Government initiatives to make older buildings more energy efficient could achieve dramatic reductions in the UAE’s electricity consumption, one of the speakers at the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) Energy Efficiency Expo said.

Speaking on the sidelines of WFES, Rockwool Group CEO, Jens Birgersson, said the UAE had made significant advances in energy efficiency for new construction projects, slowing the speed at which demand was increasing. These were now being supported by policies to promote energy efficient renovations on existing buildings, he noted.

In the UAE, Birgersson said the biggest single energy cost was air-conditioning, and keeping out the heat would deliver the biggest savings. “There is a lot of talk about smart energy solutions, but it is also very important to consider the building envelope.”

“Globally, 30 to 40 per cent of energy consumption comes from buildings, but in the GCC that figure is up to 80 per cent. If you retrofit a building with energy efficient products, such as improved insulation, you can reduce energy consumption by half.”

There are now several programmes in the UAE that aim to promote retrofits.

As part of its Powerwise initiative, Abu Dhabi’s Regulation and Supervision Bureau (RSB) – the independent regulator for the water, wastewater and electricity sector – has retrofitted 10 domestic villas for energy efficiency.

It then used a before-and-after cost comparison to showcase the savings to homeowners. Retrofits are also a key part of Dubai’s Integrated Energy Strategy, which aims to reduce energy demand by 30 per cent, by 2030.

Birgersson added that international experience showed that strong government support played an important role in encouraging building owners to see energy efficiency as an investment, rather than an unnecessary cost. “We are talking about buildings that were built 20, 30, 40 years ago, and can be brought up to modern standards.”

“There is a range of different measures that can be considered to encourage improvements. It does not necessarily have to be in the form of financial incentives, but there does need to be a framework that supports building owners.”

The Energy Efficiency Expo is a new addition to WFES for 2017.