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chairman, MFRI Inc.
The Perma-Pipe subsidiary of MFRI is a leading manufacturer
of factory pre-insulated piping systems for oil and gas gathering,
district heating and cooling and other specialty applications. For
more information, visit www.mfri.com.
Dutch Students Tour Tabreed Plant
More than 30 students from the Eindhoven University of
Technology in The Netherlands were part of a delegation touring
Tabreed’s district cooling plant in Dubai earlier this year. Organized
by Royal Haskoning, the eight-day tour saw students and professors
visit the cooling plant site to gain firsthand experience on its key
operational functionalities. During their stay, students also explored
various building design concepts and how they are applied in Dubai.
The students participating in the visit specialize in building
services at the university. Building services is a study discipline that
principally focuses on the design of healthy, sustainable and intelligent buildings. Currently a great deal of attention is given to the
total design process of buildings and installations with the emphasis
on optimizing the interior environment of a building while retaining
its architectural qualities. Attaining these standards to develop perfect residential or working environments requires right designing
and a good integration of the different building-related installations.
Courtesy Tabreed.
Students from Eindhoven University of Technology in The Netherlands toured
Tabreed’s Shaikh Zayed Plant to learn more about district cooling.
Emicool Finance Deal to Fund Expansion
Emirates District Cooling Company (Emicool), a joint venture
between Union Properties and M'Sharie, the private equity arm of
Dubai Investments, recently signed a syndicated Islamic finance
facility of 669 million dirhams ($182 million) with seven banks to
fund the first phase of its 2. 5 billion dirhams ($680 million)
expansion program.
The facility was arranged by Badr Al Islami, Emirates Islamic
Bank and Standard Chartered Bank as Initial Joint Mandated Lead
Arrangers and the Commercial Bank of Dubai, Dubai Islamic Bank,
Emirates NBD and Union National Bank acted as Joint Mandated
Lead Arrangers in the syndicate facility.
“This syndication opens up new strategic avenues for Emicool,
and will help to set the company on a sustainable high growth
trajectory,” said Abdul Aziz Yaqoob Al Serkal, managing director
of M'Sharie and chairman of Emicool. “We view the enthusiastic
response from the banking community as further proof of Emicool's
distinguished market reputation and excellent growth potential.”
The loan is repayable in one bullet payment within three years
from the proceeds of a future Islamic Finance Facility or a sukuk
issue. According to Al Serkal, “Emicool has drawn up ambitious
plans for the future and continued expansion of production capacity
forms the centerpiece of our business strategy. As the demand for
district cooling is on the rise across the UAE and Middle East, it has
become imperative for Emicool to optimize production capacity and
further enhance its technological capabilities to meet growing
market requirements more efficiently.”
The financing proceeds will be used to fund Emicool’s projects at Dubai Motor City and Dubai Investments Park.
LEED in the UAE
Emirates Business 24/7 reported in June that dozens of building across the UAE are in line to be awarded Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design TM (LEED) certifications, the global standard
for sustainable development. So far only three projects in the country
have been ranked under the scheme.
“There are a further 70 buildings in Dubai and Abu Dhabi
registered so far and waiting to be accredited with green building
certifications,” said Mario Seneviratne, managing director of Green
Technologies and a board member of the World Green Building
Council.
Dr. Sadek Owainati, chairman of the Emirates Green Building
Council (EGBC), said “The Wafi district cooling project in Dubai
was the first to be awarded LEED Gold, and the Metito building in
the emirate was given the same ranking. The highest LEED certification, platinum, has been given to the Pacific Controls headquarters
in the emirate.”
The LEED Green Building Rating System, developed by the
United States Green Building Council in 1998, provides a set of
standards for environmentally sustainable construction.
A sustainable building can achieve energy savings of up to
50 percent, according to the EGBC. The EGBC is working towards
creating its own system, which will be a version of the LEED scheme
adapted to suit local conditions.
Johnson Controls Lands Project in Bahrain
Johnson Controls has announced it will supply 18 York-branded
YK-K7 water-cooled centrifugal chillers to the Bahrain Bay project
in the Kingdom of Bahrain – the company’s largest-ever order of
this type of chiller. Bahrain Bay is a $2.5 billion mixed-use devel-
