With an ever-increasing demand to retrofit existing buildings to lower energy consumption and reduce their carbon footprint, many are looking for additional ‘value add’ to justify the investment, comply with regulation and reporting, and differentiate in the marketplace.
In the Savills report, ‘Does demand for green buildings lead to a premium’(1), it was highlighted that in Manchester, 9 out of the top 10 rents paid had a BREEM rating of ‘very good’ or above. But its not just office space that commands a premium. In the same report, it was highlighted that a survey of logistics occupiers had increased their interest in ‘green/sustainability features’, with interest climbing from 11th to 6th most crucial warehouse feature when considering sites. This underscores the growing market demand for sustainability features.
This trend is something we at global associates are seeing across our client’s portfolios. They want/need proactive energy management whilst ensuring excellent customer and client occupancy feedback. Whilst the energy savings alone often deliver a ROI of under 12 months, organisations are looking for value add on top of the energy savings and carbon reductions.
Many are wrestling with the question: 'What is the right level of investment required to deliver increased value add?'
In the report Delivering Net Zero: Key Considerations for Commercial Retrofit (2), they create two distinct definitions, ‘light retrofit’ and ‘deep retrofit’. The cost of many aspects of the technology stack, both hardware and software has significantly decreased in recent years and with the advent of increased innovation in the wireless sensor domain, significant value add can now be achieved within the light retrofit category.
At global, we are seeing significant business-focused value add for clients embracing a systemic approach across their properties and estates. Delivering building management and optimisation with automated monitoring and performance verification in real time is now the baseline for any modern building solution.
If you would like a walkthrough of the ‘blueprint’ for such a solution, including case studies, please contact us.
(1)Savills report : https://www.savills.co.uk/research_articles/229130/313147-0
(2)Delivering Net Zero: https://ukgbc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Commercial-Retrofit-Report.pdf
