With the goal to achieve the highest concentration of LEED certified sustainable buildings in a single community anywhere in the world, Qatar’s 110-building Msheireb urban development project is tapping into a global talent pool, including a team of Oregon-based firms: Interface Engineering and Green Building Services (GBS).
The team is led by Interface Engineering, which will provide commissioning and energy modeling review. The project will be managed through the firm’s Doha, Qatar office. GBS will direct the project’s side-wide LEED consulting and compliance review. Staff from Interface and GBS will be co-located with the project’s design and construction team at the onsite office for the five-year contract’s duration.
The $5.5 billion sustainable downtown regeneration project underway by Msheireb Properties will transform a 76 acres site at the centre of Doha, Qatar’s capital city, recreating a way of living that is rooted in Qatari culture, attracting residents back to the city center and reversing the trend for decentralization. The six-phase mixed-use development will contain commercial and residential properties, hotels, mosques, and a school, as well as cultural and entertainment areas.
“Interface and GBS provide a unique combination of commissioning, LEED consulting, energy efficiency and water conservation expertise. Collectively, our team has certified 430 LEED buildings around the world, with hundreds of LEED registered projects under development,” says Omid Napiboor, President of Interface Engineering. “On the Msheireb project, we are working closely with leading international design firms. We plan to share our expertise to guide an overall approach to sustainability, energy and water conservation, but we will also be learning from the project’s world class design leaders. We’re looking forward to collaborating on new ideas and best practices for sustainable solutions, and bringing them back to our clients in the Pacific Northwest.”
The five-year Msheireb contract appoints the team to develop a site-wide framework and to implement individual building strategies with some of the world’s best-known architectural and engineering firms for all buildings to achieve LEED certification.
“This ambitious project offers an exciting vision for a new architectural lexicon founded in the traditions of Qatar. These ‘new’ sustainable development solutions are providing a model for future development for the entire region,” says Ralph DiNola, a principal with GBS. “We have taken our many years of experience with the LEED Rating Systems and applied it to nearly 10,000,000-sf of new construction to make the whole LEED process easy for the owner, contractors, and consultants while maintaining the integrity of the certifications. By doing so, we help to facilitate the adoption of green building practices on a massive scale.”
The Msheireb project master plan involves a series of sustainable design objectives, many of which have already been successfully implemented by Interface Engineering and GBS on projects in the U.S.
“Because of the desalination process used extensively throughout Qatar and the region, water has a very large carbon footprint. For the Msheireb project, we will work to minimize and reduce the need for potable water through a site-wide strategy to use treated sewage effluent for non potable uses such as irrigation, flushing toilets, and urinals,” says Jon Gray, Interface Principal leading the team’s water conservation and water reclamation strategies. “Reducing water consumption in Qatar is an important part of reducing overall carbon emissions.”
The Interface/GBS team will help set a new bar for global excellence in sustainability as they work with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to make the Msheireb project one of the first large-scale, international master plans certified through USGBC’s LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) rating system. In addition, Interface staff will act as the commissioning authority to achieve the Fundamental and Enhanced Commissioning LEED requirements laid down by the USGBC for all buildings and district cooling plants.
“Doha is an extremely hot and sunny climate and one of the greatest opportunities is to reduce the cooling energy. Shading is the most sustainable strategy to accomplish that, but its implementation must be aligned with desired views, daylighting goals and the architectural fabric. This is one of the areas we hope to be able to help influence on the project. The stakes are high. Each strategy that is implemented on the project is likely to be replicated on a very large scale, making our potential impact exciting,” says Andy Frichtl, Interface Commissioning Principal and Site-wide Energy Consultant. BD+C
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Nation's first set of green building model codes and standards announced
The International Code Council (ICC), the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) announce the launch of the International Green Construction Code (IGCC), representing the merger of two national efforts to develop adoptable and enforceable green building codes.
| Aug 11, 2010
David Rockwell unveils set for upcoming Oscar show
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and 82nd Academy Awards® production designer David Rockwell unveiled the set for the upcoming Oscar show.
| Aug 11, 2010
More construction firms likely to perform stimulus-funded work in 2010 as funding expands beyond transportation programs
Stimulus funded infrastructure projects are saving and creating more direct construction jobs than initially estimated, according to a new analysis of federal data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. The analysis also found that more contractors are likely to perform stimulus funded work this year as work starts on many of the non-transportation projects funded in the initial package.
Museums | Aug 11, 2010
Design guidelines for museums, archives, and art storage facilities
This column diagnoses the three most common moisture challenges with museums, archives, and art storage facilities and provides design guidance on how to avoid them.
| Aug 11, 2010
Broadway-style theater headed to Kentucky
One of Kentucky's largest performing arts venues should open in 2011—that's when construction is expected to wrap up on Eastern Kentucky University's Business & Technology Center for Performing Arts. The 93,000-sf Broadway-caliber theater will seat 2,000 audience members and have a 60×24-foot stage proscenium and a fly loft.
| Aug 11, 2010
Citizenship building in Texas targets LEED Silver
The Department of Homeland Security's new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services facility in Irving, Texas, was designed by 4240 Architecture and developed by JDL Castle Corporation. The focal point of the two-story, 56,000-sf building is the double-height, glass-walled Ceremony Room where new citizens take the oath.
| Aug 11, 2010
Carpenters' union helping build its own headquarters
The New England Regional Council of Carpenters headquarters in Dorchester, Mass., is taking shape within a 1940s industrial building. The Building Team of ADD Inc., RDK Engineers, Suffolk Construction, and the carpenters' Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee, is giving the old facility a modern makeover by converting the existing two-story structure into a three-story, 75,000-sf, LEED-certif...
| Aug 11, 2010
Utah research facility reflects Native American architecture
A $130 million research facility is being built at University of Utah's Salt Lake City campus. The James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building—a USTAR Innovation Center—is being designed by the Atlanta office of Lord Aeck & Sargent, in association with Salt-Lake City-based Architectural Nexus.