The Saudi Green Building Council (SGBC), a non-government and non-profit organization, is launching a drive to promote the construction of “green buildings” through the application of energy-friendly architecture, an official of the council has said. Ali Al-Najim, founder-member and deputy chairman of SGBC, said the drive will kick-off by 2012 and will target mainly the construction sector to implement the application of energy-friendly architecture in buildings that efficiently use energy, water and other resources. “The drive towards the construction of green buildings is actually a key objective of the council. However, there is first the need to promote and facilitate green building awareness, practice and knowledge among the general public and the construction industry,” Najim said. “As development in the Kingdom grows, promoting the concept of green buildings is now more urgent than ever,” he stressed. He said a green building is constructed using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout the building's life cycle – from site selection to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction. “Green buildings should also protect the health of their occupants, improve the productivity of employees if the building is a business center, and reduce waste, pollution and environment degradation,” Najim said. He added that it is due to these objectives that the concept of green building in architecture design was emphasized in the recently concluded Second Saudi Green Building Forum in Riyadh. The high consumption of electricity in the Kingdom makes it necessary that the construction of new buildings take into consideration ways of reducing energy consumption through efficient designs. “The national consumption of electricity, which is expected to grow from 46GW in 2010 to more than 120GW in 2030, presents a huge resource problem. We can help reduce this consumption, though not significantly, through designing energy-friendly architecture and constructing green buildings,” Najim said. __
