Grundfos Takes Part in the Retrofit Seminar

Grundfos, the award-winning world leader in advanced pump and water application systems, took part in the Retrofit Seminar, a two-day leading event organized by the Danish Embassy on the 5th and 6th November 2018 at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, Dubai.

Green at heart and at the forefront of sustainability, Grundfos was in alliance with the Danish embassy for this event, alongside a number of renowned Danish companies, Danfoss, AVK, Kamstrup, Hempel, Rockwool, Epiito and Jskoncept A/S.

The seminar, which was conveniently hosted in the very first passive autonomous house in the UAE, was attended by Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin, Ambassador of Denmark to the UAE; Ali Al Jassim, Ceo of Etihad ESCO, SEWA's Eng. Afra Alowais and other associates from SEWA. It brought together Danish suppliers and experts and a significant turnout of more than 90 visitors each day; in a bid to enhance dialogue on the retrofitting market in the UAE, which is a crucial part of the local and global green transition. 

The event tackled the Danish Retrofitting story and how Danish state-of-art leading solutions can contribute value and assist in the transition, thanks to decades of experience and keeping CO2 emissions intact despite growth in population and economy. It also discussed local development and visions for the UAE, more specifically Dubai and Sharjah; ESCOs, concept and financial models, in addition to retrofitting concepts that included products like water pump, HVAC components, smart ceiling and ventilation system, smart lightning, sustainable paint and isolation material and so on.  

Explaining the importance of retrofitting pumps, Tolga Candan, Business Development Manager, Energy Optimization & Retrofitting at Grundfos Gulf Distribution, Dubai indicated that Grundfos is performing a transition from being just a pumps manufacturer to an integrated solutions partner for every client, FM, operator and ESCO. He said: “Pumps are at the heart of your facilities. Day in and day out, they make your business run. But they come with a price. It may be nothing to buy it, but the price you are going to pay for it every year is massive, so basically, the price of a pump is nothing compared to its energy consumption.” 

This, he said, is especially true for retrofitting existing building stock, in the move to improve energy efficiency. “Energy costs are increasing. As a result, many governments are introducing environmental legislation in the form of directives to encourage companies to reduce their energy consumption and improve their CO2 footprint in order to meet certain targets.”

To address this issue, Candan said Grundfos conducts an Energy Check, based on ISO14414. “Being a complimentary ‘health checkup’ of a facility’s pumps to date, this method helps to achieve guaranteed savings opportunities for our clients,” he said.   

Candan cited the Indigo Tower, one of the company’s latest retrofit projects, which managed to save 80% on the pumps’ energy consumption, achieved a payback of 0.7 years. 

The Retrofit Seminar received 100 % positive feedback from guests, who were eager to explore more of what Denmark has to offer. Some even expressed interest in visiting Denmark or having a Danish expert flown to the UAE to discuss regulations, benchmarking and changing consumer behavior. A couple of pilot projects and potential orders were agreed at the seminar, most notably the sustainable IoT lightning solutions that will be implemented in January in Sharjah; ushering in further cooperation between UAE & Denmark.