Three60 Energy, a subsidiary to Three60 Communities, decided to explore energy and the ramifications of sustainability. Three60 Energy is a sister company to Tafawuq Facility Management.

Three60 Energy is a subsidiary of Three60 Community Management, sitting alongside a sister subsidiary that specialises in leisure operations. Imad, the director responsible for the Three60 brand decided to bring together a small team, consisting of Todd, a senior property manager; Valentina, already heavily involved with Tafawuq’s scrutiny exercise into Aviation / FM immediately volunteered her interest. They were joined by Asif a strong advocate for energy efficiency and sustainability, and Waafa who also champions sustainability.

During the first get together Imad stated that the study would prove interesting if the background of residential dwellings was considered; emphasising he didn’t want to re-visit caves and mud huts. Subsequently, the meeting after a few minutes of debate decided to consider “social needs”.

However, Todd had other ideas by opening the discussion by stating that for the benefit of the team that “energy” and what it is should be explored and determined. Following an hour’s debate the team agreed that coal, oil or natural gas are finite sources. Further discussion, aided by the web, identified that earth and metal minerals, groundwater, nuclear fuel and aquifers should also be classified as non-renewable resources. The team decided that renewable energy is any energy source that is naturally replenished; i.e. derived from solar, wind, geothermal or hydroelectric action. After some consideration they added energy produced from the refining of biomass as renewable.

"Transformative technologies may hold the key to meeting the

challenges to optimize and conserve resources."

info@three60.ae, www.three60.ae

Waafa supported his comments by adding that change and new technologies were urgently needed to optimise and conserve existing resources, emphasising that she was referring to water resource, uncontaminated air and the impact on the earth’s crust. Imad expressed that the reduction of operating costs should be considered in tandem with the ever increasing demand by residents / occupants, whether in residential or commercial towers who were now aligning their homes and workplaces with effective sustainability. The session closed, but not until Todd asked how the team should quantify sustainability. Imad smiled saying “next session”.

The discussion became lively exploring the footprint of the original skyscrapers that spread across America and how steel framework became an indispensable necessity when constructing tall towers. However, as Asif pointed out, today’s construction industry, particularly designers, developers and owners were now seeking a different type of footprint, one associated with operating costs. Therefore, he expounded, the new footprint related to energy and environment, specifically sustainability to protect environment.

Once again, change is being driven by a need to optimize and conserve resources — this time, clean air, water, and energy as well as land. And, once again, transformative technologies may hold the key to meeting the challenges. As designers, developers, and owners search for ways to minimize the operating costs and environmental impacts of buildings, while also increasing their functionality and appeal to occupants, “green” trends are becoming observable in the marketplace.