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A company specialising in high performance building envelopes, has today announced the launch of extensive research into achieving affordable, energy efficient and sustainable buildings, based on the premise that integrated building design is always the best way to reduce both capital and operating costs to a minimum.
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Kingspan Cost Optimal Energy Saving Building Solutions, carried out in conjunction with world-leading building design consultancy AECOM, shows how Kingspan Insulated Panels’ solutions deliver optimised design and performance across four building types.
“An integrated building design is always the best way to reduce both capital and operating costs to a minimum. The company has demonstrated the importance of this through early stage dynamic thermal and cost modelling by identifying the various benefits of Cost Optimal Energy Saving Building Solutions. The analysis proves that enhanced building envelopes often result in lower whole building capital and operating costs by reducing the cost of HVAC systems and energy consumption in buildings,” said Ant Wilson, Director, AECOM (UK).
Taking the Cost Optimal approach allows tenants and occupiers to benefit from lower operational costs, reduced energy bills and therefore increased profits or improved competitiveness. They also benefit from improved BREEAM ratings which demonstrate the sustainability credentials of the solution, reduced downtime and improved comfort, with subsequent boosts to staff productivity and health. For building developers, the benefits are lower design and construction costs, faster sales and higher selling prices. Building owners experience slower depreciation, lower exit yields and increased occupancy rates.
This approach is the culmination of 40 years of innovation in pushing the boundaries to create the world’s most advanced, high performance building envelope systems. Cost Optimal Energy Saving Buildings are delivered through a three-step holistic process called the Route to Net-Zero:
1. Envelope First & Optimised Building Services – Optimises the thermal efficiency, airtightness, heat loss/gain and daylight design of the building envelope for its entire lifecycle, while also ensuring the building services (HVAC, lighting and hot water) are optimised to complement the envelope design, helping to achieve energy efficient operation in a holistic manner.
2. Insulate & Generate: Integrated Low or Zero Carbon (LZC) Technologies – Additional enhancements to the building envelope and/or internal duct/pipework are introduced, and LZC technology systems, such as Rooftop Solar PV, are added to further reduce its overall energy footprint.
3. Net-Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs) – Enhances the low or zero carbon technologies already incorporated in the building, and considers off-site opportunities.
Following this process means stakeholders get an end-to-end solution that locks in the performance to deliver a range of solutions up to and including net-zero energy buildings with the lowest possible capital cost and best possible return on investment.
With UK electricity and gas prices forecast to at least double by 2050 , and the UK Government targeting a cut in greenhouse gas emissions (40% of which comes from buildings) by at least 80% over the same period, the need to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions have become priority issues for businesses. The holistic building design, sustainable construction and optimal operation of buildings are therefore now firmly on the agendas of regulators, commercial property developers, owners and occupiers.
The study identifies the positive impacts of more efficient building envelopes for four different building types: a retail warehouse, a speculative office, a large supermarket, and a distribution warehouse.
Each scenario or target was calculated using three starting building fabric standards: backstop (less insulation), notional (medium insulation), and enhanced (more insulation). Having applied an envelope for each scenario, a building specification was assigned based on cost-effectiveness to develop the capital cost model. Lifetime operational costs were thereafter calculated using annual energy consumption and predicted future fuel costs. It was then possible to recognise the financial benefits of various building specifications over others in terms of Net-Present Value (NPV), Return on Investment (ROI), and Internal Rate of Return (IRR).
The results showed notable improvements in return on investment, lifetime operational cost savings, enhanced EPC and BREEAM ratings. In some cases, the specifications with enhanced insulation resulted in reduced capital and operational costs; offering both immediate and long-term financial benefits.
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