Act now to keep the lights on

The focus is usually based on the capital expenditure of such works with little or no consideration given to running costs including energy costs of providing gas, electricity, heat, water and light.

Clients should be advised holistically about how to dovetail the building fabric and services installations into one concise plan, and capital expenditure, running costs and energy costs need to be considered. An energy strategy should be developed, which can be adopted as part of the long-term maintenance plan for the property in question.

Areas that should be looked at include:

Fabric of the property including external envelope, roofs, insulation, windows;

Boilers and associated plant for heating and hot water installations;

Conduits, pipes and cabling;

Electrical installations including small power and lighting;

Lift installations;

Other mechanical installations such as ventilation and air conditioning.

An effective energy strategy approach should include:

Review of current services installation(s) maintenance regimes;

Period of measurement of how services are used, peak demands/consumption and cost;

Understand usage difference/demands between apartments;

Review of running costs, tariffs including review of energy providers’ charges;

Technical assessment of existing systems including energy efficiency scores;

Consideration of technological advances, trends, energy prices and alternative fuels;

Assessment and commentary on leases and legal ownership of services plant, conduits and pipes;

Assessment of condition of conduits and pipes in apartments and in risers;

Forecast elemental maintenance costs;

Consider options to improve efficiency – mechanical and electrical;

Consider making changes to how apartments are served – ie look into the possibility of changing from communal services to individual apartment services such as combination/condensing boilers per apartment;

Assess where the control of services provision can be improved;

Consider the building fabric maintenance requirements to ensure advantages in combining capital expenditure maintenance works with any major energy improvement projects.

The above list is not exhaustive and each property must be considered on its own merits. At the conclusion of the process a clear summary of findings and recommendations can be made supported by hard facts and illustrations of how capital expenditure and running costs have been dovetailed to maximum benefit for all.

The findings of the energy strategy process can then be adopted as part of the long-term maintenance plan. The process of developing an energy strategy could take up to 12 months and may change over that period, and indeed may change beyond that period.

With the upward global demand for energy set to continue and with the corresponding cost increases, if you don’t want the lights turned off, develop your energy strategy now.