Redefining retrofit as an ongoing process of continuous refinement and evolution, the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has launched new guidance on the retrofitting of large office buildings that outlines the most economical and environmentally beneficial strategies to achieve both immediate and long term goals.  

Finding that significant opportunities and easy wins are being missed by office investors, owners, and occupiers who do not have clear retrofit strategies in place, UKGBC’s report shows that deep retrofit is usually needed to achieve a 60-65 percent cut in operational energy use, shift building systems away from fossil fuels, and meet best practice 2030-2035 energy performance targets for offices. 

However, the Council’s findings also show that significant reductions in operational energy use are also possible through both optimisation (26 percent) and light retrofit (15 percent), which also represents the most cost effective and carbon efficient retrofit measures. With building optimisation, the most cost effective way of significantly reducing operational energy use and associated carbon emissions, taking intermediate steps can mean deep retrofits can be undertaken more quickly with less extensive works, further down the line if required. Currently, 77 percent of UK office stock has an EPC rating below B and is anticipated to be unlettable by 2030.

Download the report here