By Rob Holdsworth, Chief Sustainability Officer
Utility costs often represent the largest operating expense for buildings. To manage these rising costs, many facility managers are turning to building energy and water use assessments. These assessments provide crucial benchmarks for energy performance, reveal potential cost-saving measures, and evaluate the financial benefits of energy conservation measures (ECMs), supporting sustainability programs and directing future investments in efficient energy and water use.
Benefits of energy and water assessments
- Determine consumption: Assess the facility’s energy and water usage and associated costs.
- Benchmarking: Compare these metrics against national and local peers.
- Identify measures: Discover potential energy and water conservation strategies.
- Evaluate measures: Analyze each measure’s implementation project cost, savings, rebates, creative financing options, and overall return on investment.
Energy and water assessment activities
- Review bills: Collect and analyze at least one year’s worth of energy and water bills, ideally three years, along with utility tariff schedules. This review helps assess the efficiency and condition of energy and water systems.
- Site inspection: Conduct a thorough site inspection to evaluate system types, efficiency ratings, and gather diagnostic information. Key characteristics to document include the building’s primary use, age, size, and details about the envelope and mechanical, electrical, lighting, and plumbing systems.
- Building an energy model: Create a software-based energy model to understand and optimize a building’s energy performance. This model should include elements such as building size and location, characteristics of walls, windows, and roofs, along with details about plumbing fixtures, HVAC systems, and lighting controls. These components are critical as they influence how energy is consumed and how effectively it is managed. With an accurate energy model, managers can pinpoint areas for improvement, optimize energy use, reduce costs, and enhance overall sustainability.
Reporting and action
An assessment report typically includes:
- Recommended Energy Conservation Methods (ECMs) and the technical justifications for each.
- Project economics and ROI
- Calculated greenhouse gas and carbon footprint reduction.
- Additional non-financial benefits of the project.
Based on the assessment, managers can identify a range of projects from low-cost to capital-intensive to enhance energy and water efficiency. Economic analyses can then determine the best investments and their potential returns.
Practical examples
ECMs might include:
- Occupancy-based thermostats
- LED lighting
- Toilet tank retrofits
- Flow controllers
- Demand controlled ventilation for kitchen hoods
- EV charging stations
- Intelligent residential water heater controls
- VFD
Energy and water use assessments are crucial for any commercial real estate manager aiming to reduce operational costs and improve sustainability. For buildings with high energy use and costs, implementing ECMs can offer both immediate and long-term financial benefits.
For comprehensive energy solutions, consider partnering with Evolution Sustainability Group. Our expertise includes reducing energy consumption through innovative engineering approaches, equipment upgrades, controls, retrofits, and renewable energy solutions like lighting, HVAC, refrigeration, and solar. We provide turnkey, design-build projects with excellent ROI and immediate positive cash flow, often eliminating the need for upfront capital through maximized grants, rebates, and creative financing. We also offer strategies to ensure compliance with local energy mandates through benchmarking and advisory services, ultimately enhancing project adoption and increasing profitability. Contact us today to learn more.
