How to apply EGBC’s retrofit guidelines

With the recent launch of Emirates Green Building Council’s retrofit guidelines, Lorraine Bangera analyses how buildings could be made more sustainable and how companies could save on massive energy spending

In June earlier this year, Emirates Green Building Council (EmiratesGBC) launched its Technical Guidelines for Retrofitting Existing Buildings to serve as a guide for UAE industry professionals and building end-users. The Guidelines have been created in conformance with the UAE’s sustainability agenda, as part of its National Agenda 2021 and in line with local sustainable strategies such as the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy and Abu Dhabi Vision 2030.

Saeed Al Abbar, chairman of EmiratesGBC said the guide was created with the help of the council’s members and was endorsed by the Ministry of Public Works and the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy (DSCE).

The guidelines consist of a set of instructions and best practices that will provide building owners, operators and end-users the knowledge needed to understand and implement successful retrofit projects. The solutions provided enable immediate and long-term reductions and/or efficiency in energy and water use, improvements in indoor air quality, and effective waste management, with subsequent lowering of utility and labour costs for building owners.

CEO of Etihad Energy Services, Stephane Le Gentil praises the initiative and says this is the first time in the UAE that there are detailed explanations on how buildings can be retrofitted efficiently. He says: “These guidelines give thorough descriptions and are sorted from ‘low cost no cost’ options to high cost options allowing all interested parties to decide what can be done according to the budget they have available.”

He also thinks that these guidelines will contribute to make building retrofits more known and effective both for building owners and construction companies and will encourage new companies from the construction sector to enter this new big market.

Reducing excessive energy consumption

As the green revolution has hit the construction sector in the past five years, Dubai particularly has embraced the change. One example would be the recently implemented the Green Building Codes that mandates both public and private developers to comply with stringent green building requirements. One of the key questions, however, has been how to improve the sustainability aspects of existing buildings?

Experts admit that through green retrofitting the region can take a major step towards sustainability and cut back on its carbon footprint.

Al Abbar says that 80% of the energy produced in the UAE is consumed by buildings alone. Out of that consumption rate, nearly 60 to 70% is used to cool indoor spaces. The rest is used primarily for lighting and other features.

Marcos Bish, managing director of Summertown Interiors says that green retrofitting plays a crucial part in ensuring existing buildings are able to meet modern sustainability standards. “At Summertown Interiors the retrofit of our head offices along with the adoption of eco-friendly gestures enabled us to achieve building lighting energy savings of 58%, and water reduction of 32%.”

When we talk about consumption, the UAE in particular has always been topped the global consumer list. It holds the world record for highest water consumption with average per capita consumption of 500 litres a day, around 82% above the global average. Bish says that by applying a few water saving devices, the average consumption of water could be reduced to less than 300 litres a day.

Experts admit that through retrofitting alone, a city could have massive energy savings. Le Gentil says that through retrofitting the existing buildings, a DSCE study identified that by 2030 Dubai could save 1.7TWh of electricity and 5.6 billion of gallons of water each year. “In monetary terms, this would equate to around AED1bn saved on energy each year.”

Al Abbar says that on an average a retrofit project can bring in at least 15 to 20% in savings, with typically short investment cycles, this is proof in itself that making buildings sustainable has far reaching benefits and implications that go beyond the building and spill over to benefit society, government, and a city.

Shivram Mukherjee, senior consultant of First Climate, highlights the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) statistics quoting a 28% cost saving can be achieved through energy efficient retrofitting. He says: “According to estimates there are about 1,20,000 buildings in Dubai alone out of which 30,000 have been identified as having high energy saving potential. We can safely assume that almost 25 to 30% energy could be saved through various energy saving measures and various other energy efficiency improvement programmes.”

The benefit of retrofit

“Retrofitting means that we are changing old energy inefficient equipment in a building by new highly energy efficient equipment,” says Le Gentil.

He explains how a retrofit project begins with an audit to evaluate efficiency and performance of existing equipment installed in a building while also identifying the possible new equipment that can replace them to gain efficiency. “For example the lighting infrastructure of the building will be assessed and if old technologies such as incandescent lights or CFL lights are used, these will be replaced by high efficiency LED lights.”

“By doing so,” he says, “every time the lights are on, they will save a lot of energy compared to the older lights that were installed before. And we are doing this on all equipment that consumes electricity and water such as chillers, motors, pumps, taps, etc.”

Al Abbar says that the initial audit can be simple walkthrough analyses conducted to determine the baseline usage of resources or more detailed analysis which look at building energy systems in detail to determine energy consumption.

After the audit, Al Abbar says that the retrofit process can either be simple, such as switching off lights when not in use, installing motion sensors and/or new efficient fixtures, or it can be a deeper retrofit which requires an upgrade, overhaul, or new installation of more efficient HVAC or Building Automation Systems.

Apart from green benefits, Al Abbar says that the benefits of retrofitting a building are many, and some of them can be achieved quite easily and in a short period of time. “For example, just through low cost measures alone such as improving operational efficiencies, there can be savings of 10 to 15%. We can also highlight that one of the key benefits of a building retrofit is cost savings, which can be achieved typically within a few months of undertaking a retrofit.”

Bish says that inside the building, the installation of energy-wise lighting systems, water-saving fixtures and thermostats to regulate AC systems are the basis of a retrofitting project. He adds: “Green retrofits can integrate the reuse of existing materials such as wall paneling, flooring and furniture to give them a new lease of life. When we completed the LEED-Platinum rated interior for The Change Initiative, a Dubai-based store offering sustainable products and organic food, we reused many of the existing materials such as marble flooring as wall tiling or wooden flooring as wall cladding.”

Mukherjee says that the end goal should be to create a high-performance building by applying the integrated, whole-building design process, to the project during the planning or charrette phase that ensures all key design objectives are met.

He says that when deciding on a retrofit, consider upgrading for accessibility, safety and security at the same time.

Al Abbar says that by implementing best practices and basic retrofit, the operational efficiency of buildings could be improved which positively affects occupant comfort and safety level, as well as increased building longevity.

 

Spreading awareness vs mandating

It is difficult to push sustainable measures forward without regulations. Organisations like the EmiratesGBC have a long standing reputation as an effective communication and networking platform, bringing together all stakeholders in the sustainable construction industry. These organisations play a significant role in spreading awareness about sustainable measures among industry leaders.

Al Abbar says: “Through our events, seminars, focus days, and workshops, we provide year round forums for dialogue that foster the crucial exchange of ideas, challenges and best practices which influence construction stakeholders on how they can improve their methods and align them with governmental requirements and environmental needs.”

One such event is the EmiratesGBC’s Focus Day, a quarterly event, themed around an important industry topic such as sustainable retrofitting.

Al Abbar says that there is always room for improvement. “As proven during the recent EmiratesGBC Focus event, industry stakeholders always benefit from learning from each other, so providing a platform where they can share how they have overcome their challenges or devised ways to work more efficiently is at the forefront of our overall strategy; most of our initiatives are to create awareness and promote change towards a greener UAE.”

He says that sharing best practices plays a pivotal role in improving any given industry, as it increases awareness of solutions that have worked best in the past and allows for dynamic discussions where improvements to those solutions can be found and implemented in the future.

Al Abbar says that while energy efficiency has always enjoyed a stable market niche in the UAE, regulations acting upon the solutions are what have really taken the energy efficiency market to the forefront; influencing the industry to modify the long standing and inefficient business as usual model.

He says: “In the future, it is expected that energy audits will become part of regulation for certain building sectors, based on their energy usage and square footage; and with upcoming benchmarks and building labelling schemes, it is likely that more and more building owners will want to prioritise energy efficiency to leverage their place in the market.”

Bish adds that although it is not mandatory, LEED certifications have gained popularity in the region as well. He says that more of them are likely to be sought in the next few years, especially if the UAE Government removes energy subsidies. “The UAE leads the charge with over 800 registered LEED-accredited building projects among the 1,250 listed in the Middle East.”

He says: “We are happy to see retrofitting and green building gain momentum in the country. We expect that the regulations will play a key role in the next few years to give a mandatory status to the LEED certifications.”