Tackling the rising cost of energy

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CEO’S VIEW
MATT COULSON,
CEO, CHISWICK PARK ENJOY-WORK

We have a range of activities already in place to help support the sustainability of our site. Below is an overview of the ways the FM team is meeting the energy crisis.

Chiswick Park is a 1.8 million sq ft business campus located in West London. Developed in 1999, today it is made up of 12 buildings, bringing together over 10,000 people from some of the world’s leading companies such as Discovery, Paramount Pictures, IMG, Starbucks and Pernod Ricard.

On the campus, we believe in responsible real estate. Our ESG strategy is evolving rapidly, and we are committed to ensuring this continues throughout the years ahead. We aspire to lead the way within this area for business campuses throughout the UK and Europe.

We have set a new target to be net zero operational carbon by 2026. With 12 buildings operating 24/7, energy management is a huge part of our ESG strategy. We are constantly trying to reduce energy consumption in our buildings while maintaining a high standard of building services including lighting, heating, ventilation, cooling, and hot water for employees to remain productive. We look at ways to be more energy efficient to guarantee both energy and cost saving whenever we can. Some initiatives can be worth the initial investment as they prove to be more cost-efficient in the long term.

At Chiswick Park, we take a bespoke approach to each building as they are each of different age and use, hosting a diverse range of guest companies. We are however committed to optimise energy within all buildings and the estate.

During the last five years, we have conducted several energy audits, invested over £2 million for energy saving projects such as LED lighting, updated BMS strategies, major plant replacements and software technology to assist in building optimisation, and conducted many engagement & awareness campaigns for the guests and guest companies working on the campus.

The switch to LED lights, which consume 70-90 per cent less energy than a standard incandescent bulb, helped us deliver significant savings over time.

Our buildings are fitted out with either solar blinds or external louvers that protect windows from the heat of the sun while also allowing more daylight and therefore reducing the need for electric lights. 3 of our buildings also have solar PV system for helping to heat the water.

Most of the areas within our buildings are equipped with occupancy sensors for indoor lighting, so the light is activated as soon as a person enters a room and once movement is not detected, it automatically turns it off.

More generally, we continuously review all building plant operations dependent on occupation and office hours to reduce energy usage whenever we can and we run a very tight PPM programme.

A key initiative for us in 2022, is to use a web-based energy related platform to log, track, assess, and monitor in real time everything we do relating to energy management. This is now live in all buildings and we are in the process of rolling this out to all guest companies to aid energy management within their demise.

Reporting and data analysis is critical, the accuracy, the frequency and the actions associated with it. We strive to evolve all that we do in this area and will look at third party certifications to support and recognise this.

In addition, a further main focus is to look at ways to self-generate our own electricity in order to be less dependent on the National Grid. In the long term, we aim to be able to produce our own renewable energy which will be much more beneficial for the environment. We are therefore actively exploring sources of solar and wind energy.

GLOBAL LEADER FOR ENERGY MANAGEMENT’S VIEW
FABIO MONACHESI,
ABB SMART POWER

An unprecedented rise in energy prices has made facility managers, especially in Europe, more aware of the intricacies of their energy bills than ever before. At a global level, a barrel of oil was $118 in March 2022 – 38 per cent higher than in January 2022. Gas prices in Europe were equally volatile, with natural gas prices climbing 45 per cent between January and March 2022.

Combined with a growing corporate focus on carbon neutrality, as companies work to meet the targets laid out in the EU Agenda 2030 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55 per cent compared to 1990 levels, appetite for investing in energy management systems is at an all-time high.

To meet twin goals of reducing operational expenditure and curbing their environmental impact, facility managers must first identify where energy consumption can be reduced. While the traditional approach of comparing monthly bills is still common as a starting point, they are quickly realising that a more granular approach to detecting inefficiencies is needed. More are seeking access to data that enables them to benchmark their performance against other players in the field, putting them in a stronger position to make intelligent decisions, based on quality data and insight.

Energy management systems allow facility managers to monitor energy use, giving them access to real-time information about how their energy-consuming equipment is performing. Output reports then provide a full cost breakdown, helping them visualise the energy use of their key assets, enhancing the decision-making process for energy efficiency actions and allowing them to create clear sustainability plans to reduce emissions.

When backed up with consolidated data, these reports can give facility managers the confidence to make significant upgrades to operations, for example by replacing low performance power trains with new ones, changes that can then be shared with colleagues across the company and expanded to other sites. Smart connected products such as power quality converters, uninterrupted power suppliers (UPS), transfer switching and advanced relays feeding into an optimisation engine can also help facility managers realise improved outcomes.

Investing in energy management systems is set to become a much more common way for facility managers to achieve concrete savings. Not only is payback relatively rapid, but effective energy management can lead to more resilient and sustainable facilities.

Expert service providers such as energy service companies (ESCOs) will also play an active role in helping facility managers identify the most appropriate energy management actions for their facilities. These could range from installing meters to investing in energy management platforms, revamping under-performing assets to minimise their carbon footprint or controlling setpoints to improve energy efficiency.

Even before the current energy crisis, the energy management market was growing significantly, with an annual growth rate of 4.1 per cent in the commercial and industrial segments. Looking ahead, the ESCO market is set to grow by 6.5 per cent from 2021 to 2030. Given the current backdrop, there will be no surprises if even more striking figures are released.

Now is the time for facilities managers to take the right decisions to protect their energy bills of the future.