Prospects to Reduce the Use of Energy by 50% in Existing Office Buildings

Abstract

A comprehensive feasibility study indicates that it is possible to reduce the energy used in Swedish office buildings by 50% within an acceptable economic framework. A recent project managed by an advisory group to The Swedish Energy Agency comprises comprehensive audits, calculations and implementation with the focus to reduce the use of energy in five different office buildings. The average annual use of energy (heat + electricity) before measures is of the order of 200 kWh/m2 and the expected resulting use of energy after measures is on average of the order of 100 kWh/m2 total building area. The required investments to reduce the use of energy by 50% is estimated to be of the order of 100 €/m2 total building area. The paper presents a description of the overall project approach, the studied buildings and the most typical measures, associated investment costs and internal rate of return on the investments.