Gulf Construction Online - Abu Dhabi to retrofit 150 government buildings

UAE Focus

Abu Dhabi to retrofit 150 government buildings

01 February 2020

Starting this year, Abu Dhabi aims to retrofit 150 governmental buildings to improve their energy efficiency, following the completion of the first Energy Saving Performance Contracting (ESPC) pilot project encompassing eight retrofitted government buildings.

The Building Retrofit programme is a part of Abu Dhabi’s Demand Side Management (DSM) and Energy Rationalisation Strategy 2030, which aims for a 22 per cent reduction in energy consumption and a 32 per cent reduction in water consumption over the next decade.

One of the nine key programmes of the DSM strategy, building retrofitting aims for significant cost savings, system reliability and environmental benefits, in line with the vision of Abu Dhabi and UAE’s national strategies for sustainability.

As part of the programme, a number of smart energy-saving solutions were deployed in the buildings to improve the efficiency of cooling, lighting and water components. These include solar rooftop photovoltaic (PV) installations, smart meters and thermostats, LED lighting, efficient chillers, new variable frequency drive (VFD) controlled chilled water pumps and innovative chiller evaporative cooling membrane.

The pilot project is the first for government/public buildings, which follows the ESPC model and utilises private energy services companies (ESCOs) to implement energy and water conservation measures. The project has shown an initial average energy saving of 38 per cent across the eight buildings, and is expected to have a far-reaching economic impact once the Esco model is adopted across the board.

The first Super Esco for Abu Dhabi has already been designed to lead retrofitting in 3,000 government buildings. which could save 2.7 TWh electricity and 9 million cu m water over the next decade.