Commercial energy audits can be quite helpful in improving the energy efficiency of your building, and those improvements will bring your energy bills to an all-time low. Your commercial energy audits will include a utility bill analysis, a survey of the property, and diagnostic testing. Once all the data is gathered, you can use that information to see what changes you need to make to save energy.
The recommendations from those audits are normally divided into two sections of energy efficient measures. The first energy efficient measures are changes that will pay for themselves within five years, while the second group are changes that will take more than five years to cover the costs.
The energy efficient measures that take the least amount of time to pay off include: Lamp replacement, de-lamping, and lighting retrofits Installing variable speed drives to all fans and pumps Repairs, enhancements, and control changes Daylight controls as applicable Retro-commissioning Some of the biggest savings will be seen from the second group of energy efficient measures which include:
- Upgrading to ENERGY STAR products
- Replace the chillers and boilers within a central plant
- Replace HVAC units with higher efficiency models
- Take a constant air volume system and change it to a variable air volume system
- Rewire lighting systems
Commercial business owners like you will need to decide which of the above energy efficient measures they are willing to pay for and implement, as they are trying to save energy and lowering their energy bills. This might be a difficult decision for you to make, because you may be hesitant to spend money if you are skeptical on how much you will save later on.
However, the benefits of increasing energy efficiency are more than saving money. The operations within your building will improve due to the new modern technologies and everyone will be more efficient while performing their jobs. You will also lower the amount of carbon emissions that you are sending out into the environment. You may not see how that benefits you right now, but it is definitely something that benefits everyone in the world, now and in the future.
You should also understand that you will only see the full benefits of increasing your energy efficiency if you make the changes to all the recommendations. If you only do one or two, then you are not going to see the results that you desire.