Improving energy performance in the United States has never been more important than it is today. In fact, it’s now a must in California. Most businesses are constantly looking for ways to differentiate themselves from their competition and at the same time, save on energy costs by becoming eco-conscious. Therefore, green building retrofits are one way to not only represent an environmentally friendly label, but also utilize technology that has the capability to create larger profit margins for real estate professionals while simultaneously reducing the energy usage and environmental impact of buildings all over the world.
Saving the planet and saving money are both great objectives; luckily they go hand-in-hand!
What are Green Building Retrofits
The best way to deal with energy consumption in the future is to improve building efficiencies now. Green building retrofits of existing commercial buildings can be as simple as installing new heating, ventilating, and air conditioning components, mounting solar panels on a roof, or even just placing a bike rack outside of the building. Or they can be as complex as complete interior and/or exterior renovations.
Notable Green Retrofit Trends
According to the US Green Building Council, the top two reasons for building green are client demand (35%) and market demand (33%). Other key trends and competitive differentiators include:
- Commercial building owners are estimated to invest an estimated $960 billion globally between now and 2023 on greening their existing built infrastructure. Major priority areas include more energy-efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning, windows, lighting, plumbing fixtures, and other key technologies.
- LEED-certified buildings with lower operating costs and better indoor environmental quality are more attractive to a growing group of corporate, public and individual buyers. High performing building features will increasingly enter into tenants’ decisions about leasing space and into buyers’ decisions about purchasing properties and homes.
- 61% of corporate leaders believe that sustainability leads to market differentiation and improved financial performance.
- Owners of green buildings reported that their ROI improved by 19.2% on average for existing building green projects and 9.9% on average for new projects.
- Improved health and productivity benefits are playing a larger role in driving companies to invest in green building today than they have in the past. 55% of firms rate greater health and well-being as their top social reasons for building green, up from only 29% in 2008.
- People in the U.S. spend about 90% of their time indoors. EPA studies indicate indoor levels of pollutants may be up to ten times higher than outdoor levels. LEED-certified buildings are designed to have healthier, cleaner indoor environmental quality, which means health benefits for occupants.
Recently, California and New York have taken the lead in prodding building owners toward greater energy efficiency with a mix of rebates and tax breaks to help offset the costs and other states are expected to embrace demand response.
Sustainable Design for Green Building Retrofits
KMB Design Group has always been passionate about improving energy efficiency for commercial applications. As a full service engineering solutions provider licensed in the United States and Europe, we take a systematic approach to develop comprehensive engineering solutions for all of our clients. From conception through site acquisition, engineering and construction, we focus on collaboration and communication throughout the entire process. Contact us to get started today!