2009 has turned out to be the best year ever in BAU’s over-40-year history,” said an organiser.
Most visitors were from within Germany, followed by those from Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Russia, Poland, Iran, France and Turkey. Attendance by visitors from countries such as China and Japan was also above-average.

Power-Gen to debate key issues
The Bahrain International Exhibition Centre is to host Power-Gen Middle East, the region’s premier conference and exhibition for power generation, transmission and distribution, and water industries this month.
More than 3,000 industry professionals and 100 exhibitors from over 50 countries are expected to attend the event to be held from February 17 to 19.
“With demand levels for power and water rising steeply in the region and project financing availability contracting fast, there is likely to be some serious debate at Power-Gen Middle East about how the electricity and water sectors will keep pace with the Middle East’s economic expansion,” said Nigel Blackaby, director of conferences at PennWell, organiser of the event. The event features also include a visit two of Bahrain's independent power plants — Al Hidd IWPP and Alba's onsite power plant.

Qatar leads the green trend
Issues of sustainability and the impact of future green building guidelines and regulations on Qatar’s market will be discussed at an upcoming conference in Doha.
Qatar Green Buildings 2009, which runs from March 17 to 19 at the W Doha hotel, will offer the opportunity to hear and interact with the region’s leading sustainable construction professionals as they discuss and debate the key challenges and opportunities, according to Meed, the event’s organiser.
The Qatari construction sector is actively developing robust green building guidelines for the industry to work towards, before regulation becomes mandatory.
Confirmed speakers include Engineer Issa M Al Mohannadi, projects development director of Qatar Foundation; Ahmad A Al Abdulla, chief technical officer at Energy City Qatar; Jeffrey Willis, sustainability leader for Arup Gulf; Mario Seneviratne, board member of World Green Building Council; and Gordon Affleck, design principal of RMJM.

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• Show boosts realty sector

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