November 28, 2017 For businesses, energy conservation efforts not only benefit the ROI but extend beyond the bottom line into the realm of industry reputation, social responsibility and building health. Today, corporate competition requires more than fancy fliers and quality service. Now, more than ever, consumers want to know how a business is impacting the environment and desires to see commercial energy efficiency practices set in place.
Motivating Commercial Energy Efficiency Improvements
A few of the driving factors that motivate property owners to improve upon commercial energy efficiency include:
- Tenant Demands– Tenants increasingly embrace sustainability features as part of their leasing criteria.
- Regulations- Adoption of commercial energy efficiency regulations include mandatory benchmarking across the United States.
- Portfolio Goals- Setting goals helps owners ensure their sustainability investments achieve the maximum ROI. Many property owners have already begun incorporating retrofits, technology upgrades and other operational improvements.
Maximize Commercial Energy Efficiency
Buildings account for more than one-third of global climate–changing carbon emissions. But a new report from the ULI Greenprint Center for Building Performance indicates that many of the world’s leading commercial real estate owners and managers are making significant advances to maximize commercial energy efficiency by reducing energy consumption, carbon emissions, and water use in their buildings. And they are on track to outperform their target of a 50% emissions reduction by 2030- a goal set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and ratified by the Paris Climate Accord.
The Greenprint Performance Report (Vol. 8) tracks, benchmarks and analyzes environmental performance of properties to reduce operating expenses, boost tenant demand and increase property values. Their recent report is based on analysis of data Greenprint and its members collected on 8,684 properties across 175 million square meters (1.9 billion square feet) of building area in 28 countries. As an important catalyst for change, Greenpoint helps its members take action to advance in environmental performance and commercial energy efficiency practices.
Emerging Trends
This year’s emerging trends highlight new opportunities for forward-thinking owners to capitalize on ongoing market and technology trends, including the future of the energy grid, efficiency legislation, and investing resilience.
Resilience is defined as the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from and successfully adapt to adverse events. The recent devastations of natural disasters have increased awareness of people, property and city vulnerability. Resilient building construction considerations include the elevation of ground level and equipment, water recycling and incorporating passive and backup energy sources.
KMB Commercial Energy Efficiency Services
At KMB Design Group, we provide commercial energy efficiency services and engineering solutions to maximize each client’s unique goals. As a recognized leader in commercial PV Engineering, KMB is also positioned to support our clients throughout the process of solar installation.
As a full-service engineering solutions provider licensed in the United States and Europe, we take a systematic approach to develop comprehensive engineering solutions and understand the specific energy-conserving measures incorporated into sustainable building designs to ensure the most economically sound alternatives are presented.
Contact us to learn more about building energy modeling and how to incorporate energy efficient design solutions that deliver results.