Needless to say, buildings are the gas-guzzlers of the real estate industry.
Accounting for about 40% of energy usage as well as a third of carbon emissions, buildings have a significant impact on climate change.
To make matters worse, energy usage figures are becoming increasingly worrying as the United Nations Environment Programme estimates that by 2030, carbon emissions will double. Here is why making your building more sustainable will not only be a game changer for your wallet, it’ll also be a much needed contribution to creating a greener and safer planet.
Green Buildings Save you Money
It’s our responsibility to make sustainability in buildings a priority. In the UK alone, a big part of business expenses goes to energy bills. However, more often than not, senior management has no clue as to where that energy comes from.
A study conducted by David H. Clark in 2013 had shed lights on exactly which common office appliances consume the most energy in buildings (graph below). The findings revealed that ventilation, cooling and heating as well as lighting seem to be the main culprits, using almost half of a building’s energy combined. One might think that simply turning the lights off will reduce your bills; this couldn’t be further from the truth. Instead, it has been demonstrated that adopting a long term solution will reap the most benefits. A wide range of solutions are already available on the market to control your energy consumption and monitor when these appliances and lights should be turned off. Blockdox is one.
Reliable occupancy data is complex to obtain. BlockDox are highly skilled in using technology to gather reliable occupancy data.
Our solution includes not just occupancy data but other key metrics (eg air quality data; BMS data) which are also critical for identifying opportunities for energy saving.
This includes the identification of spaces which are not used or underutilised. Better aligning energy cost to space utilisation further increases the opportunities for energy saving.
Using BlockDox, space operators can better align service delivery to actual demand.
Green Buildings are Better for the Environment
The benefits of green buildings are plenty, but one that stands out is their ability to create a better and greener future for everyone.
Producing energy relies heavily on the use of natural resources which are becoming increasingly scarce. The impact on the environment is significant and considering that buildings waste 100 millions dollars/year in the US alone, critical measures have to be taken to reduce carbon footprint.
In addition, green buildings not only deliver savings in operating expenses, they also increase in value. In other words, sustainable buildings are attractive assets to investors and developers.
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