This report is an outcome of the `Commercial Buildings Special Working Group¿ charged with considering ways to reduce the energy consumption of Commercial Buildings. The report focuses on ¿Current Standard Solutions for Buildings and Considerations when Retrofitting Buildings¿.
Whenever a building is being refurbished/upgraded presents an opportunity for building-services engineers to add value and reduce energy costs and carbon emissions through energy efficient measures. With increased awareness of the importance of energy efficiency in buildings, not only to reduce carbon emissions but also to meet regulatory and planning requirements, the refurbishment of building services is a very important subject.
In the past many energy management programs have concentrated on the acquisition of energy and installing energy-efficient technologies, with less emphasis placed on efficient operation. This is most
likely the result of efficient operation being the least understood component of an energy management program. Yet this component can offer high potential for savings with little or no capital outlay and hence is addressed within this guideline.
Technical descriptions of reviewed technologies have been kept short and precise. This guideline has instead focused on two aspects of the reviewed technologies, namely;
- Suitability as a retrofit technology
- Optimisation from an operational perspective