Doha, Qatar April 16, 2013 – A delegation from the United States Department of Energy and the International District Energy Association (IDEA), visited last week Qatar District Cooling Company, also known as Qatar Cool, and toured the company’s major plants in West Bay and The Pearl-Qatar.

The visiting delegates including Senior Policy Advisor Katrina Pielli from the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S Department of Energy, IDEA’s President and CEO Robert Thornton, and IDEA’s current Chairman and Director of Global Industrial Chillers at Johnson Controls Joseph Brillhart were guided by Qatar Cool’s senior executives on a tour of the company’s award-winning plant-1 in West Bay as well as the Integrated District Cooling Plant (IDCP) on The Pearl-Qatar, considered to be the largest district cooling plant in the world.

During the visit, a Qatar Cool representative said that IDEA has played a key role in promoting energy efficiency and environmental quality, as well as in spreading awareness about district cooling technologies around the world. “Being affiliated with IDEA has not only helped Qatar Cool in staying on the cutting edge of district cooling technology, but also gave it its rightful position among the leading district cooling providers in the world,” he added.

District cooling contributes to the well-being of the environment by reducing the carbon footprint. “District cooling systems can be up to 30% to 60% more energy efficient than conventional cooling systems. By consuming less energy, district cooling plants reduce the amount of CO₂ emitted to the environment,” Pielli of the U.S Department of Energy explained.

Throughout their visit, the delegates were impressed by the level of dedication to environmentally friendly technologies and practices displayed by Qatar Cool. “The state-of-the-art facilities along with the level of know-how at the Integrated District Cooling Plant on The Pearl-Qatar are certainly a testament to the relentless efforts put in by Qatar Cool to achieve operational excellence in the industry,” IDEA’s President Thornton said.