Buildings in the Gulf countries in the Middle East are on the road to being more intelligent, environmentally friendly and energy efficient, according to a Frost & Sullivan analyst.
The stars are aligning for the transition, which was summarized by Casidhar Chidanamarri, the firm’s Associate Director of Energy & Environmental Practice for the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA). The press release says that economic and social initiatives are moving the region toward energy efficiency. At the same time, diversification from oil and gas has increased demand for electricity and energy. These trends, combined with a starting point that featured inefficient buildings and wasteful policies, is leading decision makers to change paths:
The current economic growth path is unsustainable; hence, there is a push to develop both renewable energy and energy efficient policies to meet the increasing energy demand, to diversify the electricity mix and to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
Frost & Sullivan’s white paper, “Innovations and Disruptions in Building Energy Efficiency in the GCC,” lists the technologies that will be useful to these countries. They include LED lighting, building management systems, district cooling, insulation, variable frequency drives, energy recovery devices, trigeneration, solar thermal air conditioning, non-electric chillers, low-emissivity glass and building integrated photovoltaics, the release says energy performance contracting will be a useful financing tool.
The transition indeed is under way. Last month, the Dubai Municipality said that all new properties in the country must be outfitted with energy efficient lightbulbs developed by the Dubai Municipality, according to Arabian Business.
The story says that the plan is an element of two initiatives. The Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy aims at a 30 percent reduction in energy consumption by 2030 and the Dubai Carbon Abatement Strategy targets a 16 percent reduction in emissions by 2021.