The Key Elements of a Net Zero Office Building
Tuesday, 31st May 2022
Creating a net-zero office building makes good business sense. It helps you reach your company’s ESG goals, it supports the good of the planet, and it boosts employee and customer retention.
In fact, the need to achieve net zero has never been so urgent. To avoid catastrophic climate change, the IPCC states that a major reduction in greenhouse emissions will be needed by 2030. Beyond that, the global economy will need to be net zero in terms of carbon emissions by 2050. Legislation is reflecting this urgency, with mandatory ESG reporting in the pipeline.
Here, we examine the concept of ‘net zero’ and discuss the elements needed to create an office space of the future—with no overall carbon emissions.
What does it mean to be a ‘net zero’ building and why is it important?
What does net-zero mean, exactly?
Being ‘net-zero’ means balancing the carbon emissions we produce, from things like burning fossil fuels, with the amount of carbon taken in, such as when we grow trees.
When a building is ‘net-zero’ it means that, overall, it’s no longer adding to levels of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Scientists hope that climate action such as this will help halt the increasing effects of climate change, which are already being felt across the globe.
We can take carbon dioxide back out of the atmosphere by sequestering the carbon or planting trees—through what’s known as carbon offsetting. But of course, this is only part of the solution. To be successful in reaching net zero, the global economy, including businesses like yours, need to find ways to reduce their carbon output in the first place.
How do buildings contribute to climate change?
According to the UK Green Buildings Council, buildings contribute to carbon emissions in two main ways:
Their construction, both from building materials and the construction process, and
Their operational energy. The operation of buildings typically accounts for 30% of carbon emissions in the UK. As an FM or workplace manager, you need to think carefully about your building’s operational energy.
According to the UK Green Buildings Council, net zero is achieved:
‘When the amount of carbon emissions associated with the building’s operational energy on an annual basis is zero or negative. A net zero carbon building is highly energy efficient and powered from on-site and/or off-site renewable energy sources, with any remaining carbon balance offset.’
This definition makes clear that the key to net zero from an operations perspective is focused on securing renewable energy generation and efficiency. Only when these are in place can any remaining carbon be offset.
Think about all the inputs required to run your building: lighting, HVAC, appliances—these are all carbon and cost-intensive. And what about the indirect carbon emissions too? Not only is the embodied carbon in your equipment depreciating over its lifetime, but poorly maintained systems need more engineer trips, which means more cars on the road and more carbon emissions.
To reach zero net energy, all these factors need to be taken into account—which is no mean feat. Net-zero buildings currently account for less than 1% of the global built environment, but the tide is changing. More and more, we’re seeing exciting innovations in sustainable commercial buildings.
What are the key elements of a net-zero office building?
In 2017, Bloomberg’s European Headquarters, based in London, secured the highest BREEAM rating possible and was declared the world’s most sustainable office building.
How did they reach this bold goal? Amongst other things, the headquarters uses highly energy efficient lighting and heating systems. The building has also been designed to utilise natural ventilation when conditions are appropriate, and it uses smart sensors to target airflow according to occupancy.
Here are some factors to think about when considering the energy efficiency of your own building, according to the UK Green Building Council:
Building design. Your building can lower its carbon emissions by its very design—think about making the most of natural light, improve insulation and make the most of natural sources of ventilation to reduce the reliance on artificial lighting and HVAC.
Energy efficient building systems. When artificial lighting, heating, and HVAC systems are needed, make sure they are optimally energy efficient—to avoid waste and keep your carbon emissions as low as possible.
Managing energy use. Be smart about how much energy your building uses. Instead of basing lighting and HVAC on some arbitrary setting, use a smart data system to respond to the energy needs of your building based on relevant factors such as size, occupancy, outdoor conditions, and air quality.
Ensuring your building is healthy. A ‘healthy building’ not only benefits its occupants but the planet too. Smart systems are in place to ensure all equipment is maintained to a high standard at all times—avoiding expensive repairs down the line. A healthy building requires fewer call outs to engineers and other maintenance staff, which means fewer cars on the road and a lower carbon footprint.
This might all sound a bit of a tall order. But here at Infogrid, we’re passionate about providing your business with smart, easy to use, and cost-effective solutions to help you achieve a net-zero energy building. Read on to find out how.
Infogrid can help you reach net zero
We’ve built a suite of smart, automated, and connected products that enable you to drastically increase efficiency for multiple systems across your whole site.
Here’s how it works:
Smart, best in class IoT sensors monitor ventilation, temperature, humidity as well as things like occupancy. This means that you’ll be getting data on all these crucial indicators all at once and in real-time.
Our central dashboard and proprietary AI platform do all the hard work for you. Delivering clear, actionable insights that help you lower your building’s energy consumption. For example, our joined-up insights allow you to target HVAC to where our occupancy sensors track the most footfall.
Keep ahead of potential issues with our automated maintenance. After all, well-maintained equipment means fewer callouts to your site, fewer cars on the roads and lower carbon emissions.
At Infogrid, we believe in the power of data. Our intelligent building system allows you to be in complete control, by diagnosing inefficiencies, taking action and reporting your credentials to your workforce, your customers and your investors.
The real-world benefits of a net-zero strategy
Using our smart technology, our clients have reaped substantial rewards whilst working towards a net-zero energy building.
Here are just some examples:
A drastically lowered carbon footprint. We helped one retail company save 800 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year on its HVAC alone.
Fewer maintenance callouts. Automatic water movement and temperature tracking have meant our client has saved 11 out of 12 engineer car trips.
Reduced costs. We helped a bank save $1 million a year on their water bill.
Strengthen compliance. We helped a facility management business save 81% of labour time on compliance.
Improve health and wellbeing. We helped an analytics company improve their indoor air quality, which reduced their virus risk by 80%.
Find out more about how Infogrid can help your business reach net-zero. Try our demo, here.
