Welcome to the first of a series of frequently asked questions. Prism has helped thousands of customers save money over the years, and we’ve seen every type of building imaginable and been asked a large assortment of questions. To help you get to know us, our work, and how we can save you money, we’re putting this helpful guide together.
What is an energy efficiency audit?
An energy efficiency audit, simply put, is an energy evaluation of your building. If you feel that you’re spending too much money on your lighting, heating, or cooling, or are simply looking for new improvements to save more energy and money, an energy efficiency audit is a great way to evaluate certain electric and gas measures. An energy efficiency audit is conducted at your facility on your schedule. While on-site, our professionally trained auditors accompany you on a walkthrough of your business and collect data on your current energy systems. That data is taken and evaluated by our on-staff engineers to determine if improvements to your facility can be made. It’s OK if one, some, or all of your business’s systems are already energy efficient. Typically, we find ways to help you save energy and money, but if you’ve recently upgraded, we recommend having another energy efficiency audit performed a year or two down the road.
Here’s a list of some of the lighting, heating, and cooling measures we examine:
Lighting
We check if your business operates with older models of light bulbs and lamps, inside and outside. To get technical, we check to see if you’re using incandescent bulbs or T-12/T-8 lamps. The older the lamp or bulb you replace, the more you can save. There are hundreds of different lighting solutions, including LEDs. Having an energy efficiency audit will help us determine your perfect fit.
Compact Fluorescent Lamp
Exterior LED Lamp
Heating & Cooling
Similar to lighting, we check your business to see if there are older heating and cooling systems in place. There are many, many upgrades you can make to your heating and cooling systems. These systems also have the most potential for energy savings. To list just a few examples, HVAC systems, roof top units, or kitchen range hoods can be upgraded with controls. To get technical again, these systems can be configured to turn on or off automatically, minimizing the amount of work you need to do to keep your business cool in the summer or warm in the winter.
HVAC
Programmable Thermostat
The Bottom Line
An energy efficiency audit is a great way for you to determine if you can save money on your lighting, heating, or cooling systems. The goal of an energy efficiency audit is not disrupt your business or make you spend money on something you don’t need; the goal is to save you energy and maximize your bottom line.