The Energy Audit 189or large shopping centers. Complex commercial audits are performed
in substantially the same manner as industrial audits. The following
discussion highlights those areas where commercial audits are likely to
differ from industrial audits.
Commercial audits generally involve substantial consideration of
the structural envelope features of the facility, as well as significant
amounts of large or specialized equipment at the facility. Office build-
ings, shopping centers and malls all have complex building envelopes
that should be examined and evaluated. Building materials, insulation
levels, door and window construction, skylights, and many other enve-
lope features must be considered in order to identify candidate ECOs.
Commercial facilities also have large capacity equipment, such
as chillers, space heaters, water heaters, refrigerators, heaters, cookers,
and office equipment like computers and copy machines. Small cogen-
eration systems are also commonly found in commercial facilities and
institutions such as schools and hospitals. Much of the equipment in
commercial facilities is the same type and size as that found in manu-
facturing or industrial facilities. Potential ECOs would look at more
efficient equipment, use of waste heat, or operational changes to use
less expensive energy.
Commercial Audit Services
Electric and gas utilities, and many engineering consulting firms,
perform audits for commercial facilities. Some utilities offer free walk-
through audits for commercial customers, as well as financial incentives
for customers who change to more energy efficient equipment. Schools,
hospitals, and some other government institutions can qualify for free
audits under the ICP program described in the first part of this chapter.
Whoever conducts the commercial audit must initiate the ICP process by
collecting information on the energy rate structures, the equipment in use
at the facility, and the operational procedures used there.
Commercial Energy Rate Structures
Small commercial customers are usually billed for energy on a per
energy unit basis, while large commercial customers are billed under
complex rate structures containing components related to energy, rate
of energy use (power), time of day or season of year, power factor, and
numerous other elements. One of the first steps in a commercial audit is
to obtain the rate structures for all sources of energy and to analyze at