|
Knowing your organization's
baseline energy use and the relative performance of your entire
portfolio is only part of the information needed. Periodic assessment of
the performance of equipment, processes, and systems will help you
identify opportunities for improvement.
Energy
audits are comprehensive reviews conducted by energy professionals
and/or engineers that evaluate the actual performance of a facility's
systems and equipment against their designed performance level or
against best available technology. The difference between these is the
potential for energy savings.
The main
steps for conducting technical assessments and audits are:
-
Assemble audit
team - Expertise should cover all energy-using systems,
processes, and equipment. Include facility engineers, system
specialists, and other support. Outside support may be helpful and
provide an objective perspective or specific expertise.
-
Plan and develop
an audit strategy - Identify and prioritize systems for
evaluation, assign team members to tasks, and schedule completion
dates for the activities. Use benchmarking results to identify
poor-performing facilities whose equipment and systems should be
targeted for evaluation.
-
Create audit
report - Based on the audit results, produce a detailed
summary of actual steps that can be taken to reduce energy use. The
report should recommend actions from simple adjustments in operation
to equipment replacement. Estimates of resource requirements for
completing actions should be included.
Suggestions
-
Use
the ENERGY STAR Service & Product Directory to help you locate
energy service providers such as utilities and energy service
companies that may be qualified to serve as part of the audit team.
|
