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A Change of Course is Needed

 26 July 2021

Increasing Efficiency in the Building Sector
Depends on Renovations

Climate action is one of the stated goals of the European Union. Greenhouse gases are to be reduced to a minimum by 2050. The building sector will play an important role in this, as 40 percent of total energy consumption and approximately 36 percent of all CO2 emissions can be traced back to buildings. There is an enormous potential for energy savings here. Refurbishing existing buildings is the primary way to realize these savings.

The Key Information a Glance:

  • The building sector is a major energy consumer: To achieve greater overall energy efficiency, significantly more existing buildings need to be refurbished.
  • Sophisticated building automation supports savings: Building technology processes can be monitored and controlled efficiently. Networked systems create additional value.
  • Retrofitting efficiency: The controller, sensors and actuators required for energy-optimized building operation can also be retrofitted into existing buildings.
  • Smart readiness: Building automation is also a policy requirement.

Non-Residential Buildings Are Significant Energy Consumers

At the moment, there are an estimated 2.7 million non-residential buildings in Germany (dena Report, 2019), which represent a total of 13 percent of German building stock. At the same time, non-residential buildings represent one-third of total building energy consumption. Reducing that will require more than just efficient new construction. We need to focus on energy efficient renovation – going beyond just improvements in insulation or innovative heating technology to include retrofitted building automation, which is critical for increasing the energy performance of existing buildings.

Building Automation Supports Targeted Energy Use

Sophisticated building automation systems, which detect, control and regulate building technology processes while networking equipment and building systems, can achieve significant energy savings. Individual systems communicate with each other or with a higher-level management system. Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, lights and shading interact and leverage synergies for energy-optimized operation. This allows demand-driven use of primary energy only where it is essential. For example, indoor climate conditions can be automatically adjusted according to room occupancy, giving users a comfortable working environment where they can be productive. When the room is not in use, the systems self-regulate to avoid unnecessary energy consumption. The controllers, sensors and actuators required for this can usually be retrofitted without much difficulty.