H.H. Sayyid Tarik bin Shabib Al Said, the patron of the Environment Society of Oman, inaugurated the conference Austria Showcase – Innovative Energy and Smart Building Solutions recently in Muscat.

Organized by the Austrian Economic Delegation in Muscat and in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology, the event aimed to address the growing challenge of sustainable energy preservation in the Sultanate of Oman. The conference focused therefore on two specific aspects on energy efficiency:

1. Green Building: building efficiency, including the use of innovative new materials, technologies and designs to optimize energy usage and
2. Smart cities such as the integration of technology in urban planning to reduce energy consumption.

H.H. Sayyid Tarik bin Shabib Al Said emphasized during his opening speech that low oil prices needn’t be a setback to the progress of greener initiatives such as efficiency and renewables. “I would like to commend the initiative today to create a forum for dialogue on a subject of increasing urgency, in a more populous world that has succeeded in pulling a growing number of people out of poverty, people who aspire to emulate the middle and upper class who frankly are living lifestyles that when scaled up, are unsustainable,” he stated.

He expressed confidence that Oman is in a unique environment with respect to the potential adoption of more efficient technologies. “Oman’s glass point project will go live next year it is the largest solar steam generator for the oil industry of its kind and it will save 300,000 tons of emissions. Although these mega projects are exciting I believe the real tipping point will come from individuals adopting the technologies,” he added.

In an overwhelming response, over 130 representatives of the public and private sector in Oman attended the conference. Various examples of sustainable projects in Oman were presented such as the PDO large scale solar steam facility for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) and their LEED’s approved PDO International School in Ras Al Hamra, the housing programmes by the Oman Ministry of Housing, the Fahud Solar Project by Renaissance Services and the ECO House competitions by SQU, Higher College of Technology and GUtech led by The Research Council in Oman.

The Austrian experts came from public institutions, universities and companies specialized in state-of-the-art energy and construction technology ranging from research, consultancy, products and services such as smart grids, renewable energy sources like photovoltaics, thermal energy, storage of energy, energy efficient building technology and smart city solutions etc.

The Austrian Ministry of Innovation and Technology internationally promotes the programmes “Building of the Future” and “City of the Future” with Austrian know-how to address the growing challenges in urban space.

Reinhart Zimmermann, the Austrian Economic Counsellor to Oman, stated, “Human population is steadily growing on a planet with limited space, natural resources and fragile eco-systems. It is our obligation to invest in a sustainable development and introduce new ideas to keep our standard of living high without destroying the environment for future generations.”