Grow Your Business

To retrofit—or to replace or modify equipment or parts of an existing building to improve or update it—can be done with the specific aim of making your office or place of business sustainable. While this sounds desirable, the initial cash outlay may be intimidating, hence few business people embark on it.

Members of the Green Architects Advocacy Philippines (GreenAP), however, beg to disagree. GreenAP chairman Architect Mike Guerrero says retrofitting is in fact a way to save on operational costs. GreenAP, founded in 2000 by Architect Edgar Reformado, is a civic organization that promotes green architecture and sustainability, holding programs like monthly lectures on “green-ovation” and a yearly Green Forum to raise awareness among its members and the general public about green strategies, practices, available eco-friendly materials and technology.

Integrating green principles into retrofitting can benefit your business by lowering your electricity costs and water bills and improving the health of your employees, resulting in less downtime and greater productivity, says GreenAP.

However, before going full-blast into retrofitting your establishment, assess how far you should go, based on these four components GreenAP recommends:

Acquire a complete set of the “as-built plan,” or the plan of the building as it was built; this is your basic source of information whether to retrofit or not. If the building is too old, retrofitting might not be worth it. Total reconstruction might be the better option for you.

The building audit should let you know your regular (monthly or yearly) electricity consumption in terms of kilowatt-hours and amount paid, as well as your water consumption. The international benchmark for energy-efficient office buildings pegs the median at about 200kWh per square meter per year. If you’re way above that, then it’s time to retrofit.

The building survey includes checking if there are cracks in the beams, if windows are falling off, and if there are other structural damages.

1.Use the building envelop—the shape, size and positioning of the roof, walls, windows and doors—to be energy-efficient. Reposition old windows or make new ones to bring in natural light and catch the breeze. Windows or doors that face the sun contribute to letting heat in the building, so move them if you can. If not, use heavy curtains to block off the heat. Use these methods instead of adding air-conditioning or lighting.

2. Clean, repair or replace your air-con units; air-conditioning is responsible for up to 60 percent of your electricity bill. Dirty filters, worn-out ducts and cooling coils can be remedied by good maintenance. Toss very old units and switch to modern, energy-efficient models.

3. Be enlightened about light bulbs.Switch to CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) or LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs from incandescent or halogen bulbs that consume more energy and produce even more heat. Tip: a CFL bulb is five times as bright as an incandescent bulb. Imagine the energy savings resulting from using a CFL bulb.

4.Re-pipe to be able to use recycled or rain water to flush toilets and urinals, and install low-flow or aerated faucets and showerheads. Flushing the toilet, on average, makes up 30 percent of your water bill.

5.Chuck out materials that are costly to maintain, and even harmful to your health. Carpets, cubicle separators, etc. that absorb moisture, molds and germs affect your indoor air quality and ultimately the health of your staff.

6.Don’t neglect renewable energy. Solar roof panels may still be expensive, but prices are steadily going down. Start with a small panel to power light bulbs that are kept on the entire day, such as those in your fire escape or dark corridors