Cutting Cost

ZigBee is a wireless standards-based technology.

Can old and dated buildings be made ‘smart’ in keeping with the latest trend of green building and sustainability? A cutting-edge innovation in wireless networking has fascinating implications for facilities management.

First of all, what is a ‘green’ building? This is best defined as the outcome of a design process predicated on resource maximisation in terms of energy, water and construction materials, while simultaneously reducing such a building’s impact on both human health and the environment during its lifecycle.

It is evident from such a simple definition that a ‘green’ building is much more than the actual physical structure of the building itself.

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However, people pay lip-service to sustainability without fully understanding its implementation, argues Martin Leith, contracts manager at Rotary Humm (M&E) Services Middle East.

MEP consultants and contractors play a major role in bringing the green building trend to fruition in Dubai, but are hampered by the differing interpretations of the concept of ‘sustainability’ and the role it plays in the construction industry.

“Traditionally what tends to happen, especially in the Middle East, was that architects design buildings remotely without consultation with the MEP consultants, thus missing out on many real opportunities to decrease the lifecycle cost of buildings,” argues Leith.

“Then, typically upon appointing the contract, the MEP people are asked how could they obtain further LEED points to the completed design? This usually means proposing expensive technologies such as PV/thermal solar energy panels, but this invariably increases the total cost for the developer, who would normally not even consider such proposals due to tight budgetary constraints.”

Misconception
There is a misconception that green buildings are more expensive than traditional buildings. For example, a study sponsored by investment firm Good Energies on 150 green building projects around the world shows that, on average, they cost only around 2% more than traditional buildings, and yielded 33% savings on energy. This is contrary to the idea that green building is more costly.

It is estimated that buildings consume about 39% of all of the energy in the US in terms of operating costs. This refers to keeping lights on and running HVAC systems. Another 12% of total energy consumption in the US goes to construction and the building products sector.

In total, more than half of the US’s energy consumption is accounted for by overall construction and its ancillary industries.

Meanwhile, the cost of building structures to LEED standards is coming down, with owners reporting on increasingly lucrative payoffs in lower utility bills and higher rents.