HONEYWELL, a diversified Fortune 100 cyber industrial company and a global leader in building automation and smart building technology, on Sunday announced the call for entries for the region's first smart building awards. The 2016 Honeywell Middle East Smart Building Awards aims to crown the region's smartest airport, hotel, hospital, educational and retail facilities, as well as the leading high-rise office and residential buildings. Entries are being accepted from facilities in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE, with the awards program being supported by strategic partner, MEED. The 2016 awards program follows the recent Middle East launch of the Honeywell Smart Building Score – a first-of-its-kind global framework designed to assess the ‘smartness' of buildings based on the building systems they use to make them green, safe and productive – the three main indicators of smart buildings. Entries will be accepted through an online building audit on the Honeywell website (http://smartbuildings.honeywell.com/me) submitted by midnight on Thursday (Sept. 29, 2016). Onsite checks will be performed on the highest scoring buildings based on the criteria of the Honeywell Smart Building Score, which assesses the effective use of 15 technology assets in a facility. Honeywell will then name the smartest buildings in each industry – airports, hotels, hospitals, offices, residential, education and retail – as well as the leading building in each participating country. Winners will be announced at the Innovation Live! Summit held in Dubai in late November 2016. The event, which is part of the wider Innovation Live! initiative launched by MEED, is slated to be a key regional event bringing government and business innovators together to drive collaboration. "Saudi Arabia's cities have experienced significant growth and innovation over the last few years, and this is set to continue for the foreseeable future, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030. Specifically, the Vision highlights the country's drive towards enhancing the quality of life of its citizens – this is something that smart cities help to deliver. At Honeywell, we believe that smart buildings are the foundations of smart cities," said Mohamed Almousa, country manager, Honeywell Saudi Arabia. "With more than 50 years' experience on-the-ground in The Kingdom, Honeywell is continuing to work with, and bring innovation to building managers, operators and facilities management in support of the smart city ambitions outlined in the Vision," Almousa added. "Following the Honeywell Smart Building Score survey reveal earlier this year, we are now looking forward to recognizing and celebrating industry best practices within Saudi Arabia through the smart building awards program. The inaugural 2016 Honeywell Smart Building Awards will, for the first time, recognize the investments made in smart building solutions, which make facilities in the Kingdom more connected and adaptive, reduce energy and operating costs, and improve safety, productivity and quality of life for occupants and users." The Honeywell Smart Building Score, which was launched in March 2016, evaluated 620 buildings across seven major Middle East cities: Abu Dhabi, Dammam/ Dhahran, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait City and Riyadh. The research clearly highlighted the progress made across the region to make buildings smarter, with Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi topping the list for cities with the smartest buildings.
