Three Steps Toward Going Green in Your Building

There is a movement toward reducing the energy consumption in commercial buildings, both in the culture and in new regulations, like L.A.’s Green New Deal. While many owners have already made an investment to reduce costs, often benefiting from decreased energy bills, others are falling behind over concerns about the cost of upgrades. Alec Manfre, CEO of smart building software company Bractlet, however, says that there are several ways to reduce energy consumption, from minor improvements to existing functions to expensive full remodels.

“We generally like to put opportunities for investment into three categories. The first is to optimize the systems that are already there,” Manfre tells GlobeSt.com. “Typically, we might find 10% to 20% savings in a building by upgrading the existing systems. That could include putting new control algorithms that are more responsive to the real-time demand of the building and can take advantage of thermo-dynamic effects in an internal and external environment to get things to operate more efficiently.”

While simply improving existing operations is a start, capital upgrades are the most popular. These include changing out some building features with greener counterparts, like LED lights. “Capital upgrades usually get the most press and they are the easiest to understand,” says Manfre. “In those investments, we are upgrading lighting to LEDs and looking at daylight sensors, which have a good energy savings potential, or upgrades to chillers and HVAC equipment.” While this is a larger capital investment that option one, Manfre says that most owners will see a return in energy cost savings.

Finally, the most expensive option is to fully retrofit building systems. Often, this is an option only for an owner looking to hold the property for the long-term and beyond. “For a commercial owner that is going to have a more limited hold period, those upgrades are not going to make sense for them,” says Manfre. “In this case, you are talking about gutting major systems that are fundamental to the building. That requires a lot more dollars, and some owners might not see the payback during their hold cycle.”

With increasing legislation aimed at combatting climate change, owners are going to make changes to reduce energy consumption, and Manfre guideline gives owners a place to start. “In creating policy around these goals, we have to understand the economic motivators for an owner,” he adds. “We have a strong value proposition despite legislation, and we are focused on generating returns on the backend.”