RIYADH — A 3-day executive training on “Energy Efficiency in Public Buildings: Policies-Technologies and Best Practices”, under the aegis of Madinah Governor Prince Faisal bin Salman, was held in Madinah recently.
The event is an initiative of the EU GCC Clean Energy Technology Network co-organised with the Al– Madinah Al–Munawrah Development Authority (MDA) and the Environmental Center for Arab Towns (ECAT), in association with Blue Wave Media.
The seminar saw the participation of 40 selected experts from the GCC and Arab public sector. Eng. Fahad Al Buliheshi, Secretary General of MDA, officially opened the executive training program by welcoming the partner organizations, delegates and experts.
“Al Madinah Al Munawarah Development Authority welcomes the cooperation with the EU GCC Clean Energy Technology Network and the Environmental Center for Arab Towns in the field of clean energy and renewable energy as it comes from the priorities of MDA.”
The European Union and the Arab regions share a continued challenge for mitigating climate change in a sustainable way, thus more countries are increasing their efforts in implementing measures that will reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
Buildings are playing a significant role since they are considered as the main energy consumers. For this reason, there is an increasing demand for the deployment of energy efficiency retrofits for private, commercial and public buildings, which is considered to be as a very important pathway for increasing energy security in worldwide level.
Hussain Al Fardan, director of The Environmental Center for Arab Towns (ECAT), said, “The aim in partnering with the EU GCC Clean Energy Technology Network and the Al Madina Al Munawarah Development Authority is to raise capacity building of professionals from Arab towns regarding energy efficiency in buildings and the strategies, technologies attached to it and to learn from lessons learned, knowhow and best practices in the EU countries and worldwide, thanks to all presenters from the EU GCC for their valuable informative presentations.”
“This seminar aims to enhance awareness on energy efficiency and energy conservation in the building sector and facilitate knowledge exchange and partnerships between the EU and the Arab regions,” noted Dr. Mustapha Taoumi, energy technology expert, representative of the EU GCC Clean Energy Technology Network at his opening address.
“The EU and the GCC have a huge opportunity to be partners in the “clean energy transition” that is happening in the global energy arena. The European Union is keen to share the lessons learned and best practices from its clean energy technologies and policies followed in the past years. The EU GCC Clean Energy Technology Network is a mechanism that can facilitate this interaction and exchange among the two regions. We are honored to be hosted in Madinah, partnering with motivated and strong actors of the region for this important initiative and we look forward to more events towards the same objective.”
The three days executive training addressed numerous topics that included: EU Energy Efficiency policies in New and Existing buildings, Energy efficiency policies and developments in the GCC and the Arab regions, Climate Resilience – Water Efficiency Technologies & Practices, Energy Conservation in Buildings, Energy Efficiency measures in Building Envelope/HVAC systems/Lighting systems, as well as Smart Grids and the integration of variable RES, Measuring, Monitoring Methods & Procedures — BEMS, Trigeneration and District Cooling Systems, Financial analysis of EE projects for Public Buildings, Smart energy Buildings and Net Zero Energy Public Buildings.
