Region’s property developers becoming more
environmentally aware, says energy
management firm
Energy Management Services (EMS), which
first set up in 1996 with offices in Dubai
and Jordan, opened new branches in Saudi
Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain during
2006 on the back of increasing demand across
the region for innovations to improve energy
efficiency.
EMS, which currently manages more than 500
energy management projects throughout the
Middle East, estimates that on average it
can reduce companies’ utility bills by 20 –
30 per cent by using technology to cut their
consumption of electricity, water and gas.
The company will be exhibiting at FM EXPO
taking place from June 3 – 5 at Dubai
International Exhibition Centre and
organised by Streamline Marketing Group. The
event is now in its second year and is the
first exhibition in the region to be
dedicated to facilities management, the
integrated management of all types of built
environments from commercial towers, resorts
and hotels to oil refineries and hospitals.
Khaled Bushnaq, CEO of EMS, said: “At the
beginning of the development boom in the
Gulf, the focus for property developers was
on who was going to build the tallest tower
or the largest shopping mall. Now we are
beginning to see a move away from that to an
emphasis on who is constructing the most
environmentally-friendly buildings.
Developers are attracted by the reductions
in capital and operational costs they can
make by becoming energy efficient but there
is also increasing evidence of a genuine
desire to act responsibly with regards to
the environment.”
He said more developers and companies in the
Middle East were working towards achieving
LEED certification, which is entirely
voluntary and has been developed by the
United States Green Building Council to
identify sustainable and efficient
buildings.
The services offered by EMS include
conducting energy audits on existing
buildings to identify appropriate
energy-saving measures and analysis of new
facilities at the design stage to reduce
construction costs and future energy and
water usage. The energy saving measures
recommended by EMS can include efficient
lighting, reduced air-conditioning
consumption, efficient boilers, decreasing
refrigeration costs, reduction of heat loss
through steam and installing renewable
energy sources such as solar panels and
windmills.
Recent high-profile projects include working
with the developers of the Green Community,
Burj Dubai tower and Dubai Mall at the
design stage to maximise energy efficiency.
EMS is also helping Emirates Post achieve
LEED certification at all of its existing
and planned branches. Across these four
projects, capital cost savings achieved by
EMS total nearly AED 170.8 million.
EMS has recently teamed up with Dubai
Municipality to encourage building owners to
have special equipment installed, which
reduces water consumption and cuts the
burden on the city’s sewerage network. The
company is also working with the developers
behind Energy City Qatar, the Middle East’s
first hydrocarbon industry business centre,
to help it achieve LEED certification.
“Through our participation in FM EXPO we
hope to continue spreading the message that
by embracing energy efficiency developers
can save capital costs at the construction
stage, ongoing operational costs and, most
importantly, help to protect the
environment,” said Bushnaq. “Facilities
Management and Energy Management are two
disciplines that really complement one
another and by working together at the
inception of a project we can help companies
to achieve these goals.”
FM EXPO, sponsored by FM provider MAB
Property Service & Development (support
sponsor), takes place alongside the Hotel
Show, Office and InRetail exhibitions and
will be more than double the size of last
year’s event. The highly-successful seminar
programme will be returning with a focus on
environmental issues, including energy
efficiency, solar power and a presentation
on ‘Green Buildings’ given by Mr Bushnaq.