Monday, July 29, 2013

Energy Efficiency Consulting Services And Solutions

By Maryanne Goff


Energy efficiency consulting is a much needed service these days. Everyone from individual home owners to utilities, governments and the private industry are seriously looking to find ways to reduce power consumption and transition to renewable power sources. The services and solutions provided range from audits to monitoring, retrofits and process change implementation, financing, training, certification, regulatory compliance, etc.

Not all of this is about laws, technology and advanced equipment. In fact, a large part of the transition is about changing people, as in a culture shift that helps inspire people. The techniques required for commercial, residential, industrial and other specific types of customers are vastly different.

A home owner is more likely to be looking at a solar array or another renewable power generation unit, along with retrofits through efficient lighting, better insulation, and so on. A developer designing a property should be looking at green designs that will enable the property to apply for LEED certification. Apart from utility bill savings, these green certified properties also benefit from state and federal tax credits and a reduced carbon footprint.

The main intention behind such green designs is to make sure the property can exist in harmony with the surroundings. It means coming up with ways to ensure reduction in consumption and waste disposal in order to reduce the environmental impact. These designs incorporate natural lighting, roof gardens, rain water collection and other green practices.

Commercial and industrial customers need a more comprehensive set of services that usually begins with an audit of energy usage. It has to be followed up with the implementation of a set of recommendations offered by the consultant. Most companies require a comprehensive reboot of their plans for monitoring power consumption.

Any good consultant will try to come up with plans that do not need the client to make any new capital investments. A classic example is a large-scale solar array for commercial or municipal usage. Solar industry providers will install, maintain and operate the system at the client's facility without asking for any upfront investment. The customer merely has to pay for the electricity and a monthly lease that is a small fraction of the reduction in the utility bill.

In other words, the client gets to use renewable energy generated onsite and reduce costs without having to pay out of pocket. Such systems can be purchased outright from providers after they operate it for a few years. These solar companies are able to afford this arrangement because they get to keep the tax credits available for installing and owning renewable power generating systems.

It would be fair to note that not everything works out as smoothly as solar arrays. Getting rid of systemic and production-related inefficiencies is a very delicate task. In order to avoid business disruptions, company executives and the consultants have to spend a lot of time going through the details. In such cases, capital investments may be needed to modernize the plant and buy new equipment.

The most challenging part of the puzzle is getting people to do the right thing. The energy efficiency consulting service that makes the biggest impact is training and certification to help staff understand their roles and what they can do to help. Once all this has been accomplished, the consultant can run a corporate rebranding campaign to introduce the company as a green and environment-friendly firm.




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