Energy Services

We all know that energy prices are up and aren't coming down anytime soon. With that in mind, let's look at energy services and how they might be of benefit to your business.

To begin, the term energy services may mean different things to different people. You may be thinking it means decreasing the amount of energy that is used by an organization - you're right. You may have already initiated energy savings by adding automatic flush valves & no-touch faucet sensors in lavatories throughout your facility - right again. These are a couple great ways to conserve that start giving you immediate payback on your investment.

The real question is "where do I start?" and an energy service company is a great start. Let's first look at the steps you should take to begin this process. First of all you'll need to estimate your potential for energy savings by looking at your facility needs, your staff capabilities and potential for energy improvements. It's a good idea to assemble a team within your organization that includes maintenance, financial and procurement staff that can make an initial judgment. Some things you may consider during this process are:

The age of your current facilities and equipment

Recurring maintenance problems or high maintenance costs

Comfort complaints

Budget resources

Energy management expertise

Demands on your maintenance staff

Recent upgrades or lack of control systems

Energy using equipment that is ready for replacement

Once the decision is made to pursue this endeavor, you then need to develop a facility profile describing your facilities energy use, equipment, operating schedule, maintenance problems, current maintenance schedule and planned equipment replacement or renovation. Once you have completed the profile, contact an energy services firm and invite them to tour your facility. During the initial tour, it is important to have open dialogue with your energy services provider about your needs and what your expectations of this process are so you are both walking the same path.

After the facility tour, you should expect there will be questions about the organization which you should be prepared to answer:

Facilities square footage

Utility information from at least the last year

Names and contact information for these companies

Hours of operation

Schedules

Construction - i.e., block, steel, etc.

Roofing type

Percentage of glass, any tinting & direction

Current (if any) controls

Detailed lighting information

Detailed mechanical information

This is a just guideline of the types of questions you may encounter; there may be more or less. It will be to your benefit to have answers to these questions prior to meeting with your energy services provider otherwise the process time is increased. A tip here is to utilize your facility team for this information. Between the people recommended above, you should have all of this information readily available. If not, that's okay to. Your energy services provider will be well versed in helping you access it. Just remember that without this information (yes it needs to be accurate) you will not be able to move forward with the process. At this point, the energy services firm will begin the process of identifying energy saving opportunities based the tour, the information you just supplied them and your profile.

The next step in the process is to meet with your provider after they have had time to conduct an initial feasibility study. At this meeting, you should expect to hear if you're facility is a good candidate for energy services. Remember, up until this point it has all been information gathering to help determine if in fact these services will be of benefit to you and your organization.

Once it is determined that they can be of service, you will likely be asked to enter into some form of formal agreement. Don't let this deter you from moving forward; this is an exciting time! What you have just learned is that you will be able to realize overall operating cost savings and not just small ones! Once you enter into the agreement, you can expect your provider to conduct an in depth detailed study which will be presented along with financial information indicating your investment, payback period & year over year cost savings to your organization for years to come.

Energy services are a very exciting and rapidly expanding industry. In times of high energy prices that dip into your quality of earnings leaving you scratching your head and asking yourself to how to offset those costs, you have a most straightforward answer right here.

Steve Wojton is a Commercial Building Consultant working in the West Michigan Market.