IEG forges new partnership to promote sustainable development

"We are strengthening our sustainability portfolio through partnership with ZAS International to bring to the region a wealth of sustainable infrastructure design experience" said Zeyad Al Majed, General Manager, IEG.

ZAS has a long history with sustainable building designs on three continents in varied climatic conditions including projects in South Africa, China, North America. "We have successfully incorporated environmental, energy efficient and healthy features in our projects, without adding cost - only increasing sustainability by lower operating costs, creating healthy daylight spaces and a reducing impact on the environment we all share" said DJ Armin, ZAS General Manager in the UAE.

The new partnership will enable IEG to offer holistic integrated project development services incorporating the latest in energy technologies with sound sustainable architectural design. Sustainable planning and design of sustainable Infrastructure including waste water treatment, and energy generation systems design and evaluation are key services offered by ZAS to its clients worldwide.

"Design of high performance buildings with ultra-low energy consumption is a reality today thanks to the computer modeling, which allows the simulation of Solar shading, Day lighting and thermal loads to reduce artificial lighting and cooling requirements" said Zeyad Al Majed. "IEG's interest in sustainable design can benefit greatly from passive cooling strategies including solar control, displacement ventilation, drawing supply air through underground ducts, thus pre-cooling the air, ZAS is considered one of the leading, award winning designers in this field," he added.

It is a common practice today to produce evaluation and model energy efficiency systems to recommend the best combination of insulation, windows and cooling systems for high return on investment. "ZAS takes design to the next level by producing feasibility analysis and design of building integrated renewable energy production systems" stated DJ Armin. "Our integration of advanced technologies reduce peak energy demand or even allow a building to become a net exporter of energy to the power grid, including: PV (solar electric), wind generation, and geo and deep water cooling systems, and co-generation," he added.

The new partnership will also allow IEG to use various sustainable building tools effectively in its project developments such as LEED (the US's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), BREEAM, (The British Building Research Establishment Assessment Method) GBCtool (The International Green Building Challenge sustainable rating method) for third party verification of sustainability claims. "High energy prices do not have to impede the pace of regional development. The progress and adoption of sustainability in our region is accelerating by the minute. IEG will continue to provide know-how, technology and projects to serve the region." said Zeyad Al Majed.