ENERGY EFFICIENCY - ENERGY MANAGEMENT
ENERGY MANAGEMENT
Energy Management Systems
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if your facility had the ability to learn? Your rooms would be able to sense occupancy and automatically adjust the lighting and temperature. Machinery would learn when you use it and for how long and optimize itself. Non-essential equipment could shut itself off when electricity prices peak, saving you thousands of dollars every year. Well this isn’t science fiction any more. Energy management systems (EMS) or building automation systems (BAS) have made this a possibility and PricingEnergyEfficiency.com can help find the right EMS to meet your facility’s needs.
Energy management systems (EMS) make use of sensors and computer technology toward optimizing a facility’s energy use. An EMS can be relatively simple, involving a sensor that triggers preset settings for heating and cooling, lighting, or appliance operation, or they can be highly sophisticated. More sophisticated EMS’s can actually learn business operations, calibrate actions based on multiple inputs, and communicate directly with utilities to identify optimal times to purchase energy. Sophisticated EMS’s can also greatly improve the execution of demand response and capacity reduction strategies.
Not every business requires a state-of-the-art EMS, and PricingEnergyEfficiency.com will help assess your facility’s energy profile to determine the most cost effective automation system for you. We provide EMS’s on a no investment basis through our Energy Management Systems: As-A-Service solution, which allows you to pay for the system through the savings it produces and not out of pocket. Additionally, EMS systems can be purchased outright or financed as a capital improvement for your facility, and PricingEnergyEfficiency.com will work with your facility to analyze the best option for your situation.
Facility Room Controls
Hotels present unique challenges for energy management. Guest rooms are occupied on irregular schedules and each guest has their own preferences and energy use pattern. You can’t make your guests practice energy efficiency, so as a hotel manager, inefficient energy practices and high costs are something you seem stuck with. PricingEnergyEfficiency.com though can help you take back some control through a hotel room control system.
Hotel room control systems allow your hotel to centralize and even automate several guest room functions. Through the use of occupancy sensors you can keep tabs on when guests leave their rooms and for how long. Knowing this allows you to turn down thermostats, turn off lights and appliances, and close blinds in rooms that are unoccupied, reducing energy waste and saving your hotel money. These processes can usually be automated and your guests won’t even notice a difference.
Engineered Cost Segregation
Did you acquire a property or complete a large scale new construction or property renovation in the past few years? If so, then you may have an opportunity to accelerate your return on capital from these investments through engineered cost segregation.
Engineered cost segregation is a tax procedure authorized by the IRS that allows you to significantly accelerate the depreciation schedule for a variety of assets and improvements. Typically, buildings are depreciated on a schedule ranging from 27.5 to 39.5 years, yet many of the fixtures and improvements that make up the building can be depreciated in as little as 5 years! These improvements usually account for at least 20% of your property’s value, but for some properties this may be up to 50%. That can make a big difference in your cash flow. The key is to identify where these opportunities exist in your property, and PricingEnergyEfficiency.com can help you do this through an engineered cost segregation study.
Process in Action
Our engineered cost segregation study is designed to bring engineering expertise and tax accounting together toward reducing your income tax liability. We start with a no-cost initial review where we will evaluate your current tax status and future business plans to determine if cost segregation is right for you.
If an engineered cost segregation study seems appropriate, an experienced engineer will review construction documents, evaluate construction costs by components, and conduct a facility visit to understand how building components are used. With an understanding of your building’s components, a reclassification of these components is completed as prescribed by IRS guidelines. PricingEnergyEfficiency.com’s reclassification includes putting components into appropriate depreciation schedules and correctly allocating both direct and indirect costs for each component. Once we’ve completed reclassifying your building’s components, we work with your accountants to refile your tax returns to reflect the reclassifications made through the cost segregation study, including providing them the necessary forms for refiling. All you need to do is sit back and watch as your properties return more on investment and put more cash in your hand so you can grow your business.
Energy Efficiency Upgrades / Retrofits
Completing an upgrade to more energy efficient lighting or machinery is an excellent way to reduce energy use, but you may also receive further value in a capacity reduction. This usually hidden value may drastically improve the savings or return on investment that you experience through a project, and may actually help make previously tabled projects bankable through accelerated pay back periods. Our Energy Savings: as a Service suite provides several off balance sheet solutions available to your facility.
PricingEnergyEfficiency.com can analyze your proposed or even recently completed energy efficiency projects to determine how much a project may reduce your electricity supply costs and then help you capture that in your next electricity supply contract. Moreover though, in some markets, your project may be eligible for capacity payments, which are cash payments paid by Regional Transmission Operators for helping reduce demand on the grid. PricingEnergyEfficiency.com can help get your project enrolled to receive these additional payments, even if your project has been operational for several years already.
Lighting
For most facilities, lighting is a significant component of their electricity costs. Annually, commercial and industrial facilities use approximately 19% to 30% of their electricity for lighting alone. That makes upgrading your lighting an excellent place to look at to reduce electricity costs. PricingEnergyEfficiency.com can help your facility assess your existing lighting situation, determine the optimal lighting retrofit solution, and provide you with flexible payment options, while also ensuring that you receive the maximum financial benefit from your new lighting.
Lighting Audits
The first step towards realizing energy savings through lighting is the completion of a lighting audit. A lighting audit will analyze your current lighting use, the impact that use has on your electricity bill, and the physical condition of your lighting fixtures. This is done through a combination of data collection and analysis and a site visit from a trained lighting professional. From this audit, we are able to map out potential upgrades to your lighting that are cognizant of your operations, plans, and budget, including consideration of non-lighting solutions like daylight harvesting.
And even if you’ve completed a lighting retrofit in the last few years, you should consider a lighting audit because advances in lighting technology, especially through LED’s, may provide new opportunities to save.
The Right Retrofit Solution
Upon completion of your lighting audit, PricingEnergyEfficiency.com will present you with options for improving your lighting. Retrofit solutions commonly involve upgrading incandescent and fluorescent light fixtures to more advanced and lower maintenance LED ones. Additionally, solutions can include the incorporation of lighting controls, including motion sensors, and adjustments to light color and intensity based on operational use. PricingEnergyEfficiency.com also offers each solution with flexible payment options that range from no investment service contracts to full equipment purchases so that every facility can benefit from more efficient lighting.
Shared Savings
Our Lighting: As-A-Service solutions allows your facility to receive lighting upgrades with no capital investment. This is especially ideal for small and medium sized businesses with limited capital resources. Under this arrangement PricingEnergyEfficiency.com will install, own, and operate your facility’s new lighting equipment, and the energy savings from the retrofit will be shared between PricingEnergyEfficiency.com and your facility. This is commonly known as purchasing Negawatts or saved energy.
Operating Lease
Lighting upgrades may also be obtained through an operating lease. Leases typically last less than 5 years. Your energy savings will often cover much of the lease expense over the term of the lease.
Outright Purchase
Your facility may also choose to purchase and own the lighting upgrades outright from day one. This option allows your facility to take advantage of available tax incentives which give lighting retrofits relatively short ROI times.
Maximizing Your Savings
Working with PricingEnergyEfficiency.com to upgrade your facility’s lighting will ensure that you receive the maximum amount of savings and the quickest return on your investment. This includes helping you take advantage of available utility rebate programs, federal tax benefits, such as 179D tax reductions, and receiving compensation for your Negawatts from Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs).
Our extensive background in energy procurement has also taught us that changes to your lighting will not only impact the amount of electricity you use, but it will also impact many other components that impact your electricity costs including demand charges and your peak load contribution (PLC) number. We quantify these things for your facility allowing you to make the most informed decision possible regarding lighting.
HVAC / Refrigeration / Coolers
Replacing a HVAC, Refrigeration/Cooler system can be costly and often tiresome process, disrupting business earnings over extended periods of time. Unfortunately, never knowing when you need your equipment replaced can be frustrating, and it’s only a matter of time when you’ll need too. Equipment normally has a life cycle of twelve to fifteen years, which is why retrofit programs are so important. Retrofit projects replace or add equipment to existing or older systems. They improve energy efficiency, energy output and extend the life cycle of the existing system.
Below are five benefits when planning a HVAC, Refrigeration/Cooler retrofit program and saving money.
Avoid Costly Emergency Repairs
Upgrade or Retrofit your HVAC, Refrigeration/Cooler equipment during a scheduled preventative maintenance program; to prolong the life of your equipment.
Avoid Disrupting Business / Lose of Sales
You control your HVAC, Refrigeration/Cooler equipment spending by planning your upgrades or retrofits through scheduled preventative maintenance. Prevent unforeseen costs by setting a fixed monthly budget for equipment expenses; you can do this through our fixed monthly maintenance program.
Lower Energy Costs with High Efficiency Upgrades or Retrofits
You can immediately lower your HVAC, Refrigeration/Cooler energy costs by up to 40% with new high efficiency equipment. This type of equipment qualifies you for energy and green building rebates, offsetting the ever rising cost of energy.
Maintain Detailed Records
Ensures ALL services and upgrades are performed in a timely manner, so the system runs efficiently, without unforeseen issues, leading to lost business and revenue.
Capacity Management
Have you ever wondered who pays to keep the electricity grid reliable and ready to go whenever you need it? The answer is you, through a charge known as capacity, which accounts for up to 30% of your electricity supply costs. Capacity is not created equal though; how much you pay depends on how much electricity you use and when you use it compared to every other customer within the transmission network. This gives you the opportunity to make adjustments to your energy behavior and curb your capacity costs; and PricingEnergyEfficiency.com has a suite of strategies that can help your facility do just this, including Demand Response participation, Peak Load Contribution (PLC) Management, making Energy Efficiency Upgrades / Retrofits, and installing Emergency Generators.
Demand Response
Does your facility have lights, appliances, or machinery that are non-essential to your operations? Wouldn’t it be great to get paid for simply turning them off for a few hours? Well that is what demand response is all about. When the utility grid gets stressed, utilities are willing to pay facilities like yours to stop using electricity because it’s cheaper than turning on another generator. Some utilities will even pay you simply to be available to reduce electricity use, even if they ultimately never ask you to curtail your load. And besides getting paid cash for dropping your load, your curtailment will also be reducing your future capacity costs because demand response events usually mirror the peak load times that determine your share of capacity, which means even more money is kept in your pocket.
PricingEnergyEfficiency.com works with your facility to determine how much electrical load you will be able to reasonably curtail through an assessment of your equipment, load profile, operations schedule, and building automation systems. Once we establish a curtailment strategy, which may include anything from turning equipment down or off to pre-chilling air conditioners and freezers to turning on an emergency generator, we will help enroll your facility in a demand response program that will fit best with your capabilities and return the most value to your facility. And because we are an experienced electricity procurer, we will also work to make sure that your electricity supply contract allows you to capture and receive your capacity savings and not your third party supplier.
Peak Load Contribution (PLC) Management
How much your facility pays for capacity is largely dependent on your peak load contribution (PLC) number. PLC numbers are calculated differently by each Regional Transmission Operator (RTO), which are responsible for grid reliability. In general, the more energy you use when the grid is stressed, the higher your PLC number will be, and the higher your PLC number is, the more you will pay for capacity. So the trick to lowering your capacity costs is to lower your PLC number.
Reducing your PLC number requires an understanding of how you can reduce your consumption when the grid is stressed, plus an electricity procurement strategy that reflects this effort. PricingEnergyEfficiency.com wants to be your ally on this quest. We work with your facility to develop both short term (i.e. demand response) and long-term (i.e. energy efficiency) load reduction strategies and then using our understanding of grid stressors and peak demands, craft an implementation plan that will reduce your PLC number. We couple this with a review of your electricity supply contract to ensure that your capacity savings will be passed through to you and not your energy supplier.
Emergency Generators
The addition of an emergency generator has always been a way to ensure available back-up power, especially for critical facilities. But emergency generators can also be utilized as a capacity management asset. Rather than only turning them on when the power goes out, emergency generators can be fired up when the grid experiences stress due to high electricity demand.
Utilizing your generator in this regard will allow you to qualify for demand response programs and receive payments for your generation. Additionally, you will be reducing the amount of energy that you draw from the grid during these high demand periods, which will reduce your PLC number and capacity costs, but will also offset transmission and distribution charges from the utility.
Renewable Energy
Investment in renewable energy technologies is powered by concerns about the environment, energy security, and financial well-being. Driven by global demand, price uncertainty, and social impacts of fossil fuels, more business, institutional and governmental leaders are turning to renewable as part of their energy mix. These solutions can:
- Reduce carbon footprint
- Reduce utility costs
- Meet increased demand
- Protect against fuel price volatility
- Improve energy security & reliability
- Secure ENERGY STAR®and LEED®credits
- Improve community perception
- Promote environmental stewardship
Renewable energy sources such as Cogeneration, Solar and Geothermal can be harnessed to generate electricity and produce heat and steam. They can complement existing systems or be used to achieve energy independence, especially at mission-critical and remote sites.
Programs, policies and legislations exist at all levels of the government – federal, state & local – to increase renewable energy generation and set standards for development. In many cases, significant utility and tax incentives are also available to help defray the high initial cost of installing these renewable energy technologies. Despite these enabling mechanisms and the trend towards lower capital costs for some renewable technologies, first cost remains a significant barrier to growth. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), only 13% of all U.S. electric generation came from renewable sources in 2013.
Renewable energy projects delivered by PricingEnergyEfficiency.com require no capital outlay when associated with an Energy Saving Performance Agreement. Instead, they are self-funded and can be bundled with other energy conservation measures to optimize overall efficiency, sustainability and savings on site. We evaluate renewable technology options to identify the best solution that meets environmental, financial and operational goals. We also supply the expertise necessary to optimize all available financial incentives.
Customers can also take advantage of PricingEnergyEfficiency.com’s asset management solutions to move the cost and risk of owning, operating and maintaining renewable energy assets to PricingEnergyEfficiency.com or a third party. Using a power purchase agreement, customers can purchase electricity from the third-party seller at a rate that is typically lower than the local utility rate and feed excess power back to the grid. Such rates can be guaranteed for up to 20 years.
LEED® is a registered trademark owned by the U.S. Green Building Council®.
ENERGY STAR® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Cogeneration
When it comes to energy, one of the best ways to control costs is through more efficient use. And for energy intensive operations, it’s hard to beat the efficiency provided through a cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) system. And we should know, PricingEnergyEfficiency.com started as a CHP contractor back in 1993.
So what makes CHP so efficient? The answer lies in CHP’s ability to burn one fuel source (natural gas) and get two energy outputs in return (electricity and heat). Facilities that have large heating requirements can use CHP to generate electricity from the heat they already use; reducing the amount of electricity purchased from their utility or supplier. And because it’s on-site, reductions in demand, delivery, and line-loss provide additional energy savings. Oh, and let’s not forget that by improving energy efficiency, your facility will be emitting less greenhouse gases, making cogeneration an asset to your sustainability goals.
Getting CHP for your Facility
PricingEnergyEfficiency.com offers flexible options to your facility to begin taking advantage of the benefits of CHP, including no investment, lease, and outright purchase.
Our no investment plan allows your facility to receive both the electricity and thermal energy from a CHP system with no upfront capital expenditure. You simply purchase the system’s generated electricity and thermal energy at a discount through a power purchase agreement (PPA) and we will take care of the installation and on-going maintenance costs. Facilities typically have the option to buy the system at the end of the PPA.
Through our lease option, your facility will lease the CHP equipment for 5 years and then have the option to purchase the system for a fraction of its value. Leasing provides your facility greater energy savings than the no investment plan but with greater capital costs.
Alternatively, your facility may wish to own and operate the CHP system outright. Purchasing the system can provide tax benefits and incentives directly to your facility and in some markets can have an ROI within 5 years.
Regardless of how you take advantage of CHP for your facility, PricingEnergyEfficiency.com will be there to help you determine the size and type of system your facility requires, assess equipment providers and installers, and prepare for on-going operation and maintenance.
Solar
One of the best ways to reduce your energy costs, especially in the long term, is to begin generating your own electricity. And the most popular and easiest way to do this is through solar photovoltaic panels. Solar photovoltaic panels convert the suns light into electricity which is delivered right to your facility and PricingEnergyEfficiency.com can help your facility take advantage of this amazing and cost effective technology.
Getting Solar for Your Facility
Going solar doesn’t have to break the bank. PricingEnergyEfficiency.com offers several options for you to get solar including through a no-investment Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), lease terms, and outright purchase.
Solar: As-A-Service
Through our no-investment, Solar: As-A-Service solution, your facility can receive the solar electricity generated by simply purchasing the power at a discount through a PPA. PricingEnergyEfficiency.com will cover the costs for designing, installing, and maintaining a solar photovoltaic array at your facility. PPA’s typically last between 15 and 20 years and many can provide long term savings of over 30% against the utilities cost of electricity.
Lease An Array
Your facility may also choose to lease a solar photovoltaic array. Leases are ideal if you prefer to own the system, but need time to capitalize the full purchase or require a third party, such as PricingEnergyEfficiency.com , to monetize available tax credits to get the lowest price possible for the system. Leases usually last at least 7 years, but may be longer if need be.
Purchase Solar
Solar photovoltaic systems can also be purchased outright. This can be effective if your business has a large amount of federal tax liability you would like to offset.
Regardless of how your facility chooses to go solar, PricingEnergyEfficiency.com will be there to help you select the best location for your solar photovoltaic panels, acquire all the necessary permits, take advantage of all available incentives, and get the best price possible for installation.
Geothermal
How would you like to plug into the earth for your heating and cooling needs? No expensive equipment to invest in and maintain and no fossil fuels to purchase and burn into the atmosphere. Sounds pretty good, right? Well, that’s exactly what PricingEnergyEfficiency.com can help you do through a geothermal HVAC system.
Heating and Cooling from the Earth
The earth is an excellent regulator of temperature. It maintains a fairly constant 54 degrees Fahrenheit temperature below the frost line, regardless of conditions on the surface. Geothermal technology allows a facility to tap into this constant heat source to regulate its temperature. Through the use of several deep wells and heat pumps, a geothermal HVAC system works to exchange warm surface air for this cooler thermal energy during the summer and then reverse this exchange during the winter, with cooler surface air being sent underground to be replaced by the warmer energy below. Supplemental heating and cooling can be added, but the bulk of your facility’s heating and cooling fuel will come from under your feet.
Buy BTU’s, Not Expensive Equipment
Going geothermal is a great option for stabilizing and reducing your energy costs in a clean and renewable manner, but it can be a rough option for your capital budget. That’s why PricingEnergyEfficiency.com offers geothermal HVAC systems on a no investment basis. We will cover the cost of installing and maintaining the system for your facility, and all you have to do is purchase the thermal energy the system produces, the BTU’s if you will. This is done through a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) akin to what you might see with a solar PV system on somebody’s roof. This way you can use your capital to do what you want, invest in and grow your business, rather than pay for energy equipment.
Variable Frequency Drives
Its’s a sad fact, but most of your facility’s motorised electrical equipment uses way too much power. Whether its escalators, ventilation fans or elevators, electric motors only know one speed and that full power, And unfortunately, you pay the price for this through higher electricity bills and increase equipment wear and tear. The good news though is this equipment does not need all this power to function optimally and there is a solution you can turn to that will reduce your energy you and save you money: variable frequency drives(VFD).
70% Electric Cost Reduction
Variable Frequency Drives, otherwise known as VFDs variable speed drives, are simply devices that can be connected to the motor of a given piece of equipment that will match the speed of the motor to the optimal electric load requirement of the equipment. This can reduce your facility’s electricity use by as much as 70%. Additionally because a VFDs will cause your equipment motors to not run as hard, your equipment’s life will extended and you will see a reduction in the amount of maintenance required on your equipment, providing additional savings.
VFDs:"As a Service"
And taking advantage of the savings a variable frequency drive offer doesn’t have to be difficult. Alternative Utilities Services(AUS), through our VFDs :”As a Service” allows your facility to improvement these device with no capital investments. You can use your capital for your business and keep balance sheet clean while AUS handles the installation and maintenance of your VFDs and together we share in the energy savings you receive.