00:00Every summer in Qatar, temperatures hover above 40 degrees Celsius
00:05with high humidity in the air.
00:08Yet, life continues.
00:10People go to work and school, out to eat,
00:13and for many, exercise is a year-round pursuit.
00:17That's because Qatar has engineered a way to beat the heat,
00:22investing in technologies and urban planning,
00:25from district cooling to comfortable outdoor spaces.
00:27As the world gets hotter, we explore how this desert landscape
00:31maintains daily life and movement, coexisting with nature.
00:36I'm Laila Humaira, and this is Qatar In Motion.
00:43Did you know that before technological innovations,
00:47Gulf communities relied on ancient wisdom to survive the heat?
00:51Old Qatari houses were built with what's called barjil, or wind towers.
00:57It's a passive cooling system that's designed to catch even the smallest breeze
01:01and funnel it indoors, improving ventilation.
01:06But with rapid economic expansion, Qatar must balance urban heat
01:12and its growth ambitions.
01:16Welcome to Jewan Island, Qatar's newest recreational, retail and residential district.
01:22Despite the summer heat, you'll find that walking around is pleasant and breezy.
01:27That's because of the air conditioning vents all around.
01:30Look up and you will see tree-like canopies that offer shade from direct sunlight
01:35and also contain the cool air, creating an urban forest.
01:40The 400,000 square meter island is United Development Company's most recent real estate project.
01:48Jewan creates a new essence of experience, leisure, walkability, and obviously convenience.
01:57So Jewan is a way that we kind of try as a developer to balance what we would consider as
02:06exclusivity
02:06and accessibility, innovation with heritage, and luxury with responsibility.
02:16What stands out of Jewan, of everybody, it's basically an all-seasonality development
02:22that one could potentially come and visit any time in the year.
02:27At the heart of UDC's new district is Crystal Walk,
02:31a distinctive retail destination that has earned a Guinness World Record
02:35as the world's largest outdoor, air-conditioned shopping boulevard.
02:40Stretching more than 7,300 square meters,
02:43temperatures are kept as low as 21 to 23 degrees Celsius,
02:47even during the height of summer, all made possible by district cooling.
02:53It was very important that we have district cooling as part of our DNA.
03:01And the reason being is that energy efficiency becomes paramount
03:07in basically the subject or the matter as it relates to sustainability.
03:14What we did is that we designed developments in the climate we had.
03:19The orientation of the building, the shades, mobility, green spaces, landscaping, walkability,
03:27all those were absolutely necessary and cohesive
03:31to actually address the climate issue that we live in.
03:35But behind the world record is a bigger ambition
03:38to create places where technology can impress
03:41but also make urban life cooler, cleaner, and more sustainable.
03:47G1 itself, as far as the Crystal Walk,
03:50is a Star 3 GSAS certified.
03:55What a GSAS certification do is that you have to look at specific designs
04:00at their very conception,
04:03all the way through the implementation and operation.
04:07So that's how sustainability is actually important for us.
04:11It's important that it's actually ingrained in within our designs
04:16and within how we operate our facilities.
04:21Jiwan Island's cooling system is one of five in Qatar
04:24and it's powered by a company aptly called Qatar Cool.
04:28Although we've come to depend on district cooling,
04:31the technology remains largely invisible to the general public.
04:35So how does it work?
04:37The main loop is between the plant and the end user.
04:42Chill water is generated in the district cooling plant
04:45and it is circulated through the piping distribution network
04:50up to the heat exchanger within the building.
04:53The loop two which is within the plant
04:55is between the chillers and the cooling towers
04:58wherein that is an open loop
05:00where the heat is dumped to the atmosphere
05:03by the way of evaporation.
05:05The third loop is within the customer's building itself
05:08wherein they pick up the cooling from the heat exchanger
05:12and distribute it throughout the building.
05:15These giant chillers in the company's Jiwan Island plant
05:18are capable of providing 18,000 tonnes of refrigeration,
05:23enough to remove the equivalent of more than 63 megawatts of heat
05:27at full capacity.
05:29The district cooling systems reduces the energy usage
05:32by 40% as compared to the conventional cooling.
05:36In Jiwan Island plant,
05:37we use thermal energy storage tanks in our design
05:41wherein we can generate cooling during the off-peak hours
05:45at less energy penalty
05:47and use the stored cooling during the daytime,
05:51during the peak hours.
05:53Beyond saving energy, conserving water usage
05:56and reducing emissions,
05:58district cooling will continue to play a big role
06:00in Qatar's sustainable development in the long run.
06:04Cooling is becoming a necessity even in the colder regions.
06:09In terms of climate mitigation,
06:11we have capability to do changes,
06:13implement new technologies in our plants,
06:16whereas you will not be able to expect
06:18hundreds of buildings to upgrade their systems
06:20depending on the situations they are tackling.
06:24To meet the growing demands of district cooling,
06:26Tata Cool opened its command control centre in 2024.
06:30This so-called mothership delivers real-time insight
06:33into plant efficiency, building operations
06:36and consumer consumption patterns,
06:39while also monitoring and optimising the work
06:42that is being done underground
06:43from a single, centralised location.
06:46The company is also supporting initiatives
06:49aimed at nurturing the next generation
06:52of climate innovators and water scientists
06:54by teaming up with the Qatar Science and Technology Park.
06:58The QSTP Total Energies Water Tech Accelerator
07:02is an accelerator for start-ups and scale-ups
07:07that have at least a minimum viable product
07:10or beyond a solution for the water challenges in the region.
07:15This initiative was started due to the demands
07:19and the challenges the industrial and municipal sectors are facing
07:23and they need help to identify
07:26and bridge the gap from innovation towards business standards.
07:31This is the perfect testbed for all the innovative technologies
07:35to prove that their solutions work
07:38and whatever can work here in Qatar
07:40can actually work in other countries.
07:42Through boosting public-private partnerships
07:45and investing in green energy,
07:47Qatar is ensuring that the innovation loop
07:49continues to produce real-life solutions
07:52that enhance the quality of life for its residents.
07:58While district cooling helps to tackle the heat,
08:01it still begs the question,
08:03how do people take part in outdoor activities?
08:05Well, the short answer is,
08:07they bring the workout indoors.
08:09All over the Gulf, running clubs and wellness communities
08:12are utilising large indoor air-conditioned spaces
08:16to kick-start a new trend.
08:18Here in Qatar, mall running is catching on so fast,
08:22the challenge is to keep up.
08:26Running inside the mall,
08:28when we did it the first time,
08:29it was a need.
08:30The mall, it's a place where it is air-conditioned
08:33and well-prepared,
08:35cleaned, secure.
08:36A lot of people are looking for the executes.
08:39And this is our job,
08:40it is to remove the executes for them.
08:43So part of running inside the mall,
08:45it is to remove the executes for people
08:47that we cannot run because the weather is not good.
08:50We are always there to give you a lifestyle of training
08:55on a daily basis.
08:57And our programs is built with,
08:59let's say, in the Mall of Qatar,
09:00in the MOQ Fit Club,
09:02you will have the functional training,
09:04the mobility sessions,
09:05the running,
09:06the strength sessions.
09:07You can build a full program with us,
09:10even in summer.
09:11It's for free,
09:12so everyone is welcome.
09:14I hope they keep it up
09:16and it is making you feel
09:20that you can enjoy your first day
09:22early in the morning
09:23doing healthy activities.
09:25The benefit of this indoor social activity
09:29is not only for myself,
09:30like physical fitness,
09:32but also it's my chance
09:33to meet people
09:34from different ages.
09:37I invited the communities to run here.
09:39I want to support the people
09:40and people to support me
09:41in the same time.
09:43This is the strength of a community
09:44that it's always
09:45everyone pushing everyone.
09:47Not everyone is an athlete.
09:49Helping them in the first step,
09:50it's the social responsibility
09:51since it will bring them to the next
09:53and then they are locked
09:55in the movement cycle,
09:56which is the most important.
09:58I believe in movement.
10:00Movement should be consistent
10:01and even whatever the intensity
10:03of the movement,
10:04it should be still there,
10:05there is a movement.
10:06Summer should not be a pause
10:08for your training journey.
10:09It should be the time
10:11where you change the way of training.
10:13So we redesigned our training
10:17in order to adapt with the weather.
10:21Well, the truth is,
10:23whether we like it or not,
10:24rapid urban growth,
10:25climate change and extreme heat
10:27will continue to pose
10:29serious challenges
10:30to the environment
10:31and the people living in it.
10:33So how can countries like Qatar
10:34come up with policies
10:36to mitigate soaring temperatures
10:37and maintain livability
10:39for its residents and citizens?
10:42The research we focus on here
10:44is trying to look at
10:45sustainable ways
10:46of mitigating heat.
10:48So we're looking beyond
10:49active cooling
10:50and mechanical cooling
10:51into sustainable,
10:53passive solutions.
10:55When we say green
10:56and blue solutions,
10:58that actually refers to greening,
11:00urban greening,
11:00use of trees and vegetation
11:03as a way of mitigating heat.
11:05And when we say blue infrastructure,
11:07that refers to water features,
11:09water ponds and fountains
11:11and misting technologies.
11:13Smart, when we say
11:15the word smart in this
11:16is really how we use data,
11:19how we control,
11:20how we have active control
11:21of information.
11:22What we do here
11:23and the understanding
11:24we provide
11:25and the research we conduct
11:26almost serves as a window
11:28into the future
11:29for many other countries
11:31in the world
11:31where climate change
11:32is going to shift them
11:33into more warming weather
11:35and climate
11:36and more frequent heat waves
11:38and more intense heat waves.
11:41From district cooling
11:42to mall runs
11:43and breathable corridors,
11:45Qatar has made living
11:46in an arid climate
11:48not just possible,
11:49but also sustainable
11:50and smart.
11:52That's all the time
11:53we have for now.
11:53Thanks for watching
11:54Qatar in Motion
11:55and see you next time.
