Spotlight: The Crane Building
Site Name: The Crane Building
Floor Area: 46,690ft²
Client: Dorrington Properties Plc
The Building:
The Crane Building is a seven-storey office building in Lavington Street, Southwark, which was originally constructed in the 1950’s. The building has undergone extensive refurbishment now clad with bespoke ribbed white-glazed terracotta tiles, the building has a new, refreshed and long-lasting exterior.
The Challenge:
Dorrington sought to comprehensively evaluate the energy and carbon efficiency of The Crane Building, aiming to align the property with a net zero emissions trajectory. A key aspect of this plan was to actively involve tenants, informing them about their carbon footprint and the potential financial benefits to changing their operations. However, similarly to many property owners, Dorrington encountered difficulties in acquiring complete data to fully understand the building's overall operational performance.
The Solution:
Etainabl conducted a thorough evaluation of the asset, undertaking a data discovery process to comprehend the sources, availability, and detail of the data. Similar to many properties, this asset had various data streams from different service providers, along with certain data points lacking active monitoring. The data structure was as follows:
Landlord electricity consumption, with half-hourly data provided by Stark.
Tenants on each floor with their own primary supplies, resulting in a significant portion of the building's consumption and emissions data going unrecorded.
Central Gas & Water, equipped with traditional meters, hence information was only available through on-site meter readings.
Solar PV on the roof connected to inverters, generating data output via Solis.
Waste data, compiled and presented in an Excel format by SoClean.
Initially, our focus was on acquiring the missing data. We collaborated with Meter UK to set up affordable LoRaWAN IoT devices on the gas and water meters, facilitating detailed data collection from these sources. This information is then transmitted directly from the meters to the Etainabl central platform via our integration with Meter UK.
Next, we shifted our attention to gathering tenant data, which is the hardest to obtain. To achieve this, we utilised our Grid Fetch tool, employing a letter of authority established with the tenants, which allowed us access to the half-hourly (HH) data for each tenant-occupied floor. Etainabl supplied a template for Dorrington to distribute to the tenants. Once these were returned, we gained immediate access to a year's worth of HH data from each meter point and secured an ongoing connection to the data.
Subsequently, to streamline the process of collecting the SoClean waste data, we established an email ingestion integration for the Excel sheet. SoClean was given a dedicated email address to send the data to. Once received, our system automatically processes and organises the waste data, facilitating automated data management.
Finally, we leveraged existing integrations with Stark and Solis to ensure a constant data flow from landlord-controlled electricity supplies and solar PV arrays.
The Results:
The Etainabl data driven approach not only facilitated a comprehensive understanding of the building's energy and carbon footprint but also paved the way for ongoing monitoring and management towards achieving a net-zero emissions goal. By actively involving tenants and integrating diverse data streams, Etainabl created a robust model for sustainable building management.
Here are the 5 key outcomes:
Enhanced Data Accuracy and Accessibility: More accurate and accessible dataset. This allowed for a clearer understanding of the building's overall energy consumption and carbon footprint.
Improved Tenant Engagement: Comprehensive insight into the building's energy usage but also fostered a sense of responsibility and participation among the tenants in the building’s sustainability goals.
Operational Insights for Net Zero Emissions Trajectory: A detailed understanding is crucial in aligning the property with a net-zero emissions trajectory, enabling informed decision-making for energy efficiency improvements and carbon reduction strategies.
Increased Energy Efficiency and Cost Savings: Identifying areas where energy efficiency could be improved. This not only aligned with the building’s goal towards net zero emissions but also resulted in potential cost savings for both the landlord and tenants.
Establishment of a Sustainable Model: The project established a replicable model for other properties within Dorrington’s portfolio, showcasing how integrated data management and tenant collaboration can drive a building's journey towards sustainability and efficiency.
