Energy efficiency improvements for office space

[Bharath Raj]

I am under contract to buy a ~4700 sq ft office space in a great location near Houston. The building' exterior is mostly glass (single storey). The inspection report noted the 15 ton HVAC unit to be in very poor condition. The other 5 ton HVAC is in fair/poor condition. I am wanting to improve the energy efficiency of the building. The electricity bill in the T12 has averaged ~$700/month. The tenant has a full service gross lease. So, it' in my best interest to cut the cost of utilities where I can. I read several articles regarding achieving these, but was wondering what you guys would advise as the priorities. Is it expensive to hire a company to do energy audits in a space as small as mine?

[Adam Johnson]

I will offer a slightly different angle regarding the cost of hiring someone to do an energy audit. Let's use 2 examples.

Example 1 - you spend $ 1,000 to hire an auditor. They will likely give you a list of suggestions, along with a rough idea of which improvements will have the largest impact on savings. For conversation sake, let's say that adding blinds in the west windows will cost you $ 4,000, but save you an estimated $ 2,000 per year in air conditioning cost. Another suggestion might be to replace the rooftop units at an estimated cost of $ 25,000, which might save you $ 5,000 per year. Because your auditor suggested the blinds, which you may not have thought of on your own, you decide to do them first because the ROI is much higher. After Year 2, you can potentially reinvest the savings into further improvements.

Example 2 - you decide you can't afford an audit. You call in an electrician to look for suggestions. He sells you what he has for sale, electrical upgrades. So he sells you on a $ 30,000 lighting upgrade that will save you $ 1,000 per year in lighting cost. The ROI is horrible, but you might not know that.

Moral of the story, start with getting a cost estimate on the audit. It is very likely worth the investment because it will allow you to make INFORMED decisions. Best of luck to you!