Do you ever wonder why so many home and business owners decide to start down the path of ‘going green’ by throwing some solar PV panels on their roofs?  I think in large part, it’s because that they don’t know where else to start.  While we certainly support the development of renewable resources at kWhOURS, solar is not the most cost effective option for reducing utility bills.  The folks we work with – energy auditors – spend their days helping people understand how to make reducing energy consumption into profitable investment opportunities.

We were doing a bit of back-of-the-envelope math at the office the other day that made me step back and think.  Stephen actually mentioned this in his last post.  We figured out how much AC electricity you would produce in Boston, MA with $20,000 worth of solar PV panels, and how many standard lightbulbs you would have to replace to save a comparable amount of energy.  So here goes:

To start, we assumed that a solar array costs $5/Watt to purchase and install, (this is on the lower end of what we have heard of) giving us a 4kW system.  To estimate the output of that brand new solar array, we used National Renewable Energy Lab’s program PVWatts V2 http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/calculators/PVWATTS/version1/US/inputv1_us.cgi?wban=14739.  By their math, our new solar panels would give us about 5,000kWh of AC electricity; about $1,000 worth each year.

Now let’s look at how we can save that same amount of energy and money through energy efficiency.  Replacing a standard 60W incandescent or halogen lamp with a 15W compact fluorescent saves you 45W/hr, and when you use that light about 1,500 hours a year that’s 67.5kWh – about $13.50 in savings per replacement in Massachusetts. It would take replacing 74 incandescent lamps for less than $150 to achieve the same impact as installing $20,000 in solar panels: that’s just 1.5% of the cost! For a home that is probably more lights than are in use on a regular basis, the math is just meant to be illustrative.

A couple other examples of more cost-effective ways to save $1,000 each year in energy:

• Installing a computer power management system (http://www.verdiem.com/resources.aspx): $1,343 (86.6% less than solar)
• Installing low-flow faucets: $3,634 (81.8% less than solar)
• Replacing exit signs lamps with LEDs: $1,671 (91.6% less than solar)
• Installing occupancy sensors in bathrooms and offices: ($5,152, 74.2% less than solar)
• Installing premium efficient motors: ($6,683, 66.6% less than solar)

*most of these examples were extrapolated from this case study performed by the State of Michigan Energy Office (http://www.michigan.gov/documents/CIS_EO_Inside_case24_39158_7.html)

If you’re looking for practical methods of reducing environmental impact at home or work, start with an energy audit.  Auditors are trained to seek out the most cost-effective opportunities to cut energy consumption.  Feel free to ask us for a referral (Contact Us), we’re happy to connect you to a great auditor in your area.

HP announced the widely available Slate 500 Tablet PC.  http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/321957-321957-64295-3841267-3955550-4332585.html

This is definitely the beginning of a wave of new, more affordable Tablets coming out into the consumer and business market.  This may be the first tablet to come out that is geared towards the professional.  With its somewhat rugged configuration, it appears to be a great fit for kWhOURS’ kW-Field.  Field auditors can now be more effective than ever.  As more tablets come out – the more the industry will change: for everyone’s benefit.

Commercial energy auditing to be the catalyst for commercial energy efficiency.

When President Obama was elected into the White House, he promised healthcare reform and to pave a path towards energy independence.  Now, I don’t know about you all, but wouldn’t you think that you would do whatever is in your power to push forward to efforts that results in the biggest bang for your buck?  Hunter Lovins (one of our advisors) set out in the 1970s to prove that you could reduce your energy consumption by 30-50% by just living smarter and operating buildings more efficiently.  And you know what?  She was right…

Here we are almost 40 years later in a very similar predicament.  We all know that energy audits can lead to tremendous energy savings opportunities.  It begs the question: why aren’t more being done?  The question is not as simple as it appears.  In large part, population is very segmented.  Large energy service companies (ESCOs) tend to conduct energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs), but if you are not a couple hundred thousand square foot facility, you are probably not worth their time.  What do you do if you are an independent franchise owner who cares about on-going operating costs?  Are you SOL (pardon my language)?  Well utilities have begun to take an initiative, however they are far and in between.  Even if the utility pays for the cost of an audit, the owner is left with a list of ECMs (energy conservation measures) and 9 times out of 10, no clue what to do.  Worst of all, if he/she knew what to do, they would still have to figure a way to finance the whole project.  Did I mentioned that they also have to bid out for equipment replacement, upgrades, etc.?

To fill the gap, mini ESCOs have begun to pop up all across the country.  They focus on the part of the population that comprises the majority of commercial buildings in the U.S.  While the price tags for these audits are not as large as the Chevron Energy Solutions and Amerescos of the world, they are are in-depth, typically done faster, and can do more of them.  So what’s the problem?  BANKS!  Most banks have moved away from project finance and as a result, many of the commercial buildings are left hung to dry because banks have reverted to not lending at all!  Talk about swings…

The commercial energy auditors who are good at what they do and have a ton of work ahead of them.  Our commercial energy audit software: kW-Field, aims to helps everyone out.  By being able to conduct more audits in less time, we are hoping to address the long tail of commercial buildings in the U.S.