King Sturge calls for retro-fitting to save energy

Retro-fitting buildings and places, as part of an overall sustainable strategy, is the main challenge for the European property market over the next two to five years, according to a new report published by King Surge.

The report says so-called 'green' energy is not sufficient to fill in the gap left by fossil fuels. Even if every hill had a wind turbine, every tidal estuary had a power station and even if we maximised the use of solar panels and photovoltaic cells, research suggests we still could not meet our current energy needs. It might only be possible at best to produce 10% of our needs this way, King Sturge said.

Saving energy has a far better payback than trying to generate 'green' energy. Therefore, existing buildings need to be better utilised, according to the report. Domestic buildings create 46% of our current CO2 output. Making better use of existing office buildings and saving the embodied energy could save more than 20% of current energy consumed. Making buildings more energy efficient could save another 20% - a total saving of 40%.

Analysis by King Sturge suggests the main cost and energy benefits from retro-fitting an office building may come from the better space planning and fabric design. Reduced depreciation of assets, greater enjoyment and higher productivity are some of the benefits of retro-fitting existing buildings.

'There is very little evidence that Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) have significantly reduced the carbon footprint of buildings,' says Angus McIntosh, partner & head of Research at King Sturge.

'Display Energy Certificates (DEC) offer the opportunity to accelerate the reduction in the carbon footprint of a building but we must go further than the current recommendations. King Sturge advocate that DECs be made mandatory for all buildings above 250m² rather than the current 1,000 m² for Government buildings' adds McIntosh.

Re-using our towns and cities is also a major challenge for the next decade. Assessing sustainability requires accommodating environmental, social and economic issues, King Sturge says.