The Japan Times - Gord launches four AI tools for sustainability and emissions management

The Gulf Organisation for Research and Development has introduced four artificial-intelligence platforms covering air quality, cement decarbonisation, corporate sustainability benchmarking and ESG reporting.

The Gulf Organisation for Research and Development (Gord) has expanded its sustainability innovation portfolio with a new generation of artificial intelligence-powered platforms targeting indoor air quality, industrial decarbonisation, corporate environmental performance and automated sustainability reporting.

Dr Yousef Alhorr, founding chairman, Gord, in an exclusive interview with Gulf Times stated: “Gord’s research, development and innovation activities has evolved beyond the built environment to address the growing need for intelligent, data-driven solutions across industries and complex organisations.”

The latest initiatives include Comlada, an advanced air quality monitoring system; Cemento AI, a platform designed to optimise cement manufacturing; Mat-Index, a corporate sustainability assessment and benchmarking tool; and Sustaino AI, which automates environmental, social and governance (ESG) data management and reporting.

“These integrated sustainability solutions reflect the needed shift towards intelligent, data-driven and AI-enabled climate action systems. They are used to help buildings and multi-sector organisations advance their net-zero and sustainability ambitions,” explained Dr Alhorr.

Comlada enables continuous, real-time monitoring of up to 20 indoor air quality parameters, including formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds. Combining configurable sensors, intelligent network systems and a cloud-connected dashboard, the platform provides facility managers with actionable information to improve indoor environments and occupant well-being.

It also supports compliance with international green building and healthy building standards, including Gords’s Global Sustainability Assessment System, among others. In the industrial sector, Cemento AI applies physics-informed artificial intelligence and thermodynamic modelling to optimise cement manufacturing, an industry responsible for an estimated 7% to 8% of global carbon emissions.

“The platform integrates data from industrial production lines to improve process control, reduce material and fuel consumption, monitor clinker quality and lower carbon dioxide emissions. It also supports carbon credit monitoring and allows manufacturers to test operational scenarios, including fuel switching, in a controlled environment,” explained the official.

By combining operational and environmental data, Cemento AI aims to help manufacturers improve efficiency and protect profit margins while reducing their carbon footprint.

Gord’s enterprise-focused initiatives include Mat-Index, or the ESG Business Maturity Index, which helps large companies, small and medium-sized enterprises and microbusinesses assess and benchmark their sustainability performance.

“The platform evaluates organisations across 33 sustainability themes through 99 assessment questions, mapping their progress across six maturity levels,” stated Dr Alhorr. “It provides prioritised recommendations for improvement, tracks performance over time and recognises achievements through Bronze, Silver, Gold and Diamond ratings.”

Meanwhile, Sustaino AI is designed to simplify ESG data management and reporting for enterprises, listed companies, SMEs and government entities. The platform extracts structured sustainability data, maps it against international reporting frameworks and maintains an audit trail explaining its outputs. It can automate carbon accounting across Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions while supporting reporting under frameworks including the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards S1 and S2, and the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

“Real-time dashboards, benchmarking and AI-generated recommendations are intended to help organisations streamline compliance, strengthen transparency and improve sustainability performance,” noted the founding chairman. Alongside its technology-driven initiatives, Gord continues to advance the adoption of GSAS, with nearly 2,700 projects in Qatar having achieved recognition under the system, representing a combined built-up area of more than 3.1bn square feet, based on Alhorr.

The portfolio spans major infrastructure and developments, including FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 stadiums, ISF City and the Qatar Rail network, as well as healthcare and educational facilities, parks, residential communities and commercial projects. Nearly 200 projects received GSAS recognition in Qatar in 2025 alone. More than 150 were recognised for incorporating sustainable design and construction practices, while the remaining projects received recognition for sustainable site development and environmentally responsible operations after occupancy.

Gord’s sustainability agenda is also gaining a regional dimension following the adoption of its Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) by the GCC Standardisation Organisation as a regional standard, GSO 3000:2025. The move is expected to encourage wider uptake of the system across the Gulf, with Gord rolling out capacity-building activities to support implementation.

“GSAS frameworks have already been implemented in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, while introductory programmes, capacity-building initiatives and strategic alliances have extended the organisation’s reach to Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Algeria,” he emphasised.

“The combination of AI-enabled industrial and corporate sustainability tools with an expanding green building certification framework reflects Gord’s broader effort to translate sustainability goals into measurable performance improvements across the built environment, industry and business operations,” noted the official.

M.Sugiyama--JT