Cement manufacturers like Alexander F
Bouri may want to consider making their cement more environmentally
friendly, since green construction is getting very popular around the
world. It's now common for newly
constructed buildings to be made eco-friendly, and one region seems to be
taking eco-friendly construction to the next level.
In the past the Persian Gulf wasn't exactly the most
eco-friendly region on earth. The
burning oil wells and unchecked drilling, water usage, and the entire city of
Dubai were widely criticized by environmentalists for consuming resources at an
alarming rate. The International Energy
Agency has claimed that Qatar has the highest per capita emissions in the
world, and the surrounding nations of Kuwait, UAE, and Bahrain aren't doing
much better. Now the Gulf region is going
through a green renaissance, precious resources like oil and water are being
conserved and new buildings are designed to be as environmentally friendly as
possible.
Designing eco-friendly buildings would do a lot to help
lower the Gulf's emissions. Thanks to
popular glass skyscrapers and non-stop air condition usage to beat the desert
heat, Gulf buildings account for 70% of the area's energy consumption. The new Qatar National Convention Center is
one of the most ambitious green buildings in the Gulf. The famous eco-friendly architect Arata
Isozaki designed Qatar's new convention center, and some people consider it to
be one of the most environmentally sound convention centers in the world. It's been constructed with sustainably logged
wood, and has 3,500 square meters of solar panels on its roof.
The buildings aren't the only things that are changing in
the Gulf. Attitudes about energy
consumption used to be almost non-existent; since the region is rich with
fossil fuels people didn't think much of their rampant resource
consumption. Now people in both the
public and private sector in the Gulf region are trying to make their countries
more sustainable. Businessmen are
investing in green business and are trying to make their own goods and services
eco-friendly as well. Governments are
also trying to encourage their employees to conserve energy.
