01 June 2016

Bahrain is working on 40 environment-friendly building projects as part of its sustainable development initiative aimed at reducing power and water consumption as well as carbon emissions at these facilities.

The green building initiative is one of most important strategic objectives for the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning and is being implemented on all the existing and new construction projects for various government  organisations in Bahrain, which are being designed, supervised or maintained by the ministry.

The ministry’s Construction and Maintenance unit has applied sustainability measures in most projects, which are in the design, tendering and implementation stages. It has put in place a model list of specifications for green buildings, including six main elements, namely location, materials, quality of internal environment, energy efficiency, water and waste management, says the ministry.

Other secondary elements are also included, such as building orientation, shading, insulation, reflective and double-glazed glass, energy-saving lights, smart light control techniques, sensor taps in bathrooms, solar-powered heaters and environment-friendly materials in all mechanical services systems, it adds.

Mona Al Motawa, the assistant undersecretary for construction projects and maintenance at the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning, said the ministry aims to press ahead with the green and sustainable buildings initiative as a strategy that has been implemented since 2010.

According to statistics, green buildings have contributed to conserving water and electricity by 30 per cent, saving operation and maintenance costs by 15 per cent, reducing carbon emissions by 35 per cent and construction waste by 50 to 75 per cent.

Among the ministry’s completed “green” projects are the Wadi Al Sail Primary/Intermediate School for Boys, the first environment-friendly school that was recently handed over to the Ministry of Education, in addition to the new academic buildings at Bahrain Training Institute.

Other schools are presently being implemented as part of the Gulf Development Programme, namely Hamad Town Intermediate School for Boys, Malkiya Primary/Intermediate School for Girls, Busaiteen Intermediate School for Girls, Hunainiya Secondary School for Boys and Isa Town Primary School for Boys. The Building Maintenance Directorate of the ministry will evaluate the efficiency of the buildings in operation, as part of the assessment, control, evaluation and development stage.

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