Infrastructure for Good: Retrofitting for sustainable buildings
Met Éireann declared 2023 as the country’s warmest year on record by a large margin. The year saw unprecedented temperatures, surpassing records set in 2022, eleven named storms and the wettest March and July on record. These alarming statistics underscore the need for decisive action to mitigate the worst potential outcomes of climate change.
The climate crisis is accelerating at an alarming rate. Our buildings are significant emitters, currently responsible for 39 per cent of global energy related carbon emissions, according to the World Green Building Council. There is no credible path to net zero without significant changes to our built environment. Ireland’s Climate Action Plan, including the 2024 action plan, recognises this, calling for further acceleration of the various retrofitting programmes in place.
The momentum is building across the industry to do more in 2024. The European Parliament also recognised the importance of addressing emissions from the built environment and has developed an ambitious plan, the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), to bring the energy ratings of every building in the European Union to at least an A rating through retrofitting on a scale never before seen.
For years now our team at Deloitte has been helping clients understand their decarbonisation requirements, and energy efficiency opportunities, helping to analyse client situations, design roadmaps, all to support clients’ decision-making. However, often the constraints of time and resources (human and capital), stand as barriers for even those clients most committed to action.
At Deloitte, our goal is to make an impact that matters. Providing analysis and support for clients up to a point, is simply not enough when we need to make such a dramatic shift in our society for climate action. So, drawing together our skilled professionals in real estate, corporate finance, sustainability, people and business operations, and infrastructure delivery, we have created a holistic, end-to-end, buildings retrofit solution. Building owners can engage with our team and not only receive a tailored retrofitting programme that is cost optimal and EU taxonomy aligned for green/sustainable finance, but we will also raise the necessary finance for the works and execute the programme.
We have team members that can even help with the people and operations aspect of the housed business, ensuring in for example, a floor-by-floor approach, that the day-to-day business functions are least impacted as the programme advances. Time, resources, and business continuity concerns need not be a barrier any longer. Indeed, in most instances we can structure the programme to repay the financing and professional services from the energy savings created through the retrofitting programme. Following the retrofitting programme, the building owner in most cases will receive a nearly net zero building (saving on potential carbon costs anticipated through the European ETS), with energy volume related savings between 50 per cent and 90 per cent.
“Of the approximately 124,000 commercial/office buildings in Ireland according to SEAI, we believe our solution could be a very strong fit for a large portion,” says Stephen Prendiville, Deloitte’s Sustainable Infrastructure Leader. “The solution is collaborative in nature. We need building owners to reach out, and our team is ready to engage and take that bold action together.”
Prendiville knows what it takes to deliver complex projects. He spent nearly a decade in Canada and the US, working for major cities such as Toronto, Edmonton, and Los Angeles, major state and federal authorities and large private industry, delivering critical disruptive infrastructure programmes.
“Even before we had the language of the sustainable development goals, most of my clients in North America had that implicit understanding that there is a delicate balance between economic, social, and environmental sustainability. From 2016 on, alignment to the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement became foundational aspects of our work in urban development, public transport, and social infrastructure delivery.”
Prendiville returned to Ireland in 2020 and joined Deloitte as a Partner in late 2023, focused on sustainable infrastructure solutions, as part of Deloitte’s continued commitment to making a significant impact in climate action and sustainability this decade.
Prendiville joins Deloitte’s real assets team, which brings together experienced professionals in debt and corporate finance, infrastructure planning and delivery, business case analysis, economics, procurement, project managers, financial modelling, valuations, chartered surveyors, real estate, and chartered town planners, among others.
The expertise of our real assets team has positioned Deloitte as thought leaders on delivering sustainable infrastructure. As an example, Deloitte supported Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability and Economist Impact to develop the Infrastructure for Good Barometer. This first-of-its-kind research initiative aims to drive awareness of the broad-based benefits of smart and responsible infrastructure, establish what “good” looks like and create a roadmap to enable better decision-making for infrastructure delivery. In Ireland, we scored in sixth place, with a score of 65.5 out of 100, with plenty of room to improve, particularly in being more deliberate about wider community outcomes from our infrastructure programmes.
With Infrastructure for Good as our guide, and our commitment to making an impact that matters, we are constantly striving to ensure that the expertise and professionalism of our people is engaged in the most critical challenges of the day. Deloitte’s retrofitting solution for sustainable buildings is only one example of the innovative and critical solutions that our teams are delivering for clients every day. Together, we can play a pivotal role in mitigating climate change and creating a more sustainable future.
Stephen Prendiville
Partner | Real Assets
Sustainable Infrastructure Leader
T: 01 417 1379
E: sprendiville@deloitte.ie
W: deloitte.ie
