First things First - Think efficiency before renewable energy

Before you start putting solar panels or wind turbines on your building, you should be sure you won’t be wasting that energy in your inefficient building. When it comes to spending money on energy projects, the efficiency side is where you really should spend it first. Consider these facts:

1. The return on investment on energy efficiency measures far exceeds those of any renewable energy system.
2. By making your building as efficient as possible first, you can minimize the size (and cost) of the renewable energy system you are interested in.
3. The saving of a kilowatt hour through efficiency has the same impact on the reduction of carbon emissions and imported oil as one created by a renewable energy system.

If your car has a leak in its gas tank, would you keep filling it up with premium gasoline only to let it drain out? The same goes for your building. You need to tighten up the energy leaks before investing in any type of generation system.

There are many opportunities for efficiency within commercial buildings. Advancement in lighting, air conditioning, and control technologies has resulted in large increases in efficiencies. This can provide significant dollar savings to your facility.

The fact is that the economics are in place for energy efficiency projects today. Energy prices over the past couple of years have increased significantly. Most utilities offer rebates for the installation of energy efficient technology. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 allows for tax deductions as well. This makes a typical return on investment for an energy efficiency project between 40 and 75%. If you finance these projects, you are able to create a positive cash flow situation from day one without any out of pocket expense.

Renewable energy is an important part of our future. How we get there is through a portfolio of energy efficient measures combined with renewable energy systems. Forming a comprehensive energy plan for your building will help achieve these goals. Having a strategy will ensure proper system integration, the most favorable return on investment and the need for less energy consumption.

So before you go out and purchase that solar system, take a look at your building and make sure you are as efficient as possible and you don’t have any energy leaks!