23. Jun 2008 - Energy efficiency in the real estate sector

Abstract

Around 50 participants from the areas of research, project planning and facility management met with building developers and investors at the EnOB workshop on 20 June in Frankfurt, with the goal of discussing the real estate sector’s point of view on energy-efficient buildings in more detail. This event marked the beginning of more intensive consideration of economic issues in building projects for the EnOB research initiative. The focus was on lifecycle costs in energy-optimised buildings and on the basic knowledge and methods necessary to collect, identify and analyse these costs.

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A short report on the workshop

The KfW Bankengruppe’s Nordarkade building in Frankfurt am Main provided a suitable setting, considering the subject matter. KfW has experience as an investor, developer and building user in new buildings and refurbishment projects that are characterised by particularly high energy efficiency.

Prof. Thomas Lützkendorf, holder of the Chair of Sustainable Management of Housing & Real Estate at the University of Karlsruhe, and Prof. Guido Spars, from the Department ‘Economy of Planning and Building’ at the University of Wuppertal, began by reporting on the economic analysis of the EnOB model projects. The initial focus was on the evaluation of construction costs. It was shown here that the construction of energy-optimised buildings is not necessarily more cost-intensive than conventional buildings for medium to high-end projects – the costs are generally less than 5% higher.

As a second step, the usage costs for sample buildings is to be evaluated, thus providing important information necessary for the analysis of lifecycle costs. As well as describing the scope of the data that it is necessary to record, the meeting also dealt with the methods and tools used (e.g. full financial plan) to present and evaluate usage costs.

Invited experts contributed valuable suggestions and ideas. Attention was drawn to the VDI 2067 guideline (Economic viability of building services equipment) and the OSCAR analysis of ancillary costs for offices from Jones Lang LaSalle. Using a real project as an example, a representative from Bilfinger Berger AG demonstrated how usage costs are determined and evaluated for PPP projects using economic viability analysis. The possibility of using maintenance contracts as a source of data for cost analyses was also investigated based on this sample project.

Open communication and a relationship of mutual trust between researchers and those involved in projects is necessary when recording usage costs. Some workshop participants signalled their willingness to provide support. Anonymised evaluation of sensitive cost data will help to establish the necessary trust between the research team and those involved in the real estate business.

Announcement: Further events

1. Follow-up event on the real estate sector’s point of view

A follow-up event planned for mid-2009 will bring the results of the studies presented in Frankfurt to a wider audience. Detailed information on this will be available soon here.

2. Evaluating building physics in building refurbishment projects

The next EnOB workshop will deal with the theory and practice of the evaluation of building physics in building refurbishment projects. This will be organised by the accompanying research team and will be held in early 2009. Detailed information on this will be available soon here.