A new Prime Minister and a new Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero inevitably bring fresh expectations for the UK’s energy agenda.
Much of the debate will focus on electricity generation, grid infrastructure and energy security. These are all essential. But if the new government is looking for some of the quickest, lowest-cost reductions in energy demand, new power stations are not the answer. The solution lies within the UK’s existing commercial buildings.
Across the built environment sector, organisations including the UK Green Building Council have consistently argued that improving the performance of existing buildings through optimisation and targeted retrofit must become a national priority. Their message is clear: before investing in major capital projects, building owners should adopt a ‘retrofit first’ approach and tackle the energy waste that already exists.
The UK’s hidden energy opportunity
The UK’s commercial buildings consume almost 150 TWh of energy every year* equivalent to around one-eighth of the nation’s total energy demand. Even modest improvements in operational efficiency could deliver substantial reductions in both energy costs and carbon emissions. Yet many estates continue to waste electricity simply because building services are operating inefficiently.
Lighting remains one of the biggest opportunities to take control of energy waste.
Lights left on in unoccupied spaces, outdated control systems and a lack of occupancy or daylight sensing all contribute to unnecessary energy consumption. These are not complex problems to solve, but they are often repeated across thousands of buildings – so the challenge is one of scale. The result is a significant untapped opportunity to reduce energy demand, cut operating costs and lower carbon emissions without major disruption.
Optimisation should come before replacement
The UK’s transition to net zero will require investment in new technologies. Heat pumps, renewable generation and building fabric improvements all have an important role to play.
However, our view is they should not come at the expense of the quickest wins.
Optimising existing buildings often delivers immediate savings while creating a stronger foundation for future investment. A powerful combination of smart, intelligent controls, better data and building management strategies can significantly reduce energy consumption before more expensive retrofit measures are considered.
As government policy increasingly shifts towards operational building performance, this approach is becoming more relevant than ever.
Wireless offers the quickest wins for retrofit
Building and lighting controls are no longer simply an energy-saving add-on. They are becoming an essential part of the digital infrastructure that supports more efficient, better-performing buildings.
Our own wireless lighting controls are ideally suited for retrofit. They enable organisations to modernise existing buildings with minimal disruption, delivering and immediate reduction in lighting energy consumption while providing valuable operational insight. Intelligent scheduling, occupancy detection and daylight harvesting ensure lighting is only used where and when it is needed.
Prime Controls wireless solutions typically deliver paybacks in <3 years
For many organisations, our wireless controls projects deliver measurable savings (often 40% on top of existing LED savings) as well as payback periods of less than three years.
Critically, our controls (typically) deliver ROI much quicker that other low carbon interventions such as heat pumps, rooftop solar or deep building fabric upgrades recover their investment.
A simple challenge for the new government
If the new government wants to accelerate decarbonisation while improving business productivity, we think it should recognise optimisation and retrofit of existing buildings as a national priority.
Reward measured building performance, encourage investment in proven energy-saving technologies and help organisations unlock the potential of the buildings they already own. As the saying goes, the cleanest unit of energy will always be the one that never needs to be generated.
Britain’s commercial buildings already hold one of the country’s biggest untapped energy resources. The opportunity now is to make sure it doesn’t remain untapped.
Retrofit projects: We’re here to help
Looking for new ways to decarbonise your estate at scale? Talk to our team about our easy-to-retrofit wireless controls solutions – and how we can support your energy efficiency goals.
*DESNZ Energy Consumption in the UK (ECUK) 2025 Update