Dubai to retrofit 30,000 buildings over next seven years

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Dubai's Supreme Council of Energy (DSCE) has set an ambitious target of retrofitting 30,000 buildings by 2030 as well as saving 1.4 Terawatt hour (Twh) of electricity and 4.9 billion imperial gallons of water, which will effectively abate 1 million tonnes of CO2.

Till date, more than 5,300 buildings have been retrofitted, which has resulted in savings of 532 GWh of electricity and 347 MIG of water, stated DSCE officials at an awareness workshop organised for Dubai government entities.

During the event, the council highlighted the importance of energy retrofits associated with financing solutions and also audits for government entities.

At the workshop, the Department of Finance (DOF) displayed energy consumption trends and consumption-wise breakdown for Government entities from 2019 to 2022.

The department also emphasized a significant transitional change beginning in 2023, which entails Dubai Government entities being responsible for their own energy costs.

On the issue of decarbonising buildings, Engineer Faisal Ali Al Rashid, Senior Director, DSM Directorate at DSCE, urged large government entities to lead by example and leverage their unique position as role model by taking action on the DSCE directive and reducing their energy footprint, as the next step.

Ali Rashid also called upon them to conduct energy audits on all buildings within the next six months.

"Based on the audit results, buildings can implement the necessary retrofit measures within one year of the audit report to achieve the desired results. It has been noted that retrofit measures, based on the baseline consumption listed in audit reports, can lead to a minimum of a 25 per cent reduction in electricity and water consumption by the end of 2024," explained the DSCE official.

"This will be a promising step towards improving energy efficiency of existing building stocks, decarbonizing existing buildings and moving closer to the UAE’s net-zero targets," he added.

At the workshop, Etihad Energy Service Company (Etihad Esco), a unit of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), came in for praise for its significant role as the programme manager for Building Retrofits Programme for Demand Side Management (DSM) 2030 strategy.

"At Etihad Esco, we continue to support the goal of making Dubai one of the world's most sustainable cities," stated its Acting CEO Dr Waleed Al Nuaimi.

"In order to elevate Dubai's built environment to a model of energy efficiency for the region and the world, we aim to actively contribute to the reduction of energy demands, defined by the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy. In addition, we will support Dubai’s Government entities towards their energy savings goals,," he added.