Fayad Al Khatib, CEO of Qatar Cool, welcomed
hundreds of distinguished guests and graciously
acknowledged the technical and business
support of many project partners at the ribbon-cutting event.
J.R. Sankaran (left) and Dr. Anwar Hassan
(middle) of Johnson Controls accept the U.S.
Department of Commerce Export Achievement
Award from the Hon. Joseph Evan LeBaron,
U.S. Ambassador to Qatar.
Ambassador LeBaron is escorted by Fayad Al
Khatib, Qatar Cool CEO, to the Awards Luncheon.
attendees at a special welcome dinner
on the elegant Pearl Island where old
friends and new colleagues enjoyed a
wonderful evening of refreshments,
delicious local delicacies and engaging,
relaxed conversation.
Qatar Cool served as Principal
Sponsor and Host for the conference.
Chief Executive Officer Fayad Al Khatib
opened the event with a warm welcome
that made all of us feel right at home in
Doha. Khatib urged all participants to
share in the discussions, ask questions
and engage with their colleagues in a
collaborative dialogue. He also provided a
compelling overview of the breathtaking
scale and growth of Qatar Cool operations.
The opening plenary panel brought
together a cross-section of industry pro-
fessionals from the Middle East, Europe
and the United States to discuss the
opportunities and challenges in growing
large district energy systems, optimizing
operations for reliability and efficiency,
and instilling a culture of customer sat-
isfaction throughout their organizations.
Bernt Andersson of Bahrain District
Cooling, Fayad Al Khatib of Qatar Cool,
Abdul Salam Al Mobayed of Saudi Tabreed
and Adib Moubadder of Emicool offered
insights into construction challenges in
the Middle East as well as the importance
of increasing water and power efficiency
to remain competitive. Jes Christensen,
managing director of the Danish Board of
District Heating, shared the Scandinavian
perspective on building consumer
confidence through sustainable invest-
ments and transparent operations. Juan
Ontiveros, executive director of utilities
at The University of Texas at Austin com-
pared the climatological data of Doha to
the extreme weather conditions in Austin
and showed how UT Austin has used
modeling and optimization strategies to
achieve impressive efficiencies in its dis-
trict cooling operations.
