The Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC) is set to host its first annual conference in April, in a two-day event to be held at the Qatar National Convention Centre.

The conference, taking place on April 27-28, will highlight research and best practices in the industry, along with the challenges facing sustainable construction in Qatar.

Academics and industry professionals will share expertise at the event around four themes: Future Sustainable Cities, which looks at the needs of upcoming metropolitan areas; Retrofitting Doha, which examines maximising use of existing buildings; Passivhaus in the MENA Region, which discusses sustainable technology; and Carbon Footprint and Qatar’s National Vision, which looks at tackling emissions.

The “Qatar Green Building Conference will set the benchmark for green building and sustainability research in Qatar and the region,” said Engineer Meshal Al Shamari, director of the council. “QGBC welcomes stakeholders operating in Qatar’s green building sector to use this conference as an opportunity to share their knowledge and experience with the broader community to move steps closer to helping Qatar establish a more advanced green building culture.”

According to a Ventures Middle East report released last September, Qatar had the second largest share of LEED-rated projects in the GCC region.

LEED – or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – is a green building-certification program that recognises best-in-class building strategies and practices.

Out of 1,236 such projects in the region in 2013, Qatar had 190 projects, making up 16% of the total. Meanwhile, UAE had the lion’s share of green projects at 67%, while Saudi Arabia came third at 13%.