The event will be held concurrently with the fifth gulfBID exhibition.

A high-level forum to discuss environment related challenges and issues facing the world through the eyes of the construction industry will be convened on May 5 in Bahrain.

The first Green Building Forum to be held at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), it is the first of its kind in the Gulf. The event will feature debate and discussion among local, regional and international business leaders, environmental pioneers and entrepreneurs, on the role of the construction and housing sectors in developing green buildings and a cleaner environment, under the theme, Innovating to Protect the Environment.

Topics under the spotlight will include: The Copenhagen Treaty and its relevance to the Gulf; Government Regulations and Green Codes of Conduct; Green Building in the Gulf; Environmentallysympathetic Design and Construction; Challenges for the Construction Industry and Sustainable Building Materials; Smart Buildings; Renewable Energy Powering the Home; Carbon Trading or Zero Emissions; Innovation in Building; Recycling Waste; and Green Building Training and Education.

The Green Building Forum is organised by Bahrainbased Hilal Conferences & Exhibitions (HCE), in association with international event consultancy, North Star Associates. HCE and North Star also co-organised the Gulf Industry Forum in Bahrain in January.

Jubran Abdulrahman, Managing Director, HCE said: “The Green Building Forum is enormously relevant to the construction industry and the wider world. The Gulf’s construction sector is now looking to address environmental challenges and harness new opportunities and the Forum provides the intellectual platform for a high level exchange of information and opinions from regional and international experts.”

Ahmed Suleiman, Managing Director, North Star Associates, said: “The Forum is a demonstration of Bahrain’s potential as a base for intellectual exchange on a number of key issues that are important to the future of the environment, wherever we are. The Green Building Forum is a debating chamber relating not only to construction, but also energy usage, waste recycling, sustainable building materials and design.

“Moreover, the Forum will highlight education as a key component to changing our perceptions. That the power to make a difference is within the hands of everyone is the message that we hope delegates will take from the Forum.”

The Green Building Forum will be held concurrently with the fifth gulfBID exhibition – the exhibition for the construction and interiors industry in the Northern Gulf, which will be held from May 4 to 6 at the BIEC.

The organisers advise early registration, as seats at the Forum are limited.