Even though it’s more than a decade away the recent award of the World Cup Finals to Qatar in 2012 as degree with a mixture of surprise and no small amount of contention. Far removed from the aspects that concern the countries football pedigree and history comes the concern of weather. The small emirate is of course host to a desert climate and the World Cup is traditionally held in June/July at which time daytime temperatures usually sit at between 110 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit, hardly ideal weather to sit and watch the sport never mind actually playing it.

Also worth noting is the football is an outdoor game but yet stadium designers promise the matches will still take place in the open air with a semi-retractable roof but air conditioning provided within the stadium and even more surprising in the surrounding plazas to the arena. Sports City Stadium has been proposed for the city Doha which stands upon the eastern coast of the nation on the Persian Gulf. At present it’s the most formulated design on the planning table and offers technology which is almost unimaginable. Air-conditioning in a 48,000 seat arena in the desert seems to be a complete oxymoron as an example of an environmentally friendly decision. To my mind constructing brand-new stadia in a nation that will not host future events for a sport with limited popularity in Qatar seems to be the very opposite of green construction. The rebuttals seem to have been anticipated based upon the design of Sports City Stadium although I still think the foundation of the idea rests somewhere between preposterous and absurd especially when a number of other nations already have the infrastructure and stadiums in place to host the World Cup.

Beyond new stadium construction and transportation infrastructure – energy use and air-conditioning are not only the key arguments from a green prospective for not having the tournament in Qatar but also the ones that design firm seem most prepared to combat. Surrounding the stadium itself will be a series of concourses which will be covered by an adjustable tentlike structure which can change dimensions to match the event attendance, this area like the inside of the stadium itself will be air-conditioned. The goal for the stadium is to create an ‘oasis in the desert’ even though the very concept will involve the most unlikely scenario ever seen at a major sporting event. So how do the designers plan to cool such a structure in keeping with the FIFA directive for zero emissions at the event? This stadium and others are supposed to be powered by an offsite solar farm to create the required energy.

The in-stadium cooling system is supposed to draw in cooled air at a temperature of just 64f at ankle height creating a pitch level climate of 80f for players and fans alike. Can it work – and will it work are both fascinating questions as this is not a domed stadium – while roof is retractable it will remain open during matches.

The off-site solar farm will transfer the gathered energy to a city grid. Solar collectors will use the sun’s power to heat up water, which will then be transported to an on-site water storage tank, which will keep the water’s high temperature. At the time that the venue needs to use its cooling system, the retained hot water will run through an absorption chiller that will chill the water and send it into another tank which will pump 64-degree air at the ankle and neck level in each row of seats. The air will be distributed throughout the stadium and ultimately produce an 80-degree temperature near the soccer pitch. Sounds good although I worry if its all a little optimistic. World Cup 2022 probably won’t win awards for being the greenest on record but I’m curious to see how a country that will have to construct everything from scratch will hope to reach the zero emissions mandate for the event. Solar power will obviously be at the heart of it but can it reach the goals as outlined?