COMMERCIAL ENERGY AUDITS

In these days of uncertainty, it is important to keep operating expenses to a minimum. One

difference between companies that weather these difficult times and those which do not survive,
will be that the survivors will have reduced their unnecessary expenditures before it is too late.
Unnecessary costs include costs for energy you dont need to use. In the past many companies
have just considered utilities as a cost of doing business. By running an inefficient building,
you are overpaying your utility for energy. It just doesnt make any sense.
A good building energy audit will point the way to reduce your energy costs by 10% to 40%. For
large organizations, this can be substantial, and could mean the difference between staying
afloat and going under.

TO DETERMINE WHICH ARE THE BEST BUILDING ENERGY EFFICIENCY

MEASURES
There are so many vendors peddling their energy efficient devices which are supposed to save
energymost of them do, but some dont. Just because a device saves energy does not mean it
is a good investment. And even if it is a good investment, there may be better energy efficiency
investments available.
For example triple-pane windows that you hear advertised on the radio usually save energy, but
for some buildings, they will actually result in an increase in energy usage. It is usually a better
investment to replace your incandescent light bulbs with CFLs than it is to change out your
windows.
So how do you determine what are the best energy conservation measures for your building?
That is what an energy audit is for.
The table below lists energy conservation measures from an audit we recently performed on a
large office. In this format our client is able to easily evaluate and prioritize the different energy
efficiency opportunities.

(If triple pane windows were on this list, the simple payback would likely have been over 15
years. It may sound good on the radio, but a sober analysis shows that there are better ways to
spend your energy efficiency dollar.)

WHAT IS A COMMERCIAL ENERGY AUDIT?

The term energy audit appears to refer to two distinct things: An energy audit is the process of
having a professional energy auditor assess your building for energy savings opportunities. The
term energy audit also is used to refer to the result of the energy assessment process, the
energy audit report. We will try to keep these terms separate by referring to the report as an
energy audit report.
An energy audit report is a carefully thought out plan, which, if followed, will lead you to reduced
energy costs. Every building is different, and each contains different opportunities which can
reduce energy usage. This is why every different building requires its own unique energy audit.
During the energy audit, an energy auditor will visit your site and interview your facility manager,
inspect your lighting, air conditioning, heating and ventilation equipment, controls, refrigeration,
air compressors, water consuming equipment, and anything else that is using energy.
Depending on the type of the audit, the auditor may take measurements of temperatures,
pressures, light levels, power draw, and other things.
An energy audit report typically contains a description of the buildings existing energy
consuming equipment, an energy balance and most importantly, a presentation of feasible
energy conservation measures (ECMs). Each of these measures are developed so that the
report includes :

a description of the existing conditions

a description of the proposed ECM

expected annual savings associated with the ECM

expected cost to implement the ECM

simple payback and/or other financial measures, such as return on investment or life
cycle savings

Some of the ECMs identified in the audit will take decades to pay for themselves, while others
will start paying for themselves within months. Once you have the audit in hand, you can make
good decisions as to where to invest your energy efficiency money.

WE INVESTIGATE AND QUANTIFY ENERGY SAVINGS POTENTIAL IN:

Lighting systems

HVAC Systems and Controls

Compressed Air Systems

Renewable Energy Applications

Electric Motors and Drives

Process Systems

Steam Systems

Heat Recovery

Building Envelope Upgrades

Switching Utility Providers or Utility Rates

How much money/energy can be saved by getting an energy audit?

When talking about possible energy savings in a facility from performing an energy audit,
its impossible to make a reasonable estimate without understanding how the building operates
and uses energy.

With that said, weve seen savings upwards of 40% on some facilities, with the average savings
being around 10-20%. If the facility has already had energy audits in the past, and the identified
measures were implemented, its possible that the facility is already efficient, and in that case,
there might be much less energy savings potential. If the facility has been in operation for many
years without having had an energy audit, its very possible that an energy audit can save you a
significant amount of money.

If you want to make an easy estimate, for a building that has not aggressively pursued energy
efficiency in the past 10 years, assume 20% savings potential. For a building that has been

pursuing energy efficiency in the past 5 years, assume 10% savings potential. These estimates
cannot be too far from the truth.

PRELIMINARY ENERGY USE ANALYSIS

All three levels of audits require a Preliminary Energy Use Analysis which involves the following:

a site visit to assess the building and energy consuming equipment

analysis of the utility bills to determine whether savings can be had by changing the
utility rate

a summary of utility bill data

calculation of the energy use intensity (EUI)

benchmarking to compare the sites energy usage to that of similar sites in the same
region

estimate of the energy and costs saved if the building met an energy use intensity target

What is the Difference between and ASHRAE Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 Energy
Audit?

ASHRAE LEVEL 1: WALK-THROUGH

The ASHRAE Level 1 audit is walk-through audit that will identify energy efficiency measures
(EEMs) while limiting the necessary engineering time and costs to produce the report. The
estimated savings and costs associated with each measure are of rough order magnitude. The
brief report focuses on low-cost and no-cost measures, although capital measures are identified
when found. The report also includes a summary of utility data, the estimation of savings
associated with a rate change, the calculation of the energy use index, benchmarking, and
targeting.
A small building will use very little energy, and will likely contain very little energy savings
potential. For these small buildings, an ASHRAE Level 1 audit should suffice. Conducting more
advanced audits on these small buildings may not be the most feasible option.
We often perform ASHRAE Level 1 audits for clients who are seeking LEED-EB status.
ASHRAE Level 1 audits are required as a prerequisite to attain LEED-EB status.
ASHRAE LEVEL 2: ENERGY SURVEY AND ANALYSIS

The ASHRAE Level 2 audit is more detailed and requires proficiency and thought to create a
quality audit report. The Level 2 audit includes a complete description of the facility, including
an equipment inventory, an energy balance, detailed energy savings and costs associated with
each low-cost and not-cost measure, financial analysis of each recommended measure,
identification and rough estimates of capital project costs and savings, and a recommended
measurement and verification plan for each recommended measure.
The Level 2 audit is the most likely type of energy audit for larger buildings. The Level 2 audit
balances the need for engineering rigor with the need to keep auditing cost effective. The
additional accuracy afforded by the Level 3 audit may not be worth the additional cost.
We often perform ASHRAE Level 2 audits for clients who are seeking LEED-EB status.
ASHRAE Level 2 audits are worth 2 points (LEED-EB Credit 2.1, Option B) and are sometimes
selected by our clients as it is less expensive than Retro-Commissioning (LEED-EB Credit 2.1,
Option A).
ASHRAE LEVEL 3: DETAILED SURVEY AND ANALYSIS

ASHRAE Level 3 audits are designed to provide additional engineering rigor for more expensive
capital projects where risk is less tolerated. In these audits, trend logs and data loggers are
used to better understand how the buildings react to changes in ambient conditions and
occupancy. Calculations for HVAC measures are done with hourly simulations. Detailed
costing estimates are provided, as are life cycle cost assessments. Typically a scope of work
and schematics are provided with the audit so that the contractors installing the measures
understand exactly what is to be installed. The reports contain more detailed descriptions of the
measures.
Level 3 audits are sometimes called Investment Grade Audits (or IGAs). These audits are
typically done as part of a performance contract.

How to Select a Good Energy Auditor

So when you select an auditor, it is very important you go with someone, or a company that has
years of experience. I would suggest 10 years at the least. The way to ensure that you are
getting a quality audit is to ask for the resume of who is going to perform the audit, and get
some references. The auditor should be a Professional Engineer (PE) and/or a Certified Energy
Manager (CEM). If they are not, then you are taking a big chance. Also the auditor should have
at least 10 years under their belt. You dont want them learning the trade on your job. Also, get a
sample audit or two. You should know what you are paying for. With sample audits in hand, then
you can make sense of the different prices you get from potential energy auditors. Finally,
please ask for references, and call them. Find out if your auditors were professional, met their
deadlines, and provided quality work.
When you are evaluating companies:
1.

Talk to 2 or 3 companies and select the best one.

2.

Ask for Resumes of who will actually be onsite. Ensure that the lead auditor has 10 years
of experience or more. Also be sure that they have at least 10 years of experience doing
energy audits. A lot of times you will get resumes of their best people, and they will send
their junior level people onsite. Make sure you get resumes of who will actually be doing the
work.

3.

Ask for sample energy audits from the company. Since all of your potential vendors are
going to be producing audits of differing quality, you can now judge and rank the companies
on the deliverable. Also you can now weed out the companies that are not providing quality
analysis.

4.

Ask for References of some jobs they have done recently. You dont have to call them.
First make sure that the references are for energy auditing jobs, and not some other task. If
you do plan on calling them, find out if they finished work on schedule, whether the reports
were accurate, and whether the reports met expectations.[1]

5.

Use a decision tool. I will present a sample grid below. I have assigned a weighting factor
to each of 6 categories. You probably would weight them differently. It is important that you
take the time to understand what is important to you. I think all the categories are obvious
except the last one, which I labeled Trust Factor, which tells how much you actually trust
the auditor based upon conversations with them. Some salespeople are very good at
inspiring trust, only to rip you off later. It is up to you of course, which factors to use in your
own evaluation. Each company is scored based upon each of these factors, and a weighted

score is then calculated for each company. This type of decision tool is mostly analytical,
and should help you to make the best choice for an energy auditing company.

This is what government typically does, although they sometimes put out Requests for
Proposals (RFPs) that are so demanding that they require the energy auditing companies to
work for days just to get a shot at the job. I would suggest, if at all possible, avoid using a
detailed RFP process as the best auditors may also be the most busy, and might not have the
time to spend putting together an RFP response.
These suggestions I have given should apply to buildings over 100,000 SQFT. If you are
considering audits of small facilities, such as 20,000 SQFT, the work and costs involved are not
that great and taking so much care to select the best auditing company is probably overkill. Still,
dont select an auditing company based solely on price, or you will be sorry.

[1] A colleague of mine warned me on the reference issue. Suppose you had an energy audit
done. How many calls are you going to want to take to give a good recommendation? We dont
want to burden our customers with having to give references for the next year or two. Hes right.
Please be judicious on the calls to spare our past clients too much interruption.