by Shane Henson — June 29, 2012—Although more buildings owners and facilities managers have taken steps to improve their buildings’ performance, the vast majority of public and private commercial buildings in the United States still have a long way to go on the path to sustainable and energy-efficient operations, says Siemens Building Technologies Division after reviewing findings from its recent study, A Path to Achieving Higher Building Performance.
Conducted in collaboration with McGraw-Hill Construction, the study explored trends in specific operational improvements, ongoing operational services, and renovations at organizations in the commercial office, healthcare, and higher education sectors. The study focused on improvements and services conducted or initiated in the past three years and those planned for the next three years. Interviews were conducted with 150 building portfolio owners, including 50 interviews in each of three sectors, says Siemens.
Additional areas of exploration included the stages building owners go through to improve building performance, the stages at which a particular improvement or service is initiated, drivers and obstacles of engaging in improvement efforts, and metrics for measuring the effectiveness of improvements. These stages range from buildings with little to no improvements (stage 1) to buildings that had been transformed to high performance through significant investment (stage 4).
According to Siemens, A Path to Achieving Higher Building Performance reveals that commercial office, healthcare, and higher education buildings in the United States span these categories, with the bulk (nearly two thirds) grouped in the middle two stages. In addition to placing their buildings along this spectrum, owners also shared the kinds of activities, drivers, and plans they have for those different buildings.
Key findings from the study include:
- Owners report significant business benefits from their investments in high-performance building improvements, including ROI (Return On Investment) increases of 13% for commercial office buildings, 18% for healthcare facilities, and 15% for higher education buildings.
- Despite the economy, owners are investing in their buildings, and they plan to continue to do so. In particular, owners are increasing investment in operational activities that do not require significant up-front expense in order to yield benefits. For example, owners report one-year operating cost savings of 8%—11% from their efforts.
- It is not just about energy and operating cost savings. Owners are investing in their buildings for a variety of reasons. In particular, healthcare and higher education owners are influenced by higher satisfaction and the well-being of building occupants.
- Despite the economy, owners are investing in their buildings, and they plan to continue to do so. In particular, owners are increasing investment in operational activities that do not require significant up-front expense in order to yield benefits. For example, owners report one-year operating cost savings of 8%—11% from their efforts.
