When we talk about energy efficiency, the spotlight is usually on new buildings. Modern technology, fresh standards, shiny certifications make them look like the pioneers. But the real leverage lies elsewhere: in the existing building stock.
Buildings from the 1970s, 80s or 90s still run on logics that are long outdated. Heating stays on even when no one is in the building. Cooling keeps running even though outside temperatures have already dropped. Ventilation systems follow old schedules that have not been touched in years. The result is unnecessary costs, avoidable emissions and operations that have little to do with modern efficiency.
With the introduction of the European efficiency classes from A to G, this reality will soon be visible in black and white. Class A is reserved for net zero emission buildings, while Class G is explicitly for the worst performers in the stock. Any building that ends up in these lower categories will automatically come under pressure: higher costs, lower attractiveness for tenants and investors, and an increasing risk of value loss.
The good news is that existing buildings are not an obstacle but the biggest opportunity. This is where the largest savings can be realized, especially when operations and control are brought up to today’s standards. And that does not necessarily require new construction or deep renovation. Even today, existing BMS systems can be connected to intelligent control, buildings without BMS can be digitized with solutions like SMARE, or first steps can be taken with monitoring to create transparency. What matters is not the year of construction, but whether a building can actively and adaptively respond to its environment.
This shows that optimization is not only possible, but urgently needed. Because it is not the façade that decides the future viability of a property, but the question of whether its systems can think ahead. No building is too old for optimization, but many are too expensive to keep running inefficiently.