What is Energy Efficiency? A 6-step framework to making your buildings smarter

What is energy efficiency? It is a simple yet powerful concept that can significantly impact the sustainability of the built environment. At its core, energy efficiency means using less energy to achieve the same results. By implementing energy-efficient measures in your building, you can reduce your carbon footprint, lower utility bills, improve occupant comfort, and extend the lifespan of your equipment.

Whether you're a building owner, facility manager, or energy consultant, understanding and implementing energy efficiency best practices can help you unlock numerous benefits for your buildings and the environment. Energy prices are soaring around the world, and stringent laws are being implemented to curb excess energy consumption. By taking measures to reduce energy wastage, property owners can stay ahead of the curve, or even usher in a new age of building operations.

Benefits of Energy Efficiency in Buildings

The benefits of energy efficiency in buildings are diverse and far-reaching, from reducing carbon emissions to saving on energy bills. Let's explore some of the most significant advantages:

• Cost savings through reduced energy consumption and lower utility bills: Energy efficiency measures in buildings, such as insulation, efficient appliances, and smart energy management systems, significantly reduce energy consumption. This leads to substantial cost savings on utility bills for building owners and occupants. The financial benefits of energy efficiency make it a wise investment, as the initial upfront costs are often outweighed by the long-term savings over the building's lifespan.
  
• Enhanced occupant comfort and productivity, creating a healthier and more pleasant indoor environment: Energy-efficient buildings prioritize occupant comfort by incorporating features like proper insulation, efficient HVAC systems, and ample natural lighting. These measures ensure a comfortable indoor environment with optimal temperature, good air quality, and reduced noise levels. Improved comfort leads to increased occupant satisfaction, productivity, and overall well-being.
  
• Increased property value and market competitiveness, attracting environmentally conscious tenants and buyers: Energy-efficient buildings are highly sought after in the real estate market. They command higher property values due to their lower operating costs and reduced environmental impact. Additionally, certifications such as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) or BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) validate the building's energy efficiency and sustainability, making it more attractive to environmentally conscious tenants and buyers.
  
• Reduced carbon footprint and environmental impact, contributing to a sustainable future: Energy-efficient buildings play a crucial role in reducing carbon emissions and minimizing environmental impact. By consuming less energy, they contribute to mitigating climate change and achieving sustainability goals. Lower energy consumption means a decreased reliance on fossil fuels, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preserving natural resources for future generations.
  
• Compliance with regulations and standards, avoiding penalties and legal issues: Governments and regulatory bodies are increasingly implementing energy efficiency regulations and standards for buildings. Compliance with these requirements ensures that building owners avoid penalties and legal issues. Adhering to energy efficiency standards demonstrates responsible environmental stewardship and a commitment to sustainability, aligning with the larger goals of reducing energy consumption and mitigating climate change.
  
• Energy resilience and future-proofing against rising energy prices and supply disruptions: Energy-efficient buildings are well-prepared to handle rising energy prices and potential disruptions in energy supply. By reducing their dependence on external energy sources, these buildings enhance their energy resilience and minimize vulnerability to fluctuations in energy markets. Incorporating renewable energy systems and energy storage solutions further strengthens their ability to withstand uncertainties, ensuring a reliable and sustainable energy supply for the long term.

Make your buildings more energy efficient with smart building technology

The need to conserve energy has gained significant attention due to concerns about climate change. Many commercial buildings have already adopted behavioral changes to conserve electricity and water. Here are some energy-saving measures you can implement in your buildings:

LED Lighting: Switching to LED bulbs can save up to 80% on energy costs while providing better lighting. LED bulbs are more energy-efficient and have a longer lifespan compared to traditional bulbs.

HVAC Upgrades: Upgrading HVAC systems to energy-efficient models can result in substantial cost savings. Modern systems can regulate temperature, humidity, and air quality, improving comfort for tenants.

Energy Star Rated Appliances: Choosing Energy Star rated appliances can save energy and reduce carbon emissions. These appliances are designed to use less energy and can be an attractive feature for tenants.

Smart Metering and Energy Management Systems: Adopting smart metering and energy management systems allows real-time tracking of energy consumption and identifies areas of waste. This enables proactive measures to reduce energy consumption and costs.

Energy Analytics: Implementing energy analytics solutions provides in-depth insights into energy consumption patterns, identifies areas for optimization, and enables informed decision-making to enhance energy efficiency.

Predictive Maintenance: Utilizing predictive maintenance techniques helps identify potential equipment failures before they occur, preventing costly downtime and optimizing energy performance.

Implementing these measures on a larger scale, especially across multiple buildings, can be challenging and time-consuming. Smart property operations leaders are now seeking a software-led approach that allows for quick deployment and ensures a shorter return on investment (ROI). By leveraging advanced technologies and software solutions, building owners can achieve significant energy savings and operational efficiencies in a more efficient and cost-effective manner.

A Framework for Implementing Energy Efficiency Practices in Your Building

When it comes to implementing energy efficiency practices in your building, it's important to have a structured plan in place to ensure that all aspects are covered. Especially if you are planning to have a cloud-based software solution, it is important to know and map what your goals are and how the software can help you at every step.

Here is a six-step framework to follow:

Step 1: Measure Energy Consumption

Understand how much energy your building is currently consuming. You can start by gathering data from utility bills, meter readings, and other sources to get a baseline of energy consumption. Use your software to get detailed analysis on energy consumption patterns across areas, floors, or buildings. This will help you identify areas that need improvement and set energy-saving targets.

Step 2: Benchmark Performance

Once you have measured energy consumption, the next step is to benchmark your building's performance. This involves comparing your building's energy consumption to similar buildings in your industry or region. Benchmarking can help you identify areas for improvement and set realistic goals for energy efficiency.

Step 3: Identify Energy-Saving Opportunities

Based on your benchmarking analysis, you can start to identify energy-saving opportunities in your building. This may involve making changes to building systems such as lighting, HVAC, and water usage. With good software, you can also access occupancy data such as peak vs non-peak hour consumption, meeting room bookings, floor wise occupancy rates and more. Then, you can automate your lighting and HVAC systems accordingly to reduce bills while maintaining occupancy comfort.

Step 4: Develop an Action Plan

With energy-saving opportunities identified, it's time to develop an action plan. If an asset is prone to constant breakdown, look for ways to upgrade or fix that asset. If repair times are taking longer, see if you can automate the process to streamline it, or if it is time to look for another vendor. Include a list of actions to be taken, a timeline, and specific targets for energy savings. Make sure to involve all stakeholders in this process, including building managers, tenants, and maintenance staff.

Step 5: Implement and Monitor Changes

After developing an action plan, it's time to put it into action. Implement changes gradually, tracking progress against the energy-saving targets you set. Monitor the effectiveness of changes by mapping new energy levels vs historical data. With these actionable insights, you can then propose asset or process improvements to maximize energy efficiency.

Step 6: Continuous Improvement

To maintain long-term energy efficiency, it's important to continuously improve. Regularly measure energy consumption, benchmark performance of buildings against each other, and identify new energy-saving opportunities. By constantly modifying, you can maximize your building's energy efficiency and reduce operating costs.

Implementing energy efficiency practices in your building can seem daunting, but with this six-step framework, you can take a structured approach to achieving energy savings. Start by measuring energy consumption and benchmarking performance, then identify opportunities for improvement and develop an action plan. Implement changes gradually and continuously monitor progress to ensure long-term energy savings.

Real world examples of energy efficient buildings

Implementing new systems and processes might seem daunting at first. But, compared to costly retrofits that can take months if not years to install, a platform-led property O&M solution can give you quick results, sometimes in weeks. There are many real estate leaders who have taken the leap and made their buildings smart with the help of cloud-based PropTech.

British Land, a leading UK property development and investment company, faced siloed systems and manual reporting challenges. With Facilio's cloud-based connected operations solution, they created BL connect, which improved occupant comfort by bringing together data from over 9000 assets, leading to a 50% reduction in lighting and energy savings in just two months.

A large middle eastern fashion and lifestyle street, needed more visibility into asset performance, leading to increased energy costs. They have now reduced their water consumption by 24% and overall energy consumption by 15% within four months of deploying a cloud-based technology solution.

One of London’s busiest airports faced vast energy wastage due to an archaic BMS. By deploying dynamic asset operational schedules with the help of a connected O&M solution, they have realized energy savings of £10,000 per month through consistent set point optimization.

By adopting the right technology, you could join the ranks of these pioneers to lead the digital transformation in the built world. Not only will your buildings become more carbon efficient, it will also help you improve sustainability and attract better tenants.

Embracing technology for long-term efficiency

When it comes to long-term energy efficiency, technology plays a vital role in facilitating a connected building. With the advancements in the Internet of Things (IoT), buildings can be monitored and controlled from a centralized platform, allowing for a more holistic approach to energy management.

Facilio's connected buildings platform leverages IoT technology to provide real-time insights into building operations, allowing for continuous optimization of energy consumption. The platform utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms to predict energy usage patterns, and can identify areas where improvements can be made.

By integrating with various building systems such as lighting, HVAC, and security, the platform provides a comprehensive view of energy consumption across the building. With this data, building operators can identify opportunities for optimization, and improve energy efficiency resulting in cost savings and a more sustainable future.