State-of-the-art review revealing a roadmap for public building water and energy efficiency retrofit projects

Abstract

Governments occupy a significant proportion of building stock and their associated annual water and energy costs can be substantive. Research has shown that significant reductions in energy and water consumption as well as carbon emissions can be achieved through retrofitting public buildings. However, in most countries the current retrofitting rate is very low due to a number of barriers, including a lack of supportive legislation, regulations, guidelines, industry capacity and financial mechanisms. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the barriers as well as the best international practices covering numerous aspects of public building retrofits. Among others, the most important barriers identified were a lack of consideration of the water-energy nexus, and the limited availability of effective financing mechanisms. With a particular focus on the Australian context, a strategic roadmap, as well as a number of recommendations, such as the use of revolving loan fund financing and energy performance procurement, have been developed that aim to foster a greater rate of implementation of energy and water retrofit projects for public buildings. Achievement of such an aim will not only reduce ongoing operational costs of public buildings, but also lower their environmental impact and generate new employment opportunities.