Energy management
7 min read
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Finance wants to know what the energy program saved. Your team has bills from different periods, a few missing records and stores that changed their hours. Before you can give a useful answer, you need to get everyone comparing the same things.
The short answer
Portfolio energy management helps you find waste across multiple locations and check whether changes reduced energy use. Use a consistent site list, compare suitable periods and account for differences such as weather and opening hours. Show energy use and cost separately so people can understand where a saving came from.
What matters most
Use the same sites and billing periods so missing bills do not look like savings.
Separate weather, store-hour changes and utility rates from HVAC improvements.
Give Finance a savings explanation tied to work your team actually completed.
Get everyone looking at the same sites and bills
Start with a clear list of the locations in the report. For each one, identify the meters, fuels and periods you are comparing. Keep stores that have opened, closed or changed use easy to spot.
A bill’s issue date is not always the same as the period when the energy was used. One bill might cover parts of two calendar months. Choose a reporting method that fits the source and use it consistently.
Missing bills are another common source of confusion. Mark them as missing and assign someone to obtain them. A blank record must not become zero consumption and make the result look better.
Portfolio energy management starts to become useful when facilities and finance can point to the same site list and agree what the numbers cover. Otherwise, a meeting about savings can turn into a debate over whose spreadsheet is correct.
Compare each site with a fair starting point
An energy baseline is the starting point used to judge a change. For a savings estimate, it should describe what the site was expected to use without the improvement.
Last year’s use can be a useful comparison, but it may not tell the whole story. This year might be hotter. The store may be open longer. A unit may have been replaced. Write down how you handle those differences before choosing the result you like best.
ENERGY STAR explains how its benchmarking calculations account for weather and property-use details. A specific savings project still needs a comparison method that fits its own data and question.
Keep the explanation simple enough to say aloud. “Use fell compared with last year” and “our program caused the whole reduction” are different claims. Make the stronger claim only when the analysis supports it.
How it works
Make the savings number easy to explain
Use the same sites and a clear comparison throughout the report.
1
Agree what is included
List the sites, meters and reporting periods.
2
Choose a fair comparison
Explain the expected use and relevant changes in conditions.
3
Show the calculation
Keep energy units, rates and program costs separate.
4
Explain the gaps
Identify missing records and the sites needing more investigation.
Which high-use stores should you investigate first?
The store with the biggest bill is not automatically the store wasting the most energy. It may be larger, open longer or doing more business than the others.
The report should lead from a specific site to a specific operating change. That connection makes the result more useful than a portfolio total that hides which stores improved and which still need work.
Group locations in ways that make the comparison useful. Check size, hours, equipment and use before treating two stores as peers. Then look for a reason the difference deserves attention.
An HVAC energy management system can help connect the monthly result to what happened at the equipment. Was the HVAC running after closing? Did the manager report repeated comfort problems? Was a struggling unit left unresolved?
Keep reporting problems separate from equipment problems. A missing meter record needs a data follow-up. A wrong schedule needs a settings review. A unit that cannot keep the store cool may need service.
The HVAC energy-waste checklist helps turn a high-use location into a specific set of checks your facilities team can act on.
Calculate energy savings and dollar savings separately
Here is an illustrative example, not a Monaire customer result. Suppose your agreed method estimates that a site would have used 100,000 kWh without the improvement. It actually used 92,000 kWh.
Example calculation | Result |
|---|---|
Expected electricity use | 100,000 kWh |
Actual electricity use | 92,000 kWh |
Difference | 8,000 kWh |
Difference as a share of expected use | 8% |
The subtraction is easy. The important question is whether the expected-use estimate is fair. If the first number is simply last year’s use, say that and explain any changes that affect the comparison.
At an illustrative energy-only rate of $0.15 per kWh, 8,000 kWh represents $1,200. That is not automatically the change in the full utility bill. Demand charges, fixed fees, taxes and varying rates can also affect cost.
Show program fees separately when discussing the net financial benefit. This makes it easier for finance to understand the energy reduction, the estimated value and the cost of achieving it.
How Monaire sees it
Your team should be able to explain a savings number without a long debate over which stores were included. Monaire’s energy story should connect the sites you worked on, the changes you made and the results you can support.
Make the monthly report easy to explain
Put the information people need beside the result. Show which sites are included, the reporting period, missing records and the comparison used. A reader should not need another workbook to understand what the total means.
Add a short explanation of the changes that matter. One store extended its hours. Another replaced a unit. A third had an unresolved comfort issue. These details help explain why locations did not all move in the same direction.
Keep excluded sites visible. Explain why a site was left out or reported separately, especially if its operating conditions changed. Do not quietly remove a poor result after seeing it.
Finally, show what the facilities team actually did. Corrected schedules, completed repairs and open issues make the report useful for the next month’s work. The building energy management guide connects that work with keeping stores comfortable.
Use the results to choose the next action
A good report ends with a manageable work list. Get the missing records. Review the stores with unusual after-hours use. Follow up on a repaired unit that is still drawing complaints.
Give each item a person and a next step. At the following review, start with what happened to those items. This prevents the same high-use stores from appearing in a monthly presentation without anyone knowing whether they were investigated.
If you are considering Monaire, bring the report you already use and a few sites you cannot explain. Review the energy-saving opportunity alongside the equipment and operating questions.
The aim is a savings number your team can stand behind and a clear idea of where to look next. You need both to keep a portfolio energy program moving.
A useful savings report does two jobs: explains the result and identifies the next opportunity. Monaire helps your facilities team connect HVAC performance with the sites and changes behind the numbers.
Why can’t I just compare this year’s bill with last year’s?
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Should missing bills count as zero energy use?
The placeholder answer.
What does an energy baseline mean?
The placeholder answer.
What should I show finance each month?
The placeholder answer.
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