Achieves hat trick at IDEA conference

Qatar Cool has won an industry award at the 102nd IDEA conference, held this year in conjunction with the Canadian District Energy Association. M Khader, Business Development Manager of Qatar Cool was in Toronto, Canada, to receive the award. The company said that it had won the award for the third consecutive year.

According to Qatar Cool, it was recognised for expanding the district energy industry by being one of the leading providers to supply the highest number of buildings outside of North America during 2010, adding to its operational and contracted customers, 42 new buildings in 2010, serving an area of 6,489,357 square feet.

Qatar Cool supplies Doha’s West Bay area through two district cooling plants, producing a total of 67,000 TR of cooling. The company also owns and operates the world’s largest integrated district cooling plant, on the Pearl-Qatar Island.

The accomplishments of Qatar Cool were reportedly showcased at the IDEA conference, with Al Khatib addressing a plenary session on “Local Drivers – District Energy: Essential Infrastructure for Energy Efficient Communities”. During the session, industry leaders discussed the integration and optimisation of district energy, environment and economy in major urban centres. Al Khatib told the conference that while Qatar had one of the largest carbon footprints per head of population in the world, district cooling schemes would contribute to significant reductions of the footprint through considerable energy savings, which result in lower CO2 and other harmful gas emissions as well as the use of ozone-friendly refrigerants.

Commenting on his company winning the award, Al Khatib said: “This award reflects Qatar Cool’s commitment to excellence and reinforces our position as an industry leader in the field of district cooling. Earning recognition from an organisation, such as the International District Energy Association (IDEA) sends out the positive message of our continuous drive for meeting and exceeding our customer’s and stakeholder’s expectations.”

Al Khatib also highlighted the importance of public-private partnerships and the strong need for planning and engaging with all stakeholders early on in such large-scale projects. He described the significant progress Qatar Cool had made in its six-year history, supporting Qatar’s 2030 National Vision and its Environmental Development Programme, aimed at finding harmony between economic growth, social development and environmental protection.