Rob Murray-Leach says retrofitting existing buildings is no different to shedding unwanted kilos, and why you need a trainer to guide you along the process.
So you’ve put on a few kilos. You’ve had a couple of kids and you’re on the road all the time for work. Then one day, you take a look at yourself in the mirror and say “enough is enough”. You hire a trainer, you work out and in a few months you’re hotter property than you’ve ever been.
This doesn’t just apply to people. Building owners are increasingly realising they need to get their properties fit for the market.
Australia’s existing offices, shopping centres, hospitals and schools have become bloated, inefficient hulks that can consume twice as much energy as they need to. This is seriously unhealthy for their bottom line.
Retrofitting your building can reduce its energy bill while saving money. Investa recently improved one of its Sydney properties to 4.5 NABERS energy stars, cutting energy use by 51 per cent at almost 50 per cent the rate of return.
More importantly, retrofitting buildings improves their attrac tiveness to tenants who are increasingly seeking comfort able, healthy and sustainable buildings.
This is critical, with the Federal Government about to introduce a ‘mandatory disclo sure’ scheme that will require building owners to include energy efficiency ratings for properties over 2,000 sqm when they lease or sell them. Effectively, this will allow prospective buyers and tenants to compare the efficiency of buildings, driving up demand for more efficient properties.
Retrofitting is “the next big thing” in buildings. If we retro fitted the existing commercial building stock in Australia it would slash waste, boost pro ductivity and save $1.4 billion a year. The process of retrofitting will create jobs in sectors as diverse as engineering, archi tecture and plumbing, with Davis Langdon estimating that retrofitting could create 27,000 jobs over the next decade.
On top of the economic benefits, by 2020, retrofitting would save 16 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions — that’s almost 3 per cent of Australia’s current emissions. This makes retrofitting a big win/win for the environment and business.
So how do you retrofit an existing building when each building is unique?
The first step is to hire an energy efficiency expert and work out what you want to achieve. Do you want to com pletely upgrade your building to attract a different class of tenant? Are you an owner- occupier that wants to pay lower energy bills? Or do you just want to just retune your building management system while you plan a more exten sive upgrade in the near future?
Once you’ve worked out your goal, the energy efficiency expert should carry out a detailed engineering assess ment to identify the options to improve the efficiency of the building and save money. The best opportunities will vary between buildings, but could include upgrading the HVAC system, installing cogeneration or upgrading the lighting.
You then need to work closely with the expert to select the best package of measures and implement them. Although it can be tempting to just pick off the low-hanging fruit, like lighting upgrades, the best results will come from implementing a bundle of measures like HVAC, hot water and lighting controls.
Just like visiting the gym for the first time, this process is a lot simpler if you get an experienced trainer to walk you through the program. Experienced energy efficiency experts understand the sector inside out, which means they know how to distinguish between actions that only work in theory and those that will save you serious money.
Just like getting fit, at the beginning and the end you need to weigh-in. Ask your expert to estimate the sav ings using a reliable system like the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol. This will help you to work out just how much energy, and money, you’re saving.
Once a building is retrofitted you should revisit the rent and sale value of your property. While valuation methods are only just starting to get to grips with the impact of energy effi ciency upgrades, it’s an area that is likely to progress signifi cantly over the coming years.
Finally, just like an exercise regime, it’s just a case of making sure that the weight stays off and enjoying all the new attention.
Rob Murray-Leach, CEO of the Energy Efficiency Council, is on the panel for Design Capital: Retrofitting the Grid: New Designs for Old Buildings, July 20. Murray-Leach has an exten sive background in climate change, energy, transport and sustainability. He is an author on the Garnaut Climate Change Review and senior policy expert in the South Australian government.
