Construction bosses in Saudi Arabia have revealed that billions is set to be spent on green construction projects.

Faisal Al-Fadl, secretary general of the Saudi Green Building Forum, claims that the state is planning to spend SR100 billion (£17 billion) on 76 green projects for the area. Forty-three of these are said to be located in the capital, Riyadh.

Ambitious sustainable construction training targets

Around 200 engineers are undergoing training each year in the area to help prepare for the work, according to Al-Fadl. This is due to the fact that a lack of engineers specialising in green construction has crippled the sector’s growth, according to the Secretary General.

Cited by alarabiya.net, he commented:

“There are only 150 Saudi engineers specialised in green building. We hope the number of engineers specialised in green building will reach 1,000 within the next three years.”

Saudi Arabia is home to around 5% of the Middle Eastern green building projects

Development of green buildings is typically around two – 13 per cent more costly than a standard building; however Al-Fadl said he was hoping that the sustainable constructions would prove to be cost-effective in the long-run.

There are now around 40,500 green building projects around the globe, according to zawya.com. Saudi Arabia is home to around five per cent of the Middle Eastern projects, according to Al-Fadl.

Author: Samantha Bartlett Date Written: 25 June 2013