Energy: Air conditioning accounts for half of offices' electricity bill
4/7/2019
Assoimmobiliare - ENEA report on energy consumption in office buildings
Air conditioning accounts for 57 percent of energy consumption in office buildings, followed by electrical equipment (26%) and lighting (17%).
This is what emerges from the Assoimmobiliare - ENEA Report “Benchmark of energy consumption in office buildings in Italy”, which aims at providing companies with a self-assessment tool. The report also estimates an average annual expenditure per square meter of around 15 euro for summer and winter air conditioning, 6.40 euro for devices and 4.40 euro for lighting [1].
The study was conducted on a sample of 118 office buildings distributed throughout the national territory and showed significant variations between the northern regions, where consumption is higher, and those of the Center and South. The comparative analysis of energy audits at the center of the survey also made it possible to identify reference performance indexes to assess possible activities to optimize energy consumption of buildings.
Federico Testa, President of ENEA, pointed out: "With this study we want to contribute at establishing univocal standards for energy audits in the office real estate sector. One of the great challenges in which ENEA participates, also as a national agency for energy efficiency, is to lay the foundations for a highly efficient building stock, with undeniable environmental, economic and employment advantages. Considering that the Italian building heritage dates back in many cases to the 50s, 60s and 70s, there are ample margins for efficiency, with consequent significant savings in bills that can reach up to 60%".
Silvia Maria Rovere, President of Assoimmobiliare, said: "Assoimmobiliare is committed to energy efficiency issues and constant research and innovation, also thanks to the fruitful collaboration with ENEA, aimed at providing operators of the sector with new technical tools for the creation and reconversion of a sustainable real estate heritage. Energy efficiency is one of the main drivers of urban regeneration interventions, more necessary than ever to relaunch the competitiveness of our Country, opening new paths for the application of new technologies in the real estate industry, both in the buildings and services involved. "
Assoimmobiliare actively collaborates with ENEA in developing energy diagnosis guidelines, an essential tool for the evaluation of redevelopment and even full renovation interventions of buildings. A non-homogeneous approach, due to lack of a shared methodology and the need to define univocal indicators, has led ENEA and Assoimmobiliare to propose customization of the calculation sheet in energy diagnoses to be presented in the following four years, in order to provide a standard for the classification of energy consumption.
In 2014 ENEA set up a technical committee - in compliance with the regulatory framework [2] – with the obligation for large companies to present an energy diagnosis every four years, in order to obtain a decarbonised and high energy efficiency building stock.
For the unabridged report: Benchmark di consumo energetico degli edifici per uffici in Italia
For more information please contact:
Domenico Santino, ENEA – Laboratry “Energy Efficiency in Economic Sectors”, domenico.santino@enea.it
Fabrizio Marini, ENEA – Laboratry “Energy Efficiency in Economic Sectors”, fabrizio.martini@enea.it