What to do or how to budget for reducing utility consumption can seem daunting from both a time and expense perspective. Though, a wide range of changes can be made to lower energy expenses. These improvements can range from low or no cost changes to medium and higher cost options.

There is no reason that anyone has to live with high energy consumption regardless of the age of a building.

This is particularly disturbing when we continually encounter this situation in recently built buildings where the expectation was that the new building would be both comfortable and energy efficient. Yet, there are higher than expected costs and comfort issues on day one.

This came to light during a visit at a local K-12 school district with their superintendent and maintenance supervisor. CCG was there to look into skyrocketing energy consumption in a newer elementary building and an older high school. It was a beautiful seasonally warm fall day as we walked the grounds and noted that all four of their gymnasium units were operating. We found that by simply turning two of the units off, it had no negative impact on comfort, and would save them money. That was an easy fix.

Upon further discussion, we identified some low-cost changes that would pay back quickly and only continue to improve their savings over time. The discussion centered on building pressure relief and the importance of motorized dampers on all exhaust fans and relief dampers to tightly seal up a building during unoccupied hours. The maintenance supervisor noted that there were over 30 openings in the high school roof with no dampers in them – and some were as big as 36”x36” – and many of them were no longer needed.  After a simple explanation on how to cap the unused openings, we are confident that the building is much tighter and much more efficient.

Their newer elementary school is also currently experiencing higher energy costs, that they should never had to endure if the systems had been designed and installed correctly during initial construction. The mechanical and control systems are not providing the comfort and the efficiency as expected and the costs only continue to rise. CCG is the fourth control company that they contracted to help them. We guaranteed the performance they would receive and they will soon be realizing the comfort and efficiency they expected from the beginning.

That visit made us realize that it was time for a seminar on Strategies for Improving Comfort and Reducing Energy. While a comprehensive energy conservation project may include several of each price category of energy conservation measures, there is no reason we shouldn’t work together to reduce energy consumption by addressing the low-cost items as soon as possible.  It is the right thing to do – for CCG to stay true to our mission, for our customers, and for the environment. 

CCG’s highly experienced and talented team is committed to a continuous improvement process that results in some of the most comfortable and energy-efficient buildings in the country. Comfort, and its resulting productivity for the building occupants, should trump energy. The annual cost of human resources can be 100 times the cost of utilities per square foot in a building. 

Please join us on Wednesday, November 29 for a free seminar to discuss these items and hear real-world examples.

We guarantee that you will leave with numerous ideas that you can immediately implement that will begin improving comfort and saving energy.  We look forward to seeing you.