Saving Money through Energy Efficiency

June 2015

Energy costs are increasing by an estimated 50% over five years. This is on top of increases in virtually all other areas of condo building management.

Instead of struggling with how to pay these increasing expenses, imagine what could be done with an additional $100,000 or more.

Such savings are entirely possible with improved energy efficiency.

Most buildings have the potential to realize 30% in energy savings. These savings are roughly divided between installation of more efficient equipment and systems (40%), better management (40%) and resident engagement (20%).

An energy audit is the best way to identify where your building can realize these savings.

The energy audit usually focuses on more efficient equipment and systems which is 40% of potential savings. The remaining 60% comes from better management and resident participation.

This means that equipment upgrades alone will not be enough to completely reduce energy costs. Equipment needs to be operating properly which means that property managers need to be more familiar with how to understand monitoring systems for this equipment.

Residents also need to play their part in keeping costs down; this is described as resident engagement and accounts for 20% of potential savings. Resident engagement can often be maintained by providing information on the building’s energy performance and advising residents on how to maintain or improve on this performance.

With energy costs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, savings of 30% is a lot of money that can be better utilized to improve other areas of your building, develop social programs or reduce annual maintenance fee increases.