Energy Efficiency Isn’t Just for Big Companies
Posted on 07. Jul, 2010 by keith in Environmental Impact
From an environmental perspective, the value of implementing energy efficient design applies to everyone. But from a commercial perspective, it often seems as if only large companies benefit from implementing energy efficient design. Part of this perception is based on view that, because large companies typically use the most energy, they benefit from energy efficiency more than smaller companies, which in turn creates the view that smaller entities benefit from energy efficiency only slightly. But when you do a little research, you discover that more than big companies realize significant cost savings by implementing energy efficient design.
One example of a small entity that benefited from becoming energy efficient is Noble Crossing Elementary School, in Noblesville, IN. Based on a cost comparison between the school’s 2008 and 2009 years, it saved $137, 516 after making its facilities more energy efficient, resulting in an annual utility cost reduction of 62 percent. Reducing annual utility cost by over 50 percent might sound like a rare instance. But it’s actually rather common. By working with an energy efficiency consultant, a customer can target the areas of its building(s) that result in the greatest inefficiency from greatest to least, choosing to address them simultaneously or targeting the biggest problem areas first.
In the past, implementing energy efficient design was predominately limited to larger companies for a simple reason: energy efficient design is expensive and energy efficiency providers didn’t offer in house financing. But today, many energy efficiency providers offer long-term, interest-free financing aimed at small businesses and organizations; and it’s easy to see why: with an average first year ROI of roughly 50 percent, the cost savings that result from energy efficiency projects easily allow customers to pay for the project within two years.
