Concorde Tower is a 40-story, high-rise office building located in Dubai Media City, Tecom Zone, United Arab Emirates. Timmons Design International, Inc. (TDE) was elected to evaluate the existing Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing systems in the building and propose sustainable system upgrade recommendations.

The proposed recommendations will demonstrate the economic benefits and energy saving potential of incorporating sustainable designs into a typical building, as tailored to the region's unique conditions.

Currently, the Concorde Tower is served by a central plant system comprised of three centrifugal chillers, four cooling towers, 16 pumps and two heat exchangers. The central plant provides chilled water to the three Fresh Air Handling units and 770 Fan coil units responsible for all the fresh air supply. TDI has looked to improve both indoor air quality, as well as overall energy efficiency of the building, by implementing a displacement ventilation system. This design strategy increases energy savings associated with reduced demand on the chilled water plant, increases the indoor air quality of the building, reduces the amount of horizontal piping required within the building and associated material, and installation costs. In addition, it would reduce the static pressure on the supply fans, therefore reducing the amount of horsepower required to move equivalent volumes of air. Head loss on each pump would also be reduced, allowing the circulation pumps to operate more efficiently.

After assessing the existing lighting and conrols within the building itself, its usage, and local conditions, TDI recommended Daylight Harvesting, Occupancy sensors, and 'Super T8' Fluorescent lights matched with High Power Factor Electronic ballasts. Given the ideal conditions of an all-glass facade and year-round high solar exposure, using Daylight Harvesting and Occupancy sensors has the potential to reduce the total lighting energy usage of the building. Benefits of switching to 'Super T8' Fluorescent lights instead of Incandescent benefits include higher efficacy, longer life, and less wasted heat that contributes to the building heat load.

The proposed sustainable MEP systems versus existing ones reduce total building energy consumption by over eighty-five percent. Non-economic benefits exhibit as well including improvements in indoor air quality and building occupant satisfaction. The results of this analysis should serve to solidify the economic viability of sustainable systems and act as a model of the energy-saving potential available to nearly all buildings in the region.