Decarbonization Insights

6 Ways For Building Owners To Save Money

If you own and/or operate an older building, existing inefficient equipment or a lack of new-age, sustainable solutions may be unnecessarily driving up operational costs. Here are the 6 ways to make sure you’re saving money and not throwing it out the window.

1. Get Rid Of Those Fluorescent Lights

Replace all fluorescent lights with LEDs, including all parking lot lighting. Installing LEDssave up to 20% – 30% on annual operating costs.

Lighting Retrofit Case Study

2. Install Solar Already

In addition to providing a long term energy cost reduction, you’ll also utilize the available tax benefits:

  • 26% Federal Business Energy ITC (dropping to 22% in 2021 and 10% thereafter),
  • The State of CA (MACRS) accelerated depreciation, and
  • Recently added, the 100% bonus Federal tax depreciation allows eligible entities to deduct the entire allowable tax basis of the system in the first year of operation.

Taking advantage of these tax incentives reduce the owner’s tax liability and will significantly offset the cost of a Solar PV system.  These incentives can also be applied to a roof replacement if combined into one project.

Solar PVs Case Study

3. Stop Cooling An Empty Room

Replace pneumatic thermostats with digital for higher-level control and visibility. Digital thermostats allow building owners to reduce peak demand by creating schedules around when spaces are unoccupied (holidays, non-peak hours, etc.).

Thermostat Retrofit Case Study

4. Be Smarter Than The Building

An energy management system (EMS) provides real-time monitoring, energy analytics, and wireless building control. The ability to measure a building’s energy usage on a granular level allows for better management of energy consumption and “peak demand.” An EMS provides extensive energy data history, peak load notifications, detailed usage reports, and more.

Energy Management System Case Study

5. Shield Your Internal Environment

Solar window film is applied to the interior of a window in order to control solar heat absorption. The film rejects up to 79% of solar energy and 99% of harmful UV rays.  Further, the film helps reduce glare, adding to a more comfortable office environment.

Solar Window Films Case Study

6. Protect Your Expensive Equipment

EvaporCool is a dual patented technology that pre-cools outdoor air prior to flowing through the condenser coils of an HVAC system. The pre-cooled air helps reduce the amount of work that the compressor must do to cool the air flowing inside a building. By minimizing the amount of work the compressor must do, the EvaporCool system prolongs the life of HVAC units, reduces energy usage up to 30%, and saves a significant amount in energy-related costs.

Evaporcool Case Study

Before getting started with any of these cost-saving options, we suggest having your building Benchmarked.
If you’d like to learn more about any of these cost-saving options, reach out to us at info@greeneconome.com or (818) 681-5750.