KHALEEJ TIMES, Sunday, Mar 13, 2022 | Sha'ban 10, 1443
Realty sector adopts sustainable solutions for existing, new buildings, says Netix Controls CEO
Emirates: The booming property sector in the UAE is witnessing a
huge shift in its fundamentals with a pressing need to save on energy
consumption by deploying sustainable solutions in existing properties as
well as new constructions.
The realty market has been influenced by long-standing inefficiencies, archaic
operating models, proprietary protocols, and high carbon and energy footprint in
buildings. According to United Nations Environment Programme, buildings account
for 40 per cent of global energy consumption and emit one-third of total
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The UAE is at the forefront with its strategic initiative to achieve net-zero
emissions by 2050, making the nation the first in Mena region. Most key economic
sectors have made it a top priority to build sustainable solutions to ensure
growth and development.
Netix Controls is currently working with leading developers like Emaar, Damac,
and Al Mazaya, among others to help catalysing the process of ‘zero carbon’
emissions by helping them make their existing properties sustainable and
eco-friendly.
“A vast majority of existing buildings are grappling with legacy, multi-vendor
systems that are inefficient, energy-intensive, heavy on the operational
expenditure, and not easily replaceable due to proprietary protocols. Whether
you are an owner, a tenant, a facility manager, a climate action advocate, or a
government official, it is a cause for concern across the board,” said Sanjeevv
Bhatia, CEO of Netix Controls.
“Previously, however, any redressal action was either expensive or piecemeal,
with no means to quantify the achievable outcomes. We are now able to make a
strong business case for buildings’ ‘right to repair’.”
Netix Controls is planning expansion across the region with a total investment
of Dh37 million expected to be spent across 2022 on establishing a stronger
footprint across the region. The company will be opening offices in Egypt, Saudi
Arabia and Qatar. Also appointment of new country managers for Kuwait, and
Bahrain as well as senior international talent has joined the teams in UAE and
Saudi Arabia.
The necessary shift
With a range of automation and management systems, and units such as HVAC,
lighting, and conveyor systems, buildings’ road to holistic optimisation is
anything but straightforward. The problems, however, have less to do with
systems’ standalone issues and more to do with their inability to communicate
and integrate with each other. This arises due to multiple vendors and
vendor-specific lock-ins, which hamper interoperability. Due to siloed systems,
a vast amount of usable data remains unanalysed, while building owners continue
to helplessly deal with multiple vendors. Most often, the solutions that
proprietary systems offer are expensive upgrades and fixes, requiring owners to
spend more money without the complete utilisation of the benefits. “Problems
associated with proprietary protocols inspired Netix’s “Android Approach” — an
open-protocol framework similar to the Android OS, which is open-source, easy to
operate on, and more accommodative to new additions,” explained Bhatia. “The
idea is to enable real estate stakeholders to either upgrade the BMS with better
open-protocol architecture or refurbish the existing BMS and only repair/replace
the faulty peripherals, without dumping the high-ticket item or facing vendor
resistance.” And such a shift entails increased IoT and AI applications, which
eliminate silos, increase connectivity, and centralise command and control.
Tech-driven repair
IoT platforms like Netix Konnect replace siloed and decentralised building
operations with a centralised, cloud-enabled model that offers deep-dive
visibility across all systems. This is particularly beneficial to owners with
portfolios of multiple buildings, which can now be monitored, managed, and
optimised at once, using data-driven insights. This has wide-ranging
implications for asset and vendor management, workforce productivity, savings,
occupant/tenant experiences, and, most importantly, the building’s
sustainability.
“The promise of IoT and AI application in any industry or domain is higher
efficiency. The same goes for building operations — you can replace laborious
and reactive ways with more automated and proactive actions, unlocking
multi-fold value in the process. With features such as auto fault detection and
diagnosis, centralised control, energy management, and end-user customisable
condition-based alerts, old buildings that adopt IoT platforms can exercise
their ‘right to repair’ and turn state-of-the-art,” revealed Bhatia. However, he
believes that, as service providers, it is important to quantify the value that
tech-led interventions can unlock in a building.
“While software-only platforms will lead to considerable savings, they pale in
comparison to what a software-hardware interplay can bring. This is the
rationale behind our Novus Partner Programme, which leads to greater savings
through synergistic solutions. We have registered a 50 per cent reduction in
both operational expenditure and skilled-labour requirements while avoiding
system breakdowns by 80 per cent. These are demonstrable results,” asserted
Bhatia.
Currently, old buildings are yet to be brought under the IoT and AI purview,
forward-thinking developers are subscribing to the ‘right to repair’ movement.
“We are investing in cutting-edge technologies in response to market needs.
Soon, with old buildings yearning for new beginnings, we could witness a
brownfield revolution,” concluded Bhatia.