Ahmad Bin Shafar Reviews Draft of the ‘District Cooling Guide for Building Owners’

Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower), the world's largest district cooling services provider, has reviewed the draft copy of the District Cooling Guide for Building Owners, which will be published by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). The draft was reviewed during a workshop with the accompanying delegation on the side-lines of Empower’s participation at the 2019 ASHRAE Winter Conference and AHR Expo, which is being held from 12 to 16 January, 2019, in Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

A workshop was organised to review the first draft of the District Cooling Guide for Building Owners, where participants presented a comprehensive report on all stages of design and implementation. They also conducted a complete and final review of the digital and paper versions of the Guide, which will officially be released in April 2019 in a special event in Dubai.

On this occasion, Ahmed Bin Shafar, CEO of Empower, thanked ASHRAE, for allowing Empower to be an active partner in this great scientific achievement, as it is an excellent academic reference for specialists, researchers and experts in the refrigeration sector around the world.

Bin Shafar stressed that the company has a clear strategy of continuous development by supporting innovation and scientific research, which are key to the development of the refrigeration sector, locally and globally. This supports the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to build a knowledge-based economy and to implement the National Innovation Strategy, launched by His Highness, to make the UAE as one of the most innovative countries in the world.

“During the previous session of the global event held in the same period last year in Las Vegas, Empower had announced its support to ASHRAE in issuing the District Cooling Guide for Building Owners. Empower also supports the updated edition of the District Cooling Guide, which was released in 2013, by ASHRAE Research with the sole supplemental funding from Empower.  We strive to continue this approach to support Research and Development (R&D),” added Bin Shafar.

“We are proud that the UAE, represented by Empower, is the first country in the world to sponsor the process of issuing the District Cooling Guide for Building Owners and the updated version of the District Cooling Guide. We are committed to participate in specialised events, including ASHRAE conference, the world's largest gathering of refrigeration and air conditioning service providers worldwide, as it allows us to review our leading experience in district cooling, especially in a region featured by different natural characteristics. Nevertheless, the Middle East has recently witnessed a quantum leap in this growing sector and has been able to promote sustainable development without harming the environment and wasting natural resources,” concluded Bin Shafar.

Empower has more than 1,090 buildings that are using district cooling services, catering to more than 100,000 customers. The company operates more than 1.43 Million Refrigeration Tons (RT), providing environmentally friendly district cooling services to large-scale real estate developments, such as Bluewaters, Jumeirah Group, Business Bay, Jumeirah Beach Residence, Dubai International Financial Centre, Palm Jumeirah, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Ibn Battuta Mall, Discovery Gardens, Dubai Healthcare City, Dubai World Trade Centre Residences and Dubai Design District, amongst others.