Doha: To ensure sustainable operations and maintenance of the stadiums during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and beyond, the Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (GORD) certified a group of 34 engineers, operators and facility management professionals on November 5.

Titled GSAS Operations Certified Green Professional (CGP) Workshop, the course was organised in collaboration with the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) at the site of Al Janoub Stadium – one of the eight stadiums to host 2020 FIFA World Cup. 

Attending the training were representatives from SC and Mosanada – the facility management organisation responsible for providing the facility management consultancy services for the infrastructure projects of SC.  Founding Chairman of GORD, Dr. Yousef Alhorr said: “With most World Cup stadiums in Qatar now nearing completion, it is about time we took sustainability to the next stage that comes after design and construction." 

The founding Chairman of GORD, Dr. Yousef Alhorr added: “Now is the time for Qatar’s stadiums to gear up for setting yet another benchmark by incorporating green principles in their operations phase. To this end, GORD is proud to be a part of SC’s journey by providing the necessary knowledge, skillsets and tools within the sustainability realm through its GSAS Workshop series.” 

The event was marked by the presence of Engineer Abdulaziz Ali Al Ishaq, Al Janoub Stadium Manager, who said, “Qatar’s stadiums meet all the required sustainability measures to obtain GSAS certificates with outstanding ratings. For these projects, sustainability started from the very beginning. When we issued the documents for tendering, we had specified the sustainability measures we were looking for.  These were incorporated during the design, construction, handover and commissioning stages.” 

Representing Mosanada’s senior leadership Adam Wood, Deputy Director of Business Solutions at Mosanda, said, “GSAS operations is the framework that has been used and approved for ensuring that the stadiums are sustainably operated. At Mosanada, we make sure that all aspects of the operations of the stadiums are sustainable and are setting world-leading trends.”  

As Mena's first performance-based green building certification system, the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) aims to curb projects’ carbon footprint linked with their design, construction and operations primarily through three certifications – GSAS Design & Build, GSAS Construction Management and GSAS Operations. 

Speaking about Mosanada’s plans to implement GSAS Operations, Sailatha Theagaraj, Senior Sustainability Engineer at Mosanada, said, “We are currently working on strategising sustainability for the SC stadiums to achieve the GSAS Operations certification. Achieving the GSAS operations certification is itself a statement that we are very sustainable and are performing and achieving all the sustainability requirements. This training session will help us get there easily and will bridge the gap between what is expected and where we are.”

SOURCE: THEPENINSULAQATAR