Energy efficiency in buildings – profitable in the short and long term

Buildings account for a large proportion of society's energy consumption. But things like inefficient ventilation, excessive cooling or heating, and incorrectly set fans waste a lot of kWh unnecessarily. "Improving energy efficiency may be complex, but it is also profitable," says Sofia Stensson, researcher and project manager at RISE.

The best kilowatt hour is the one that is not used. Good for the environment and the climate, good for those who need more energy.

"This is the first step. A step that we often forget, not to use more resources than necessary to achieve the company's goals," says Sofia Stensson.

Another step is to measure. And to track energy use in a structured way so that you can see and understand what is in the different sub-meters in a building.

"This makes it easier for property owners to work systematically with energy efficiency measures."

"There are also many quick fixes that can be done with little investment," she says, listing some areas with great potential:

Adjustment of ventilation and heating
heat recovery
Demand-led ventilation
Replacing inefficient fans and pumps
checking that rooms are not being heated and cooled at the same time.

Lack of incentives for energy efficiency

The building and property sector accounts for almost 40% of energy consumption and 20% of greenhouse gas emissions in Sweden. This is obvious, but incentives to improve energy efficiency have not been sufficient for the property sector.

"In the past, energy supply was a relatively low cost for shops, for example, and was therefore not a priority," says Stensson. But today's situation with power shortages and bottlenecks in the transmission and distribution networks - and the Russian energy war - means that you are increasingly priced according to when you have your peak power.

"The transmission of energy is increasingly a constraint that is increasingly priced accordingly. We are not used to it," says Sofia Stensson.

Acting as a battery

She says that property owners could use the availability of electricity, and therefore the fluctuations in electricity prices throughout the day, to their advantage.

"Buildings have thermal inertia. When you turn the heating off, depending on the material and the property, it takes a while before it gets cold. In this way, buildings can be seen as a battery that can be charged when electricity prices are lower and switched off when they are higher."

This type of flexibility service should help to reduce peak demand and contribute to a more even use of energy.

Transmission of energy is increasingly a constraint that will be priced accordingly.

Actions before groundbreaking

Seriously improving energy efficiency in the building and property sector requires a long-term effort, preferably before ground is broken. The complex organisation of the construction phase, with many contractors and subcontractors involved, makes it difficult to integrate basic ideas and principles throughout the construction process.

"In a new building, you have to make sure that the technical systems are tested in a coordinated way," says Sofia Stensson, aware that the installations for heating, cooling, ventilation, hot water, etc. are always made at the last minute.

"That is, just when things are about to get going. Often there is no coordinated testing of the sub-systems to ensure that the building will work properly."

Lock-in stifles innovation

Another problem is the management of the assets themselves. One reason why building owners fail to analyse and tune their installations is that they are locked into closed systems - user interfaces that do not allow further optimisation without the help of the supplier.

"It is this lock-in that inhibits innovation and the ability to take action.

In the Open Platforms for Building Automation project, RISE, together with some 25 project partners, has created opportunities for innovative, replicable and cost-effective solutions to reach the market faster by facilitating more open digital platforms in the building sector, thus counteracting the locked-in systems of different product owners.

"For example, a standard for naming sensors will make it easier to build tools that help property owners find operational errors. It will be easier to use data-driven services, such as demand-controlled ventilation, based on how the property is used."

"This is not a quick fix," says Stensson. "But open platforms give more players the opportunity to build and bring to market better tools for automation, maintenance and visualisation, for example, which can accelerate the transition to energy efficiency."