Mo or Les: Building Optimization
More Emphasis on Quick, Simple Actions
There are simple actions an owner can take without hiring a consultant or contractor. Walkthroughs are an easy and quick way to get a snapshot of a building’s energy use. Stay late one night and look at your building after dark. Are any lights on? Have tenants left their drapes up overnight? Through this walkthrough, you’ll undoubtedly be able to find quick ways to reduce your overall energy use and utility cost.
With water, an easy place to start is with your building’s water bill. Review the data. Once you’ve understood your daily use, compare the data to other buildings and discover areas of opportunity. Knowing what systems your building utilizes will help establish a current baseline for your building’s water consumption.
More Holistic Approaches to Optimization
Analyzing equipment performance begins with daily operations and looking at how the equipment is running. While some upgrade strategies focus on running equipment to the end of a unit’s useful life, you could be incurring unnecessary operational costs. The benefit of upgrading inefficient equipment could be more attractive than potentially losing tenant income due to equipment failures.
When approaching optimization, look at the whole story and consider equipment upgrades as investments in both energy efficiency and the overall tenant experience.
Less Focus on ROIs
When most people consider optimizing a building’s systems, a common consideration typically includes: what is the optimal return on investment, or ROI?
ROI can be misleading when viewing energy efficient equipment as optional. Installing an elevator, for example, is usually a requirement for multistory buildings and the question of ROI is not even on the table. It’s simple: You need it, you get it. The elevator becomes an immediate asset.
Additional attention to equipment is beneficial for both optimization and overall operational performance. Looking at systems, like cooling towers, regularly limits severe disruptions and can empower you to make quicker decisions when it comes to available incentives, new technology and opportunities to save water.
Less Waiting, Do It Now
More than ever there is a call to action for commercial building owners to consider water and energy efficiency strategies. Saving water saves energy, and can make meaningful strides to help mitigate California’s severe drought. Prices are going up in the immediate near-term and will ultimately get pushed down to the consumer.
Mandatory water and energy efficiency legislation is on the horizon. Get and utilize the incentives that are available now. The LABBC is here to help you walk through the process.