Air-conditioning maintenance key to energy savings

The Executive Affairs Authority found an average 27 per cent reduction in energy used.

ABU DHABI // Commercial-building operators could save Dh200 million a year and reduce energy use by 27 per cent if they would maintain their air-conditioning units properly, according to a study by the Executive Affairs Authority.

The study of 10 commercial buildings in the capital, which started last year, compared performance before and after simple, inexpensive maintenance work.

"We ultimately found they are not performing all that well," said David Scott, the executive director of economics and energy affairs at the authority.

Many of the units were leaking cooling gas, while just 3 per cent of them had been adequately charged.

And while fan coil units need to be cleaned regularly to work efficiently, but most of the units checked were dirty or damaged due to inadequate maintenance. Just 9 per cent of units were found to be in good condition.

The authority estimates that better maintenance could save 668 gigawatt hours of energy per year, keeping 428,350 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide and 21 metric tonnes of refrigerant gas - both greenhouse gases - out of the atmosphere.

And those improvements would come from improvements to only the capital's commercial buildings, which occupy about a third of all floor space.

"There is overwhelming agreement among government agencies that this is an issue that merits attention and actions," Mr Scott said.

* Vesela Todorova