World’s first industrial city to receive green building rating

LEED Certification reaffirms SPARK’s commitment to integrated sustainability practices

King Salman Energy Park (SPARK) has become the first industrial city in the world to receive Silver Level accreditation for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The LEED program is an internationally-recognized green building certification system, which verifies that buildings are designed to improve performance across key sustainability metrics such as energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impact.

The LEED certification strengthens SPARK’s ability to support future tenants and investors on their own journey towards LEED certification of their own facilities, as part of a fully-integrated energy community. It also affirms the city’s integrated sustainability practices, which are at the heart of the community’s planning.

SPARK President & CEO, Saif S. Al Qahtani, said: “SPARK is distinguishing itself as a leading global energy, industrial and technology hub, cementing Saudi Arabia’s position as a progressive innovator in these fields on the international stage. The certification reaffirms our commitment to reducing the city’s carbon footprint. LEED communities are in high global demand, as they offer better rates of profitability, productivity and quality of workplace. Our goal is to create an ecosystem for energy-related companies to grow with minimum environmental impact, and we encourage other industrial cities to follow our lead.”

Strategically located at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, SPARK’s vision is to be the primary gateway to the regional energy sector. Its technologically-advanced ecosystem offers investors unmatched supply-chain efficiency and has been designed to provide an ultramodern “plug and play” infrastructure. As well as targeting large corporations, SPARK also caters to small and medium sized enterprises and provides support through its SPARK SME Hub, creating a tailored microcosm for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This allows streamlined and cost-effective operations near major workforce providers and close to highway and railway networks. At maturity, it will be home to over 300 industrial, technology and service facilities focused on meeting demand for energy goods and services across the entire value chain.

LEED certification is a key step in ensuring that environmentally-sensitive techniques are consistently applied to the construction of SPARK across industrial, commercial and residential facilities. It is part of SPARK’s vision to be a proving ground for green tools and technologies designed to minimize the impact of activities conducted within the city, the most successful of which will serve as a blueprint for the oil and gas industry - as well as for businesses and homes across the country.

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About King Salman Energy Park (SPARK):

King Salman Energy Park (SPARK) is a fully-integrated industrial city under development. Spanning an area of 50 square kilometers, SPARK is being developed with a vision to become the leading gateway to the regional energy sector, offering a complete spectrum of services to support business growth in the Kingdom.

SPARK offers infrastructure with international specifications for global investors in crude oil & gas industry and refining, petrochemical industries, electric power, and water production and treatment. SPARK will be comprised of five focal areas: Upstream, Downstream, Petrochemicals, Conventional Power, and Water & Wastewater.

Execution is planned over three phases. SPARK has completed 60 per cent of its first phase, which consists of infrastructure, roads, utilities and real estate assets established across 14 square kilometers. Phase one is set to be completed in 2021. This is in addition to a dedicated three-square kilometer logistics zone and dry port.

The city has already attracted a large number of tenants and investors, exceeding the plan for its initial land/facility offering by over 15%, and accelerating future development.

www.spark.sa

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