Not all Energy Audits are created equal. Depending on who performs an Energy Audit and what guidelines (if any) they follow, the depth of analysis performed and audit cost will vary greatly. Many people do not understand that you can not evaluate Energy Audit vendors against one another based solely on price, there are other variables to consider that will greatly affect the value of the report you are receiving.  A free Energy Audit provided by a lighting supply vendor will most likely not tell you much more than how much energy could be saved by upgrading your lighting.  A Level III Energy Audit that follows the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers’ (ASHRAE) Procedures for Commercial Building Energy Audits will provide you with a great detail of information, but this level of analysis can be costly is unnecessary unless major renovations are planned.

What Level of Energy Audit is Needed

Ideally, prior to solicitating Energy Audit proposals, the goals for the audit should be determined.  Are you looking to simply find out more information about how your building is consuming energy relative to comparable buildings? Do you already know that the energy efficiency of your building is poor and you want to lay out a energy management plan for the next 5 years? Are you planning major renovations and want to ensure that the building will greatly reduce their energy use as a result of the building upgrades? Laying out your goals will help you to write a request for proposal for an Energy Audit that will satisfy your building objectives.

There are three levels of Energy Audits that are commonly recognized. A Level I Energy Audit is often called a “Walk-through Analysis.” For this level of analysis, an auditor will evaluate historical energy use,conduct a site visit to the building, and perform a brief analysis on potential energy saving opportunities. A Level I Energy Audit report will provide a list of low-cost & no-cost energy saving opportunities along with their estimated cost and savings. A list of capital improvements that should be analyzed further will also be included. This level of  audit is appropriate for buildings without a lot of capital to invest in upgrades and whose energy use has not been evaluated before.

A Level II Energy Audit requires a more thorough building site visit and energy analysis. An auditor will spend more time onsite looking at all of the building systems and discussing their operation and maintenance with the facility manager. Following the onsite visit, the auditor will begin a detailed analysis of the building energy use. Partway through the offsite analysis the auditor will meet with the building owner and operator to review all of the potential energy saving opportunities and select which ones should be fully analyzed and which are not feasible to implement. The auditor will then complete their analysis and provide a report to the building owner that includes a breakdown of the energy use in the building, a list of energy savings opportunities along with their estimated savings and cost analaysis, and a list of potential capital-intensive improvements that require further analysis.

In addition to all of the analysis work done as part of a Level II Energy Audit, a Level III Energy Audit focuses on capital intensive improvements. This additional analysis may require more thorough data collection and engineering analysis. The report for this level of audit will include everything in the Level II Report and a list of detailed capital intensive project costs and savings associated with each energy saving recommendation.

The ASHRAE guidelines list specifically what analysis should be included in all three levels on Energy Audit. Although many people refer to the ASHRAE definitions when discussing a particular level of audit, it is important that you confirm with your auditor that they are using the ASHRAE guidelines. If they are not, make sure to find out exactly what guidelines they are following or what analysis will be included in the audit. It is important to make sure that Energy Auditors are bidding on the same scope of work and that your goals for the audit are included in that scope of work.

Who Should Perform the Energy Audit?

In addition to ensuring that all auditors are bidding on the same scope of work, you will want to find out about the experience and certifications a firm has to make certain that the quality of the audit will be satisfactory. A good auditor will have certifications from reputable agencies, such as the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE), ASHRAE, or the Building Performance Institute (BPI). Good certifications are a sign of an Energy Auditors experience. Additionally you should ask for references or previously completed reports to confirm that the auditor has experience in conducting similar Energy Audits.  

Many product vendors have begun to offer free or heavily discounted Energy Audits. These free audits may seem appealing, but they will most likely not analyze the overall building and will not provide you with unbiased information on what actions can be taken to reduce your building’s energy consumption 

Deciding on an Auditor

When it comes down to awarding a contract, keep in mind that when it comes to an Energy Audit, you get what you pay for. You will not hear about facility managers getting a great bargin Energy Audit, but you will hear about people who did not know what to look for when signing an Energy Audit contract and in the end did not get a valueable analysis of potential energy saving opportunities. Prior to awarding any energy audit contract, make sure you will get what you want to out of the audit and a qualified person is performing the audit.