Retrotec USACE - Manual (Page 51)

Chapter 4 29
The key elements that guarantee success of the energy assessment on site are
Involvement of ■ key facility personnel who know what the problems are,
where they are, and have thought of many potential solutions.
The facility personnel’s sense of “ownership” of the ideas that in turn
■
develops a commitment of implementation.
A focus on critical, site-specifi c cost issues, which, if solved, will make
■
the greatest possible economic contribution to a facility’s bottom line.
Major potential costs issues include: capacity utilization (bottlenecks),
material utilization (off spec, scrap, rework), labor (productivity, plan-
ning, scheduling), energy (steam, electricity, compressed air), waste (air,
water, solid, hazardous), and equipment (outdated or state of the art).
From a strict cost perspective, process capacity, materials, and labor utiliza-
tion can be far more signifi cant than energy and environmental concerns. All
of these issues, however, must be considered together to achieve the facility’s
mission in the most effi cient and cost-effective way.
4.3 Energy Assessment Team
The energy assessment team usually has several members, but the expertise
varies according to the complexity of the site. Very simple buildings may be au-
dited by one expert looking at all energy-using systems and building envelope,
but larger and very special sites require special expertise.
The team usually has
A building envelope expert or construction engineer ■
A mechanical engineer (HVAC, hot water, etc.) ■
An electrical systems expert (lighting, electrical, heating, equipment, etc.) ■
Also, other specialists may be needed in the areas of compressed air, refrigera-
tion, dining facilities, pools, and production processes. The tasks within the team
may be defi ned site-specifi cally, depending on the experience of the members.
The expertise of energy auditing does not depend on a strictly defi ned, sep-
arate fi eld of skills, methods, and procedures, but a combination of skills and
procedures from different fi elds. However, an energy and process assessment
does require a specifi c talent for putting together existing ways and proce-
dures to show the overall energy performance of a building and the processes
it houses and to determine how the performance can be improved.
The more complex a building is, and the more specialized its energy-using
systems are, the more important it will be to have experienced energy auditors.
The team members should have a clear picture before the assessment of what is
expected from them, fi rst, during the site visit, and, second, in the reporting phase.
The team should discuss with the project manager how to deal with informa-
tion needs after the site visit: will each expert contact the site staff independently
or is all information channeled via the project manager (which is usually more
time consuming).