Qatar’s green building push ‘needs smarter operations’
Commercial buildings with top efficiency ratings can still leak energy through their daily operations, a Qatar-based technology founder has said, arguing that hitting the country’s sustainability targ...
In Qatar, a technology entrepreneur believes that the country's sustainability goals hinge more on how buildings are operated than on how they are designed. Arfaz Khan, the founder and chief technology officer of ARVIS, a startup based in Qatar Science & Technology Park, argues that even modern, highly efficient buildings can waste energy due to unnoticed operational inefficiencies.
Khan emphasizes that a building's design can be excellent, yet it may still consume excess energy if there are minor operational glitches that go unnoticed during standard facility maintenance. He explains that a system may run longer than necessary, equipment may behave differently under specific conditions, or the same problem may persist repeatedly because everyone is focused on addressing immediate issues.
Khan developed ARVIS' Adaptive Building Intelligence (ABI) platform, which integrates with existing Building Management Systems, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment, and energy meters to analyze operational performance. By examining months or years of historical operational data, building managers can identify recurring patterns of waste that are typically invisible during daily operations.
Khan believes that understanding a building's operational history can reveal hidden forms of waste that are nearly imperceptible in the moment. He states that sustainability is not merely about consuming fewer resources; it is also about recognizing what is already being utilized effectively to pinpoint areas of waste. Qatar's Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) serves as a crucial regulatory framework in the region, driving market demand for operational efficiency technologies.
Khan highlights that GSAS is unique because it was developed specifically for Qatar, rather than being a copy of another standard. This national initiative has become mandatory for new commercial developments in Qatar, generating significant demand. Moreover, GSAS has since been adopted across the Gulf, suggesting that it could potentially influence building assessments beyond Qatar as well.
To protect data privacy, ARVIS processes all operational data locally on-premises, allowing the building to "remember" past performance without relying on external servers. Khan emphasizes that the building has an inherent memory that has yet to be fully utilized. He asks: What if a building's past could guide its future decisions?
Written by urgent.news from Gulf Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
