(MENAFN- Arab Times) In line with their mission of launching premier events that serve Kuwait's economic, cultural and social objectives "UNIEXPO", announces the "Sustainability in Kuwait" Conference and exhibition to be held between December 6th-8th 2015 at the Regency Hotel, Kuwait. The GCC nations all ranked in the top twenty for emissions per capita worldwide in 2014.According to the World Economic Forum, the GCC nations are among those that will be most adversely affected by climate change, with increased pressure on scarce water resources and arable land, rising air pollution, and increased likelihood of flooding in coastal areas the most likely vulnerabilities. In addition to environmental concerns, there are energy security and economic implications. Diversion of gas originally desatined for export to the Kuwait market to meet excessive local demand directly results in loss of potential foreign-exchange revenue.
Mahmoud Maghraby, Marketing Manager at "UNIEXPO" stated "Having noted the above environmental and economic implications, "UNIEXPO" envisioned the need for a Sustainability Conference and Expo in line with global standards, meeting Kuwait's specific needs and addressing local challenges. This event promotes a number of strategic objectives which aim to effectively address the issues discussed and for resolution identifies three strategic areas of focus, along with associated initiatives for effective tactical follow through. Focus areas include: promoting knowledge of sustainable design and maintenance practices throughout the Facilities Management and Engineering communities".
Maghraby also elaborated on a current local market trend: heightened awareness of environmental issues amongst industry and research leaders, major governmental institutions and other leaders in Kuwait market. This is evidenced by a recent increase in high profile projects in Kuwait targeting green building certification under the LEED rating system, including Kuwait Airport Terminal 2 and National Bank of Kuwait Headquarters Building and Equate New Headquarters.
Ranya Metwalli Shields, LEED AP BD+C, CEM , Director of the Technical Committee, described the challenges facing Kuwait based businesses with a sustainability agenda as follows: " Businesses with sustainability objectives in Kuwait must work to overcome absence of mechanisms for mitigating the cost impact of "going green", general lack of economic incentives and low local cost of fossil fuels. Initiatives such as local or regional carbon trading programs would assist with the economic aspect of implementing renewable technologies. It is also critical to devise appropriate regulatory frameworks driving said objectives. This conference implements a number of initiatives to meet these needs."
"Feedback from current projects also indicates the cost impact of sustainable construction is higher in Kuwait than it is in other parts of the world ," continued Metwalli Shields. " LEED projects in Kuwait report higher construction costs by up to 40%. By comparison, USGBC research indicates LEED certified buildings in the USA report construction costs within the normal range for similar "Non- LEED" buildings ." Metwalli Shields noted that this may be attributed to increased cost of access to products and services aimed at reducing environmental impact as well as the lack of economic incentives described earlier .In response, the exhibitor section of the expo aims to provide the Kuwait market with a broad spectrum of options in terms of products whilst simultaneously providing business opportunities to local , regional and International firms.
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