Energy use in non-domestic buildings could be cut by up to 39%, with a third of the potential coming from measures that payback within three years, according to government research.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), surveyed 3,690 businesses across ten different sectors. The total stock of buildings consumed 161,060 GWh/year of energy and more than half (53%) was electricity (84,820 GWh/year).
The majority (71%) of total energy was consumed by businesses in five sectors: office (27,620 GWh/year, 17%), retail (17%), industrial (16%), health (11%) and hospitality (11%).
Energy was most commonly used for space heating (66,940 GWh/year), internal lighting (21,260 GWh/year), catering (13,270 GWh/year) and cooled storage of food and drink (10,790 GWh/year).
The survey found significant potential for energy efficiency. More than half (56%) the energy consumed was in premises where respondents indicated that they ‘actively seek new ways to reduce energy use’.
However, 34% of energy was only passively managed, with those polled stating: ‘we try to reduce energy use where possible, but it’s not a priority’. The remaining 10% of energy was not managed at all, with respondents reporting that they ‘had not considered ways to reduce energy use.’
BEIS calculated the total energy abatement potential at 63,160 GWh/year, representing a 39% reduction from current energy consumption. More than one-third of this potential could be achieved using measures that payback in less than three years, and would equate to total savings on energy bills of £1.3bn a year.
More than half (55%) of the total abatement potential could come from better carbon and energy management, lighting replacement and control, and building services instrumentation and control measures, BEIS found.
However, the survey identified significant barriers to take up of energy efficiency measures. Economic barriers were the most commonly cited and included low capital availability, investment costs and low profitability of interventions.
Other common reasons included: organisational barriers, such as complex decision chains and divergent interests; skills barriers, such as an inability to identify the inefficiencies and implement the measures; and behavioural barriers, such as lack of interest in energy efficiency and inertia.