If you own or manage a commercial building, you are probably all too familiar with that nagging feeling that your building is not as efficient as it should be. Your building reminds you, too. You can’t escape those cold winter drafts, or those steep summer energy bills. As busy as you are, it can be tough to make a commercial energy audit a priority… but if you are losing heating or cooling from your building, you are losing money in more than one way:
- The cost of increased output of HVAC units year round
- Premature wear and tear of heating and cooling units because of inefficiency
- System overwork in extreme conditions, making failure and repairs more likely
- Where air leaks in, water can also leak, which means you may have structural damage or remediation costs to deal with in addition to energy inefficiencies
- The cost of tenant turnover because of uncomfortable building conditions
Contact us today to see how we can help!
Do’s & Don’ts Of Making Your Commercial Building More Energy Efficient
If you are here, and you are looking for ways to make your commercial building more energy efficient, there is really only one “do” and two “don’ts”.
Do: Call a commercial energy inspector.
If you are a property owner or manager, you already have plenty of sticks in the fire. You don’t want to be spending your time and money getting your outlets insulated if your building has far bigger ways of losing energy. Hiring an energy inspector is a great way to get a high-impact game plan to make drastic improvements to energy efficiency, and quickly. The right energy inspector can help you perform all necessary tests on your building, then present a practical, economical, and adaptable plan to improve your efficiency.
Don’t: Get a basic commercial building inspection that presents volumes of statistical data that is difficult to prioritize.
Charts won’t help with that drafty door. And maybe the drafty door is the least of your worries. If you hire a commercial inspector that doesn’t have the industry’s best certifications or doesn’t prioritize the creation of a useable gameplan, you risk letting bigger problems run rampant. Paying all that money for a commercial building inspection won’t help you if you are left to your own devices when it comes to using the data.
Because time is money, we start with the biggest places you are losing energy for highest impact. If you are still wondering how to make your commercial building more energy efficient, here are a few of the places we will get started to maximize results:
Don’t: Wait.
The longer you wait, the worse your problems will become. “Worse” here most often means “more expensive”. Investing in a commercial energy inspection now could save you thousands down the road by pinpointing a problem that can be solved now.
What will your commercial energy inspector be looking for?
Here are a few things your commercial energy inspector will do to make your commercial building more energy efficient.
Test For Air Leaks
Air barrier testing allows us to identify where air is moving in and out of your building. Using commercial fans, we pressurize and depressurize the building, testing for air leakage in the process. Normally, we will use infrared thermography and theatrical smoke to help visualize the leakage sites. We’ll record all the places we find leaks and present the information to you.
Search For Heat Leaks
Imagine stepping outside of your commercial building in the wintertime and seeing all of the places where the warmth is leaking out with your own two eyes. With a thermal scan, now you can. With just a quick scan, you can see hotspots on the exterior of the building that show exactly where you might just need some additional insulation. Many times, we will find large, glaring problems, such as not enough insulation in areas of the roof. Other times, we see many smaller leaks, such as uninsulated outlets, that make your building like a sieve for heating and cooling. Thermal scans are just another great way to visually capture what’s going on outside your building.
Find Water Leaks
Water leaks are not a great situation. Where air leaks cause high energy bills and slow but sure wear on equipment, water leaks cause immediate, and often very expensive damage. Left untouched, water damage can turn to greater structural damage, mildew, mold, or worse. The problem is that if your building has gaps that are letting air through, it is also a potential entry point for water. An expert commercial energy inspector will use a variety of tests to find places where water can enter the building. With water entry points sealed off, you can sleep easier knowing that your property is less likely to incur water damage during the next storm.
Don’t wait for air and water leaks to get out of hand.
If you’ve been wondering how to make your commercial building more energy efficient, now is the time to act. Chances are, if you are seeing inefficiencies, our team at Building Envelope Allies can help you pinpoint and solve issues that could save you time and money down the road. Contact us today to see how we can help.