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One of the cornerstones of energy efficient design is that any project should be a good financial decision.  That is why I often describe our energy consulting services as a way to “save money by saving energy.”  Any decision to replace lights, HVAC systems, or even to retrain employees must be a good business decision.  Since many projects cost money up front, it falls to Return on Investment (ROI) calculations to show that money will be saved in the long run.

I primarily use what I call a simple ROI calculation.  All you need is two pieces of information: 1) How much does the project initially cost, or if the unit is due to be replaced anyway, what is the difference in cost over a direct replacement?  2) How much will the new equipment save in annual expenses?  At that point you can divide the initial cost by the annual savings to come up with how many years it takes to break even.  Whether the timeline is good or bad will depend on your business situation, but in general if it is less than the lifetime of the equipment then you have proven that some savings are available.

For example:  A business owner has a standard efficiency 5 ton rooftop air conditioner on their building.  The unit stops working and needs to be replaced.  Another standard efficiency unit will cost $6000, but the manufacturer also sells a high efficiency model for $6800.  The unit will save the building owner $200 a year in energy costs.  Divide the incremental cost of $800 by the annual savings and you calculate a simple ROI of 4 years.  The unit should last a minimum of 10 years so the building owner can expect to save a total of $1200 over the remaining lifetime of the unit.

More complex ROI or payback models could take into affect the time value of money (inflation), maintenance costs and incentive programs.  Projects should be worth enough that a building owner won’t make more money by simply investing their capital somewhere else.  Sometimes more efficient equipment can require extra maintenance and if this increases your expenses if should be included in the ROI calculations.  Incentive programs can really help an ROI by directly offsetting the incremental cost of a more efficient unit.  Going back to our example, if a utility rebate paid $400 for the installation of the new unit, the ROI goes from 4 years to only 2!

If you are interesting in saving money on your building by saving energy, consider hiring us to complete a Small Business Energy Audit.  We will review your building and provide you with options for saving money.  We’ll also review utility incentive programs to help cover the cost of the improvements. Our goal is to provide an affordable service that a business can use to reduce their energy costs.  We are happy to work with you to find a solution that fits your budget.  If you own or manage a building and are interested in an audit, please contact us today.

I recently had the privilege of attending the Congress of New Urbanism’s (CNU) 25th annual conference in Seattle, WA.  This was my first introduction to the concept of New Urbanism which I found to be a very interesting take on how cities are designed and planned.  It really challenges some of the recent conventional wisdom of street design, transit plans, regional cooperation and sustainability by looking at our history and seeing how cities were put together before cars and modern technology came about.  I’m excited to share more of what I learned about while at the conference over the weeks to come.

It is always valuable to study what we did in the past before making decisions for the future.  I have written about how we kept cool before air conditioning, but this can easily be expanded to other building technologies.  Take for instance an old single pane window with an R-Value of around R-1.  Modern technology would recommend that you replace the window with a new double (R-2) or triple pane (R-3) window with a low-e coating (reduces heat from the sunshine) and a fancy frame with a thermal break.  This is definitely a good choice, but if you’ve ever had a quote for new windows you can imagine that it is quite pricey.  What if instead you dressed your single pane window with real outdoor shutters (not planks screwed to the exterior wall), blinds, shear and heavy curtains?  Lots of variables here, but you could produce an R-Value around 10.  That is almost as good as the typical residential wall of R-13.

This obviously isn’t a solution for all windows at all times.  There are situations where you will want to look out your window (or why else have it), but curtains can be pulled at night or during unoccupied times during the day to save energy and money.  For other situations (especially commercial), I am glad that we have the technology to get a more efficient double or triple plane window.

Reducing energy usage doesn’t always mean purchasing the most expensive new piece of technology.  There are also many low to no cost improvements that can be made to most buildings that can start saving you money right away.  If you are interesting in saving money on your building by saving energy, consider hiring us to complete a Small Business Energy Audit.  We will review your building and provide you with options for saving money. Our goal is to provide an affordable service that a business can use to reduce their energy costs.  We are happy to work with you to find a solution that fits your budget.  If you own or manage a building and are interested in an audit, please contact us today.

What is a green building?  If you ask my daughter, I’m sure she would say that if the building is painted green then it is a green building.  And, frankly, it’s hard to argue with that.  However, in the building design world a green building is a building that is energy efficient.  But how do you measure when a building is energy efficient enough to be green? That is where codes and standards come in.

In the past, various organization developed ways to measure energy efficiency.  The most well known may be the LEED system.  This system grants building owners points for various energy efficient measures and then rates that building on their scale (platinum, gold, etc.).  You may have seen LEED plaques in building lobbies saying what level the building earned.  Other organizations publish codes that include minimum requirements for energy efficiency.  An engineer can then compare the building design to the code baseline (a building built with the minimum requirements) and calculate how much more money or energy is saved by the actual building.  This number can be use to then rate the building.  A lot of incentives such as utility rebates use this latter method to calculate energy savings.

Recently, ASHRAE announced that their standard for green buildings, called ASHRAE Standard 189.1, will soon be aligned with the International Code Council’s (ICC) International Green Construction Code (IgCC).  The combination of these codes allows designers to have a way to compare their buildings to a single baseline which simplifies the process for demonstrating energy efficiency.  The compiled code will officially become the 2018 IgCC and coined “IgCC Powered by 189.1.”  The ASHRAE Standard 189.1 committee will continue revising the standard so it can provide technical content for the IgCC, with ICC responsible for the administrative sections and publication.  Once released, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) will be conducting an analysis of the measures from the IgCC and compare them to LEED requirements to see if further alignments are possible.

Forward Engineers specializes in energy efficient design and can can assist you in certifying your new project under green design standards.  If you are seeking to work with an engineering firm that is client-centered and strives to provides services that are on time, on budget and exceed expectations, please contact us. We would love to work with you on your next project!