What is a Commercial Energy Evaluation?

A Commercial Energy Evaluation (CEE), also known as an energy audit, is the first step in determining how and where energy is used in your business and overall operations. Using sound engineering principles and diagnostic tools, we’re able to analyze how energy is consumed, wasted, and, more importantly, what improvements can be made to save you money and energy, improve building comfort, and increase the productivity and efficiency of your operations-all of which will help improve your bottom line.

We offer and have completed ASHRAE Level 1, 2, and 3 energy assessments for all types of commercial buildings (e.g. industrial, manufacturing, office, school, hotel, houses of worship, municipal, etc.). During these very detailed, comprehensive, whole building, and operational assessments we take a deep-dive approach and examine:

  • The building envelope
  • 12 to 24-month history of all your utility bills
  • Interior and exterior lighting
  • All HVAC equipment
  • All processes and related equipment
  • Building and operation controls
  • Water use

Purpose of a CEE:

  • Benchmark your business to determine how it’s currently performing
  • Pinpoint where you are wasting energy
  • Quantify and locate areas of air infiltration
  • Demonstrate energy savings strategies
  • Improve process efficiency
  • Identify all opportunities for improvements
  • Provide a detailed report showing you exactly what needs to be done to increase the comfort of your business, save you energy and money and what the Return on Investment (ROI) will be.
  • Offer options to help pay for the improvements (e.g. rebates, incentives, financing, etc.)

The CEE Procedure: Easy as 1-2-3

  • An engineering team will come to your business and perform detailed CEE and diagnostic testing. In phase one, the team will interview the building owner and/or operators to get a full understanding of how the business operates, including hours of operation, building occupancy, a review of your last 12 to 24 months of utility data, HVAC schedules, equipment operation, and schedules, and other various details that help us determine and understand exactly what goes on during daily operations.
  • The CEE team then surveys the building, gathering data from the building layout and overall construction, HVAC system(s), equipment, lighting, lighting controls, and any other equipment that consumes energy. After the on-site data collection portion of the assessment is complete, we then input the current energy consumption data and field data into our building energy modeling program. This program allows us to make modifications to the current building set up in order to simulate how making improvements to the various building systems and operations will save you energy and money. It will also show how your business compares energy usage to a similar size and type of facility.
  • Finally, we provide a list of recommended Energy Conservation Opportunities (ECOs) that detail total annual savings, implementation cost, and simple Return on Investment (ROI), which helps you decide which recommendation will start paying you back in the shortest amount of time. In addition, renewable options (e.g. PV, solar thermal, geothermal, etc.) can be explored as well. Should you move forward with any improvement that qualifies you for a rebate or incentive, we take care of the hassle of preparing the rebate paperwork for you.

 

A CEE for Every Business, Every Situation

Commercial buildings include but are not limited to: small to large office and retail buildings, manufacturing, and assembly plants, industrial operations, automotive dealerships, churches, schools, colleges, universities, hotels and motels, and restaurants. Starting up a business at a new or existing building? Pre-construction consulting can save you thousands of dollars!

There are also huge opportunities for residential customers to save money and improve comfort too! To learn more, check out our home energy efficiency evaluation (E3) page here.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)

In addition to our CEEs, we also offer LEED project management services for commercial buildings. Whether for new construction, existing buildings, simply core, shell, or any other proposed project, we can help. For more information, please see our LEED page.