TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA QPM, one of the region’s premier project management companies and the first Qatari firm in the field, participated in the Climate Control Conference, which was held in Doha recently.

The tagline for the international gathering was: “This time around, we are talking water!” and the theme was: ‘Optimising water use in district cooling, exploring macro-directions’.

District cooling is the process whereby buildings and other structures are cooled by water which has been chilled at a central location and fed into a ‘grid’ - similar to how electricity is distributed.

District cooling is emerging as perhaps the most attractive option for meeting the comfort cooling needs of Qatar, supplanting traditional air-conditioning systems.

Industry insiders agree that it is energy-efficient and therefore reduces carbon emissions; it is also reliable.

District cooling, by its very nature, requires large volumes of water and this poses myriad challenges.

Discussion at the conference centred on what the specific challenges are, how to mitigate some of these issues and which direction the industry should move in.

As a company which deals in large-scale projects in Qatar and across the region, these were discussions of great interest to QPM. As project managers of developments utilising district cooling, QPM sought to learn about latest developments in the industry. Additionally, QPM is always interested in exploring ‘green’ technology as part of its commitment to environmentally-aware business practices.

QPM’s participation in the conference extended to a talk given by one of its employees, Salah Nezar, sustainability director, on water consumption and demand in the GCC.

Nezar commented, “QPM’s vision is to become a leading provider of fee-based project management and construction management services to local and regional clients, with a particular focus on core sectors and geographies, and with a skilled capability for integrated solutions.

“In order to reach this goal it is vital that QPM stays on top of the latest technological advances relevant to our business.

This was the motivation behind our participation in the Climate Control Conference. We were able to learn a good deal about the latest developments in district cooling, and about what the future holds for this technology.” “QPM is committed to exploring green and renewable technologies as environmental awareness is part of this company’s DNA.

Adherence to best practice in the application of green technologies is obviously beneficial to the environment, and saves resources,” Nezar added.