Rising energy costs, ageing equipment and the financial impact of carbon emissions mean that retrofitting energy efficiency products shouldn't be seen as a luxury, according to fan and motor manufacturer ebm-papst.
The company said retrofitting should instead be a necessity that all facilities managers must consider as a priority.

Many new facilities built in the UK include energy efficient solutions designed to minimise consumption and therefore reduce long-term running costs. However, this is often not the case in older commercial properties, where there remains a massive requirement to retrofit, according to ebm-papst.

The company's head of sustainability, Helen McHugh, said: 'On the face of it, continuing to use old equipment may seem more cost effective because you don't have the capital investment. But in the long term this strategy will incur far greater costs - and this will only get worse as global energy prices continue to rise and Government increases the cost associated with carbon emissions.'

She added that a big culprit of inefficiency in buildings was the air conditioning: 'It can tick over in the background and is therefore rarely thought about. However, given that air conditioning can account for as much as 30 per cent of a building's electricity consumption, it is imperative that it should not be overlooked.

'EC technology provides an ideal solution to address the issue of inefficient air conditioning - delivering energy savings in the region of 60 per cent in comparison with legacy AC equipment. When combined with a wider building management control system, there is significant potential to increase this by interrogating usage patterns and identifying where additional savings can be made,' she concluded.