Buildings, particularly older structures, consume a significant amount of energy for heating and cooling, lighting, powering all types of commercial and industrial equipment, and providing all of the services people and businesses require to live and conduct business.
Various studies indicate that buildings account for approximately 45% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the United Kingdom. Buildings account for 70% of total energy consumption and 38% of total CO2 emissions in the United States. The sheer size of those figures indicates a significant opportunity for efficiency, cost, and environmental impact improvements.
Using eco-friendly design strategies, building materials, and technology during construction is known as sustainable real estate development. Therefore, if you plan to move to a new city, looking for Nashville rental homes is advisable. Rental houses can be an affordable option that contributes to sustainable property management practices. Notably, they have been beneficial in making buildings more easily leased and having higher tenant retention rates. They generally enjoy lower operating costs by increasing energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Find out how to minimize energy usage in property management using sustainability best practices.
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Post Contents
Use Energy-efficient Lighting
The national standard electricity consumption is about 1000 kWh/month. Use energy-efficient light bulbs. Installing Light-emitting Diodes (LED) lighting across the entire building is one of the finest strategies to save energy costs. This method of updating the lights will help lower maintenance expenses.
Major campaigns to switch from inefficient incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), which can lower energy use by up to 75%, have been underway in the United States over the past several years. The light bulbs last ten times as long, lowering waste and maintenance expenses. More energy-efficient fluorescent light bulbs (T-8s) and ballasts are replacing the outdated T-12s in commercial buildings.
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Invest in Eco-friendly Laundry Systems
Replace washers with energy and water-efficient devices to reduce environmental impact and operating expenses. These appliances are made to function with the least amount of energy possible. Others use alternative energy sources like water and solar power. Energy-efficient appliances can maximize a very minimal amount of energy to fulfill their functions. If you’re considering purchasing any of these appliances, be sure to take the energy-star rating system into account. According to this system, more stars correspond to greater energy efficiency.
You reduce the exploitation of natural resources like gas and water, among others, by using these gadgets. Efficiency in energy use contributes to preserving these resources and sustainable development.
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Adopt a Green Purchasing Policy.
Also known as Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP), Green Purchasing is generally defined as purchasing a product with a lesser or reduced negative effect or an increased positive effect on human health and the environment.
For property managers, a green purchasing program is a formal plan that outlines how to find, evaluate, and assess the effectiveness of services and equipment that meet your specific sustainability goals.
A green purchasing program allows you to benchmark typical supplier criteria such as prices, quality, and capacity and assess how these equipment help you achieve your overall sustainability goals. This could entail choosing only energy-efficient appliances for installation in the building. Reviewing your purchases is an excellent place to start when it comes to saving energy. Your supplier, equipment, and type of energy consumed can all be improved.
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Monitor Energy Consumption
A commercial building energy consumption analysis determines how much energy can be saved by implementing energy-efficient practices. An energy consumption analysis is valuable for assessing current efficiency programs and developing future energy management plans.
Analyses of energy consumption patterns are essential for understanding how and where energy is consumed. These findings are critical for lowering energy consumption and costs. Because of the detailed data, you can look at specific machinery, rooms, or offices and develop energy-saving action plans.
By actively measuring your business’s energy consumption, you can determine whether it is excessive. This can directly impact the cost of electricity bills and the cost of infrastructure and allows your company to look into ways to become more sustainable and competitive.
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Consider Solar Power
Green energy is the latest craze in America for lowering electricity costs. Solar panels save energy by capturing the natural sun to produce energy and help the environment.
If your property has enough sunlight and you can afford the installation, or if you want to use community solar resources to offset some of that power generation, it makes sense to use solar panels. The falling cost of using renewable energy sources will add to significant returns on your electricity bill and your outdoor environment, especially in the long run.
Besides, each kilowatt-hour (kWh) of solar energy produced will significantly lower emissions of harmful pollutants, including sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and greenhouse gases like CO2.
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Replace Energy-intensive Materials
In most cases, high-energy materials such as cement, glass, brick, and steel are used in construction. You can reduce the building’s environmental impact by using alternative, low-energy materials such as stone, soil-cement blocks, hollow concrete blocks, steam-cured mud blocks, and burnt clay bricks.
Furthermore, utilizing the latest building technologies’ light and flexible walls can enable property managers and construction executives significantly lower their energy bills. Fences, in particular, can help to increase energy efficiency through thermal separation if the temperature difference between the indoors and outdoors is significant.
In Conclusion,
When it comes to energy-efficient buildings, there is no one-size-fits-all method or single hack that can solve all of a building’s energy problems. Calculating the potential ROI of various technologies and materials in the context of the building’s location can assist building managers in determining the best systems for their needs.
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