5 Tips on How to Save Energy in Your Commercial Property

Keeping track of energy consumption is a difficult task, especially if you’re new to such inspections. Many commercial buildings waste part of the energy they consume, and this only leads to the company losing money. Half of the total electricity goes to HVAC, or heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. It may be difficult to track all of the energy your building uses, but it’s a worthwhile endeavor that will end up saving funds.

Energy Audits

As the manager, the first step in saving energy is to find a benchmark that will serve as a point of reference for future bills. Contact your electrical contractor and study the utility bills for the past year. It is important to find out when the most power was used and why. If there’s a spike in usage during winter, most of the electricity went to heating. Likewise for summer, as it’s next to impossible to get some work done without proper air conditioning. While these may be understandable usages, what about nighttime?

Operational Hours

Make a list of what is functioning overnight, and what can be turned off. Keeping the heating systems online during night, as well as lights, while the building is empty serves no purpose. If you have a janitorial contractor, ask about working hours. If the workers are cleaning nightly, this demands for lights and other systems to still be on. Is it possible to switch to day cleaning? Small changes such as these can lead to large savings.

Education

Once you get an accurate understanding of where and why energy is being used, you need to share that information with everyone. Organizing meetings with the topic of energy consumption measures will lessen the burden as everyone will be working with the same goal in mind. When everyone is on the same page, some original ideas might spark up. Being careful to turn off lights, AC units, and computers is also crucial to save yourself from nightly expenses.

Equipment

Professionals recommend regularly investing in new utilities. Old equipment and machinery are known to use a lot more electricity than needed, including HVAC, plumbing, and lighting. A good method of saving energy is also using doors and windows to their fullest. When a door closes, it is pushed by the difference in air pressure between rooms, especially on the entrance to a building. Door closers prevent this from happening and causing damage, while specific types of closers further help with energy saving. Access Hardware provides several modern types of closers which many people have found useful. During winter, for example, heat is prone to escape if a door is left open. Efficient door closers will prevent such problems, and save a lot of funds in the long run.

Maintenance

As mentioned prior, most energy is regulated, and often wasted, through HVAC systems. A constant need to heat or cool the building and its rooms, in turn, spends a lot of energy. Proper insulation doesn’t simply revolve around walls and windows. Securing pipes, ducting, and similar systems around the building will have a large impact. If a ventilation duct is not checked for some time, insulation is sure to have been compromised. When there’s a hole or tear, air escapes and never reaches the occupied parts of a building; this way air conditioning uses a lot of electricity to no effect. The same goes for dust. When the coils of an air conditioner are drowned in dust and debris, the unit can’t effectively cool the air. Having these systems annually checked will keep the bills from piling up; otherwise, you’ll be in constant need of new equipment.

Commercial properties use up a lot of energy and are sure to take a hefty bite out of your budget if not managed properly. Energy audits create an overview of used energy and give you a benchmark to stay in check. Proper organization of working time will save a few hours’ worth of light and heating, as well. It is also very important to have everyone who is involved on board, as everything is easier when it’s a team effort. Using modern hardware is sure to save funds, as is monitoring equipment and keeping it in top shape.