The impact businesses can have on the environment is critical when facing the crunch of climate change. Along with doing right by the environment, enhanced sustainability and reduced carbon footprints positively impact brand appeal.
No matter the business size, efficiency, and expenses are dynamically integrated into success and public image. Consider a commercial energy audit and how it benefits business growth.
How an Energy Audit Can Benefit a Business
In the United States, commercial buildings lose an average of 30% of the energy they consume. A commercial energy audit decreases carbon footprints when suggestions are properly integrated and can cut energy costs by up to 40%.
Greener practices also save money, increase property values, educate about business energy usage, and help meet compliance standards. A commercial energy audit may also illuminate any electrical repairs needed for optimal energy consumption, which are all things that you will benefit from for years to come.
Commercial Energy Audits
A commercial energy audit is an inspection of your site by a certified energy professional. Visual inspection and testing help evaluate the current energy usage of your property’s energy consumption, as understanding your electrical use is parlayed into recommendations on improving efficiency and reducing consumption.
Your audit may also review past energy use to provide practical solutions. With options for no-cost, low-cost, and significant retrofitting improvements, your business can gain compliance, create short and long-term energy savings plans, and identify serious problems or repairs needed to increase the site’s safety.
What Happens During a Commercial Energy Audit?
During a commercial energy audit, a certified auditor gains an understanding of current energy usage and tests/evaluates to identify energy-saving measures to reduce your business’s carbon footprint. They may also bring to your attention any concerns to address for safety and code compliance. You are then provided an audit report to show your options and how you might establish them.
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Commercial Energy Audit Basics
An energy audit looks at the energy-consuming components of the business and methodically evaluates the energy consumption of your business property. An auditor will review the lighting, heating, and cooling systems, electric motors, seals around doors and windows, electronics, energy use habits, and more.
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Analysis of Collected Data
The auditor uses an accepted methodology to analyze the data collected for the audit and considers energy cost savings over time, practicality of suggestions, and implementation costs.
A cost analysis is also done to determine the best, most impactful improvements.
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Recommendations, Implementation, and the Audit Report
When an audit concludes, you can expect the report to include documentation, analysis methodology, any assumptions, supporting calculations and evidence, and the current energy use of the building. The auditor will be sure to include all data collected to show energy-intensive activities. Most of the report will recommend reducing your business’s carbon footprint.
The recommendations come with an implementation strategy. The commercial energy audit report is not what provides benefits to your business. Implementation of the improvement measures from the report is where potential becomes actuality.
Try to get the implementation done as close to the completion of the audit as possible, or the recommendations may quickly become outdated.
Different Energy Audits
Commercial energy audits are not one size fits all, and there are different levels of evaluation you might choose. You may need an audit to identify the main problems that can quickly and easily be fixed; a level one audit.
If you want to focus on overall consumption, then a level two audit has the testing and data analysis to give you no-cost, low-cost, and capital-intensive measures that can help reduce environmental impact with lasting solutions.
If you are trying to get a business loan or entice a new investment, you may consider a level three audit, which digs the deepest into energy-efficient improvements. It will give you the biggest and best energy savings, but it will also cost the most and may take time.
You might also want to have a specific area of energy usage and efficiency evaluated. You can have a focused, specialty audit done for a business’s lighting or heating/cooling system or a walk-through audit with a visual inspection only if you are pressed for time or funds.
Commercial and Home Energy Audit Takeaways
A commercial energy audit is a tool you can use for your business to maximize efficiency and reduce operating costs. The reality is that an energy audit will save you money and increase your appeal in specific markets.
Get an audit, make a plan, implement solutions, and watch as your business takes off. Set yourself up to succeed and promote positive change; all you have to lose is a lofty electric bill.
Image credit: energy audits demystified by envato.com
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