What is the scope of the tool? Can it measure energy use across a diverse portfolio of Existing Buildings?

GRFN’s Energy Benchmarking Tool is a platform that calculates the Energy Use Index (EUI), a metric for energy efficiency in buildings measuring the energy consumption of a building as a function of its area (kWh/m2). At the first stage of release, the tool will only cover the residential portfolio. We plan to expand it to include additional functions and building uses as we go, potentially developing the tool to cover commercial buildings, educational facilities and other typologies.

Typically, what parameters do you need to input for it to provide insights?

To enable the generation of the EUI towards providing an accurate insight, we collect the following data:

Total energy generated from a renewable energy source in kWh/year (if applicable)

• Type of cooling system present:o Centralised systems:

o Aircooled chillers, water-cooled chillers, VRFs, District Cooling systems
o Non-centralised systems: Package units, DX units, Ductless Mini-Split Systems

• Location of the building: What country or region the asset is located in
• Floor area; conditioned or builtup area
• Annual electricity use in kWh/year
• Annual total District Cooling use in TRh/year (if applicable)
• Total energy generated from a renewable energy source in kWh/year (if applicable)

How granular are the insights?

The aim of the tool is to help stakeholders gain insight into their building’s energy performance. The result will give the user an understanding of the need for an energy audit and its urgency. By comparing it to the portfolio’s median, a higher EUI will clarify to the user that their building requires intervention and that a saving potential exists. If the user shares further insights, the tool can provide further measures to curb energy use (Energy Conservation Measures).

We often see buildings being repurposed, affecting energy use? Where does this tool fit in when considering repurposed buildings?

When repurposing a building, many parameters will change based on how different the new use is from the building’s original purpose. However, the tool is highly adaptable, allowing new data to be entered to calculate the updated EUI. In future updates, the tool will also be able to revise the EUI calculations and compare them to other portfolios, especially if the function of the building has changed.

How easy is it to use by not only building services engineers but also by building owners/occupants with little or no technical background?

Anyone having the right information about the facility can easily use the tool and conduct the analysis. The tool is user friendly and fashioned to guide the user across all steps. The user only needs to have three details in hand: Cooling system type, the floor area and yearly energy consumption. The three inputs do not require a technical background to obtain and can be sourced from various documents, such as the building manual and records or bills from the electrical and District Cooling utility companies. This makes the tool accessible to a broad range of users.

You said the tool will be first introduced in the UAE, followed by possibly in Saudi Arabia? What prevents you from simultaneously launching it across the region? Or, are there specific factors to consider on a country-to-country basis?

There are specific factors to consider on a country-to-country basis, such as:

1. Climate Variations: Different regions have varying climates, which significantly impact energy consumption. For instance, buildings in colder climates may use more energy for heating, while those in hotter climates may have higher cooling demands. EUI helps account for these climatic differences.
2. Building practices: Different countries, even within the same geographic areas, tend to have different construction practices and regulatory requirements that might influence the energy use patterns in the respective countries. Moreover, the prevailing buildings’ age in different countries will reflect on the energy performance of the built environment in these countries.

For the above reasons, buildings within the same geographic region – the GCC region, for example – can be considered to have similar performance; however, for an accurate and precise analysis, the kind our tool is looking to provide, it is better to build analyses based on area-specific information.

What has prompted GRFN to introduce this tool?

Given the lack of collated and published energy benchmarking references in the region, GRFN has developed this energy benchmarking tool, free for use, as our contribution to the regional energy efficiency movement. The tool has been in development for quite some time. We have relied on the plethora of data we have at GRFN to arrive at reliable metrics. We hope that by giving the industry a tool to benchmark energy use in buildings, it will be a practical and true enabler to improving building performance and that it would be a catalyst in accelerating the development of other similar benchmarks for the benefit of the industry as a whole.