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When it comes to decarbonising existing buildings, even small changes can make a big impact. So, before you go rushing into building retrofits to “fix” a poorly performing building, have you stopped to consider whether your building’s operation has been fully optimised first?
While it is inevitable that the majority of our existing buildings will need to undergo retrofits at some point in their lifetime in order to keep net-zero carbon targets within reach, there is no hiding from the fact that retrofitting can be a disruptive and costly undertaking. Some studies estimate the cost of retrofitting to be in the region of three to five times higher than if measures were designed into our new buildings from the outset, meaning building owners, operators and tenants need to be sure that they are squeezing every last saving from their existing building, to minimise the risk and cost of building upgrades, and ensure their maximum impact.
By prioritising optimisation as a first step in your building’s decarbonisation journey, significant energy, carbon and cost savings can often be achieved through simple, low-cost adjustments alone. The UKGBC’s recent guidance, Building the Case for Net Zero: Retrofitting Office Buildings, highlighted that an average 26% reduction in energy usage intensity (EUI) can be achieved through operational improvements in a typical commercial office building. This underscores the readily available savings that are waiting to be uncovered within most buildings, which owners, operators and tenants are currently missing out on.
However, an effective optimisation strategy requires a detailed and in-depth understanding of your entire building. This is why a comprehensive energy audit is the starting point for optimising the performance of any existing building, enabling detailed understanding of how current systems are performing, how the building is used and operated, and establishing a baseline from which targeted improvements can be made and prioritised.
While getting access to the data needed to build a complete picture of your building’s current performance is rarely straightforward, our new guide – Energy Modelling for Retrofit: A Best Practice Approach to Decarbonising Existing Buildings – explores some of the common data challenges associated with existing buildings and offers recommendations on how these may be overcome. Our recent Energy Modelling & Data Analytics for Net-Zero Retrofit webinar (now available on demand) also featured insights from our expert consultancy team on their approach to building optimisation projects, and how they are utilising tools such as iSCAN and IES Live to support operational optimisation strategies.
While data is the critical piece of any optimisation strategy, it is also important not to overlook the human aspect. Occupants play a major role in how a building performs and while simple optimisation measures, such as changing temperature set points, can significantly reduce energy consumption, they may require increased tolerance from building users while the building reaches optimum conditions. It is therefore important to consider how you can encourage occupants to become active participants in the building’s net-zero transition, through behaviour change initiatives, education, and other mechanisms – such as green lease agreements - to ensure everyone buys in and plays their part.
Optimisation provides a low-cost solution to set existing buildings on the pathway to net-zero and brings the added benefit of often having the lowest embodied carbon impact of any potential decarbonisation measures. The cost savings generated from simple operational interventions at this stage can also help fund any subsequent retrofit investments, ensuring that retrofits achieve their full potential and will not be counteracted by any existing inefficiencies in how the building is operated.
To read more on this subject, download our free guide: Energy Modelling for Retrofit: A Best Practice Approach to Decarbonising Existing Buildings
You can also check out the resources on our Net-Zero Retrofit page or watch our on-demand Energy Modelling & Data Analytics for Net-Zero Retrofit webinar for further insights and recommendations from the IES Consulting team.
