SUSTAINABILITY
known for its sustainable buildings, retrofitted its German headquarters in Munich recently, reducing energy consumption by 40 % while still managing to preserve the building’ s historic character.
Susanne Seitz, who is CEO of Buildings at Siemens Smart Infrastructure, believes combining retrofits with technology can lead to the best results.
“ Buildings are increasingly recognised as strategic assets in the infrastructure transition, with technologies such as AI, digital platforms and autonomous systems acting as catalysts,” she says.
“ When it comes to autonomous systems, organisations clearly expect breakthroughs in energy efficiency, smarter anomaly detection, stronger physical security, and healthier, more comfortable spaces for occupants.
“ This is exactly the path we’ re charting at Siemens; creating human-centric, autonomous buildings that serve people better.”
In the US, Microsoft’ s campus in Puget Sound underwent some extensive upgrades that managed to cut energy use by 30 % across 125 buildings.
At a national level, the Netherlands has started to implement one of Europe’ s most comprehensive retrofitting schemes, targeting one million homes by 2030 with subsidised insulation and heat pump installations.
Elsewhere, Sweden’ s‘ Million Programme’, which is retrofitting large-scale housing estates built in the 1960s and 1970s, has seen energy reductions of up to 50 % while simultaneously improving living conditions for residents.
At the end of the day, the transition to a low-carbon economy cannot succeed without addressing the buildings we already have. Retrofitting transforms these energy-hungry structures into efficient, comfortable spaces that serve both present needs and future climate goals.
The technology exists, the business case is proven, and the environmental imperative grows stronger each year. All that remains is turning words into action. energydigital. com 95