Conference article

Research shows that; as a result of poor energy efficiency; a significant amount of the UK’s total energy expenditure is wasted. Changing building occupants’ behaviour could help to prevent this energy loss and considerably cut carbon emissions per year. This paper presents an overview of the impact of occupants’ behaviour on the energy performance of non-domestic buildings. It further introduces Halcrow’s current research project on how to improve the energy performance of their recently refurbished and occupied Headquarters in London; while increasing the satisfaction and well-being of their employees. An employee benchmark survey was conducted at the pre-occupancy stage. The purpose of this survey was to identify the employees’ level of satisfaction with their current workplace and; also; to indicate employees’ motivation and energy awareness level. The mean score of 2.98 indicates that the majority of the respondents are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their current workplace. The results of this survey also show that employees who work in cellular offices on their own are less satisfied than those who work in open-plan offices. Regarding employees’ sustainability awareness; most of the respondents said that they were not fully aware of Halcrow’s sustainability targets. This paper provides the results of this survey in detail.

Energy Awareness; Non-domestic Building; Sustainability; Refurbishment; and Carbon Reduction