Energy Use and Cost Commercial SF
Understand the major components of energy use and cost in commercial buildings in order to prioritize opportunities to reduce use and costs.
RATIONALE
Commercial building energy use comprises approximately 20% of total energy consumed in the United States, making it the fourth largest sector, but among the most rapidly growing consumers of energy. There are opportunities to reduce commercial energy use up to 30% in a relatively cost effective manner.
EFFORT REQUIRED
Easy to Moderate
Commercial energy use and cost has been well analyzed and a variety of resources exist to support the identification of energy reduction measures. Greater effort is required to analyze the energy use of specific buildings depending on the ease of accessing relevant information such as utility bills.
BENEFIT
Understanding the major sources of energy use and cost in commercial buildings enables building owners, managers, operators, tenants or communities to design effective programs to reduce commercial energy use. This saves energy and money, supports local jobs and enables businesses to dedicate financial resources to more productive purposes.
RISKS
The commercial sector may not be the most significant source of energy cost or use in certain communities.
ACTION AGENT(S)
Commercial building owners, managers, operators and tenants must be educated in order to achieve commercial building energy use and cost reductions.
COST
Understanding commercial energy use and cost is a low cost activity. General information is readily available thorough a variety of resources. Information on particular buildings can be determined through an energy audit or consumption analysis (reviewing utility bills), which may or may not be associated with additional costs depending on personnel capabilities. There may also be costs associated in personnel training or certification associated with a greater level of expertise in understanding, analyzing and reducing commercial building energy use.
Identifies how much energy a building uses and the purposes for which it is used, and identifies efficiency and cost-reduction opportunities. The ability or potential of a physical body to do work. The most common forms of energy are heat, light, mechanical (moving parts), and electrical.
