Our very own George Wang, Manager in the Energy and Climate Change team, recently presented at the National Energy Efficiency Conference 2020 his work on a study that determined energy end uses in office tenancies. The project was coordinated by the Energy Efficiency Council and funded by the Commonwealth government.
The study was conducted in the light of the independent review of the Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD) program in 2019, which suggested that expanding mandatory disclosure requirements to office tenancies could deliver a total $61 million benefit to the community (in net present value terms). However, review acknowledged that there is a significant lack of data for office tenancies. We not only have inadequate information on total energy consumption for tenancies, but more importantly, we are missing information on the disaggregated energy end use breakdown. Therefore, in advance of a on expanding the CBD to office tenancies, this study was set up to determine three aspects:
- The energy use split between office base buildings and office tenancies.
- The energy end use breakdown in office tenancies
- The expected changes of the energy end use between 2020 and 2030.
Our methodology involved a combination of historical data analysis, data modelling and tenancy surveys, which ultimately comprised 27 responses. Our key findings are as follows:
- Office tenancies account for approximately 44% of whole building energy consumption (with base building accounting for the remaining 56%). The share of tenancy energy consumption in a typical office building is expected to be higher than 44% as the surveyed group is most likely in the higher performing group compared to average Australian tenancies.
- In terms of disaggregated energy consumption, lighting accounts for 29% of the overall consumption, followed by computer monitors at 17%. Energy use of computers and server equipment each account for 7% of energy consumption. Other energy consumption, including consumption from supplementary HVAC, data centres located within tenancies and other consumption that is beyond the scope of office tenancies, accounts for one third of the total energy consumption in office tenancies.
- We also modelled the changes of energy intensity of general lighting and power in office tenancies between 2020 and 2030. We have found that lighting upgrades and upgrades to more energy efficient computer monitors present the best opportunities in this category to reduce energy consumption at offices.
For the next stage of the study, we will conduct sub-metering on office general lighting and power and supplementary HVAC services to validate our findings. The final report will summarise the findings of all stages of this study and include recommendations to help office tenancies manage their energy consumption and implement energy efficiency measures.
If you want to find out more, please contact George Wang, Manager in Energy and Climate Change at Point Advisory.