Qatar Foundation’s new student housing complex, which uses solar and wind energy and implements environment-friendly practices, is expected to be ready by spring next year.

Located in Education City, the new 12-building residence halls complex has solar panels installed on the roofs and the shades in the car-park, set to generate about 15 per cent of its required power.

The buildings, now under construction, were designed according to Leed (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum standards.

The new Leed-designed residence halls will implement environment-friendly practices such as wind turbines which will provide up to three per cent of the complex’s energy needs. Grey water will be reused for lavatories and irrigation. A significant amount of the building materials also come from the region, within an 800-km radius, and concrete in the buildings reuse fly-ash.