solar, so good!
Farnek Avireal to advise on energy savings for leading regional
contract catering company Abela & Co.
The leading United Arab Emirates total facilities management company is to utilise the power of the sun to help reduce the heat of the kitchen for one of the biggest players in the regional contract catering business.
Farnek Avireal, the pioneering company that won an Emirates Energy Award for its research into energy savings in Dubai’s hotel and hospitality sector, has been awarded a consulting contract from Abela & Company.
With the massive regional construction boom along with continued growth in Middle East aviation and the event and exhibition industry, demand continues to hot up for contract catering.
Abela is building a new central kitchen double the size of current facilities in Dubai. The company expects to prepare and serve an additional 120,000 meals per day from the new kitchen that will have an area of 7,040 square metres on a plot of 18,019 square metres designed to meet current and anticipated meal demands.
Under the contract, Farnek Avireal will be responsible for project management and technical assistance for the new central kitchen along with energy management consulting and facilities management to ensure best possible maintenance.
“Our work doesn’t stop there, however,” said Markus Oberlin, General Manager of Avireal Middle East. “Abela & Company care about the impact they have on the environment and want to do something about that. So we will be coming up with the best energy concepts for efficient lifecycle running costs, including the use of solar technologies.
“Abela is among a growing number of regional companies seeking to reduce or limit their energy consumption which has both a direct effect on their bottomline as well as the environment,” Oberlin added.
Farnek Avireal is working with the Fraunhofer Solar Institute of Germany to introduce the latest in solar technology, details of which are to be unveiled later.
Strategically located for future business in “New Dubai” at Dubai Industrial City, Abela’s new central kitchen will be close to the new Dubai World Central airport under construction at Jebel Ali and Dubai Waterfront. Abela’s catering services include: in-flight; airport terminals; industrial sites; institutional, hospital and nursing homes; and events and hospitality services.
The new central kitchen also represents a modern example of an industrial catering facility designed to meet all Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) standards. Abela was the first regional catering company to achieve HACCP certification.
Farnek Avireal has an auditing system that uses internet based software to highlight major savings in both energy and costs. Farnek Avireal’s research found that, for example, the annual utility cost of major five star hotels in Dubai is about $2 million. “Achieving energy savings of only 5% can trim around $100,000 from that bill,” says Oberlin.
