Summer Is Here!

Enjoying the warm summer weather but dreading your next utility bill? It’s not too late to take control of your building’s energy consumption and minimize the pain of summer prices.

Keep reading to find out some of the best (and often unexpected!) practices from top commercial real estate professionals to help successfully manage your building through the dog days of summer.

Warm up to higher setpoints: When it’s hot and humid outside, people are comfortable with slightly higher indoor temperatures. Try adjusting your setpoint up a degree or two in the temperature setting of your building, and modify your fan settings so that air is circulating constantly throughout the day. Chances are good that you’ll save money without seeing any increase in tenant calls!

Economizers are the silent budget killer: Is your mechanical system set to automatically respond to the actual outside air conditions? If yes, check to ensure your economizers are actually behaving according to those conditions; costly failures along the communication chain are not uncommon. If your system does not adjust automatically to outside conditions, talk to your HVAC contractor about the optimal damper settings for your building and adjust accordingly.

Mid-season checkup: High summer temperatures are hard on equipment. To be sure everything is running at peak performance, we recommend a mid-season checkup. To see a list of items to inspect, download our summer checklist here.

Manage your demand: Depending on your particular utility tariff, your demand charges could be anywhere from 40-60% (or more!) of your total electricity bill. Simply avoid higher peaks by adopting a real-time monitoring energy management software like MACH’s that allows you to set demand thresholds and alerts.

Ask your tenants to help: Simple energy behaviors such as closing blinds in the afternoons and making sure computers are powered off overnight and on weekends can yield real energy savings. And if your building has an energy management software installed, you can share with them the results – it will get them excited to join the cause!

There are still a few other small changes that can yield big results! Hint: it involves start-up time, shutdown approach and understanding your building occupancy. Download here to learn how these three small adjustments can bring in more energy savings this summer.

Energy management software will give you visibility into your building’s energy consumption to track the impact of these changes. You’ll be a hero for avoiding the worst of the summer price hits! Want more tips? Check out our interactive summer energy savings tips!