Saving Money by Saving Energy

Recently, NY Report hosted “Saving Energy in NYC: True Stories That Make Dollars and $ense.” Sponsored by Donnelly Sustainable Energy Services, the event featured a panel of four experts who shared case studies and tips for implementing procedures and technologies that can help businesses save money as well as energy. 

The panel included Dave Brady, director of facilities at First Republic Bank, Dominick DePinto, founding partner at ADS Engineers, Dave Pospisil, program manager of commercial and industrial energy efficiency programs at Con Edison, and Rob Ragozine, president of Donnelly Sustainable Energy Services. 

Deciding to Get Started 

The first step in energy savings is to have a preliminary walk-through of your site with an expert who can identify opportunities for savings in electrical, mechanical, and water systems. Based on this audit of energy consumption, the experts advised the audience to develop an energy conservation measure (ECM) plan, which contains predetermined objectives and tactics of an energy saving strategy.

Each company’s ECM is different and based on its unique energy consumption needs. The ECM might be a simple policy requiring employees to turn off computers at the end of each workday and automatic switches that are programmed to cut lighting at a certain time to installing a new HVAC system. 

Businesses become motivated to implement their ECMs for a variety of reasons, but Brady’s focus on energy savings at First Republic was a two-pronged approach: “First and foremost, the reason for the project was to save money, but the other part was to showcase the company, in terms of marketing, as a green company as much as we could,” he said. 

Ragozine echoed DePinto when describing why his clients are interested in developing an ECM: “There is a shared level of appreciation for the benefit of projects like this, and they all have a willingness to move forward with an understanding of an environmental corporate image with economical savings.” 

Identifying Opportunities to Save 

With all the technology available, the panelists all suggested closely monitoring energy use before choosing an ECM. One way to do this is to install an energy dashboard that reports on energy use in real time. According to Ragozine, prices for the web-based dashboard and upkeep vary depending on how and what is measured. Ragozine estimated the cost from under $10,000 to an average of $50,000, depending on how detailed and complicated the technology is. 

Having a dashboard will help save companies money because they can quickly correct areas where energy is being wasted, instead of letting the problem persist for long periods of time.

As an example, when Brady implemented a dashboard at two of his bank’s branches in Manhattan, they found HVAC units were running nonstop, day and night. The bank was unaware of constant energy usage and, based on the findings of the dashboard, a policy was implemented to shut the units down at the end of every work day. This significantly decreased their electricity consumption. In addition to the dashboard, a way to make an ECM successful is to train both employees and contractors on the best practices of energy savings.

Even when using an energy savings dashboard and making a commitment to conservation, if employees continue to not follow procedures properly, it can cost a company thousands of dollars, DePinto said. He gave an example of a non-profit that may receive capitol money, but does not receive funding for operations. Without proper use, the investment won’t pay off as much as it could. They go through the process of creating an ECM to save money, but then no one knows how to use it. “There needs to be long-term follow up and continuous training on how to use the systems correctly,” he said. 

Measuring Return 

To fund ECM projects, companies can take advantage of a range of incentives and projects that are designed to help companies save money.

As an example, DePinto discussed Baldor, a specialized food distributor who wanted to retrofit their 183,000-square-feet facility that included a refrigerated warehouse and offices. By adding motion sensors to turn lighting on only when needed, plus a 50W-solar panel to cut back on utility expenses related to refrigeration and lighting, they were able to save 35 percent on energy costs within a year. They participated in the NYSERDA New Construction Program (NCP), which offers incentives for building owners to incorporate measures that perform significantly better than code or an industry baseline.

Through this program, Baldor received $425,000 in incentives, which helped them realize savings less than four years after the capital investment. Without this program, their payback would have taken nearly seven years. The payback period for each case study presented at the event was no greater than four years, which makes these projects appealing for a capital investment.