Energy Efficiency Retrofits for Commercial Buildings. The Wave of the Future

Commercial buildings use more than one-third of America’s total electricity, making retrofit lighting the wave of the future in the combat against wasteful energy. The spike in demand for energy-efficient retrofits is due to the desire to reduce costs and an obligation of social responsibility, according to Pikeresearch.com. Some take advantage of recycling and disposal services to attract earth-conscious tenants who want to make the building green friendly.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, commercial buildings take up nearly 35 percent of all electricity used, and owners spend on average 30 percent of their budgets on operating costs and produce almost 1/8 of all global carbon emissions. So why are companies and cities making the effort to transform buildings and structures to be more energy-efficient? Here are the top eight reasons, according to Environmentalleader.com.

Industry Growth

The Rocky Mountain Institute and Johnson Controls have indicated the Energy Service Company industry (ESCO) is growing at a rate of 26 percent a year. In 2011, the industry was sized at nearly billion and estimated that by the year 2020 the market for retrofits of commercial buildings will reach billion. Companies and cities are joining the green industry because of its growth.

Truth Be Told

New legislation in California mandates the disclosure of building performance to all new tenants and buyers. The law motivates owners to increase their building’s energy efficiency to make their property more attractive to potential tenants and buyers.

Demand for Green Properties Rise 

Interest in securing green leases for residential and commercial properties is growing. Tenants are motivated to live in and lease commercial buildings where less energy is consumed, less waste is produced, less water is used, and perks such as services for recycling plastic, glass and other green waste disposal methods are offered.

Energy-Efficient Retrofits will Become Mainstream

Multi-national corporations will lead the change to affordable, energy-efficient retrofits by utilizing new benefits and incentives from the government. They will prove the value of these retrofits and offer capital to finance the reconstruction projects.

More Finance Options 

Financing opportunities will become available to help serve segments of the market such as traditional debt, tax-exempt lease-purchase agreements, new-market tax credits, energy-efficient mortgages etc.

Legislative Mandates

New laws at the federal and state levels will help reduce the carbon footprints of commercial and public buildings. Retrofits will need to combine new technology and resources for optimal energy savings. Not only do people, companies and cities want to reduce their energy use, laws are now requiring them to.

Performance Contracts

Turn-key solutions for sustainable-energy retrofit projects, such as performance contracts, will increase. These work because an energy service company offers a guarantee of savings in operational costs as part of the risk of the retrofit project.

Incentive Programs

In the U.S., various federal agencies are creating programs as incentives for building owners to perform sustainable-energy retrofits for their properties. Converting to greener ways will save them substantial money.

Living and working in an energy efficient building makes us feel better about what we are doing to help conserve our resources. Programs that support the retrofits of commercial buildings to make more energy efficient properties help owners do the right thing.

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Posted by Tracey A. Smith on Oct 18 2012. Filed under Energy Efficiency, Lower Your Energy Bills, Solar Thermal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry