Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) guidelines will become part of Qatari building standards in 2016, and be compulsory for public sector projects, according to Yousef Alhorr, founder and chairman of Gulf Organisation for Research and Development (Gord).

The standard is expected to be adopted GCC-wide next year and is already being used in Kuwat and Saudi Arabia.

The sustainability standard will become compulsory across the board in 2020, and be applied for all projects related to the 2022 World Cup.

Mega-projects covering over 1.75 billion square feet, both completed and in the pipeline, are applying the GSAS standards.

These include Lusail City, three economic zones in the design phase, Ministry of the Interior City, Barwa City, Mowater City (for the automobile industry), the Navigation Logistics Proj, Qatari Petroleum District and the Doha Festival Projects

All stadiums, venues and legacy projects for the 2022 World Cup will be built along sustainable lines, as they were for the 2015 Handball World Cup. Other public projects applying the guidelines include New Doha Zoo, the $40bn national rail project where stations must achieve four out of six stars, the New Port and the National Museum.

Another 100 million sq ft of micro projects in the education, health, sports, religious, commercial and retail sectors are applying the guidelines.

Kuwait is looking at adapting the GSAS system and has started deploying it in both the public and private sector. The Saudi Arabian provinces of Riyadh, Jeddah and Medina, and two universities are also studying the standards.