Make every building count: achieving energy efficiency in commercial builds

According to recent statistics, Australia’s buildings are currently responsible for almost a quarter of the country’s carbon emissions and consume more than half of our national electricity usage. These figures might be hard to digest, but the good news is we're starting to see initiatives coming into play specifically designed to reduce our emissions.

The good news is we're starting to see initiatives coming into play specifically designed to reduce our emissions.

Having completed a thorough review of global and local policies with a proven record of emissions reduction, the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) and the Property Council of Australia recently presented a new series of reports, ‘Every Building Counts – A Practical Plan for Emissions Reduction in the Built Environment’. These reports provide over 75 recommendations for local, state, territory, and federal policy makers to work towards delivering a low carbon built environment.

The environmental impact of commercial buildings

In Australia, commercial buildings contribute approximately 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions, and the average office will consume around 250 kilowatts (kWh) of electricity per square metre per year. To put these figures into perspective, a 1000m2 office will consume (on average) 250,000 kWh per year, which equates to 250 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. Scale that up to a large commercial block and we’re talking some pretty big numbers.

So, it’s encouraging to see building owners, managers and tenants not only beginning to understand the many business benefits of increasing energy efficiency within new and existing commercial builds, but also taking steps to implement changes and reduce energy consumption.

This is a great start, but what we really need to see are new incentives, policies and strategies.

Top down, bottom up strategies

The plan recommended by the GBCA and the Property Council of Australia outlines the need for both top down and bottom up strategies in order to reach emissions reduction targets, covering everything from policy change at a government level, to increased incentives for business owners.

Starting from the top, strategies at a federal level would see major changes to building codes and stricter enforcement of the regulations, expansion of the mandate of the Energy Security Board, targeted financial incentives from the Climate Solutions Fund, and the realisation of a long-term vision for net zero buildings.

At a local level, we’d start to see consistent planning pathways that support innovation, improved information around energy efficiency for consumers, and a shift in the mid-tier office building market towards better performance.

States and territories would then be responsible for setting a long-term vision for net zero buildings, accelerating the transition to high performance buildings with planning incentives, and unlocking the potential of distributed energy.

At a local level, we’d start to see consistent planning pathways that support innovation, improved information around energy efficiency for consumers, and a shift in the mid-tier office building market towards better performance.

When we look at bottom up strategies, we’d expect to see an increase in the uptake of smart building solutions, and integration of new technology into existing commercial infrastructure.

Achieving energy efficiency through technology

Leveraging technology to increase energy efficiency and create ‘smart’ buildings isn't a new concept within the commercial building industry. But, in order to achieve hefty emission targets developers and businesses will need to make better and more widespread use of the technology currently available - technology such as the integrated lighting solutions we develop at OR Technologies.

By installing intelligent lighting solutions fitted with sensor technology, commercial business owners and developers can unlock a whole host of benefits; but crucially, when we’re talking net zero carbon targets, we must apply the technology to existing buildings as well as new developments.

By installing intelligent lighting solutions fitted with sensor technology, commercial business owners and developers can unlock a whole host of benefits.

Through our experience we’ve discovered that the embedded energy in existing building stock is invaluable, and by retrofitting with the right technology we can enable connected workforces and generate greater efficiency and productivity with a cost effective, future-proof model.

Reaping widespread benefits 

The new plan proposed by the GBCA and the Property Council of Australia predicts that by effecting energy efficiency measures in buildings, Australia could deliver $20 billion in savings for businesses and households. This is over 50% of the Government’s 2030 energy productivity target, and over 25% of Australia’s overall emissions reduction target!

But the benefits don’t stop there. We already know that improved energy usage within commercial builds also offers building owners, developers, managers and tenants opportunities for far-reaching cost savings, while also enjoying additional perks such as increased productivity and enhanced connectivity with integrated building systems.

It’s become clear in recent years that the implementation of integrated smart solutions in commercial buildings can bring many benefits into the built environment. Benefits such as improved visibility over building operations, space optimisation, improved employee productivity and comfort can be achieved in parallel while reducing energy consumption, emissions, and associated usage costs.