The purpose of an audit is to recommend improvements that will save energy and money.
Three Types of Energy Measures:
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Energy Efficiency: replacing old, inefficient equipment
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Operations & Maintenance: correcting improper operation
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Load Management: strategies for reducing peak load
While efficiency and conservation are used interchangeably in the world of building energy audits, the words have different meanings. We'll explain the difference between an Energy Conservation Measure and an Energy Efficiency Measure, but beware that sometimes you'll see different terms used by different auditors regardless of the meaning of the terms efficiency and conservation.
In later sections of the website, we'll go over each type of energy measure in more detail, covering what you should be looking for out in the field to have a good dataset on which you build your recommendations.
Tasks an Auditor takes on:
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Find and document equipment that consumes energy in a building.
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Analyze energy data to understand when and where energy is used, identifying potential opportunities for saving energy.
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Evaluate energy conservation measures and produce a set of recommendations for your client/building manager.
It's important to note that Energy Conservation and Efficiency Measures should not affect the level of service. Occupants in the building should not feel like they are sacrificing their productivity in order to save energy.
Calculating Savings from Energy Measures
One way to reduce HVAC usage based on building occupancy schedules is to implement a Holiday Shutdown. Below, UC Davis data scientist Dan Colvin explains what a Holiday Shutdown is, and how it leads to increased energy savings.