Qatar UDC’s HQ becomes 1st in Pearl Island to get GSAS Operations certificate

UDC-GORD
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By Arya M Nair, Official Reporter
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United Development Company (UDC), a leading Qatari public shareholding company and the master developer of The Pearl and Gewan Islands, has secured the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) Operations Certificate in GOLD rating for its headquarters, UDC Tower.

This makes it the first building in The Pearl Island, to receive this top regional sustainability ranking from the Gulf Organization for Research & Development (GORD), for meeting sustainability and environmental best standards. At the same time, it is the first GSAS-certified project to demonstrate full indoor air quality compliance which qualifies it as a healthy building.

Ibrahim Jassim al-Othman
Ibrahim Jassim al-Othman
President & CEO – UDC

“UDC has been making diligent efforts to minimize our impact on the environment by reducing the average carbon footprint per employee as well as energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. This certification is therefore a step closer to achieving operational excellence, of which environmental sustainability is an inherent component. We finally hope this important milestone will contribute to making our business more sustainable, as we actively seek to continue improving our sustainability performance and rating.”

Founding Chairman of GORD, Dr. Yousef Alhorr said that “UDCs commitment to environmental excellence has been evident from the outset. Housing the largest district cooling plant in the world, The Pearl Island has already set a precedent in sustainable building practices and energy optimization. By receiving GSAS Operations, UDC is now pushing the limit to further reverse the effects of climate change resulting from our urban developments. We congratulate UDC for achieving GSAS GOLD rating and hope to see more projects benefiting from the GSAS framework.”

Related: QAPCO receives JV operational excellence award 2021 from TotalEnergies