Deep energy retrofit of commercial buildings: a key pathway toward low-carbon cities

Energy efficiency of commercial buildings is a fundamental part of the solution for developing low-carbon cities worldwide. Existing commercial buildings consume significant energy, as well as presenting great requirements and opportunities for energy-efficient retrofits. This article introduces an approach to commercial building retrofits that achieve large energy savings with attractive economics. A case study is used to illustrate the procedure of conducting deep retrofits of large commercial buildings. The article also presents a ‘pilot-to-portfolio’ approach that can amplify outcomes of single building retrofit to buildings within the same portfolio.