Thursday 17 April 2014

Energy efficiency could save NYC buildings £220m

Commercial buildings in the Big Apple could slash their energy costs by $370 million (£220m) a year with three energy efficiency measures, claims new research.

After looking at 30,000 buildings’ energy use in New York City, the Building Genome Project found they could trim their energy use by 5%.

If every building turned the thermostat up one degree in the summer and down one degree in the winter, the United States’ cultural capital could save $145 million (£86m) on annual energy costs.

Ditching old windows and getting better insulated ones could save $227 million (£135m) while swapping out oil-fired boilers (which use number 4 or 6 oil) for gas ones could save $10 million (£6m) a year.

Manhattan’s many glass-sided skyscrapers mean it has the most potential to save energy from window retrofits, according to the research.

Bennett Fisher, co-founder and CEO of Retroficiency which did the research said: “Energy efficiency has long been accepted as the most cost-effective way to reduce building energy use, but the opportunity remains largely untapped.”

Worldwide, a giant $2.1 trillion (£1.2m) is spent on building energy according to the International Energy Agency.