Energy Audits - the first step to reducing overheads

In commercial and industrial real estate, an energy audit is the first step in identifying opportunities to reduce energy expense and carbon footprint. An audit is commonly done for buildings with systems already in existence. However, with growing awareness of adopting energy-efficient systems, audits are done as a part of the planning exercise along with the architect.

When we audit an occupied building, reducing energy consumption while maintaining or improving human comfort, health and safety are of primary concern. Beyond simply identifying the sources of energy use, an energy audit seeks to prioritize the energy uses according to the greatest to least cost-effective opportunities for energy savings.

Studies show that the costs of retro-commissioning activities range from $0.13 to $2.00 per square foot, while payback ranges from 0.2 to 2.1 years. Overall energy savings can reach up to 30%.

Energy audits can be of various kinds depending on the involvement and scope. An initial audit can provide for useful insights by the auditor whereas a walk through audit can be done to identify better energy saving opportunities (ECOs).

The audit is carried out in 4 stages where the first two steps do not involve remodelling of the building and hence are less cost-intensive. The next two will incorporate greater cost but can yield even greater savings.

1. Identify and reduce energy use in areas where energy is being wasted. Reductions will not cause disruptions to the various functions of the building.

This stage involves a detailed, step-by-step analysis of the building's energy use factors and costs, such as insulation values, occupancy schedules, chiller efficiencies, lighting levels, and records of utility and fuel expenditures. It includes the identification of specific ECOs, along with the cost-effective benefits of each one.

2. Improve the efficiency of energy conversion equipment and to reduce energy use by proper operations and maintenance. It is necessary to reduce the number of operating machines and operating hours according to the demands of the load, and fully optimize equipment operations. Hence the ECOs would include the following:

• Building equipment operation
• Building envelope
• Air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation equipment and systems
• Lighting systems
• Power systems
• Miscellaneous services

3. In the third stage, it requires changes to the underlying functions of buildings by remodelling, rebuilding, or introducing further control upgrades to the building. This requires some investment.

4. The fourth stage requires to carry out large-scale energy-reducing measures when existing facilities are past their useful life or require extensive repairs or replacement because of obsolescence. In this case, higher energy savings may be achieved.

Polfrost Air-con has been a pioneer in energy-efficient systems and cold rooms since 30+ years. We have strengthened our technical expertise by partnering with Qi Square, a Singapore based company leading the way for energy audits across the globe. With this partnership, Polfrost brings to India various energy auditing capabilities like Virtual Audits, Green Building Certification, Retro-commissioning, Retrofitting, Integrated Design Development.

To understand more about auditing your buildings and cold rooms, you can get in touch with us on +918657509235 / +919820046829 / 022 27671031 or write to us on [email protected].