3 Common Reasons Why Your Office Isn’t Energy Efficient (And How To Fix It)
As more people return to the workplace full-time, the costs of energy and lighting in the office is bound to rise. But your building may actually be working against you and forcing your artificial lighting and AC systems to work harder.
The Building Energy Efficiency Survey 2016 reported that 67% of energy consumption in commercial buildings was used to provide building services including lighting, heating, ventilation and cooling. Improving your energy efficiency can have a huge impact on your running costs. Let’s explore some of the main culprits for poor energy efficiency.
Poorly Insulated Windows
Windows account for approximately 1/3 of heat loss or gain in commercial buildings. One of the main factors in this is air leakage through old or poorly fitted window frames. When your window is not sufficiently insulated, the internal temperatures in the office can’t be regulated. This means occupants rely more heavily on artificial cooling and heating systems. As the costs of energy continue to rise in the UK, it’s important to look at simple, cost-effective ways to fix issues.
Replacing every window in a large commercial building with new, double glazed or thermal windows could end up being a costly endeavour. A simpler, retrofit solution is to install fully framed blinds in the windows. A fully framed system like our KuroLok blind is installed snug into the window recess and provides a sealed frame acting rather like an additional layer of protection. The KuroLok system also features zip-retention side channels, so even when your blind is down while the window is open on a hot day, the fabric will stay put.
Badly Chosen Fabrics
Roller blind fabrics in large commercial buildings are usually chosen based on two factors: cost and appearance. But performace often gets forgotten about. Choosing a cheap fabric to save costs might actually end up costing you more down the line. An experiment by the University of Salford found that a standard window covering can reduce heat loss by up to 14% but there are simple ways to increase this figure even more.
A blackout fabric with a thick, white backing, like our Meridian fabric, will work to not only insulate a room, but simply by having a white backing it can also reflect sunlight away from the room and prevent overheating.
If you want to go even further, a silver-backed fabric such as Spectrum 4060 acts like a mirror for sunlight and can reflect up to 59.7% of solar glare and up to 97.5% of UV light (it’s also made from recycled materials with cradle to cradle certification).
These small changes to the fabric on your roller blinds can have a huge impact on not only your heating and lighting costs but also on your occupants. An office that is too hot, too cold, too bright or too dark can lead to health issues, low morale and an uncomfortable working environment.
Commercial real estate services firm JLL introduced the concept of the 3-30-300 rule. The 3-30-300 rule states that for every square foot of space, a company will spend an average of $3 on utilities, $30 for rent and $300 on payroll each year. The 3-30-300 rule is a compelling way to illustrate the order of magnitude between the three typical categories of expense.
For example, while increasing energy efficiency by 10 percent would save $0.30 per square foot and decreasing rent by 10 percent would generate $3 in savings, a 10 percent boost in productivity would yield $30.
Relying on Manual Operation
Relying on manual operation of your office blinds to control temperatures or light levels doesn’t really work. In a large office building, staff will close the blind when the glare is too much to cope with, but they will rarely open them again when the glare reduces. In fact, on average, office blinds are only moved twice a week! And only 12% of people operate their blinds once a day. Typically blinds will remain static and the HVAC and artificial lighting will be forced to work longer and harder.
The most comprehensive solution is an automated, dynamic shading system. By controlling your blinds using smart technology, you are saving time, money, reducing the environmental impact of artificial lighting and cooling, and creating a more comfortable living or working environment.
Sunlight sensors can detect when there is too much light coming in through the window that could raise internal temperatures or cause problems with glare. Using a temperature sensor in conjunction with the sunlight sensor provides an extra data source to ensure accurate readings.
Still not sure why your office building is not energy efficient and your energy bills are so high? Chat to an expert!
We are distinguished by our knowledge of all aspects of shading solutions, and our unique blend of design, manufacturing, installation, and project management expertise.
We can find the perfect solution for every sector, from Hotels to Offices to High-End Residential.