Dubai, UAE, 22 April 2018: The UAE RetrofitTech Awards announced the winners of its second edition. Envirofina, Smart4Power, Armstrong, Griffin Consultants, Luceco Middle East, Daikin, Enova, Dow Chemicals and Siemens were the winners, the organisers said in a Press communiqué.

The awards were hosted under the patronage of Dubai Electricity & Water Authority and officially supported by the Supreme Council of Energy, Etihad Energy Services and TAQATI, and was organised by ACM (Advanced Conferences & Meetings) Events on April 9, 2018. Some of the winners spoke exclusively with Climate Control Middle East and here is what they said.

Speaking on the occasion, Alexis Gianniotis, Founder & CEO, Envirofina, said: “Good quality leads the way, and the event consolidated the most important people in the industry. We won in the ‘Best Commercial Building’ category where we retrofitted one of the biggest hypermarkets in the UAE with 280,000 LED lights, and they are witnessing savings.”

Smart4Power won the award in the ‘Retrofit Project of the Year for Public Buildings’ category. Speaking on the win, Tharun Thomas, Energy Efficiency Business Manager and project manager for the winning project, said: “The award was for the Mohammed Bin Rashid Housing project, where we replaced 100,000 LED lights in 2,000 villas, in less than six months. The project has a potential to save 80% of the lighting energy, and over a lifetime of the lamp, it could save 6.4 million kWh of energy.  It was the first project with Etihad ESCO, and it shows not just how competitive the proposal was but also the capabilities of delivering to the expectations of the customer.”

Armstrong won in the category of ‘Innovation and Automation Systems’.  Speaking on the win, Rajmohan Govindarajan, Building Systems & Solutions Manager Middle East  & Africa, Armstrong, said: “We won the award based on our sensorless control technology of our pumping systems. The technology eliminated extra cost and achieved higher energy efficiency. Over the last 15 years, we perfected it and developed it into a parallel pumping level. This award also reflects the success of our local team serving the customers in the GCC region.”

Griffin Consultants bagged the best energy consultancy award for the second year, said Hassan Younes, Director, Griffin Consultants. “When it comes to energy savings, it has been a good year for us. This year we are working on a project with the Abu Dhabi Water Electricity Authority (ADEWA) where we are working on eight buildings as a pilot project to reduce energy efficiency. We are also working with the Cleveland Clinic to reduce their energy consumption. This award gives us the recognition that we are doing the right thing when it comes to energy,” Younes said.

Luceco Middle East won the award for the ‘Lighting Innovation of the Year’. Speaking on the occasion, Arun Kumar, Area Manager – UAE, Jordan, Bahrain and Egypt, said: “We won the award for our Lux Frame, which is a 60×60 frame with LED lights, which has a better efficiency with low lumen output. The product has a low lumen output and a 32-wattage consumption, which reduces heat energy load by 20%.”

Daikin Middle East won the best HVAC innovation award, said Michel Farah, Director – Corporate Environmental and Social Responsibility, Daikin Middle East and Africa. “This is a very special award, although we have been awarded on energy efficiency in the past, here this was beyond energy efficiency, so they were looking at one of our projects that were installed in one of the biggest JAFZA ESCO projects with a very high proportion of savings with innovation. At the project, we use low-GWP refrigerants that has features to limit the power consumption,” Farah said.

Enova won in three categories, ‘The Green Hotel of the Year’, ‘The Solar Retrofit of the Year’ and the ‘Contractor and FM Company of the Year’. Speaking on the achievements, Francisco Ramalheira, Director, Business Development and Marketing, Enova, said: “The solution for the green hotel encompasses a lot of innovation and the fact that we bring our upgrade into the equation. The solar retrofit project of the year shows our capability in complementing the energy performance contracts and delivering renewable solutions on site. The third award is a confirmation of our versatility because as a company we are capable of studying, executing and running the solution.”

The Dow Chemical Company won in the category of the ‘Energy Retrofit Project of the Year’. Ammar A. Ali, Sales Manager, MENA, E&W Africa Region, Dow Construction Chemicals, said: “This award reflects our focus on sustainability and energy saving projects, and it also demonstrates the participation and commitment of the governmental and private sectors, which are driving towards energy efficiency and sustainability.”