Are You Cashing inon the Need forGreen Energy?By: April Scarlett

According to the Department of Energy, homes built today are 30% more efficient than homes built just a decade ago. This is great news for the home buyer in today’s market, and a nice way to contribute to the betterment of the environment, but it leaves a LOT of homeowners seeing green, and spending it too. The trend of “going green” to save money by way of renewable energy sounds catchy, but the business of it isn’t yet catching on. Unlike replacing a roof, cleaning out air ducts, or performing other routine maintenance for the home or business, scheduling an energy audit just isn’t on the radar of typical residents.

This is a huge opportunity for electrical contractor professionals.

How many homes in your marketwere built before 2006?If we look at a 32 year housing study by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, we see a near double growth rate for housing units from 366,000 units in 1975 to 713,000 units in 2005. Now compare that to a report by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2015 that shows 743,000 completed homes built for the single month of July. Even if homeowners are selling their old homes to move into modern, more efficient ones, there is an entire, younger generation moving into older homes, but with a more modern mindset.

Any home built before 2006, that hasn’t been upgraded to beenergy efficient, is a prospective energy audit customer.

These younger homeowners of older homes may be greenhornswhen it comes to property ownership, but they are green-seekerswhen it comes to saving money and protecting the environment.These are your ideal target market for the residential energy auditand energy management industry.

What is Energy Management?Energy management is the process of using reliable and renewable energy to produce the most efficient and environmentally friendly facilities. An energy audit, or energy assessment, is the means to determine energy management. The ultimate goal of an audit is to propose solutions to reduce energy consumption and save money.

Characteristics of a Home or Commercial Energy Audit

• Assessing the physical barrier between the conditioned and unconditionedenvironment of a structure, or the building envelope, regarding the flow/resistance to air, water, heat/cool, light and noise.

• Determining wattage for appliances, lighting, HVAC/cooling, and otheruse of electronics based on structure, climate, and consumer behavior.

• Proposing scope of work to resolve energy loss/lessen consumption ina way that is financially, environmentally and physically beneficial to theconsumer.

The Energy Auditing IndustryThanks to the headlines concerning global warming, climate change is at the forefront of discussions across the globe, and not just in environmental advocacy circles. Individuals, businesses and governments have been researching possible methods to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of humans on our planet. It began with the scientific community taking stock of the damage already done, and reporting it to governments worldwide. In response, incentives were created for business and industry sectors to find ways to reduce energy consumption, and create cleaner methods of conducting business.

In addition to helping reverse the trend toward destroying planet earth, private sector corporations began to notice the benefits long-term to their bottom line, and now lead the way as influencers in the energy conservation market. The RE100 is a collaborative, global initiative of influential businesses committed to 100% renewable electricity, working to massively increase demand for renewable energy.

As reported by the RE100, the private sector accounts for half of the world’s electricity consumption. The goal of their initiative is “to accelerate the transformation of the global energy market and aid the transition to a low carbon economy.”

Facts and FiguresAccording to Mr. Electric®, a national expert in Electrical Services,commercial audits can help reduce lighting costs by up to 75%.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Based on Data from Betnek Energy

U.S. Natural Gas Consumed for Electric Power Generation,January 1-28, 2005-15Billion Cubic Feet

700

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

12.5

10.0

7.5

5.0

2.5

0.0

Facts and Figures

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration

United States United States: Commercial United States: Industrial

Average Retail Price of Electricity - Monthly,Cents per Kilowatt Hour

Not Surprisingly...The residential market is now part of the energy efficiency discussion. Home owners are looking to duplicate what they are seeing in corporations and government, so they too can benefit from long-term savings and environmental peace of mind. Aiding in the process, local and federal governments now offer tax incentives to homeowners interested in cleaning up their own “energy backyards.”

According to the State & Local Energy Efficiency Action Network, a verysmall fraction of the $225 billion home improvement and maintenanceis spent on energy upgrades, which could potentially resultin a 20% savings in energy expenses.

With all of this discussion on savings, why then are homeownerstaking their time getting to the bottom of their energy woes? Simplyput, they don’t entirely know what to do, or what steps to take.

This is when the energy auditor steps in to educate the consumer.

How Lighting Measures UpEnergy.gov reports that lighting accountsfor about 10% of a typical electric bill, withappliances and electronics following next.

For lighting, they recommend:

• WHAT: Examining light bulbs and consideringreplacing inefficient bulbs with more efficientchoices, such as incandescent bulbs, compactfluorescent lamps, or LEDs.

• HOW: Using controls like dimmers, timersand sensors for hours of operation

Spotlight Business Niche:Outdoor LightingFor businesses, municipalities and home owners, an easyway to decrease cost of operations is by looking at theopportunity to replace outdoor lighting with LED luminaires.According to a report by Navigant Research, global unitshipments of LEDs are expected to grow from 16 millionin 2016 to over 28 million in 2025.

Examples of outdoor lighting energyconservation opportunities:

• Commercial Sites• Parking Lots• Neighborhood/Association Street Lighting• Residential Outdoor Lighting• City Parks• Private and Public Educational Institutions

Case and PointDean Ford owns Mr. Electric® of Victoria, in British Columbia, Canada. He currently does 18-25 Commercial Energy Audits per month that range in estimates from $2,500 to $450,000 dollars Canadian. Ford was seeing a slow increase in audit interest each year, until he hired a Commercial Accounts Manager, and then his auditing business exploded. When Ford was asked about whether or not his customers were equally as interested in the environmental aspects of an audit, or mostly the savings, he answered that it is almost always the savings, and for good reason.

“We did one quote recently that was $75,000, had a $38,000 rebate, and the customer was going to pocket $496,000 over the 12 year life span of the bulbs,” Ford said.

Ford maintains that energy audits and proposed solutions can impact commercial customers in more ways than one.

“With the ever constant restraints put on business owners these days, introducing them to ways of increasing their bottom line, by not over paying on simple things like utilities, has a dramatic effect on their day-to-day operations,” he said. “Stores are lit better, stores’ lighting is consistent throughout, maintenance costs go way down, and profits can go up. It’s the perfect storm.”

What is LEED?Leadership in Energy and Enviornmental DesignLEED is the most widely used third-party verification for green buildings, and is considered the leading benchmark in green building and green maintenance. According to the U.S. Green Building Council website (www.usgbc.org/leed#rating), 1.85 million square feet of buildings are being certified daily.

LEED certification is applicable to all building types, from small residential homes to several thousand square feet corporations, and can be implemented at any stage of construction or maintenance. As a professional contractor, being a LEED-AP, or a LEED accredited professional, may add credit to your expertise.

It’s Easy Being GreenWith so much global economic support for energy conservationand a healthier environment, it’s downright trendy to be in onthe Green movement. According to the Energy EfficiencyMarket Report, energy efficiency is becoming an establishedfinancial market segment as a result of “the availability of agreater range of financial products, models and intermediariesto facilitate investment.” These include the implementation ofspecialized entities, Clean energy bonds, climate bonds andgreen bonds, as well as on-bill financing programs like PACE(Property Assessed clean Energy).

With giant organizations like the CDP motivating corporations andcities to disclose their environmental impact, the Paris Talks of 2015bringing world leaders together on the topic, and week-long eventssuch as Climate Week in New York City (hosted by the ClimateGroup), the need for energy conservation professionals isn’t hardto fathom.

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Visit go.dwyr.com/energy to learn howMr. Electric® franchisee’s benefitfrom commercial energy audits

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