Strategic Focus: Building Decarbonization And Energy Management Will Decouple And Transform Over 30 Years
12 Oct, 2023
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Executive Summary
Energy management has unlocked building decarbonization; a reduction in consumption, thanks to better management of demand, has allowed for the reduction of GHG emissions. However, as the electrification of the global economy gathers momentum and electrical grids become decarbonized, energy management will shift focus in the next 30 years to managing decentralized energy sources and ensuring supply resilience. For occupiers and building owners, a new reality in operational and capital expenditure will be realized, with greater emphasis on upfront equipment purchasing, rather than utility bill expenditure. Vendors will undoubtedly capitalize on this shift, with a rise in fully managed energy services for customers – instead of simply providing equipment and maintenance, firms will start to deliver energy production equipment and distribution management as well. This report focuses on the UK’s 2050 decarbonization pathway; real estate executives and vendors alike should leverage its predictions to prepare for the upcoming changes to the energy management landscape.
Decarbonization and energy management will decouple over 30 years
Energy management has primarily been driven by a cost reduction agenda
Today, decarbonization is firmly in the energy management driving seat
Grid-level efforts will sever the carbon-energy connection
For facilities managers, the decarbonization focus on demand and efficiency will decline
Powerful megatrends will drive fundamental change over the next 30 years
Population growth and urbanization will boost energy demand
Decarbonized electricity forces energy management to reckon with new technologies
Implications cut across skills, processes, technologies and financing
With a low-carbon grid, resource management will trump carbon management
Embodied carbon will take centre-stage from Scope 1 and 2 carbon
Energy management will be completely overhauled
Energy management has primarily been driven by a cost reduction agenda
Today, decarbonization is firmly in the energy management driving seat
Grid-level efforts will sever the carbon-energy connection
For facilities managers, the decarbonization focus on demand and efficiency will decline
Powerful megatrends will drive fundamental change over the next 30 years
Population growth and urbanization will boost energy demand
Decarbonized electricity forces energy management to reckon with new technologies
Implications cut across skills, processes, technologies and financing
With a low-carbon grid, resource management will trump carbon management
Embodied carbon will take centre-stage from Scope 1 and 2 carbon
Energy management will be completely overhauled
Figure 1. Building energy demand over the next 30 years
Figure 2. Energy consumed by fuel source in buildings 2010-2030
Figure 3. Megatrends over the next 30 years
Figure 4. Conceptual pathway of whole life carbon
Figure 2. Energy consumed by fuel source in buildings 2010-2030
Figure 3. Megatrends over the next 30 years
Figure 4. Conceptual pathway of whole life carbon
Kingfisher, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, International Energy Agency (IEA), Redaptive, World Green Building Council, Schneider Electric, TagEnergy, UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, US Energy Information Administration (EIA), UK National Grid, Enel X, Morgan Stanley, Johnson Controls, Ofgem, BP, UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), UN
About the Authors
Harry Wilson
Senior Analyst
Harry is a Senior Analyst in the Verdantix Real Estate & Built Environment practice. Harry's research and advisory expertise centres on energy management; he leads Verdant…
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Claire Stephens
Research Director
Claire Stephens is a Research Director at Verdantix, leading research into technologies and services shaping the real estate and the built environment, encompassing …
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