Muscat: Ways to save water and energy and make the best use of building resources will be up for discussion during the two-day "Green Days" Conference in Muscat next week.
Professor Dr Burkhard Rauhut, Rector at the German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech), said organisers hoped the conference would convey a strong educational message to help protect the environment.
The Muscat Green Days Conference, titled “Education for a Sustainably Built Environment” will be on October 5 and 6 at the Grand Hyatt Muscat, and will also deal with the conservation of nature and culture, Dr Rauhut said on Saturday.
“During the two-day conference 16 experts from different fields will discuss ways how to save energy today and for the wellbeing of our future generations,” the professor said.
The event is being organised by German-Emirati Consultancy Sesam Consulting, in co-operation with GUtech. The conference will be chaired by Dr Dieter Fuchs, General Manager of Fraunhofer Middle East and President of the World Association of Applied Research, WAITRO.
“In a typical community, buildings consume more than 45 per cent of the energy. If the energy for traffic, connected travel between residence and work is included, the ratio rises up to 75 per cent,” Professor Dr Rauhut said.
The conference was also expected to serve as a networking platform for related industries – national and international - to foster long-lasting relations and exchange knowledge and ideas.
GUtech indicated it was aware of the importance of sustainable urban planning and architectural design, which it said formed an integral part of different GUtech study-programmes.
Renewable energies which worked with sustainable architecture, urban planning and waste management would be the most important topics to be presented by international experts during the conference, organizers said.
Architects Hoehler and Partner are scheduled to talk about the new GUtech campus in Halban that, once complete in 2014, will include a host of environmental friendly features.
Richard Lisker, Architect and Project Director of the GUtech project at Hoehler and Partner said: “For example we will include green courtyards that create a microclimate and reduce the use of air-conditioning”.
He added that sustainable building practices went beyond energy and water conservation to incorporate environmentally sensitive site planning, and resource-efficient building materials.
The Muscat Green Days Conference is part of a series of regional conferences about environmentally friendly building and strategies to conserve the environment, organised by the German-Emirati Consultancy Sesam Business Consultants.
