Energy Audit
Energy audits initially became popular in response to the energy crisis of 1973 and later years. Interest in energy audits has recently increased as a result of growing understanding of human impact upon global warming and climate change. Increasingly in the last decades, industrial energy audits have exploded to lower increasingly expensive energy costs and move towards a sustainable future.
Typically an energy audit is conducted voluntarily to seek opportunities to reduce the amount of energy input into the system without negatively affecting the output(s). For certain industries (energy intensive industries, large scale companies) many governments have set mandatory energy audits to foster energy efficiency or control energy consumption and related emissions in the larger scale.
HOW energy audits are conducted
Typical tasks of an "energy audit" are
- Data Gathering
- Utility Analysis
- Inventory and Review of Equipment Performance
- Measurements and Monitoring
- Identify Potential Energy Conserving Options
- Analysis of Saving Potential
- Financial Analysis
- Reporting
The term energy audit is commonly used to describe a broad spectrum of energy studies ranging from a quick walk-through of a facility to identify major problem areas to a comprehensive analysis of the implications of alternative energy efficiency measures sufficient to satisfy the financial criteria of sophisticated investors.
Common audit programs are:
- Preliminary audit
- General audit
- Investment-grade audit
- Pollution audits
Further distinctions are as mentioned already:
- Voluntary vs. mandatory audits
- Internal vs. external audits
Energy audits as tools of a bigger framework
To qualify an energy audit as management tool it should be repeated in order to evaluate in the minimum, if set measures are effective.
An energy audit is in first instance a screen-shot only. It is a single measure to verify an existing situation more or less accurately. An energy audit cannot substitute the comprehensive responsibility of energy management. Ideally an energy audit should be part of a comprehensive energy programme and should provide to its managers the necessary data.
- Identify where and how much energy is used
- Identify savings options
- See how you compare internally (performance over time) and maybe externally (benchmarks)
- Build a business case for investment