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Rising energy consumption is becoming a major concern in the Middle East. The growing number of construction and real estate development projects being undertaken across the region, while manifesting robust socioeconomic growth, can potentially drive the region’s power requirements beyond unsustainable levels unless concrete measures are adopted to address the energy problem. The GCC is particularly feeling a great sense of urgency to reduce energy consumption down to more manageable levels, knowing that a significant chunk of the development projects in the entire Middle East are being undertaken in the Gulf region.
The size, magnitude and complexity of the buildings and properties that are being built in the region are certainly creating issues related to energy management and maintenance costs. Studies have already shown that maintenance, management and energy expenditure account for up to 80 per cent of the total lifecycle cost of buildings. However, on the flipside, this figure also indicates that it truly pays to invest in trained professionals who have the skill-set, experience and technology to properly maintain and manage buildings and facilities without compromising on cost and energy efficiency.
Taking this into account, the Facilities Management (FM) industry has now emerged as one of the bright spots in efforts to control the rise of energy consumption in the region. Indeed, as master developers, property owners and contractors increasingly appreciate the long-term impact of proper maintenance and management of their facilities, the FM industry is accordingly becoming synonymous with sustainability and energy efficiency. While the FM industry is relatively new in the region, practical experience clearly demonstrates that professional FM companies are best equipped to handle maintenance and management of buildings, facilities and other business assets. At Imdaad, for instance, we have maintained a portfolio of high-profile clients over the past years who all profess to have enhanced their energy efficiency and have benefited greatly through improved workplace conditions as a result of our integrated FM solutions.
However, while Imdaad and the rest of the FM industry have strongly established our presence among elite developers and large-scale properties, I believe there is still much work to be done with regard to small- and medium-sized buildings and facilities. Much of the talk about energy efficiency projects nowadays focuses mainly on large facilities and buildings. It is true that large buildings achieve relatively larger cost and energy savings through integrated FM solutions mainly because of their size, but I believe that ignoring small buildings altogether misses a genuine opportunity to further advance the energy conservation movement in the region. Large buildings have the size, but small buildings have the numbers.
In this regard, Imdaad has been aggressively reaching out to owners of small and medium-sized buildings to avail of our integrated FM solutions. I believe that the SME segment has largely shied away from adopting FM solutions because of a myth that it is too expensive with a very long payback. This is obviously a misguided view. In reality, Imdaad and our peers in the FM industry have been carefully studying the specific needs of small and medium-sized facilities to develop personalized FM solutions that match the specific needs of these facilities. Moreover, we must realize that most small buildings are much easier to manage and have relatively simple energy management requirements, key attributes that ultimately reflect on the overall cost of the services required. It all boils down to understanding what the project requires and having the right professional experΠΑΙΔΙΚΑ ΠΑΠΟΥΤΣΙΑ