Energy efficiency has moved from a sustainability talking point to a quantified operational failure. Dave Regnery, chief executive of Trane Technologies, told Barron's in a June 2026 podcast that most buildings waste about 30% of the energy they pay for, a figure he has separately attributed to hundreds of thousands of energy audits conducted across Trane's global building portfolio. For facilities management leaders in Ireland, that figure is no longer an abstract industry statistic. It now sits directly inside binding regulatory obligations that took effect this year.

The waste Regnery describes is structural, not incidental. Heating and cooling account for roughly 40% of all energy a building consumes, making HVAC the single largest lever FM teams control. Trane's growth strategy, built on service technicians and account managers who identify inefficiencies across 14 building verticals, is itself evidence that the waste is both measurable and recoverable once a building's actual energy performance is properly audited rather than assumed.

Ireland's regulatory environment has caught up with that reality faster than most FM organisations have adjusted their practices. New BER Regulations took effect on 24 May 2026, transposing the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and setting total primary energy thresholds for offices, hotels, and schools, with certificates now disclosing far greater detail on both top and poor-performing buildings. From 1 January 2026, all new buildings occupied or operated by public authorities must be Zero Emission Buildings, and the public sector has been set a target of a 50% reduction in building-related emissions by 2030 relative to 2019 levels. The gap between Trane's 30% waste figure and Ireland's decarbonisation trajectory is precisely the space FM teams are now required to close.

Three actions translate this regulatory and commercial evidence into practice. First, FM organisations managing public or large commercial portfolios should commission a structured energy audit against the new BER thresholds now, rather than waiting for compliance deadlines tied to lease renewal or asset disposal. Second, HVAC system upgrades should be prioritised ahead of broader retrofit works, given that heating and cooling represent the largest single share of building energy demand and the fastest route to measurable savings. Third, FM teams should use SEAI's non-domestic retrofit supports, including the energy audit voucher scheme, to build the business case required to secure senior leadership buy-in for capital investment.

Regnery's 30% figure is a commercial argument for Trane, but it doubles as an operational diagnosis for every FM leader managing an Irish building portfolio under tightening regulation. The instruments to close that gap, audits, retrofit grants, and a clarified BER framework, are now in place. What remains is the organisational will to act on them before compliance deadlines force the issue.

(The views expressed by the writer are his/her own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of BusinessRiver.)