5 Reasons Commercial Buildings Consume So Much Energy

When you think about the biggest contributors to the global climate crisis, what comes to mind? Is it images of tall smokestacks and crowded highways? While you wouldn’t necessarily be wrong (those are sources of pollution), did you know that one of the largest sources of carbon dioxide emissions is actually buildings?

In fact, the United Nations Environment Program cites buildings,as well as their construction, as being responsible for 36% of global energy consumption. In the United States, the number is as high as 40%.

Why commercial buildings?

Before we go any further, let’s get clear about what exactly we mean when we talk about “commercial buildings”. Commercial buildings can include but are not limited to offices, educational institutions, healthcare facilities, hotels, and retail businesses.

It’s not hard to imagine why commercial buildings consume so much energy when we consider that they function like miniature indoor cities. Not only do they have large open spaces and an array of zones and rooms, but they also tend to host large-scale infrastructure that demands considerable energy. Combine this with the fact that an estimated 30% of commercial energy is wasted, and you have a recipe for colossal energy use.

5 main sources of energy use in commercial buildings

1. Lighting

Lighting makes up a significant portion of energy use in commercial buildings, and there are several reasons for this. Not only is lighting a universal need found across all varieties of commercial buildings, but illuminating a commercial space also tends to involve a large number of bulbs,depending on the size of the building. Plus, you could argue that there’s more oversight when compared with residential set-ups — it’s not always a habit to turn off the lights when you leave a commercial space like it is when you exit a room in your own residence.

In addition to this, some businesses may decide to leave their lights on for many hours at a time (or indefinitely) as a security measure. Lighting has become more efficient over the years, and is often the first place that companies look if they’re trying to cut back on energy costs — but it’s still as strong and omnipresent as ever.

2. Plug loads

The concept of office tech isn’t new. For example, computers first made an appearance sometime in the 1950s and then increased in popularity throughout the 1970s.

However, there’s no denying that we’re plugging more electronics into the wall than ever before. Not only are our office buildings full of computers, but also monitors, printers, physical servers, and let’s not forget about our espresso machines — the list goes on.

Office buildings aren’t the only culprit of a high plug load. Consider a healthcare facility that uses intensive monitoring tools and medical devices. While these devices have made great strides in improving the wellbeing and health of patients, they also take a lot of energy to power.

3. HVAC: cooling

In order for us to perform our best work, we need to be in a climate-controlled room. In many places around the world, this means relying on air conditioning for at least some of the year — and with global temperatures rising, the need for air conditioning is only set to increase with time. It makes sense, then, that up to a staggering 45% of a building’s energy system comes from their HVAC system, which includes air conditioning.

Most modern air conditioning systems have a dual job: cooling the air and removing excess moisture. The air conditioning units that are used in commercial buildings must also be powerful enough to sufficiently alter the temperature of a wide area, and this is no easy feat.

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