AMIDST soaring energy costs, Hardies Property & Construction Consultants is advising companies to try and understand how they use energy within their buildings by instructing an energy modelling project of their premises.
The firm said questions over supply have created conditions for further spikes in costs, prompting many commercial property tenants to seek greener buildings to lower their bills.
Hardies added that occupier demand for space that is sustainable and energy efficient is beginning to impact the marketability of commercial and industrial space in the UK and Europe. Recent research shows that changes to market preferences are also informing property valuations, with better EPC rated assets performing stronger than those with poorer ratings, in relation to rental and investment values.
An energy performance certificate gives a property an energy efficiency rating from A to G, and is valid for 10 years.
With the UK Government considering implementing a minimum EPC rating B by 2030, Mark O’Neill, head of energy at Hardies, said, “Energy modelling considers all aspects of a building in relation to how that building consumes and loses energy. It examines the building geometry, its construction and fabric, as well as the energy consuming service installations within the building.”
Energy modelling allows Hardies to provide clients with a range of solutions designed to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
“Working closely with our quantity surveying colleagues, we can provide costings for the proposed works, determine when investments in energy efficiency will break even and when anticipated energy savings would impact positively on the bottom line,” Mark O’Neill added. “With energy costs having risen significantly for businesses across the UK, and the options for shopping around for new energy contracts offering low energy tariffs having all but run out of road, we would urge companies to consider energy modelling as a way to both understand their energy consumption and explore ways to reduce the seemingly ever-increasing energy costs that erode profits.”
