An energy audit is an inspection, survey and analysis of energy flows for energy conservation in a building, process or system to reduce the amount of energy input into the system without negatively affecting the output(s).
When the object of study is an occupied building then reducing energy consumption while maintaining or improving human comfort, health and safety are of primary concern. Beyond simply identifying the sources of energy use, an energy audit seeks to prioritize the energy uses according to the greatest to least cost effective opportunities for energy savings.
A home energy audit is a service where the energy efficiency of a house is evaluated by a person using professional equipment (such as blower doors and infrared cameras), with the aim to suggest the best ways to improve energy efficiency in heating and cooling the house.
An energy audit of a home may involve recording various characteristics of the building envelope including the walls, ceilings, floors, doors, windows, and skylights. For each of these components the area and resistance to heat flow (R-value) is measured or estimated. The leakage rate or infiltration of air through the building envelope is of concern, both of which are strongly affected by window construction and quality of door seals such as weatherstripping. The goal of this exercise is to quantify the building's overall thermal performance. The audit may also assess the efficiency, physical condition, and programming of mechanical systems such as the heating, ventilation, air conditioning equipment, and thermostat.
A home energy audit may include a written report estimating energy use given local climate criteria, thermostat settings, roof overhang, and solar orientation. This could show energy use for a given time period, say a year, and the impact of any suggested improvements per year. The accuracy of energy estimates are greatly improved when the homeowner's billing history is available showing the quantities of electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, or other energy sources consumed over a one or two-year period.
Some of the greatest effects on energy use are user behavior, climate, and age of the home. An energy audit may therefore include an interview of the homeowners to understand their patterns of use over time. The energy billing history from the local utility company can be calibrated using heating degree day and cooling degree day data obtained from recent, local weather data in combination with the thermal energy model of the building. Advances in computer-based thermal modeling can take into account many variables affecting energy use.
A home energy audit is often used to identify cost effective ways to improve the comfort and efficiency of buildings. In addition, homes may qualify for energy efficiency grants from central government.
In the United States, this kind of service can often be facilitated by:
Utility companies may provide this service, as well as loans and other incentives to insulate. They also often provide incentives to switch, for example, if you are an oil customer considering switching to natural gas.
Where to look for insulation recommendations:
Residential energy auditors are accredited by the Building Performance Institute (BPI) or the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET).[1][2] Nevada will become the first state to mandate residential energy audits at time of re-sale. This new law will go into effect on January 1, 2011.
There are also some simplified tools available, with which a homeowner can quickly assess energy improvement potential (without the use of auditing equipment). Often these are supplied for free by state agencies or local utilities, who produce a report with estimates of usage by device/area (since they have usage information already). Examples include the Energy Trust of Oregon program and the Seattle Home Resource Profile. Such programs may also include free compact fluorescent lights.
Since 2002, The Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation (LCEC) initiated a nationwide program on energy audits for medium and large consuming facilities. By the end of 2008, LCEC has financed and supervised more than 100 audits.
LCEC launched an energy audit program to assist Lebanese energy consuming tertiary and public buildings and industrial plants in the management of their energy through this program.
The long term objective of LCEC is to create a market for ESCOs, whereby any beneficiary can contact directly a specialized ESCO to conduct an energy audit, implement energy conservation measures and monitor energy saving program according to a standardized energy performance contract.
Currently, LCEC is helping in the funding of the energy audit study and thus is linking both the beneficiary and the energy audit firm. LCEC also targets the creation of a special fund used for the implementation of the energy conservation measures resulting from the study.
LCEC set a minimum standard for the ESCOs qualifications in Lebanon and published a list of qualified ESCOs on its website.
The Australian Government's new Home Insulation Safety Plan was announced on 1 April 2010.[3]
Increasingly in the last several decades, industrial and agricultural energy audits have exploded as the demand to lower increasingly expensive energy costs and move towards a sustainable future have made energy audit greatly important.
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. Numerous audit procedures have been developed for non-residential (tertiary) buildings (ASHRAE;[4] IEA-ECBCS Annex 11;[5] Krarti, 2000). Audit is required to identify the most efficient and cost-effective Energy Conservation Opportunities (ECOs) or Measures (ECMs). Energy conservation opportunities (or measures) can consist in more efficient use or of partial or global replacement of the existing installation.
When looking to the existing audit methodologies developed in IEA-ECBCS Annex 11 , by ASHRAE and by Krarti (2000), it appears that the main issues of an audit process are:
Common types/levels of energy audits are distinguished below, although the actual tasks performed and level of effort may vary with the consultant providing services under these broad headings. The only way to ensure that a proposed audit will meet your specific needs is to spell out those requirements in a detailed scope of work. Taking the time to prepare a formal solicitation will also assure the building owner of receiving competitive and comparable proposals.
Generally, four levels of analysis can be outlined (ASHRAE):
The impossibility of describing all possible situations that might be encountered during an audit means that it is necessary to find a way of describing what constitutes good, average and bad energy performance across a range of situations. The aim of benchmarking is to answer this question. Benchmarking mainly consists in comparing the measured consumption with reference consumption of other similar buildings or generated by simulation tools to identify excessive or unacceptable running costs. As mentioned before, benchmarking is also necessary to identify buildings presenting interesting energy saving potential. An important issue in benchmarking is the use of performance indexes to characterize the building.
These indexes can be:
The preliminary audit (alternatively called a simple audit, screening audit or walk-through audit) is the simplest and quickest type of audit. It involves minimal interviews with site-operating personnel, a brief review of facility utility bills and other operating data, and a walk-through of the facility to become familiar with the building operation and to identify any glaring areas of energy waste or inefficiency.
Typically, only major problem areas will be covered during this type of audit. Corrective measures are briefly described, and quick estimates of implementation cost, potential operating cost savings, and simple payback periods are provided. A list of energy conservation measures(ECMs, or energy conservation opportunities, ECOs) requiring further consideration is also provided. This level of detail, while not sufficient for reaching a final decision on implementing proposed measure, is adequate to prioritize energy-efficiency projects and to determine the need for a more detailed audit.
The general audit (alternatively called a mini-audit, site energy audit or detailed energy audit or complete site energy audit) expands on the preliminary audit described above by collecting more detailed information about facility operation and by performing a more detailed evaluation of energy conservation measures. Utility bills are collected for a 12 to 36 month period to allow the auditor to evaluate the facility's energy demand rate structures and energy usage profiles. If interval meter data is available, the detailed energy profiles that such data makes possible will typically be analyzed for signs of energy waste [1]. Additional metering of specific energy-consuming systems is often performed to supplement utility data. In-depth interviews with facility operating personnel are conducted to provide a better understanding of major energy consuming systems and to gain insight into short and longer term energy consumption patterns. This type of audit will be able to identify all energy-conservation measures appropriate for the facility, given its operating parameters. A detailed financial analysis is performed for each measure based on detailed implementation cost estimates, site-specific operating cost savings, and the customer's investment criteria. Sufficient detail is provided to justify project implementation.
In most corporate settings, upgrades to a facility's energy infrastructure must compete for capital funding with non-energy-related investments. Both energy and non-energy investments are rated on a single set of financial criteria that generally stress the expected return on investment (ROI). The projected operating savings from the implementation of energy projects must be developed such that they provide a high level of confidence. In fact, investors often demand guaranteed savings. The investment-grade audit expands on the detailed audit described above and relies on a complete engineering study in order to detail technical and economical issues necessary to justify the investment related to the transformations.
A complete audit procedure, very similar to the ones proposed by ASHRAE and Krarti (2000), has been proposed in the frame of the AUDITAC [2] and HARMONAC [3] projects to help in the implementation of the EPB (“Energy Performance of Buildings”) directive in Europe and to fit to the current European market.
The following procedure proposes to make an intensive use of modern BES tools at each step of the audit process, from benchmarking to detailed audit and financial study:
The advent of high resolution thermography has enabled inspectors to identify potential issues within the building envelope by taking a thermal image of the various surfaces of a building. For purposes of an energy audit, the thermographer will analyze the patterns within the surface temperatures to identify heat transfer through convection, radiation, or conduction. It is important to note that the thermography ONLY identifies SURFACE temperatures, and analysis must be applied to determine the reasons for the patterns within the surface temperatures. Thermal analysis of a home generally costs between 300 and 600 dollars.
For those who cannot afford a thermal inspection, it is possible to get a general feel for the heat loss with a non contact infrared thermometer and several sheets of reflective insulation. The method involves measuring the temperatures on the inside surfaces of several exterior walls to establish baseline temperatures. After this, reflective barrier insulation is taped securely to the walls in 8-foot (2.4 m) by 1.5-foot (0.46 m) strips and the temperatures are measured in the center of the insulated areas at 1 hour intervals for 12 hours (The reflective barrier is pulled away from the wall to measure the temperature in the center of the area which it has covered.). The best manner in which to do this is when the temperature differential (Delta T) between the inside and outside of the structure is at least 40 degrees. A well insulated wall will commonly change approximately 1 degree per hour if the difference between external and internal temperatures is an average of 40 degrees. A poorly insulated wall can drop as much as 10 degrees in an hour.
With increases in carbon dioxide emissions or other greenhouse gases, pollution audits are now a prominent factor in most energy audits. Implementing energy efficient technologies help prevent utility generated pollution.
Online pollution and emission calculators help approximate the emissions of other prominent air pollutants in addition to carbon dioxide.
Pollution audits generally take electricity and heating fuel consumption numbers over a two year period and provide approximations for carbon dioxide, VOCs, nitrous oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, mercury, cadmium, lead, mercury compounds, cadmium compounds and lead compounds.
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.