Energy efficiency for fueling the world

The subject of the workshop was selected to target an important area in the Arab Countries that is energy conservation. As developing countries, issues concerning reforming energy requirements are not targeted in policy planning. Therefore, this workshop was developed to bring the attention of engineers, government officials and decision makers to such an important area and consequently raising their level of awareness and motivating them to mobilize energy conservation actions.

With continuous population growth and building expansion in cities and urban communities, the demands for electrical energy is on the increase. Energy consumption per capita for Kuwait now rivals that of the most industrialized nations in the world such as the USA. The trend in escalating growth rate for the demand of electrical energy can be noticed in many Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Since the only source of energy in GCC countries is oil and gas and that substantial pollution result from the combustion process at the power stations to generate the required electricity and because new power plants are needed to meet this ever increasing demand, energy conservation practices are therefore a prime concern for GCC countries, as in many countries in the world.

In GCC countries most of the energy is consumed by air-conditioned buildings. In Kuwait for instance, about 50% of the total annual energy consumption is attributed to air-conditioning of buildings in all sectors. Accordingly the workshop will focus on the following points

• The national situation with regards to energy consumption and impact of implementing energy conservation practices.
• Means to reduce the growth rate in the demand for electrical energy – Kuwait code of practice experience.
• Application of energy conservation measures in new and existing buildings
• Impact of new technologies : building envelope and heating, ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) systems.