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Decarbonisation and Business: How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint Through Building Interventions
Companies today are on a growth path oriented towards sustainability: energy efficiency has become a strategic pillar to address the climate crisis and market demands. In this context, buildings themselves represent an asset to invest in to achieve decarbonisation goals. Industrial and commercial buildings are among the main sources of energy consumption and, consequently, significant contributors to CO₂ emissions.
Implementing efficient solutions does not always require structural modifications or the replacement of systems. On the contrary, technologically advanced and minimally invasive operations can improve internal comfort and well-being, contributing concretely to the ecological transition.
Let’s take a closer look at how the production sector can reduce its carbon footprint by enhancing the energy efficiency of buildings.
The Importance of Energy Efficiency in Corporate Ecological Transition
Beyond the current geopolitical context, which demands more resilient and independent energy systems, companies are called upon by European and national directives to undertake energy refurbishment of buildings.
While regulatory obligations are one factor prompting companies to act in this direction, there are other equally valid reasons to initiate refurbishment projects. In addition to cost reduction, there is a significant competitive advantage in an era where effective communication and storytelling help companies reach their stakeholders: reputation.
According to the Annual Report on Energy Efficiency by ENEA for 2024, over 61,000 projects dedicated to the energy refurbishment of buildings have been financed through the PNRR, with a notable increase in passive solutions such as insulation and shading. For non-residential buildings, there are binding targets imposing restrictive consumption reductions with increasingly close deadlines. The emerging scenario requires effective and sustainable interventions, even in the long term.
Competitive Advantages: From Cost Reduction to ESG Reputation
To make a company more competitive, it is beneficial to reduce operating costs. In this sense, focusing not only on the energy management of systems but also on that of buildings is advisable, as significant improvements can be achieved without invasive interventions.
Improving the energy performance of a corporate building indirectly contributes to strengthening corporate reputation. In the current context, where ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) criteria play a prominent role, making sustainable choices is crucial.
Companies that work on their properties to achieve decarbonisation goals are not only acting in compliance with regulatory requirements but are also rewriting their growth in a sustainable key. This allows them to reduce energy expenditure, CO₂ emissions, and simultaneously communicate to their stakeholders a real and concrete commitment to the ecosystem and the environmental fabric in which they operate.
Energy Audit and Carbon Footprint Reduction Goals
An energy audit provides the energy consumption profile of a building, serving as the starting point to successfully identify opportunities for energy saving and efficiency. The direction of European and national policies aims to achieve increasingly higher and more efficient energy performance levels for the existing building stock.
Measuring a building’s carbon footprint involves, after calculating energy consumption per square meter, estimating the equivalent CO₂ emissions. At this point, performance indicators are identified to base subsequent actions on; only in this way is it possible to set up a decarbonisation strategy with concrete, measurable, and scalable foundations over time.
Passive Refurbishment: Comfort, Savings, and Sustainability
Passive refurbishment solutions are among the less invasive and highly effective interventions to contain consumption and improve internal comfort and microclimate. Specifically, these technologies act on the building without the need for invasive works or structural alterations. They are defined as passive because they do not require additional energy expenditure: besides minimizing consumption, they do not incur operating energy costs.
Such technologies include solar control films and solar shading, solutions for glazing and windows that reduce direct solar radiation and summer thermal load. Their application leads to immediate results, cooling internal environments and decreasing the use of air conditioners and traditional cooling systems.
Another example is heat-reflective coatings for roofs and skylights, which, once applied, reflect solar radiation, helping to lower surface temperature and thus maintain stable internal temperatures, even in the hottest months.
Advantages of Passive Interventions
Achieving decarbonisation goals through passive refurbishment of industrial and commercial buildings primarily allows for the continuation of production activities within the buildings. The described solutions can be installed and applied without interfering with daily operations in work environments. The application of solar control films, as well as coatings, can occur in the presence of personnel.
Another advantage of this type of intervention concerns the guaranteed durability over time and the drastic reduction of maintenance activities compared to traditional interventions. For companies, it is crucial to identify a solution capable of demonstrating its effectiveness and value over time, ensuring a quicker return on investment.
Serisolar Interprets Companies’ Needs with Effective and Long-Lasting Solutions
Helping companies identify and achieve decarbonisation goals is a tangible commitment we undertake in every project. Starting from the study of the situation and the characteristics of each building, we offer companies sustainable, effective, and long-lasting energy refurbishment strategies that can truly revolutionize their growth path.
Passive solar shading represents an opportunity to improve energy management by reducing costs and enhancing people’s well-being. Depending on the type of industrial and commercial building, various solutions are available that, once installed, immediately deliver the desired result.
Our work begins by offering consultancy to identify the most suitable product, whose installation is carried out by highly specialized and qualified personnel. Serisolar ensures companies both product and installation guarantees.
Contact us to evaluate, together with a Serisolar consultant, how to improve your company’s energy efficiency.
