Focus on new buildings may cost the Earth

摘要

The British Property Federation has raised the stakes in helping to meet the Government carbon emissions targets by developing and launching an energy efficiency measurement and benchmarking tool for existing commercial properties.rnThe Government is concentrating its efforts on creating zero-and low-carbon buildings, but these initiatives will take at least 100 years to significantly reduce CO2 emissions, as only 1% of the commercial building stock is renewed each year.rnIf cuts are to be made as quickly as advocated in the Stern Review and other reports, the focus needs to shift to existing buildings, which make up 99% of all buildings, and where efficiency gains can be made quickly, easily and cost effectively.rnRecognising this, the BPF decided to take matters into its own hands and develop a method of measuring, benchmarking and reporting the energy efficiency of existing office buildings - the Landlord's Energy Statement (LES).rnLES helps landlords to understand the energy used by landlord's services (things like heating, air conditioning, lifts and lighting in common areas) in the office buildings they own. They can use the information for individual buildings or aggregate it across their property portfolio to build up a picture of their portfolio's total carbon emissions.