The Big 5 Saudi, an international building and construction show set to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has announced the first ladies-only Leed (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) workshop at this year’s event.

The largest gathering of the construction industry in the kingdom, The Big 5 Saudi will kick off on March 9 and run for the next three days.

The full-day workshop, Leed for ladies v4 objectives and strategies, will take place on March 11 from 9 am to 6.15 pm at the Holiday Inn Jeddah Gateway.

The innovative workshop will help the participants understand the structure of the Leed rating system and minimum programme requirements, while discussing the overall Leed certification process, said the event organiser.

During the course of the day, participants will learn about the associated concepts of each Leed credit category and gain the ability to recognise successful Leed strategies and measurements for achieving credit category goals, it stated.

The instructor of the workshop, Mario Seneviratne, will engage participants in real-life Leed project examples, providing them practical insights.

Seneviratne, also the director of Green Technologies, said: "Now that the construction industry in Saudi Arabia is implementing more sustainable buildings, the workshop offers professionals a better chance to develop their skills and implement them on projects they are working on."

"This is the first year we have offered this workshop to ladies only and we are delighted to tailor these workshops for the Saudi market. The knowledge that the workshop offers will create a demand for participating professionals, with both professional certification and experience," he added.

Saudi Arabia has made great progress in sustainability over the last decade with the formation of the Saudi Green Building Council in 2009, said the event organiser.

As the country continues its quest to become a more sustainable nation, the demand for sustainable developments has dramatically increased, in turn leading to a greater need for education and training in the subject.

Green building projects accounted for more than 20 million sq m at the end of 2014 and this figure is expected to double in 2015, it added.

Nathan Waugh, the event director at dmg events, said: "Leed is a vital part of construction today not just globally but locally. There are a large number of projects and buildings that are certified or working towards certification here in the kingdom. As Saudi Arabia moves towards becoming a sustainable nation, we are proud to be able to use our event platform to help make sustainability education more widely available."

"We regularly receive a great deal of interest from ladies looking to gain qualifications on Leed ratings, but until now we have not been able to act on that interest," stated Waugh.  

Leed certification is a mark of excellence and achievement in green building that has become the most widely used green building rating system in the world.

Leed certification provides independent authentication of a structure or area’s green features, allowing for the design, construction, operations and maintenance of resource-efficient, high-performing, healthy, cost-effective buildings.-TradeArabia News Service