Enigin Update - Lebanon Introduces Green Building Rating System
THE Lebanon Green Building Council, with support from International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, have launched ARZ, a rating system that will evaluate the energy efficiency of commercial buildings.
The rating system is designed to encourage better resource management, decreasing energy costs and addresses climate change.
The ARZ Building Rating System, developed in Lebanon, measures the extent to which commercial buildings in Lebanon are healthy, comfortable places to work and do business, and also their impact on the natural environment.
Additionally, ARZ will encourage building owners to introduce green technologies and materials to reduce energy use, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and achieve other sustainability benefits that help mitigate climate change and support environmental protection.
“By taking part in the ARZ Building Rating System, commercial building owners now have the chance not only to do something to support better management of Lebanon’s precious...energy resources, but can also save money over the long term by investing to ‘green’ their buildings,” said Samir Traboulsi, president of the Lebanon Green Building Council.
While several internationally accepted green building rating systems already exist, the Lebanon Green Building Council and IFC recognized the need for a system that responds to Lebanon’s unique conditions. As such, the ARZ Building Rating System meets minimum international environmental requirements, but emphasises Lebanon-specific conditions, including an emphasis on energy efficiency, and on recognising the nature of the country’s existing buildings stock.
Green building audits of several commercial structures in Lebanon conducted during ARZ’s development phase found that, in addition to the greenhouse gas reductions to be achieved through ‘green’ renovations, significant cost savings could also be realised quickly.
The green building audits determined that with investments of between $100,000 and $4.9 million, based on building size and condition, building owners would achieve annual cost savings of between $35,000 and $890,000, with an average payback on their investment of only two to three years. Implementing the audit recommendations would also enable them to achieve higher ARZ rating levels.
“IFC recognizes that Lebanon, like other countries in the Middle East and North Africa, faces serious water and energy challenges,” said Luke Haggarty, IFC Advisory Services Manager for the Middle East and North Africa. “One way we can make a difference is by showing business owners how green initiatives can have a positive impact on their bottom lines.”
Enigin plc's range of energy efficiency solutions, available exclusively from Enigin Distributors, offer cutting edge technology and software for building owners and managers to gain control of their energy use - identifying in real-time what and where energy is being consumed, with analytical data to make decisions on where to apply energy saving technology.
Picture of Beirut, Lebanon by Robert J. Fluegel USN
