Market demand drives Farnek sustainability investment

Raft of new consultants to push FM Company’s environmental strategy as market demand for sustainable operations and buildings escalates

UAE-based total facilities management company Farnek, has made significant investment in human capital, after recruiting a number of key executives to support its rapidly expanding sustainability business, buoyed by the soaring demand for expert consultancy in energy, water, carbon and waste management. 

With his master’s degree in energy and his LEED AP, GSAS CGP and PQP credentials, Pakistan national, Muhammad Jaffar, who has been appointed as Head of Consultancy - Energy Efficiency, has previously worked as a technical expert on several sustainable master planning and green building projects since 2010. These projects include FIFA stadium (Al Rayyan), Qatar University- College of Engineering, Yas Water World and Petroleum Institute Accommodation (ADNOC).  

In his new role, Jaffer will take direct responsibility for all activities related to energy efficiency services including our benchmarking Hotel Optimizer for hotels, residential and commercial buildings, Energy audits, ISO 50001, Carbon assessment and ESCO projects.

 “Muhammad brings a wealth of experience especially in multidisciplinary sustainable planning and design projects focusing on sustainability issues such as water, energy, and carbon. Jaffar project management expertise and knowledge of existing buildings and hotels will be another asset. He also has an enviable track record developing social impact assessments, waste management strategies and environmental feasibility strategies,” said Sandrine Le Biavant, Director- Consultancy at Farnek.

“I am particularly keen to create even more awareness of Hotel Optimizer, a bespoke energy benchmarking internet-based software, developed by Farnek specifically for the hotel industry. As a sector, hospitality is at the forefront of energy-saving and waste management, not just because of its CSR benefits, but because it has the potential to save millions of dollars in reduced utility costs,” commented Jaffer. 

Jaffer is joined by two new energy consultants at Farnek – Indian nationals Rijo Abraham who has CEM ,CMVP certifications and Sambath Kumar, who is a and CMVP and Certified Energy Auditor professional. Both these professionals are mechanical and electrical engineering conversant with the latest energy management audit strategies and policies. They will be responsible for detailed energy and walk through audits, monitoring, evaluation and critical analysis of building energy flows.        

“Both Rijo and Sambath are valuable additions to our growing team and critical to our on-the-ground client operations team, which is tasked with making recommendations to improve energy, water and waste efficiencies,” added Le Biavant.

Established 35 years ago in the UAE, multi-award-winning Farnek, has offices in the Northern Emirates, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. It has a skilled workforce of more than 2,200 people, maintaining over 2,500 properties on behalf of international and regional companies. Also, to broaden its service offering still further, Farnek has joined forces with one of the largest residential maintenance companies in the UAE, Hitches & Glitches.

Farnek is the regional partner of myclimate, a Swiss non-profit foundation that is making a significant and innovative contribution to climate protection and sustainable development through carbon management services such as carbon offsetting solutions.

Farnek is also the preferred Middle East partner of Green Globe, a leading certification programme developed specifically for the travel and tourism industry. The Green Globe Certification Standard provides hotel and resorts with a framework to conduct a comprehensive assessment of their environmental sustainability performance, through which they can monitor improvements and achieve certification.