Hearing the word “audit” may be a dreadful word to hear for many business owners because the implied work and investigation that occurs can cause headaches and impede profit-turning business activities. For commercial businesses that operate facilities, energy use is the biggest expense for the majority of businesses and finding ways to conserve energy and in turn, save on operating expenses is an objective many business strive for. So when business owners hear the phrase “energy audit” a pleasant response should follow as there are many benefits that can be produced from energy audits.
Energy audits are done for many reasons, but essentially an energy audit is a rundown of how energy efficient a specific facility or building is, and what can be improved or fixed to allow the facility to conserve more energy. There are multiple benefits that energy audits offer, and in this article, we are going to explore those benefits and teach you the right metrics to examine when it comes to a commercial facility energy audit.
- An energy audit is a comprehensive assessment of your building's current energy use. The most obvious advantage of an energy audit is that it can help understand your current energy consumption for your facility. This will answers various questions businesses owners often ponder such as how much is your current HVAC system using in terms of energy, how much energy is your lights using, how can we find a way to maximize usage while maximizing efficiency etc. An assessment like this will also identify how systems in your facility interact with each other and find inefficiencies that would not be identified any other way than by doing an energy audit.
Identifying potential cost savings and opportunities for green building certification is another benefit energy audits offer commercial facility operators. When running large facilities, a utility bill can consume 50% or more of a business’s monthly overhead, therefore finding and investigating ways to conserve energy, in turn, will save you lots of money and ideally make your facility green certified by organizations such as BOMA, LEEDS etc.
Energy audits can extend the life of building management systems & equipment, not just focusing on HVAC equipment. Issues with Parts and equipment like light bulbs, belts for mechanical parts, exhaust fans & domestic hot water systems will be identified at the time of the audit, allowing you to prevent further repairs and equipment downtime. Doing so will extend the equipment’s life and save you money in repair costs in the long run.
There’s a benefit many people fail to notice as a result of doing an energy audit for a commercial facility. That being, an increase in property value, but only once energy-saving measures are implemented into the facility. Having these cost-saving measures in place can increase the appraised value of a property and be more attractive on the market and prospective tenants will be happier to pay more in rent for lower utility and overhead cost.
Lastly, some intangible benefits that energy audits offer include, improved comfort levels throughout the facility which can lead to increased productivity for employees. Another intangible benefit is a reduced carbon footprint, which is becoming an increasingly important goal for many companies and stakeholders to obtain. Having a reduced carbon footprint is another marketing opportunity to express to customers and we are sure the reception of that announcement will be looked well upon.
Overall a commercial energy audit will provide a lot of insight as to where your facility can save money and offer data to execute the necessary upgrades or modifications needed to save you money.
For more information on commercial energy audits or any other HVAC & energy efficiency concerns, speak with the experts at Service Experts commercial HVAC, we have an expert for all your needs.