Here are a couple of innovative tactics to cut your organization’s energy costs.
Energy costs make up about 20% of the average office building’s costs today, according to many estimates. And utility rates in major metro areas are rising faster than inflation. Increasingly, higher-ups (not just FMs) are concerned about reducing utility costs, according to James Mandel of the Rocky Mountain Institute, an energy-efficiency nonprofit.
Mandel says there are several ways companies are slashing utility bills today. Some of those ideas include:
- Retro-commissioning. Instead of replacing old equipment, see how you can improve and tune up existing equipment to make it more efficient. Mandel says examples include optimizing boiler and chiller performance and calibrating thermostats. The idea is to improve the efficiency of your existing systems as much as possible.
- Solar energy. Solar energy prices are at record lows, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and many facilities are taking advantage. One of the best ways to buy solar energy is through a Solar Panel Purchaser Agreement (SPPA). In an SPPA, a solar services provider owns and installs the solar panels, and you just pay for the electricity produced from the panels.
