Etisalat, Pacific Controls launch Emirates Energy Star programme

Etisalat and Pacific Controls, in a December 7 nocturnal event, showcased the Emirates Energy Star programme, the result of a collaborative effort between the two entities to reduce the carbon footprint of the UAE. H.E. Dr Rashid Ahmed Mohammed Bin Fahad, the Minister of Environment and Water, was in attendance, as were Mohammed Omran, the Chairman of Etisalat and Dilip Rahulan, the Executive Chairman of Pacific Controls. The UAE has set itself an ambitious target of reducing carbon emissions by 20% by 2015.

At the heart of the Emirates Energy Star programme is a structured approach to optimise electricity usage without compromising on occupant comfort conditions, said Najat Abdulrahman, a key member of the Business Development team at Etisalat, and one of the presenters during the event. Later, speaking to Climate Control Middle East, she said that buildings in the UAE consume 70% or more of the electricity generated. In a scenario of 200,000 buildings in the country, the programme could make a substantial difference and could reduce power consumption by 20%.

The Emirates Energy Star programme includes a range of services, such as Energy Analysis, Carbon Footprint Analysis, Measurement and Verification, Fault Detection and Continuous Commissioning. Technology is at the core of these services. For example, Fault Detection, aimed at identifying hidden faults through a set of diagnostic procedures, has technology embedded in it, as does Continuous Commissioning, which involves generating weekly and monthly reports and continually optimising machines.

The programme is backed by a star rating system, which works with Estidama or LEED.

Under the programme, any building in the country can engage the services of Etisalat and Pacific Controls and, effectively, outsource their energy reduction activities, said Sougata Nandi, the CEO of Pacific Controls. “We will, then, regularly monitor the building, control its equipment and generate reports,” Nandi said. “The energy savings the building achieves can be used to achieve Estidama or LEED certification.”