Improving the way buildings are operated can deliver energy efficiency gains of up to 15% without affecting operational performance or occupant comfort, according to Gabriel Tomescu, CEO of BMF Group.
Speaking at the Sustainability in Business Forum, organised by Sustainability Today and The Diplomat-Bucharest, Tomescu argued that sustainability initiatives must be directly linked to competitiveness, with businesses prioritising the elimination of inefficient energy consumption before committing to major investments in new technologies.
“Any sustainability idea or solution must inevitably be linked to competitiveness. The best energy efficiency solution is not about cutting costs or cutting things out. It is about analysing what you consume inefficiently,” Tomescu said.
He noted that existing buildings, particularly older ones, often contain significant opportunities to optimise energy and resource consumption without disrupting their normal operations.
“The cheapest energy is the energy you do not consume unnecessarily,” he stated, highlighting operational efficiency as an accessible starting point for businesses seeking to reduce consumption and improve sustainability performance.
Tomescu explained that BMF Group has pursued this approach for around 15 years, initially focusing on proactive facility management rather than sustainability as it is understood today. The objective was to reduce energy consumption in the buildings managed by the company while maintaining operational performance and occupant comfort.
At BMF Group, the first step towards energy efficiency involves assessing a building’s actual consumption and subsequently developing more efficient operating programmes. This initial stage can deliver savings without requiring substantial capital expenditure, before companies move on to technological upgrades and larger investments.
“The first layer of energy efficiency at BMF is to assess the building and then create efficient operating programmes,” Tomescu explained.
He also highlighted the importance of measuring actual consumption before deciding on capital investments. Without a clear understanding of how a building performs, companies risk investing in systems that are larger or more expensive than necessary, undermining the expected return on investment.
“When you want to invest in making a building more efficient without measuring first, you will often end up making an oversized investment. And once again, the return on investment may not turn out as initially presented,” he said.
For businesses, this means that operational assessments should precede decisions on equipment upgrades, building modernisation and other capital-intensive sustainability measures.
Tomescu also called for greater attention to the way buildings are managed after construction, arguing that sustainability should extend beyond investment decisions and the installation of efficient technologies.
“Investments are being made, but the results often come from operations,” he said.
According to Tomescu, older buildings can achieve energy efficiency gains of up to 15% through operational improvements alone, without changing their operating schedules, reducing occupant comfort or disrupting the activities carried out inside them.
Further improvements can subsequently be achieved through technology upgrades and additional efficiency measures.
His message to businesses is that sustainability investments should be built on an accurate understanding of consumption and operational needs. By addressing inefficiencies first, companies can reduce energy use, improve competitiveness and make better-informed decisions about subsequent investments.
