Why Offices?
Property is responsible for around half of total UK CO2 emissions, with the majority of it generated from domestic - as opposed to commercial – property. This is understandable, as domestic property (or dwellings) dominate over commercial property in both unit and floorspace terms. Yet, commercial property itself is directly responsible for around 20% of the UK’s total carbon emissions.
Within the commercial property sector, offices offer the most immediate potential for reducing CO2 emissions. Although currently not the greatest single source of emissions the contribution from offices is rising rapidly.
Source: Knight Frank Research
Several reasons can be cited for focusing attention on the energy efficiency of offices, including:
- The ongoing expansion of the financial and business services industry, leading to the rapid pace of growth in office floorspace (a 170% increase in stock over the last 30 years)
- The significant increase in energy usage in office buildings, up 65% between 1973 and 1996
- The heating, lighting and cooling of offices accounts for 84% of emissions from the sector, yet it is here that potentially the greatest opportunity to reduce emissions exists
- Office construction represents a substantial source of embodied energy use
- The physical configuration of offices is more uniform than is the case with retail property.