Smart buildings and the race to net-zero

The race is on to meet the Paris Agreement’s 2050 net-zero deadline. Buildings are responsible for around 40% of global energy consumption and CO2 emissions. This makes them a firm target for change – and the subject of intensifying compliance requirements.

With more than 70% of England’s commercial buildings constructed before 2000, the majority of non-residential buildings will face some form of retrofit to meet net-zero targets, according to the UK Green Building Council.

Additional (and shifting) regulation and the challenges of meeting net-zero objectives have resulted in a slow uptake of the changes required to meet net-zero objectives. With fewer than one in four organisations focusing on how to make their premises more sustainable, the fear is that we are falling behind on net-zero efforts.

If Britain is going to meet its climate targets, commercial building owners and landlords face serious challenges. This includes potentially exponential costs to bring their buildings in line with mandated energy efficiency benchmarks. This needs to be done while remaining functional and people-centric – and resilient to future changes.

Smart building technologies have a pivotal role to play in guiding energy efficient processes and building upgrades to meet net-zero objectives. The growing requirements for energy efficient retrofits puts pressure on supply chains and limited skilled workforces, which makes time of the essence if buildings are to meet compliance requirements into the future.

Existing buildings and energy efficiency

Historical buildings

There are around 400 000 historical sites in the UK Many of these buildings lack the modern infrastructure required to meet modern energy efficiency standards. The challenge is to perform the required upgrades to buildings cost-effectively and in time to meet climate regulation deadlines. However, in some cases, this needs to be done within the parameters of heritage preservation considerations. Additionally, for some landlords, this needs to be done across multiple locations.

Retrofit or new build

Uncertainty around regulation has led to inaction, but there is a possibility that three-quarters of England’s commercial buildings may have to perform upgrades for energy efficiency by 2030 to remain compliant. These building upgrades and retrofits come at tremendous cost – sometimes millions of pounds. The risk with delay, however, is that regulation will catch up with us. This underscores the importance of pragmatic interventions – guided by data – for continuity.

When faced with the option of a new building or retrofit, retrofitting is the less carbon-intensive process. Furthermore, there is the erroneous belief that many businesses will operate out of new buildings by the 2050 deadline, which impedes the change required to effect meaningful efficiency improvements.

How smart buildings simplify building upgrades

Smart buildings utilise detailed data to streamline and optimise building operations. Smart sensors collect real-time data, which is remotely accessible from a cloud-based dashboard – anytime, from anywhere. Data analytics and reporting around building processes provide powerful insights on resource utilisation and wastage for accurate strategic decision-making and instant reactions.

When it comes to energy efficiency, there is scope to simplify energy efficiency potential and mitigate risks and costs in effecting environmental, sustainable changes.

Maximise the efficiency of existing processes

The first step for any commercial building owner and landlord is to take full advantage of easy energy efficiency gains within their buildings. In both historical and modern existing buildings, data insights are the best way to identify opportunities for energy efficient improvements without retrofit or construction. This removes trial and error and maximises value for easy energy efficiency gains.

These data insights highlight unnecessary consumption and waste, issues around health and wellbeing in the workplace or built environment, and areas of adjustment. Good examples are heating and cooling, critical equipment, maintenance processes, lighting, and asset monitoring for true optimisation.

Understanding building processes

The data obtained through smart building technologies helps building owners and landlords to understand their building processes. This is the cornerstone of strategic decision-making around energy efficiency for reduced emissions. The implementation of smart meters and sensors allows for asset and energy monitoring to identify energy saving opportunities and define focal points.

This data is critical to identify required retrofits and guide priorities for energy efficiency.

Setting targets

Once the focal points have been identified and simple changes have been introduced, the data from ongoing smart building technologies can be used to set targets. From monitoring the effect of changes to creating a roadmap for the change to renewable energy sources, data underpins accurate, simplified, and strategic decision-making.

Data insights are important to creating an accurate business case for strategic plans. This is invaluable to achievable benchmarking and performance targets. This includes everything from optimising existing processes to making the shift to renewable energy sources. Over time, this data can also be used to gauge ROI and strategy effectiveness, with clear and – as required – flexible targets.

The worry with retrofitting is the disruption to operations. The data derived from smart building technologies allows for granular monitoring of occupancy and workplace conditions to mitigate the effect on occupants. By monitoring metrics around workplace wellbeing, smart building monitoring can assist in ensuring optimal comfort and productivity within changing environments in the workplace.

This can be achieved across multi-site operations and offers flexibility in the face of changing circumstances. These could mitigate the disruption of retrofit processes, but also endow businesses with resilience in the event of tightening regulation and the challenges of scale over time.

Empowering teams through tech

Improved energy efficiency requires buy-in from entire teams. The data from smart building technologies is empowering. Firstly, it allows managers to assess the efficiencies of their teams and equipment over time and guide improvements and strategic implementation. Smart buildings leave little room for wasteful processes, bottlenecks, and delays.

For critical assets and equipment, it ensures optimal maintenance protocols for continuity and ensured efficiency.

Monitoring and reporting

Once the hierarchy of changes has been implemented, smart buildings are robust in the face of changing regulatory requirements. Real-time monitoring and cloud-based analytics give businesses flexibility – whether they’re looking to scale or reacting to changes in the business landscape.

Real-time monitoring inspires real-time intervention as needed. It also simplifies reporting so business owners, building owners, and commercial landlords can report on meaningful metrics simply and easily.