How FM Solutions Boost Your Building's Energy Efficiency

A facility manager’s job is to find ways to save on a commercial or industrial building’s operational costs. Optimizing a facility’s energy efficiency is the first step.

Facility management companies like Omnia360 in Cincinnati, Ohio, achieve this through accurate data-based asset management and maintenance, managing everything from HVAC to plumbing and electrical.

Why Does Your Building’s Energy Efficiency Matter?

According to Energy.gov, 35% of electricity in the U.S. is consumed by commercial buildings. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that “30% of the energy used in commercial buildings is wasted.”

Wasting energy means wasting money, dollars that could otherwise be put back into your facility management budget or dedicated towards another growth opportunity.

Not only that — implementing facility maintenance strategies to reduce energy consumption can:

Reduce operating costs
Increase a facility’s net operating income (NOI)
Provide a more comfortable environment for employees and customers
Reduce risks of early equipment failure and wasteful, unexpected downtimes

If you’re saving on energy bills due to modern light fixtures or a well-optimized commercial HVAC system, those cost savings can be reinvested into your business. In fact, our experts at Omnia360 help with capital asset management.

How Omnia360 Checks Your Building’s Energy-Efficiency

We work with your building’s unique architectural and energy system design in mind to create an effective maintenance plan that can greatly reduce your monthly energy consumption.

First: We assess all levels of your building’s equipment and controls: checking pressures, temps, power settings, flows, and lighting use.

From there, we create strategies that are implemented by priority to improve energy efficiency.

Then, to ensure accuracy and continuity, we document operations: changing control strategies, sensor set-point, or sensor locations.

Lastly, we track the savings. By doing this, any savings can be reinvested towards your facility’s operation and maintenance efforts.

Commercial HVAC Repair and Maintenance

Maintaining your building’s HVAC system is the number one way to save on your monthly utility bill. Your potential cost savings are enormous. According to the DOE, HVAC systems use nearly 35% of a building’s energy.

Our HVAC technicians arrive on-site and perform an inspection of your building’s HVAC unit, identifying areas of concern and improvement that will maximize energy efficiency.

Regular, routine maintenance checks
Comprehensive preventative maintenance plans
Checks for any seal leaks or damaged insulation
Install smart windows or blinds

Upgrading and Managing Your Facility’s Infrastructure & Energy Assets

Facility managers look to analyze a building’s infrastructure from the ground up, identifying cost-saving opportunities in all facets of a building, everything from lighting and water usage to the type of on-site materials and equipment used by a facility.

Lighting.

It’s one of the best ways to ensure your building saves operational costs. Updating lighting systems with energy-efficient LED lighting from various sources.

Sustainable Materials.

Using eco-friendly materials with energy-efficient devices (along with constant checks and evaluations), ensure maximum energy efficiency.

Water.

The goal is to reduce the monthly or annual water bill by assessing and fixing existing plumbing structures: showers, sinks, taps, pipes, and toilets. There’s also the use of rain sensors to irrigate the plants and fields on your property.

Sub-metering.

Power submetering is a method that accurately monitors a facility’s energy output. A tracking system also allows technicians and facility managers to be alerted to any impending component failures and initiate proactive repairs.

Asset Monitoring Technologies Measure Your Building’s Total Energy Use

FM companies typically utilize computer-aided facility management software (CAFM) and computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) technologies to identify areas, processes, and people that consume substantial energy and set a baseline energy usage by installing power metering devices in the facility.

Leveraging automated solutions through detailed and data-driven analysis of a building’s functionality and energy consumption, on the whole, facility managers can create an energy management plan that sustains cost and energy savings over time.

Assisting with protocol changes to energy maintenance plans.
Identifying incentives or rebates a building can qualify for.

Lower Your Demand Charge with Better Energy Audits

An FM company can perform an energy audit as part of the run-of-the-mill asset assessment. Energy audits let you know where you stand. They also help FM professionals identify ways to lower monthly demand charges.

What’s a demand charge?

It’s a fee that applies to electrical bills during “peak usage.” Here’s how it works…

Just like a bank that needs to ensure there are enough dollars in the vault for people that want to withdraw their money, a utility company has to make sure they have enough energy available to give to commercial buildings during any unexpected, high-energy use periods: “peak use periods.”

Your monthly demand charge fee acts as a type of insurance fee of sorts in order to cover this. It’s based on the highest energy consumption during a given time period.

How does the cost go up?

Let’s say your commercial or industrial building had a particularly hot summer month and spent an enormous amount of money on AC. Your demand charge will go up, as it is calculated based on the highest spend period.

Many people don’t know this. But you can dispute a demand charge! That’s money back in your pocket. But here’s the catch: you’ll need quite a bit of paperwork and energy auditing (tracking your building’s usage). To dispute the charge, you have to present several months or years of energy use data to the utility company to prove your threshold is low.

Long story short, it’s easier to let a skilled facility management company perform an audit of your building’s energy infrastructure and develop a comprehensive maintenance plan that takes into account cost-saving initiatives that can lower your demand charge:

Solar panel cleaning and upkeep
HVAC troubleshooting and maintenance
Duct system cleaning and sanitization
Thermal, insulated, low-e glass repair or replacement

Assess Your Building’s Energy Efficiency with Omnia360

Want to save on your building’s monthly costs? Get comprehensive, integrated facility maintenance services 24/7 by teaming up with a leading FM company in Cincinnati, Ohio. Contact us today for a free assessment at (833) 360-6642.