Understanding the Commercial Retrofit Energy Efficiency Process

For most companies, energy efficiency is the most desirable practice promoted by the green movement, and it's easy to why: by replacing older, less efficient technology with efficient technology, companies can reduce their annual utility bill by over half, creating significant savings that increase their bottom line year after year. However, even with the promise of significant utility savings, some companies fail to explore commercial retrofit energy efficiency due to misconceptions about what commercial retrofit energy efficiency entails. Below, we list three common reasons why companies needlessly avoid implementing energy efficient retrofits.

Reason 1: The Project Will be Too Expensive

While there's no denying that most energy-efficiency projects are expensive in terms of total cost, paying for them is no longer the financial burden that it was. Until recently, companies needed enough investment capital to pay for the majority of a project upfront. But today, energy-efficiency providers offer long-term, interest-free financing that allows companies to pay a minimal amount of a project's cost upfront and then use the utility savings that the project generates to pay on its balance. Considering that most energy efficiency projects have a first-year ROI of 50 percent or higher, most projects are paid for within two years.

Reason 2: A Company Already has "Efficient" Equipment

Trusting that a building's interior lighting system, HVAC components, and other machinery are energy efficient because a manufacturer claims that they are is like trusting that a cleaning solution is organic because it contains the word "natural" on its label. When a product claims to be efficient, it's important to question what standard of efficiency it refers to. For example, fluorescent T12 lighting is efficient compared to incandescent lighting. However, when compared to fluorescent T8 lighting, it's rather inefficient. To determine whether its facility is truly energy-efficient, a company should have an energy-efficient consultant perform a building wide energy audit.

Reason 3: The Project Will be Too Invasive

Depending on a company's line of work, its desire to avoid inner building construction at all costs is understandable. However, some companies mistakenly think that the retrofitting process is as invasive as the traditional construction process. Unlike installing an entirely new lighting system or HVAC system, retrofitting these systems for energy efficiency involves replacing their energy using elements with more efficient elements. For example, the efficiency of an air distribution system can be significantly improved by downsizing it oversized distribution fans, and the efficiency of an interior lighting system can be greatly improved by implementing new lamps and ballasts.