Have you ever wondered if moving your business to a green and energy efficient commercial building is worth your time and hustle? Our fund’s partner Riho Unt gives insight on the topic, including real figures.

The Baltic industrial & logistic real estate market is characterised by an extensive number of old and energy inefficient spaces with high occupancy - more than 50% of the Baltic industrial premise stock is older than 10 years.

Considering the design standards and views on energy efficiency at the time and the sharp increase in energy prices we saw in 2022, companies occupying these buildings are struggling to stay competitive. But the recipe is still in place - move your business to a modern and green stock-office with A-class energy efficiency.

Leasing premises in a green and energy efficient building has become much more than a simple checkmark in company’s annual report as it can yield actual and quite significant financial benefits.

Most premises built more than 10 years ago have E energy label. Moving to an A-class building will reduce the cost on energy 2.5 times.

If we were to convert this into actual money, the biggest factor to consider is the type of heating used in the building. In the case of district heating, savings on energy costs for warehouse is 0.6€/m2 and reaches 1.3€/m2 for office and industrial spaces. Savings on costs are even bigger, from 1.8€/m2 to 3€/m2, when the building is heated with gas.

A typical stock-office has one third office space and the remaining part is used as a warehouse or for light manufacturing. As sustainable buildings minimise energy consumption, energy costs in A-class stock-office are 0.6€/m2 when warehouse space is dominating and 0.9€/m2 when two thirds of the spaces are used for light manufacturing (both with district heating). The same figures for gas-heated premises are 1.4€/m2 and 2€/m2.

As energy efficiency is also a vital component in achieving net-zero emission environment, it is the right time to prioritize and budget the investments in energy efficiency for the coming financial years.