I have previously posted about the importance of retrofitting and the statistic that it is expected that 80% of the buildings that will exist in 2050 have already been built. However, the cost of fitting green and energy efficient technology can be off-putting, if not prohibitive. It is, therefore, great to see British Land working with their occupiers to do just that and also reaching out to encourage others and dispel myths about the limitations of such technology.

British Land have trialled air source pumps at some of their commercial buildings. Even when the air outside is minus two degrees Celsius, they have found that they generally still use zero gas to heat the spaces in their buildings. Whilst at these temperatures they are still using gas boilers to heat water, this is a vast improvement and has reduced their gas usage by 80%. They have also found that the air source pumps are more efficient and, therefore, cheaper to run than gas boilers.

The technology is still expensive and British Land acknowledge that installation into existing buildings is only generally financially viable when existing equipment has reached the end of its life or when occupiers are on long leases so the energy savings make the upfront cost worthwhile. But they do say that the overall response from occupiers has been positive. 

Whilst the financial challenges of green retrofitting still exist, British Land are showing that taking these steps to meet net zero targets can be done. If other landlords (and their occupiers) can get comfortable with this technology, you may soon be seeing more air source pumps coming to commercial buildings near you.