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Abu Dhabi-based Aldar Properties (Aldar) announced on Monday that it has launched a portfolio-wide energy management project to reduce its energy consumption by approximately 20 percent across 80 assets including hotels, schools, commercial, leisure, retail, and residential buildings.
The developer said in a press statement that the project will enable it to save approximately 40 million UAE dirhams ($11 million) per year in energy consumption costs while reducing energy emissions.
Based on the completion of the level-III audits by the shortlisted partners, Aldar said it has awarded five-year Energy Performance Contracts to four ESCOs [Energy Service companies], including Siemens, Enova, ENGIE (in collaboration with Tabreed), and Johnson Controls (in collaboration with Alliances for Global Sustainability), adding that grfn global has been appointed as the project management consultant.
The project aims to reduce Aldar’s carbon emissions by 80,000 tonnes, electricity consumption by 110 GWh, water consumption by 886,000 cubic metres, chilled water consumption by 23,000,000 TRH, and gas consumption by 726,000 m3 on a yearly basis.
Commenting on the launch of the project, Chief Financial and Sustainability Officer, Greg Fewer said: “As a socially responsible leader in the real estate sector, Aldar understands how crucial it is to take proactive measures towards reducing its carbon footprint. The primary step to achieving this goal is to fully understand our energy consumption and put in place measures to ensure we are efficient across our owned and managed assets.
"As well as the positive environmental impact, sustainability projects like this are also good for business. This project is a clear-cut case where the time and effort invested into sustainability initiatives can yield strong financial returns in keeping with broader societal priorities.”
The press statement noted that each ESCO would be responsible for a portfolio of buildings, and be required to guarantee energy savings for a period of five years.
The statement added that retrofit projects across all 80 assets are expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2022.
The measurement and verification of the savings would be done as per International Performance Measurement & Verification Protocol (IPMVP), it said.
By 2025, Aldar is aiming to reduce its asset portfolio's energy intensity and associated greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 20 percent and water intensity by 10 percent with 2019 as the baseline, according to its 2019 sustainability report.
(Writing by SA Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)
(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)
