International survey reveals that energy efficiency in buildings is a key strategy
Cost savings and government incentives are the top influencers driving an increased focus on energy efficiency in buildings in Europe, according to a survey carried out by Johnson Controls. This second annual energy efficiency indicator survey reinforces the growing trend of the greening of buildings seen in Europe in recent years.
Iain Campbell, vice president and general manager for global energy and workplace solutions for Johnson Controls, says, ‘Interest is growing in improving the energy efficiency of buildings to achieve sustainability goals. We know that when organisations have access to external funding and technical expertise they implement a greater number of improvement measures, achieve greater savings and realise additional energy reduction.
The survey drew responses from 857 private- and public-sector leaders responsible for energy-related decision for non-residential buildings in six of Europe’s largest economies, including the UK.
Over 73% of decision makers believe energy prices will rise of the next 12 months.
Energy-cost savings were ranked as the main influence on energy-efficiency decisions in both 2010 and 2011. Government and utility incentives ranked second, up from sixth in 2010.
Most respondents expect enactment of a national policy mandating energy efficiency or carbon reduction in the next two years, and improving energy efficiency in buildings is their top strategy for reducing their organisation’s carbon footprint.
61% of respondents indicated that energy management was extremely important or very important to their organisation — up from 55% in 2010.
Organisations that secured finance from outside sources are more likely to implement projects to produce deeper energy savings than those that rely on internal budgets — as follows.
• HVAC and/or controls improvements (55% external financing versus 47% internal budgets).
• Building-enclosure improvements such as roofs, insulation, windows, seals and weatherstripping (36% vs 19%).
• Onsite renewable energy (29% vs 15%).
• Smart building technologies that optimise real-time energy savings (25% vs 11%).
This survey is managed by the Institute for Building Efficiency.
