In the aftermath of the pandemic, the regular 9-5 has been disrupted. The migration to working from home allowed businesses to continue functioning under lockdown, but the lifting of restrictions has not prompted a mass-return to the office as some may have expected. Instead, for many companies, hybrid working is here to stay.
Not only have building owners contended with a period of relatively empty building stock, but there are also new pressures relating to energy targets and building efficiency that are coming into play. Countries around the world are taking increasingly stringent approaches to decarbonisation in the pursuit of carbon neutrality. Given that buildings can account for 36% of a country’s final energy use, they are a prime target for energy efficiency initiatives. To get on track to Net Zero carbon building stock by 2050, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that by 2030, direct building CO2 emissions need to fall by 50 percent and indirect building sector emissions by 60 percent.
