186 Energy Project Financing: Resources and Strategies for Success
Equipment Suppliers
Equipment suppliers provide additional sources for data on energy
efficiency improvements to processes. Marketing new, cost-effective
processes and technologies provides sales for the companies as well
as helping industries to be more productive and more economically
competitive. The energy auditor should compare the information from
all of the sources described above.
CONDUCTING THE AUDIT
Safety Considerations
S afety is the primary consideration in any industrial audit. The
possibility of injury from hot objects, hazardous materials, slippery
surfaces, drive belts, and electric shocks is far greater than when con-
ducting residential and commercial audits. Safety glasses, safety shoes,
durable clothing, and possibly a safety hat and breathing mask might
be needed during some audits. Gloves should be worn while making
any electrical measurements and also while making any measurements
around boilers, heaters, furnaces, steam lines, or other very hot pieces
of equipment. In all cases, adequate attention to personal safety is a
significant feature of any industrial audit.
Lighting
Lighting is not as great a percent of total industrial use as it is in
the commercial sector on average, but lighting is still a big energy use
and cost area for many industrial facilities. A complete inventory of all
lighting should be taken during the audit visit. Hours of operation of
lights are also necessary, since lights are commonly left on when they
are not needed. Timers, energy management systems, and occupancy
sensors are all valuable approaches to insuring that unneeded lights
are not turned on. It is also important to look at the facility’s outside
lighting for parking and for storage areas.
During the lighting inventory, types of tasks being performed
should also be noted, since light replacement with more efficient lamps
often involves changing the color of the resultant light. For example,
high pressure sodium lamps are much more efficient than mercury
vapor lamps (or even metal halide lamps), but they produce a yel-
lowish light that makes fine color distinction difficult. However, many