Energy Audit
Surveys tell us that more than seventy five percent (75%) of buildings are operating incorrectly, have inappropriate operating and maintenance contracts, or waste money through inefficient energy usage. Since your energy costs tend to rise every year, tariffs increases are threatened, and oil prices are soaring, these impact your operating cost, and your bottom line.
The energyLAB energy audit is a methodical benchmarking your present energy consumption, it identifies energy waste, and potential cost savings.
The purpose of an energy audit, to lower your building operating cost without sacrificing occupational comfort or lower production output. It also should improve your energy efficiency, and potentially provide recurring cash savings that often exceed the cost of the audit.
Our Approach
We take a through holistic view, our energy audit considers the total picture, not just the low hanging fruit – an overall energy cost in use perspective, a report with three recommendations is not an energy audit.
An energy audit is the systematic top down review for each fuel, and energy consuming system in your portfolio. Data is collected may effect your buildings energy consumption, and then analyzing the condition and performance of existing systems, installations, existing management techniques, and utility bills. We compare your facilities energy performance with published standards (benchmarks) for your premises and activities of a similar nature. Energy auditing needs to be conducted on the ground, energy can’t be saved without inspecting the nuts and bolts on site. We find and identify energy waste revealing the underlying losses.
The goal is management of resources without sacrificing end-user comfort. Our energy audits are conducted in accordance with international standards, and local EMSD guidelines as required.
Don’t be left in the dark
Your competitors are using energy savings as a competitive advantage – should you?
Anatomy of the Energy Audit Report
The annual energy audit is much like your annual accountant review, stating your past energy usage, we summarizes our findings into three energy management sections, namely:
- Housekeeping
- Operation & Maintenance
- Capital works
Within these three sectors, we explain energy saving options and opportunities for your review and implementation.
Housekeeping
Housekeeping measures are improvements involving virtually no cost, and involve relatively simple steps to start achieving energy savings. For example training courses to increase energy consumption awareness amongst your staff.
Operation & Maintenance
These improvements necessitate some change within your existing regime or maintenance strategy. For example lighting modifications, improved the switching arrangement or implementing a new lamp replacement strategy benefiting from the efficacy of the latest technology. In the majority of cases, the working environment for your customers is improved.
Capital works
Capital works would be major improvements to your premises or systems that will require significant expenditure. Examining your installation, analyzing your operating and maintenance costs, and evaluating possible options for energy conservation. Viable proposals that will benefit you financially are offered for appraisal. For example switching to water cooled air conditioning (cooling towers) under the Hong Kong pilot programme or consideration of cost effective cogeneration solutions.
Financial Analysis
The energy analysis would comprise a practical and economic evaluation of viable energy saving options. This evaluation would include an investigation of all the various elements that contribute to your owning and operating costs. Typically these would comprise:
- Initial expenditure (CAPex)
- Cost in use (OPex)
- Investment analysis
Each of the elements would be analyzed to gauge the overall economic viability of a particular energy-saving strategy or programme.
CapEx – is the initial expenditure, defines the money required to purchase plant or equipment.
OPEX – is the cost in use is the operating and running costs for the installation based on the data retrieved during the energy audit.
Investment Analysis – is the money side of capital works, comprising fiscal, payback and net present value calculations, these tools are primarily used to establish if a proposal would recoup your investment during a specific period. Payback hurdles would be established to meet the needs of the organisation.
Experience
Our long standing expertise can help design, auditing and implementation of energy audit recommendations, particularly our experience providing E&M capital works projects. We have unique knowledge, gained across three continents, backed up with our experience from many years of building services design and operation. We help organisations lower operating cost to leverage a competitive advantage.
