Sixty per cent of future energy use in the UAE will be impacted by sustainable energy management systems, said an industry expert.

Adopting an Energy Management System-EnMS, such as the ISO 50001, is one of the best ways for the UAE to reduce its global footprint (gha), added Niraj Mathur, senior lead assessor at Lloyds Register Quality Assurance (LRQA).

He was speaking at the inaugural summit of the Centre of Excellence for Green Development at the Canadian University of Dubai.

“The applications of an energy management system are mind-blowing. They are virtually limitless. At LRQA alone it has been successfully adopted in some of the biggest companies around, such as Emaar-ECM, BAE Systems Surface Ships, Agfa Graphics and AvnetAsia,” Mathur said.

“As part of their energy management system, Emaar Community Management recently replaced 12,000 halogen light bulbs with LEDs across its high rise communities, resulting in an energy saving of 4.5million KWH and a cost saving of over Dh2 million ($544,000).

“I think more companies in the UAE will adopt widespread energy management systems as they begin to see the cost benefits to their businesses. The plan from the ISO is for 60% of energy consumption worldwide to be influenced by ISO 50001 and that is certainly achievable here in a progressive and committed country like the UAE,” he added.

“Energy management systems, like the ISO 50001, can be applied to any kind of organization be it a private company or a governmental organisation,” continued Mathur.

“Every company uses energy, whether you are building swimming pools, doing computer systems, smelting aluminium or in logistics, you would look to design green, procure green and then operate green and that is the way forward.”

Dubai’s growth in population and consumption are key factors in the being among the highest ranked countries for global footprint as highlighted in the WWF Living Planet report.

The Dubai Government has announced a raft of initiatives to adopt energy efficient and green technologies, most recently the announcement last week of plans to phase out low efficiency incandescent light bulbs by restricting import from July 2014 and the Energy Efficiency programme called the Green Building project.

“The need for energy efficiency in Dubai is well documented,” added Mathur. “Growth in population and a tremendous amount of consumerism have led to high rates of consumption in energy and that has led to issues with depletion of natural resources, looking at alternative resources and creating energy efficiency through Energy Management Systems is arguably the most practical way to affect change.”

The adoption of energy management systems is voluntary worldwide, but Mathur said that provides opportunities and challenges for policy makers.

“In various countries governments are incentivizing energy efficiency and alternate energy initiatives. Programs target large industrial plants and offer financial incentives for compliance as part of target setting agreement. They also provide opportunities for training and technical assistance and publicise sharing of best practices and best performers.

“An energy management system gives a robust, structured approach for planning, deploying and monitoring the energy use and consumption and deploying continual improvements. It is a natural route to a greener country,” Mathur concluded. – TradeArabia News Service