What you can do to reduce the energy consumption in buildings

What you can do as someone responsible for buildings and operations

• Overview of consumption
  An overview of energy consumption is vital to ensure a more energy efficient building. You can use the energy label of the building to get more information on consumption and possible savings. Since 2009, all public sector buildings in Denmark are legally obliged to have a meter that can be read remotely. This allows the energy companies to supply accurate consumption data.
• Managing consumption
  You can manage and monitor the technical installations in a building using a central control and management system. For example, this means that you can regulate heating and ventilation equipment based on demand so as not to use more energy than necessary. By continually monitoring consumption you can also identify any irregularities.

Compare energy consumption with others

You have several options to compare your energy consumption with other similar buildings.

• Government institutions
  If you are in a government institution you can compare electricity and heat consumption with key figures from other government institutions. Energy consumption reports sibmitted to the Danish Energy Agency can be accessed by logging in to “Energi i Staten” (for registered users and only in Danish).
• Danish municipalities
  If you are in a municipality, you can use benchmarks for electricity consumption in public sector institutions, which you can find here.
• All
  You can also view the electricity consumption of a large number of public and private sector organisations at View Electricity Consumption.
• View Electricity Consumption is publically accessible and comprises online readings and analyses of electricity consumption in a large number of buildings. You can also register your energy consumption and compare it with the electricity and heat used in similar buildings using the Energy Guide (only in Danish).

Take decisions together with management and owners of a building
In order for energy savings to succeed, it is important that decisions are taken by management and/or the owners of a building in consultation with the staff responsible for buildings and operations.

You will put the dialogue about savings with management and/or the owners of a building on a sound footing if you have a clear overview of energy consumption, a sensible basis for comparison, and the potential to make savings in your building.

A municipality or owner of a building often has a policy with targets for the energy area, against which they base their decisions. In Denmark there are agreements and legislation in place which require public sector buildings to be energy efficient.