As the essentiality of concrete climate actions finds consensus across the globe, the UAE has ramped up its efforts by mobilising all stakeholders in industries that are generally considered energy-intensive. RetrofitTech Abu Dhabi Summit is particularly geared towards the real estate sector, which accounts for 40 per cent of global energy consumption and at least one-third of all GHG emissions. Lighting and HVACR systems — which together account for 60–70 per cent of total energy consumption in buildings, typically — are the primary focus areas.
“The global decarbonisation and sustainability discourse has a strong real estate concomitant because of the sector’s unsustainable energy and carbon footprint. While there are cutting edge, novel solutions that promise energy efficiencies and green outcomes, they are seldom applicable to existing, old building stock and systems — which are the majority of total stock. So, retrofitting and unlocking novel ‘smart’ outcomes in old buildings are the need of the hour — which is our strong suit,” said Sanjeevv Bhatia, CEO of Netix Controls.
Netix Controls has the distinction of leading a 'brownfield revolution' in the Middle East through its Netix-Novus Partner Programme and open-protocol solutions. Popularly known as the 'Android Approach' — due to its open-source nature with high flexibility and integration capabilities — Netix’s retrofit solutions eliminate vendor lock-ins and integrate siloed systems in old buildings to achieve smart outcomes such as centralised operations, data-driven insights, energy optimisation, and high efficiencies.
“Retrofitting in buildings is, in a way, upholding their right to repair. The legacy, multi-vendor systems and mode of operations are inefficient, energy and OpEx intensive, and ill-suited to the experience economy. However, without totally overhauling them, we can leverage IoT and AI-led plug-and-play solutions for integration and optimisation. In doing so, we can unlock multi-fold value and induce sustainability in buildings. Therefore, summits like RetrofitTech are particularly timely and significant in the Middle East,” opined Sanjeevv Bhatia.
Based on a number of case studies, Netix Controls has achieved up to 50 per cent reduction in OpEx by optimising resources and reducing requirement of skilled labour while avoiding system breakdowns by 80 per cent in old buildings. The global company intends to touch upon such demonstrable results at the second annual edition of the RetrofitTech Abu Dhabi Summit. The dignitaries will include government and municipality representatives, the developer community, consultants, and solutions providers, among other stakeholders.
