Enabling year-round use of stadiums
Initiative description: Identifying and implementing solutions to enable post-tournament, year-round use of stadiums and other assets, such as cooling technologies in stadiums. This includes leveraging the Al Thumama showcase stadium to enhance research and innovation by providing a pilot-scale platform for demonstrating sustainable technologies and solutions.
“This technology is a potential game-changer for countries with hot climates. I am very proud that this technology, which originated here in Qatar, can be adapted by other countries and businesses. It is one of Qatar’s many gifts to the world, resulting from its hosting of the World Cup.”
All FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ stadiums were designed and equipped with a series of technologies to enable year-round usage, even during the hotter summer months in Qatar from May to September. This increases the versatility of stadiums and the opportunities for them to be used to address a range of community and business uses in the long term.
Key features to enable year-round use of stadiums include:
Sophisticated stadium air-conditioning systems for back of house areas, spectator bowl and field of play. These systems allow for stadium operators to provide the exact level of comfort needed in the stadium at any time. The air-conditioning can be switched off in areas of the stadium that are not used during a particular event or occasion.
Stadium roofs have been designed to provide significant shading and enhance cooling systems, and maintain comfortable bowl and pitch temperatures throughout the year. Two stadiums have roofs that can be completely closed.
Stadium façades, windows and internal structures prevent heat transfer to indoor areas and efficiently maintain comfortable indoor temperatures.
Outside the stadiums, paints, pavers, and other ground cover materials reflect heat and light.
For more information, please visit the sustainable stadiums and offices and green spaces web pages of this report.
Post-tournament, each stadium has planned legacy uses. For more information, please visit the legacy plans for tournament sites web page of this report.
Research and Innovation at Al Thumama Showcase Stadium
Al Thumama Showcase Stadium was built to prove the viability of hosting a football tournament in the region’s harsh environment. Following Qatar’s winning bid to host the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) collaborated with the Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (GORD) to transform the facility into an incubator for sustainable technologies.
A key focus of this research and innovation hub was directed towards some of the most pressing challenges and opportunities posed by the hot and humid climate of Qatar, including the need for cooling technologies and the utilisation of abundant renewable energy sources.
In one key project, experts conducted a multi-year research programme at the stadium that resulted in the development of a novel ultra-efficient, multimode, hybrid cooling system. Compared to conventional vapour compression-based air conditioners, this innovation has shown energy saving of up to 50% for cooling 100% fresh outdoor air.
Other research projects conducted at Al Thumama Showcase Stadium included:
multiple solar photo-voltaic (PV) renewable energy panels for power generation;
various renewable energy generation technologies;
energy storage solutions (LMP batteries);
smart-grid renewable energy integration and management; and
demonstration of eco-friendly building materials.
Going forward, Al Thumama Showcase Stadium can be further utilised year-round. The facility houses ready-to-use offices and VIP demonstration area that can be fully powered by green energy which already exists at the site.