Tatweer Misr has invested 4.5 billion Egyptian pounds ($235 million) in sustainability initiatives within its ongoing real estate projects in the country, the company Chairman and CEO said.
Ahmed Shalaby told Zawya Projects in an interview that the company has contracted Schneider Electric, Huawei Technologies Egypt and Orange Egypt to implement smart solutions across all its projects. Namely Il Monte Galala in Ain Sokhna, Fouka Bay and D-Bay in the North Coast, and Bloomfields in Mostakbal City, New Cairo.
“Investing in sustainable projects requires solid foundations, beginning with planning, designing, and all the way to infrastructure, to ensure the highest standards and quality life for our customers,” said Shalaby.
“We are keen on applying the highest standards of sustainability in regard to reduction of water consumption and electricity usage in all our projects by leveraging smart infrastructure,” he said.
For example, he continued, residential units are linked to smart utility meters to control water and power consumption while smart lighting poles monitor road traffic on the road to manage lighting electricity consumption.
Shalaby said Huawei technologies Egypt is establishing a smart central control system that connects all projects of Tatweer Misr and enables the company to provide remote control and other services to its customers.
“Everything is linked to an application on the mobile phone that enables customers to control all the services related to the project, whether it is paying consumption bills, controlling household appliances, or booking services such as restaurants, etc,” said the Tatweer Misr chief.
The developer has partnered with Orange Egypt to offer Triple Play Services to all residential and administrative units within its projects, allowing the maximum possible Internet speeds.
Shalaby pointed out that in all its projects, buildings are designed to achieve maximum levels of natural lighting and ventilation through glass facades and air corridors.
In its coastal projects, the company has established seawater desalination plants to secure potable water, used environmentally friendly materials for construction and encouraged the re-use of construction process outputs within the projects.
“We are also keen on providing a network of integrated mobility solutions based on cars and electric buses, in addition to trails for cyclists and pedestrians,” he said.
Shalaby said sustainable real estate development is important not only in the context of global climate change but also from the economic growth standpoint as real estate and construction together account for about 20 percent of Egypt’s gross domestic product, provide about five million direct job opportunities and support nearly 100 industries.
“Egypt had placed the issue of climate change at the top of its list of priorities. The country has launched a strong strategy in this regard, in parallel with hosting COP 27 and the future initiative of transforming Sharm El-Sheikh into a green city,” he said.
(1 US Dollar = 19.15 Egyptian Pounds)