Senior officials of Qatalum and Hydro after the opening ceremony of the ‘Zero Energy and Emission Neutral Building’ lab at the Mesaieed Industrial City, yesterday.
BY MOHAMMAD SHOEB
DOHA: Qatalum and Hydro — the Norwegian aluminium producer — yesterday unveiled Hydro’s newly established facility dedicated to researching and testing aluminium used in curtain wall solutions (facade) in support of creating energy, emission and carbon neutral buildings in the Middle East.
The ‘Zero Energy and Emission Building’ lab is located on site at the Qatalum smelter (Mesaieed) and was officially opened by Hilde Merete Aasheim, the Vice Chairman of Qatalum and the Executive Vice President of Hydro. Present were Qatalum CEO Tom Petter Johansen and Qatalum Deputy CEO Khalid Laram.
Aasheim said: “Today, around 40 percent of the world’s energy consumption is related to operate buildings, especially to cooling and heating of the buildings we work and live in. Hydro has delivered solutions in aluminium to a large number of energy-efficient and energy-positive buildings. If by using various devices the temperature inside the room can be lowered by one degree Celsius, then a saving of 5-10 percent in terms of energy used for air conditioning can be realised. Delivering such solutions requires high competence, and the solutions will to a large degree depend on the climate where you are.”
The inauguration ceremony continued at Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP), where Hydro and Qatalum have established a Technology Centre. A seminar was organised at QSTP with key speakers from the aluminium industry.
Opening the event at QSTP, Dr Chris Devadas, Head of the Technology Centre, welcomed the delegates and highlighted the research and technology undertaken at this centre.
Underscoring the importance of Hydro and Qatalum in driving research and bringing international best practice to the region, Devadas argued that Hydro Technology Centre “will build competence and cooperation with other institutions in Qatar in important areas that impact the global climate”.
“Research will be conducted to make assessments of the impact of the Middle East climate on building envelopes and how building envelopes can be developed to influence the long term sustainability of buildings. The ‘Zero Energy Emission’ facilities will enable us to provide environmentally sustainable products and knowledge on options for building design and layout,” he said.
Johansen also made a presentation on the role of aluminium as a part of the solution to climate change: “A zero energy building is a building with zero net energy consumption and zero carbon emissions annually. While no such building currently exists in Qatar, the potential to achieve this is great.”
He added: “The zero energy goal is becoming more practical as the costs of alternative energy technologies decrease and the costs of traditional fossil fuels increase.”
Johansen gave various examples of how aluminium has been used to provide elegant solution to the complex and urgent issue of climate change.
Jean-Marc Luvisutto, General Manager of Technal Middle East said: “In Europe, Hydro already supplies aluminium solutions to reduce energy consumption by implementing smart facade systems, which can significantly reduce the need for heating or cooling. The Peninsula
