The majority of Lower Mainland buildings that will we will use over the next 20 years are already built. In most cases, their structural, electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems are aging or are already outdated and inefficient compared to today’s standards. Building retrofits designed to improve the operating efficiency of existing buildings can have a direct influence on building comfort, operation costs, and will reduce the associated environmental impacts that operating our existing building stock places upon the environment.

Buildings are a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, generators of solid and liquid waste and large consumers of energy, water and land in the region. Due to the technological revolution, plug loads are rapidly increasing which contributes to an increase in space conditioning loads, and occupancy densities are increasing due to the high cost per square metre of floor space.

Gaining support for your retrofit
Getting the support of building management, relevant councils and building occupants is an important component of a successful retrofit initiative. Gain support by educating these stakeholders on the benefits available through changes.

Securing financing for your retrofit
Obtaining financing required to carry out potential changes can sometime be one of the most difficult obstacles in the process. One of the most effective ways of gaining financing for a retrofit program is to clearly demonstrate the effect the changes can/will have on the company’s/tenants’ bottom line. There are a number of tools that can help you illustrate this point effectively. Two simple tools are:

Planning a retrofit
Retrofitting a building for energy and resource efficiency is a process that involves careful planning and much more than just changing light bulbs. It takes time and involves:

• taking inventory of uses of energy and resources 
• technical evaluations 
• assessing finances 
• assessing building operations, and 
• education of the building occupants.
  

Commissioning and Recommissioning
Once the retrofit has been completed, commissioning the building’s systems to ensure they are operating as intended is critical. These systems should be recommissioned periodically to ensure that they are continuing to operate as intended, and will improve and optimize the building’s performance.