Producing the business case for investment in energy efficiency
Abstract
One of the biggest obstacles to the uptake of low carbon technologies is the production of a poor business case. Unless the business case stacks up and can survive close scrutiny, the idea will be thrown out, no matter how good it is. One of the major disjoints that exist in organisations is that between the technical departments and the management board. Rarely do the benefits of energy savings alone justify investment in energy efficient technologies and energy management initiatives. However, this is starting to change due to 10 per cent year-on-year increases in energy prices. Energy is now a significant cost even in an office-based environment, especially with the ever-expanding use of IT and office equipment. However, reduced maintenance and increased productivity need to be factored in if the business case is to stack up.
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Author's Biography
Andy Lewry DIC, CEng, CSci, FIMMM, CEnv, MSocEnv, FEMA has 19 years’ varied technical, marketing and management experience within the carbon and energy management industry, preceded by a further 10 years’ similar experience within various parts of the environmental and construction sectors. Andy is a chartered engineer and a Fellow of both the Institute of Materials (IOM3) and the Energy Managers’ Association, as well as a Prince 2 qualified project manager. He is currently the principal technical consultant for the BREEAM Existing Buildings Team in BRE Global. Andy has authored and published best practice publications on energy management, energy audits, building control and building energy management systems. Recently he produced guidance on ‘Bridging the performance gap: Understanding predicted and actual energy use of buildings’, Journal of Building Survey, Appraisal & Valuation, Vol. 3, No. 4, and ‘Producing the business case for investment in energy efficiency’, Journal of Building Survey, Appraisal & Valuation, Vol. 4, No. 1. He was also part of the UK Green Building Council’s task group that produced the ‘Delivering Building Performance’ report on 11th May, 2016, which lays out the success factors and steps required to tackle the gap between building design and building performance.
Citation
Lewry, Andy (2015, July 1). Producing the business case for investment in energy efficiency. In the Journal of Building Survey, Appraisal & Valuation, Volume 4, Issue 1. https://doi.org/10.69554/QJFK3401.
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