Ruben Munoz, Head of GSAS Civil Group at GORD
Qatar has intensified efforts to ensure sustainability by adopting sustainable practices and green building standards. The implementation of the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) is vital to achieve circular economy.
Speaking at the 3rd Recycling Towards Sustainability Conference and Exhibition 2023, Ruben Munoz, Head of GSAS Civil Group at Gulf Organization for Research and Development (GORD) discussed the topic entitled ‘GORD GSAS Implementation For a Circular Economy: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 stadiums’. He presented the case study for the FIFA World Cup stadiums during construction and showed how 59 percent of the total solid waste generated in Qatar can be diverted from landfill by GSAS construction management.
Speaking about GSAS certifications and project stages, he said, “We have three different types of certifications under GSAS and they cater for the three different phases of the construction projects. We measure the design practices with GSAS construction management and once the building is completed, we measure how it operates in a green way with GSAS operations.”
Referring to World Cup stadiums and how waste management was implemented using the GSAS construction management tool, Munoz pointed out that an average of 79 percent waste was diverted from the landfill. “In Qatar 75 percent of solid waste comes from the construction and demolition which means if all the construction sites here follow the GSAS construction management then 59 percent of the total solid waste generated in the country would be diverted.”
Munoz also highlighted GORD’s role for upcoming Doha Horticultural Expo 2023 and new certifications for expos and festival sites. He said, “Horticultural Exhibition Expo 2023 Doha will be starting in October and is going to be certified under GSAS EcoLeaf. This will contain all the phases of the project from the design, construction, and operations during six months of the event and after that dismantling and legacy.”
GSAS EcoLeaf promotes sustainability concept and practices for design, construction and operations.
Speaking about the best practices to reduce, reuse and recycle, he said, “We developed and implemented a robust waste tracking system. We have 62 projects covering 150 million square feet which have been registered under GSAS-CM that has been endorsed by projects such as FIFA stadiums, Qatar railway stations, Ashghal buildings, Hamad Port projects, Lusail City projects, as well as private and government buildings.”
“In GORD, we have GSAS operations which also deals with circular economy because waste management plan has to be implemented in the buildings that are being operated and on-site measurements as well, they are dealing with the recycling.”
Munoz presented the link between circular economy and climate change and explained the importance of circular economy in climate action. “Every year, an estimated 11.2 billion tonnes of solid waste is collected worldwide. Waste contributes to about 5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions especially methane. So, with the circular economy we can reduce the waste and methane emissions,” he said.
He added, “For every ton of recycled paper, 17 trees and 50 percent of water can be saved. So, we have less natural resources to extract, less CO2 emissions from the production of the good and that’s how circular economy manages to fights climate change.
“We also have 62 buildings here, almost 6 million square meter certified and on them we have the stadiums, Qatar Foundation buildings, healthcare centers, buildings at The Pearl, Lulu Hypermarkets, Aspire, Sidra Hospital and Metro station. We have almost 2000 sustainability certified buildings. We have stadiums, Qatar Rail, Lusail, Ashghal, Manateq, and Hamad Port,” he added.
