Project of the Year – Retrofit
Recognising and celebrating the retrofit of a building that most effectively demonstrates high levels of user satisfaction and comfort while delivering outstanding measured building performance.
Winner: Abu Dhabi Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Retrofit Pilot Project – grfn
Realising significant energy savings with minimal intervention helped GRFN land the retrofit Project of the Year title.
In what was the first governmental energy performance project in Abu Dhabi, the target was to retrofit eight buildings owned by the Department of Energy (DoE), located in Abu Dhabi and the city of Al Ain. The pilot project is part of the DOE's strategy to reduce electricity and water consumption in the Emirate’s public sector by 22% and 32% respectively by 2030 (compared to 2013).
GRFN retrofitted the building systems, from the plantroom through to the occupied spaces, and the judges commended its ambition to reduce energy consumption in existing buildings in a harsh climate.
The judges praised the relatively light-touch approach and using proven technology, which produced significant improvement in performance.
The purpose of the retrofit was to optimise building performance and set a benchmark for 150 other buildings that are to be retrofitted in Abu Dhabi. Its aim was a 30% reduction in energy, using innovative energy management solutions through an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) contract based on a shared-savings model.
At the outset, the eight buildings had an average baseline energy use index of 470kWh/m2/year. This has been reduced to 293kWh/m2/year through this retrofit – an approximate saving of 38% over an 11-month implementation period, with less than seven years’ payback on investment.
Total savings of 9,181,269kWh in electricity and 4,690m3 in water consumption were recorded in the latest measurement and verification (M&V) reports for three buildings and second-quarter M&V reports for four buildings.
The project has also provided a standard EPC framework, tailored to Abu Dhabi’s public sector.
Project Team
Building Owner: Abu Dhabi Department of Energy
Building Occupier: Multiple entities within the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy
Main Contractor: Taka Solutions & Enova
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