Policy & Projects

Policy & Projects

DETERMINING OFFICE TENANCIES ENERGY END USE

Office building energy costs are often borne by two different groups: owners and tenants. While owners are typically responsible for the base building including foyers, lifts, HVAC, and bathrooms, tenants generally cover the lighting, IT and other ‘plug load’ or appliances in their tenanted space. The Energy Efficiency Council (EEC) was engaged by the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (DISER) to conduct research to determine office tenancies energy end use. The purpose of the research is to determine:

  • The proportion of office buildings’ energy use attributable to office tenants;
  • The proportion of office tenants’ energy use attributable to lighting, supplementary heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) and plug-load;
  • The breakdown – by average value and energy intensity – of office tenants’ energy use attributable to lighting, supplementary HVAC and plug-load energy use, broken down by office equipment type; and
  • How these figures are anticipated to change between 2020 and 2030, and what this means for the relative size of energy savings opportunities for office tenancies.

This research demonstrates the relative size of energy savings opportunities for office tenancies. It aims to facilitate the uptake of and investment in energy upgrades that offer the largest energy and emissions savings for office tenancies.

Note: The bulk of this research was completed between July and November 2020. In April 2021, once the relevant data was collected, additional research was completed to determine the proportion of an office tenancy’s energy consumption attributable to supplementary HVAC.

The report looks at the main uses for energy and seeks to establish the energy savings opportunities available in office tenancies to 2030. The report’s objective is to facilitate the uptake of and investment in energy upgrades that offer the largest energy and emissions savings for tenancies.

Download the report here.

 

Acknowledgements

The Energy Efficiency Council (EEC) gratefully acknowledges the support of CitySwitch, NABERS and Property NSW, as well as energy consultancies Point Advisory, DeltaQ and Strategy. Policy. Research. in completing this research project.

CitySwitch played an integral role of facilitating responses to the survey, with NABERS providing expert technical advice and the NABERS data against which the bottom-up energy use model was validated. Property NSW provided the data used to estimate supplementary HVAC load, with DeltaQ undertaking the analysis on their behalf. Strategy. Policy. Research. reviewed methodological approaches to determining office tenancies energy end use. And, importantly, Point Advisory developed the model and led the analysis of the results of the research.

The EEC worked closely with CitySwitch, NABERS and Point Advisory on developing the discussion and conclusions of this research.

Lastly, the EEC thanks the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (DISER) for funding this research, which has enabled CitySwitch and the Energy Efficiency Council to better support office-based businesses with improving their energy performance through a targeted campaign and the establishment of a dedicated resource detailing opportunities for office-based businesses, with a particular emphasis on office tenancies. To learn more, go to energybriefing.org.au/sector-spotlights/offices