First for Qatar Foundation as QNCC gets LEED Gold

Kansas City-based Burns & McDonnell was executive architect on the convention centre extension.

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The Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) Extension/Exhibition Hall has earned LEED Gold certification under the US Green Building Council's LEED for New Construction (LEED-NCv2.2) rating system, according to US-based Vertegy.

The project is the first of its kind to earn LEED certification, and is the first LEED-certified project on the Qatar Foundation (QF) campus.

The 107,535.26m² QNCC Extension/Exhibition Hall comprises large exhibition spaces, conference spaces and offices, along with circulation, arrival concourse and back-of-house support areas.

There is also an external link bridge that connects the new exhibition hall with the existing Qatar Science and Technology Park. It will also serve as the Mass Transit System (People Mover) station for these two buildings.

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This system, coupled with multiple campus bus service lines, can be found throughout the QF site to support a pedestrian-friendly campus.

Kansas City-based Burns & McDonnell, which served as the executive architect on the convention centre extension and provided the civil, mechanical and electrical engineering, recruited Vertegy to assist with the sustainable design of the project. The two companies have been working together on several projects on the QF campus since 2007.

The team sought innovative ways to demonstrate QF's commitment to the environment by incorporating on-site renewable energy sources that produce a considerable percentage of the building's energy needs.

Additional sustainable features incorporated into the building include bicycle storage racks close to a primary entrance; roof surfaces that either support a PV array or are covered with a high-albedo roofing material to reduce the heat island effect; a greywater capture system that is fed from all of the low-flow showers, fixtures and sinks used for the sewage conveyance from the building and elements to provide a high standard of indoor environmental quality, including a non-smoking policy indoors and an HVAC system.

Additionally, the building is comprised of a combination of cast-in-place and precast concrete and a steel super-structure. The concrete floors, supporting members and other selected finish materials added to the quantity of recycled content. The team also used locally extracted and manufactured materials.

"The magnitude of this project, combined with the shared experience and talent possessed by the project team, encouraged innovations throughout the design," said Thomas Taylor, GM of Vertegy and Doha-based Vertegy International, established in 2011 to help better serve the rising demand for sustainable project management in the Middle East.

"QF should be commended for its commitment to building a LEED certified exhibition hall and in creating a world-class university and research campus that supports sustainable initiatives," said Taylor.