The Energy Challenge: A New Agenda for Corporate Real Estate

The report identifies a significant gap between the perceived importance of energy efficiency and the actual implementation of management structures in corporate real estate. While executives view sustainability as a priority, fewer than half of surveyed companies have formal energy policies or quantitative targets. The document argues that most barriers are perceived and can be overcome through integrated design, senior leadership, and the adoption of comprehensive energy management systems. It highlights that 'low-hanging fruit'—such as retro-commissioning and schedule adjustments—are often overlooked in favor of more expensive system replacements. Through case studies of companies like Adobe, Toyota, and ABN AMRO, the report demonstrates that integrated solutions and real-time data tracking can lead to substantial cost savings and carbon reductions. It concludes with action plans for corporate stakeholders and service providers, urging the adoption of the 2030 Challenge targets to achieve carbon neutrality in the building sector.

• There is a disconnect between executive perception and corporate action; while 94 percent of executives rank energy efficiency as important or most important, fewer than half of corporations have energy policies or consumption targets in place.
• Energy efficiency is often mismanaged by placing the entire burden on facility managers, who lack the bandwidth to simultaneously design goals, track data, and secure funding.
• Corporations frequently overlook low-cost or no-cost energy savings, such as retro-commissioning and schedule adjustments, mistakenly believing that replacing entire building systems is the most important way to reduce energy use.
• Integrated design—optimizing whole buildings for multiple benefits rather than isolated components—can achieve 8090 percent energy savings and may be cheaper and faster to build.
• Energy costs are the primary driver for efficiency, with a wide performance gap existing between top and bottom quartile buildings; poor performers can exceed US$6 per square foot in annual energy costs, while top performers use less than US$1 per square foot.
• The lending and appraisal industries are lagging in the energy transition because quantifying the financial benefits of energy efficiency remains challenging and empirical data on property value impact is limited.
• Real-time data tracking and senior-level accountability are hallmarks of the most successful energy management programs, as seen in the 5 percent of companies that link employee compensation to energy targets.
• Buildings are a major source of carbon emissions, accounting for 38 percent of U.S. fossil-fuel carbon emissions, excluding the energy used for manufacturing and transporting materials.

APA

Lovins, A. B. (2007). The Energy Challenge: A New Agenda for Corporate Real Estate. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2007-14_CorenetEnergyChallenge.pdf

Chicago

Lovins, Amory B. The Energy Challenge: A New Agenda for Corporate Real Estate. RMI, 2007. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2007-14_CorenetEnergyChallenge.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lovins |first1=Amory B. |title=The Energy Challenge: A New Agenda for Corporate Real Estate |publisher=RMI |date=April 2007 |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2007-14_CorenetEnergyChallenge.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lovins2007energy, author = {Lovins, Amory B.}, title = {{The Energy Challenge: A New Agenda for Corporate Real Estate}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2007}, month = apr, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2007-14_CorenetEnergyChallenge.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }