Ninety minutes rarely provides sufficient time to get to grips with the issue on the table. In the case of energy in buildings, this latest debate could have continued long into the night. Chaired by Imperial College's professor of engineering for sustainable development, David Fisk, business leaders from the likes of John Lewis Partnership, Thames Water and Transport for London, were involved to explore the challenges, opportunities and potential solutions to creating more efficient buildings.
The barriers are great, not least because landlords are somewhat reluctant to invest in technologies that will merely serve to benefit their tenants. But the pool of engaged companies, and green buildings, is slowly growing. And if Display Energy Certificates are rolled out to all organisations, as opposed to just public ones, the market for sustainable buildings may finally be realised.
Viewpoint: Improve what you already have
David Smithson, Business Unit head UK Control Products & Systems (CPS) for Siemens Building Technologies division, said;
"There is a huge opportunity for building owners and managers to reduce their energy bills and CO2 emissions. And you don't have to move to a new building.
Many of the technologies and solutions that have the largest impact can be easily retrofitted with short payback periods. There are 'quick wins' - finding areas of inefficient energy use and using existing controls to improve their effectiveness and 'long term gains' - examining the return on investment that various controls give you: from simple variable speed drives and window sensors, to full building management systems."
To see what else David, and the rest of the Sustainable Business round table participants thought, you can view the Sustainable Business digital edition on the right side of this page.
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Notes to editors:
About Siemens in the UK
Siemens was established in the United Kingdom 168 years ago and now employs around 16,000 people in the UK. Last year’s revenues were £4.1 billion. As a leading global engineering and technology services company, Siemens provides innovative solutions to help tackle the world’s major challenges, across the key sectors of energy, industry and healthcare. Siemens has offices and factories throughout the UK, with its headquarters in Frimley, Surrey. The company’s global headquarters is in Munich, Germany. For more information, visit www.siemens.co.uk
Siemens Building Technologies division (I BT) is part of the Siemens Industry Sector. I BT employs around 1,000 people in the UK and provides sustainable solutions for buildings covering building automation and HVAC controls, security, fire safety and low voltage products.
Since 1994, I BT has helped to save 1.5 billion Euros in energy costs and reduce CO2 emissions in the environment by 700,000 tonnes a year in more than 1,300 energy efficiency projects worldwide. For more information on Building Technologies, visit www.siemens.co.uk/buildingtechnologies
For more information, contact:
Emma Whitaker
Siemens plc
Mob: +44 (0)79212 823545
Email: emma.whitaker@siemens.com