Michel Abi Saab

Michel Abi Saab is General Manager of Emerge, a Masdar and EDF joint venture company, set up to explore and collaborate on opportunities in distributed solar generation, energy efficiency and street lighting in the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As an energy services company, Emerge offers clients full turnkey supply and demand side energy management solutions through solar power agreements and energy performance contracting at no up-front cost to the client. Previously Mr Abi Saab was Manager of Energy Services, Clean Energy at Masdar, where he assisted public and private entities reducing their energy bills and improving their energy efficiency by implementing cost-effective, energy-efficiency measures in their existing and new facilities and operations. He was also responsible for ensuring that Masdar adopted sustainability best practices during both the design and operation phases of the Masdar City development – one of the world’s most sustainable communities – in order to sustain and increase energy efficiency of the city’s buildings and infrastructure. Mr Abi Saab also developed the Masdar Energy Design Guidelines, which serve as a mandatory framework for designing energy efficient buildings in Masdar City. He has more than a decade of experience in the field of energy efficiency, air-conditioning, high- performance/zero-energy buildings, energy modeling and energy performance contracting. Prior to joining Masdar, Mr Abi Saab worked at Atkins (UAE) and ERGA Group (Lebanon) in building services engineering and sustainable design. Mr Abi Saab holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Lebanese University and is a Certified Energy Manager (CEM), Certified Measurement and Verification professional (CMVP), a LEED Accredited Professional, and an ISO 50001 Energy Management System Lead Auditor. He is a native Arabic speaker, while also fluent in English and French.