See on Scoop.it – Green Energy Technologies & Development
According to the US Department of Energy, commercial buildings account for 35 percent of US (and 40 percent of global) electricity consumption. Existing commercial buildings on average spend 30 percent of their operating budgets on operating …
“Today, the majority of all commercial building owners and managers recognize that energy efficiency retrofits have the potential to yield substantial savings on operating costs, while reducing a building’s environmental footprint. …”
“While not intended to be an exclusive list, the drivers of this industry movement include the following:
1. New financial tools created by lenders, academics and entrepreneurs to facilitate underwriting the economic benefits of such retrofits will become mainstream, […]
2. Existing financing structures will become more acceptable, each serving certain segments of the marketplace: […]
3. Performance contracting will continue to be used as turn-key solutions for sustainable energy retrofit projects and assist in securing existing third-party financing. […]
4. Green leases and green tenant demands are on the rise, causing landlords to support these market demands through increased energy efficiency. […]
5. According to the Rocky Mountain Institute and Johnson Controls, the ESCO industry was sized in 2011 at $4.1 billion and is currently growing at a rate of 26 percent per year. By 2020, Pike Research projects that the market for retrofits in commercial buildings will reach $152 billion worldwide.
6. In order to meet legislative greenhouse gas (carbon reduction) mandates at the federal, state and local levels, large-scale retrofit projects, in which combined technologies are utilized to optimize buildings as a whole system, will have to be utilized on a national basis. The Deep Energy Efficiency Pays (DEEP) program is one example […]
7. Advancements in building automation technologies and the convergence of information technology and building data are forcing the commercial marketplace towards DEEP retrofits on a global basis. […]
8. In the United States, various federal agencies […] are creating and rolling out programs to incentivize building owners to engage in sustainable/energy retrofits.
9. One of the fastest-growing LEED rating systems over the past two years has been LEED for Existing Buildings Operating and Maintenance (LEED-EB: O&M). […]
10. Performance disclosures, highlighted by new legislation in California that mandates the disclosure of building performance to all new tenants and buyers, will drive building owners to increase overall efficiency metrics of existing commercial buildings through retrofits. ”
See on www.environmentalleader.com
duanetilden 
The general problems of the banking industry have really complicated the financing for retrofits. Seems a bit messy even in the best of times, but right now everyone is struggling. I hope that the recent mortgage settlement will help clear a path for money to be a bit more available.
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Every industry has it’s problems, the more challenging one’s seem to involve multiple ownerships where financial decisions become forced by necessity. I would estimate that there has been a backlog of work in energy retrofits for at least two decades. However, historically, there has been no strong will to accomplish goals and targets. There is a lot of opportunity for creative financing in the energy sector… factoring in the triple bottom line into payback and ROI calculations.
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Reblogged this on herbszaga.
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Pingback: Most Read Report of 2012: 10 Reasons Why Sustainable/Energy Retrofits of Commercial Buildings Will Be the Next Big Thing « The Blog of Tom Laing
Reblogged this on Greatpoetrymhf's Weblog.
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Pingback: Most Read Report of 2012: 10 Reasons Why Sustainable/Energy Retrofits of Commercial Buildings Will Be the Next Big Thing | Greatpoetrymhf's Weblog
shared, liked reblogged and scooped with thanks
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