Commercial Energy Audits

The American Society of Heating Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineers (ASHRAE) has been so kind to develop standard energy audit levels. We primarily offer three levels of commercial energy audits, two of them conform to ASHRAE’s standards, and the third is a quick check-up for smaller businesses, or clients with a tight budget. The tables below detail the differences between the different types of commercial energy audits we provide.

Overview Audits

Overview audits are often referred to as “walk-through” audits, because they involve walking through a facility, identifying energy conservation opportunities, interviewing facility personnel, and quickly reviewing the facility's utility bills. The overview audit is fine for organizations that want to know what they can do to reduce their energy usage and costs. It gives a road map of what to do. Because of its brevity, and because expected energy savings are not converted into dollar amounts, it may not be considered sufficient for reaching energy management conclusions. For example, if you are going to invest $100,000 in an efficient boiler, it is important to know how much you are going to save, and to know how long it will take for the project to pay for itself. The Overview Audit will not give this information. One of the best things about overview audits is that they usually identify no-cost or low-cost energy measures that can substantially reduce energy usage and costs.

ASHRAE Level 1 – Walk Through Analysis

ASHRAE Level 1 audits are more intensive than Overview Audits. The ASHRAE Level 1 audit focuses on low-cost/no-cost energy conservation measures, and provides a list of higher cost energy conservation measures. In addition to tasks performed in the Overview Audit, in the ASHRAE Level 1 audit, we report how much in energy and energy costs can be saved from each energy conservation opportunity. We perform an energy balance, which breaks out energy usage into different end uses.

We often perform ASHRAE Level 1 audits for clients who are seeking LEED-EB status. ASHRAE Level 1 audits are required as a prerequisite to attain LEED-EB status.

ASHRAE Level 2 – Energy Survey and Analysis

ASHRAE Level 2 audits will identify all appropriate energy conservation measures for a facility, and a financial analysis will be performed based on implementation costs, operating costs, and attainable savings. You will know for each energy conservation measure, the amount to be saved, the amount the measure will cost, and the amount of time it will take for the measure to pay for itself. In addition, ASHRAE Level 2 audits will discuss any changes to operations and maintenance procedures. This level of analysis will be adequate for most buildings and measures.

We often perform ASHRAE Level 2 audits for clients who are seeking LEED-EB status. ASHRAE Level 2 audits are worth 2 points (LEED-EB Credit 2.1, Option B) and are sometimes selected by our clients as it is less expensive than Retro-Commissioning (LEED-EB Credit 2.1, Option A).

ASHRAE Level 2 audits include a more detailed building survey and energy analysis than ASRHAE Level 1 audits.

“Detailed” audits expand upon ASHRAE Level 1 audits by providing more detailed financial information regarding energy use. Often times, investors will require more rigorous financial projections than ASHRAE Level 1 audits provide. With ASHRAE Level 2 audits, we will provide realistic savings reports with regard to baseline operating costs. These reports will stress the expected return on investment, and projected savings will be presented in such a way that provides intensive detail, and instills confidence in the investor.