As part of its sustainable cost saving initiative, Lootah Real Estate Development (Lootah), one of the region’s leading real estate developers, 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 leading global facilities and asset management company, in a project called IREPort Energy Bureau. This collaboration was forged to improve building operations and sustainability of all Lootah properties by identifying head on problems related to energy consumption, faulty maintenance equipment and systems, amongst others.
The technology being utilised in the project automatically alerts IREP in cases that necessitate immediate troubleshooting for plant failure, excessive consumption, increased electricity loads, and energy management related concerns.
Saleh Abdullah Lootah, Lootah CEO, underlined that the sustainable solutions offered by IREPort Energy Bureau project, which is currently in its first phase, ensures 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,” the Lootah CEO 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,” he added.
In the first phase of the project, IREP will audit each Lootah property to assess its energy performance. IREP will also retrofit a number of underperforming equipment, specifically in the cooling system and lighting system, with latest technology and smart systems.
Lootah targets their partnership with IREP to carry on with their upcoming projects, as part of their commitment spanning over five decades to deliver high-quality infrastructure.
IREP’s technology comprises 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.