Energy Audit
An energy audit is the first step to reducing costs. This checklist helps identify waste and track savings.
Key Metrics
High
Efficiency
99.99%
Reliability
Full
Coverage
3-6 mo
ROI
Why This Matters
An Audit Is the First Step, Not the Whole Journey
An energy audit answers three questions: how much energy is the building using, where is it going, and which of those uses can be reduced at an acceptable return. The quality of the answers depends entirely on the evidence. A walk-through audit based on nameplate ratings and intuition identifies obvious waste; a measurement-based audit identifies the operational inefficiencies that no one sees - equipment running overnight, simultaneous heating and cooling, and setpoints that drifted years ago.
The distinction matters because the easiest savings are usually operational, not capital. Before any retrofit is purchased, an instrumented audit can typically find 10-20% savings in schedules, setpoints, and controls. Those savings fund the deeper retrofits and de-risk the larger capital spend.
This guide covers audit levels, the process steps, and how continuous IoT monitoring extends a one-time audit into an ongoing savings-verification program.
Audit Levels
Choosing the Right Level of Rigor
Interview staff, review bills, and identify obvious measures. Low cost, low accuracy - a screening step, not a decision document.
Adds instrumented spot measurements and end-use breakdown, producing ranked measures with rough economics. The workhorse for most facilities.
Adds a calibrated building energy model and engineering-grade analysis. Justified for large retrofits and performance contracts.
Permanent instrumentation that re-audits automatically - the audit becomes a program, not a project.
Deep Dive
The Audit Process, Step by Step
The audit sequence is designed so each step narrows the field of candidates before any money is spent. Following it in order avoids the classic failure of acting on the most visible waste while ignoring the largest.
Step 1
Baseline
Collect 12-24 months of utility data and a 30-day interval baseline. This is the reference against which every future saving is measured.
Step 2
Benchmark
Compare energy use intensity (EUI) against ENERGY STAR and industry peers to gauge how much headroom exists before deep analysis.
Step 3
Instrument & Meter
Submeter HVAC, lighting, and plug loads; log schedules and occupancy. Turn estimates about where energy goes into measurements.
Step 4
Analyze Patterns
Look for after-hours load, simultaneous heating and cooling, over-ventilation, and demand peaks. This is where the real savings hide.
Step 5
Rank by ROI
Score each measure by cost, savings, and certainty. Quick wins fund the longer-term projects and build support for the program.
Step 6
Track & Verify
After implementation, measure the same meters against the baseline to verify savings persist and correct any drift.
Deep Dive
Where the Waste Actually Hides
The most common and expensive waste patterns are remarkably consistent across facilities. Each has a measurement signature that an instrumented audit can identify quickly.
| Waste Pattern | Signature | Typical Fix |
|---|---|---|
| After-hours operation | HVAC and lighting running through nights and weekends in empty zones | Schedule alignment, occupancy-based setback, out-of-hours rules |
| Simultaneous heating & cooling | Boiler and chiller active in the same season, or reheat energy climbing with cooling load | Setpoint reset, valve and damper calibration, deadband correction |
| Over-ventilation | Constant outdoor air rates in partially occupied spaces | Demand-controlled ventilation driven by CO2 |
| Demand peaks | Short, costly demand spikes at predictable times of day | Peak shaving, load shifting, scheduled equipment start staggering |
| Equipment inefficiency | Energy per ton of cooling drifting upward as fouling and degradation accumulate | Condition-based maintenance, cleaning, refrigerant charge correction |
Best Practices
Making the Audit Continuous
A one-time audit captures a snapshot; the building changes immediately after. Continuous monitoring turns the audit into a perpetual cycle: the baseline stays current, new waste is flagged as it appears, and savings are verified every month rather than assumed.
Instrument Before You Retrofit
Metering that is installed for the audit becomes the permanent verification system for the retrofit - one investment serves both purposes.
Weather-Normalize Everything
Compare consumption against degree-day-corrected expectations, or a mild winter will masquerade as efficiency and a cold one as failure.
Report to Decision-Makers
A quarterly savings report tied to the original baseline keeps the program funded and the savings from being quietly re-spent.
Set a Review Cadence
Re-run the waste-pattern analysis quarterly. Setpoints and schedules drift; continuous detection keeps them from compounding.
Audit Execution Checklist
- Baseline locked before any measure is implemented
- Submeters cover at least HVAC, lighting, and plug loads separately
- Every measure ranked by payback, with the certainty of its estimate stated
- Verification plan named before implementation, not after
Start Your Energy Audit
Talk to our energy audit team about instrumenting a baseline and building a continuous verification program.
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