As part of its sustainable cost saving initiative, Lootah Real Estate Development (Lootah), a Dubai-based real estate developer, has optimised a smart building technology to significantly reduce energy consumption and the costs of maintenance and utilities for building tenants and owners.
The real estate developer has partnered with International Real Estate Partners (IREP), a global facilities and asset management company, on a project called IREPort Energy Bureau. This collaboration aims to improve the building operations and sustainability of all Lootah properties, by identifying problems head on, related to energy consumption, faulty maintenance equipment and systems, amongst others.
The technology being utilised on the project will automatically alert IREP in cases that necessitate immediate troubleshooting, such as for plant failure, excessive consumption, increased electricity loads, and energy management related concerns.
In a statement, Saleh Abdullah Lootah, CEO of Lootah, said that the sustainable solutions offered by the IREPort Energy Bureau project, which is currently in its first phase, would ensure that aberrations are tracked beforehand or reported as they happen.
The instant alerts provided by the IREPort Energy Bureau project will make sure that any issues and concerns as regards maintenance and utilities are prevented or resolved in a timely manner. In this way, we create a system that is not only beneficial to our tenants and owners but contributes, in the long run, to Lootah’s energy conservation efforts,” he said.
“In the next 12 months, tenants will see instant results of our initiative to lower the amount of their electric bills, relative to ¬most other buildings. This move aims to also significantly allow existing and potential property owners to generate higher returns,” Lootah added.
For the first phase of the project, IREP will audit each Lootah property in order to assess its energy performance. The company will also retrofit a number of underperforming equipment units, specifically in the cooling and lighting systems, upgrading them with the latest technology and smart systems.
IREP’s technology comprises of seven steps: compilation of information and auditing of all sites; development of energy, gas, and water management plan; site opportunity analysis and development of a site-by site-delivery plan to reduce consumption and costs; energy procurement; implementation of energy efficiency measures; investigation for alternate cleaner energy sources; and implementation of a fully automated web-based monitoring, reporting and measurement solution to ensure the key performance indicators are being met.