Energy Audits

This step-by-step guide on performing an energy audit provides the recipe for energy
conservation and substantial savings

The term energy audit is commonly used to describe a wide variety of energy-related functions.
Definitions range from a very simple and inexpensive process to one of high complexity, involving a
detailed data analysis of simulated energy use, along with microeconomic numbers.

Audits can be performed on all facility types and may include the entire facility or be limited to targeted
areas of the facility, specific equipment or isolated processes/ systems. All utility services—electric,
gas/oil, water, sewage/waste disposal and steam—can be part of an audit, which may also include
environmental impact parameters, particularly consideration of refrigerants, boiler emissions, fuel
storage and chemical process applications.

Energy audits can provide the basic groundwork for:

• Major equipment and structural retrofits.

• Development of energy service performance contracts.
• Compliance with governmental laws and regulatory codes.
• Corporate energy planning.
• Documentation for grant proposals and funding approval.
• LEED certification.
• Project financing.

The primary intent of this article is to provide a methodology, sample checklist and structured definition
for various types of energy audits, while explaining their similarities, differences and applications. With
a framework of audit types, including their associated scopes, deliverables and approximate cost
ranges, professional engineers should be able to more confidently prepare audit proposal requests,
audit services contracts, proposal responses and contract negotiations, as well as provide
performance guarantees.

Getting started
The first thing energy professionals and facility managers need to be aware of is end-user
expectations. This way, they can best specify the audit that meets a project’s objectives without undue
complexity, time delay and expense. In its most basic definition, an energy audit serves the purpose of
identifying energy usage within a facility, process or equipment, and then identifies opportunities for
conservation, called energy conservation measures (ECMs).

All audits should include the following:

Data Acquisition. Identify where and how a facility, process or equipment uses energy, along with
the costs and utility issues affecting the energy consumption.

Data Analysis. Perform analysis to identify ECMs, which, when implemented, will make the energy
usage more efficient, less expensive and/or more environmentally friendly.

Recommendations. Present a final report detailing what was found, areas for improvement and
recommended actions, usually accompanied with some type of economic justification.

The complexity and documentation required, along with the available budget, will usually dictate the
type of audit performed.
Because audits are somewhat customized for each site’s particular needs, they will tend to vary
somewhat in content. While no exact, hard-and-fast rules dictate the type and cost of an audit, most
audits will generally fall within one of the following three categories:

PHASE ONE:
Data Collection
Meeting with Key Facility Personnel

Establish a meeting with all key operating personnel to go over audit objectives and scope of work;
facility rules and regulations; roles and responsibilities of project team members; and a description of
scheduled project activities. This first step seeks to establish: operating characteristics of the facility;
energy procurement sources; operating and maintenance procedures; preliminary areas of
investigation; unusual operating constraints; anticipated future business expansions or changes; and
other concerns related to facility operations.

Site and Facility Walk-through

Conduct a walk-through of the facility to observe the various operations firsthand, focusing on the
major energy-consuming systems identified during the meeting with facility personnel. This includes
the architectural, lighting and power, mechanical and process-energy systems.

Existing Available Document Review

Review available facility documentation with facility engineering representatives. This documentation
should include all available architectural and engineering plans; facility operation and maintenance
procedures and logs; and utility bills for the previous three years. It should be noted that the available
plans should represent “as-built” rather than “design” conditions. Always field verify discrepancies
between the systems and structure details evaluated as part of the audit, and those actually installed
at the facility.

Facility Inspection

After a thorough review of the construction and operating documentation, the major energy-
consuming equipment/ processes in the facility should be further investigated. Take field
measurements where required to substantiate operating parameters.

Walk-through/Data Substantiation

Subsequent to the facility inspection, meet with the facility staff, including the major energy-
consuming department or service, maintenance department/contractors and utility representatives.
Review preliminary findings and the recommendations being considered. Given that the objective of
the audit is to iden-tify projects that have high value to the customer, seek management input at this
point to establish the priorities that form the foundation of the energy audit.

1. Walk-Through Audit, Simple Audit, Preliminary Audit, Screening Audit or Basic Audit. This is
the simplest, quickest and least costly type of audit. Its purpose is to be a big-picture survey of the
structure, process or equipment, and then to identify areas for potential energy savings. Only basic
information is obtained regarding energy usage and utility issues, and a visual inspection is performed
during the walk-through of the facility to determine if there are any operational savings opportunities.
Minimal interviewing of site operational personnel may be performed during the walk through. It’s
important to note that detailed measurements, metering or testing are normally not performed in this
class of audit.

Typically, this type of audit will uncover major problem areas and those opportunities for simple and/or
quick paybacks. A quick comparison of the facility’s energy use index (EUI) (in BTU/sq.ft.) against
industry standard published indexes can provide an estimate of the possible savings potential. The
final report format is simple, and if the results indicate appreciable savings opportunities, a more
advanced type of audit can be justified.

PHASE TWO:
Analysis Steps
Utility Analysis

The utility analysis is a detailed review of energy bills from the previous 12 to 36 months. This should
include all purchased energy agreements, including electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, liquefied
petroleum gas and purchased steam, as well as any energy generated on site. Billing data analysis
should include energy usage, energy demand and utility rate structures. Normalize utility data for
changes in climate and facility operation since it is used as a baseline to compute energy
conservation measures (ECMs). Evaluate local deregulation options where real-time pricing will
impact the outcome of ECM analysis. Also, utilities generally offer a comprehensive portfolio of rate
tariffs and riders that can be tailored to the energy consumption and demand of the end-user. Where
deregulation is active, energy can be purchased on contract from a number of third-party marketers.
When it comes to using energy consumption/demand characteristics and renewable energy
resources, available grants should not be ignored. Op-tions may include: cogeneration; power
generators for emergency power and peak shaving; solar panels, wind turbines and propeller towers;
and waste-gas cogeneration.

Calculate Feasible ECMs

Energy audits should uncover both major facility modifications requiring detailed economic analysis,
and minor operation modifications offering simple and/or quick paybacks. Develop a list of major
ECMs for each of the major energy-consuming systems, such as envelope, HVAC, lighting, power
and process. Utilizing collected data, finalize a list of ECMs to be reviewed with the facility manager.

Economic Analysis

Build models and simulations with software to reproduce field observations and develop a baseline to
measure the energy savings potential of ECMs identified. Within the calculation, include the
implementation cost, energy savings and simple payback for each of the ECMs.

2. Site Energy Audit, Mini Audit, General Audit or Complete Site Audit. The site energy audit
basically enhances the walk-through audit process by the inclusion of detailed data collection
including: utility rates and contracts; energy usage profile; specific measurement, metering and/or
testing of energy utilization equipment; and even structural components, as required for
documentation. Interviews will be conducted with various site operations and business personnel to
better understand the facility’s operational parameters and business needs.

A site energy audit requires that a more detailed analysis of the data is performed with usage patterns
and EUIs evaluated against established norms and guidelines. In many cases, a rough model of
energy usage will be developed. This may use software models, and for an additional cost, may be a
dynamic model reflecting various operating conditions during the day, month or year to assist in
predicting energy conservation and potential savings opportunities. Finally, a financial analysis will be
performed on each identified ECM to justify investment based on the customer’s investment criteria.

This type of energy audit will usually identify and quantify all ECMs that meet reasonable investment
justification. The report will provide sufficient detail narrative, sketches and documentation of the
recommendations without additional study. This type of audit is normally sufficient for most
applications where completeness and cost effectiveness is desired, without excessive detail or
unnecessary depth.
3. Comprehensive Audit, Maxi Audit, Detailed Audit or Technical Analysis Audit. This final class
of audit is the most complete, complex, time-consuming and expensive of all audits. Much of the detail
and complexity may not be required or justified for many applications.

The comprehensive audit further enhances the data collection, modeling, financial analysis and
reporting of the site energy audit. This audit type requires that all phases of energy purchase and
utilization are identified, measured, documented and evaluated for inclusion in the final report.
Technically, this audit should result in an energy model, which can account for most energy use and
cost at a site. This requires that every structural and equipment system be modeled and evaluated for
possible energy conservation opportunities. Extensive interviews are conducted with site operational
and business personnel to fully appreciate the facility’s operational parameters, as well as present and
future business needs.

The analysis phase involves dynamic modeling of all the energy usage at the site, typically utilizing a
software model, as well as for every ECM identified. The subsequent ranking of these ECM
opportunities through financial analysis are then presented with specific recommendations. A typical
financial analysis in this class audit involves full life-cycle investment analysis with consideration of
taxes, depreciation and operation and maintenance impacts. Various financing and leasing options are
usually included, along with specific vendor quotes for major-cost items.

The final report for this audit is all-inclusive, typically lengthy with detailed analysis, pictures and
renovation documents. Sometimes this type of audit may require that the auditor provide certain
performance and financial guarantees for his or her recommendations, as well as ongoing support
services for the implementation and monitoring of the installed ECMs.

PHASE Three:
Report Preparation
Prepare Audit Report

Summarize the results of findings and recommendations in a final report. The report should include a
description of the facilities and their operation; a discussion of all major energy-consuming systems;
and a description of all recommended ECMs with their specific energy impact implementation costs,
benefits and payback. The report should also incorporate backup data and an executive summary
with specific conclusions and recommendations.

Present and Review Report with Facility Management

Explain the process and all activities performed to substantiate the report’s conclusions. Provide
economic results as a formal presentation of the final recommendations. Explain the data on the
benefits and costs to make a decision or set priorities on implementation of ECMs

Reasons to perform this kind of audit:

• An interest in substantial savings in the operating budget.

• The need to obtain special financing.
• Government grant applications.
• Research and development project funding.
• Documentation to meet a site’s corporate energy/business qualifications.

Fees are typically directly proportional to the size of the facility and/or the quantity and complexity of
equipment, the scope of the technical and financial analysis specified in the contract and the liability
level/guarantee of the recommendations. Often, industrial sites do not perform this class audit on a
gross site basis due to the excessive data collection and costs required.
Using the above description may prove useful in discussing the terms of deciding exactly what types of
services will be required and, just as important, what services are not required. A typical result of this
discussion may be a “hybrid” audit contract that initially uses a walk-through audit to set the stage from
which negotiations can proceed on a very specific set of considerations for a site energy audit. This
will limit the scope of the audit, reduce the data and time inputs and ultimately produce a more usable
report at a lower cost.

In vogue
Regardless of the type of energy audit performed, the process has become more and more common,
being that energy efficiency continues to gain popularity.

In addition, government regulations, new technologies, environmental concerns and emerging

business services have created even more of a focus on the cost-effective strategy of energy
conservation. But before end-users can start reaping its benefits, an energy audit must be utilized to
identify how and where a facility should modify its operations.

By Anil Ahuja, P.E., Senior Vice President, CCJM Engineers, Chicago

Reprinted courtesy of Consulting-Specifying Engineer, 07/01/2004.

Reference:

www.csemag.com/magazine/articles/cse0407audit.asp