This short e-book describes the key elements in implementing and managing an energy and environmental management program

Recently the Aberdeen Group released a study on energy management business practices that compared laggard, industry average and best-in-class organizations against one another. These results were uncovered through a survey of 254 executives earlier this year.

The survey classified the three levels – laggard, industry average and best-in-class –based upon practice and performance. The definitions are:

In addition to ranking the levels by practice and performance the study also look at the following five categories. In each category the study identifies how a best-in-class organization stands out from the other levels.

Process: The approach companies take to execute daily operations.
This includes a standardized approach to monitor energy data across an organization and an auditable and transparent process across all functional groups. Best-in-class companies stand out in this category because they have standardized the process to monitor energy data across their enterprise. This allows the companies to understand what energy data to collect, where to collect from and how frequent and how to use the data to make effective decisions.

Organization: Corporate focus and collaboration among stakeholders.
An important aspect of this category is collaboration between corporate and facility level departments. Energy management has to be viewed at the executive level as a core initiative and not the sole responsibility of an energy engineer. Most best-in-class organizations have an executive sponsorship and create cross functional teams for its energy management program.

Knowledge Management: Contextualizing data and exposing it to key stakeholders.
This includes collecting energy data automatically and using real time data to provide key decision makers with proper information. Best in class companies ensure that critical decisions are made from the most up to date information without any doubts as to the validity of the information.

Performance Management: The ability of the organization to measure its results to improve its business.
Best-in-class organizations benchmark current performance of their energy management programs across all facilities to understand how it performances internally, againsts its competitors and industry standards.

Technology: The selection of the appropriate tools and the effective deployment of those tools.
A major differentiator of best-in-class organizations is that they invest in energy management and carbon management tools to provide facility level visibility to energy and carbon data.

So what makes a best-in-class company? The study summarizes that best-in-class companies:

• Redesign/optimize processes to support the organization’s energy goals. Companies are using actual energy consumption, across all levels, to make real time decisions.
• Create and improve collaboration across functional groups. Companies are taking a board holistic approach to energy management and understand that energy management is a part of the overall corporate strategy.

Best-in-class performers also:

• Establish cross functional teams to enable a holistic energy management program.
• Enable visibility into energy data by investment in energy management and carbon management solutions.
• Invest in reporting, dashboards and analytics to provide role based visibility into key sustainability metrics.

For more information about the report, visit www.aberdeen.com.

In today’s difficult market environment business decisions are being weighed more carefully than ever. Typical project valuation indicators such as ROI and simple payback times are no longer good enough. Savings from energy efficiency projects can be lost in the fog of obfuscating external factors. The focus is now on reducing carbon footprints and, by direct relationship, energy consumption. Too many high level executives can’t rationalize what 100,000 kilowatt hours of savings means to them and their business. In this context, it has become extremely useful to model energy consumption in terms of each firm’s unique key performance indicators.

If you are a restaurant it may be the number of meals you serve, if you are a retirement home it may be the number beds you have occupied, if you are an industrial manufacturer it is the number of widgets you make; establishing an energy cost-per-output is the first step in the process and is unique to every business model. Typically organizations expend vast resources to measure the cost of their inputs per unit of output yet ignore energy, a fundamental input into any business process output unless you’re output is giving advice such as a psychologist, even then, giving advice in the dark is disturbing, you’ve got to keep the lights on.

Defining your energy costs of production is an essential step to understanding how energy affects your productivity and profit margin. The most important action is to generate a baseline of energy cost-per-KPI. Once you know that you are using 40 kWh of electricity per widget you can effectively compare your energy efficiency across time in a way that is meaningful to every member of the organization. Too often energy expenditure is considered by a select few operational employees. Expressing energy in a metric everyone can understand aligns the interests of the entire organization and can act as a measuring stick for different business units. Doing this allows you to track the effect each business unit is having on the company-wide energy cost-per-KPI and reward performance accordingly. Eventually, once most business are measuring energy cost and consumption as a function of production levels these key metrics will provide important benchmarking applications to measure comparative performance among competitors as well. This, of course, depends upon impending energy and environment disclosure requirements.

A considerable benefit of expressing energy consumption in terms of KPI’s is the identification of major energy cost drivers. Developing an energy management plan is not overly useful if you don’t know what is driving your energy costs and what level of impact they have on your final output. By finding out which of your business processes have the highest cost per KPI you can then focus on improving the energy efficiency of those processes. In many cases the processes that can have the most impact are often the last to be considered if the cost-per-KPI data has not pointed you in the right direction.

Any business that wants to stay profitable must grow. Forecasting the costs associated with growth has long been a terribly inconsistent and difficult task to perform. In respect to energy costs this can be especially complex if costs-per-KPI have not been evaluated. With an energy cost-per-KPI metric the forecasting of future energy costs becomes a simpler exercise. The cost-per-KPI function can easily be reversed to determine what energy costs would be for varying levels of output. Production levels can then be forecasted and a sensitivity analysis can be performed to estimate the future cost of energy with various production levels. Similarly, a consumption-per-KPI calculation can be reversed to determine energy consumption requirements for certain levels of production; this will come in handy when planning energy infrastructure during facility expansion. At this point it helps to classify which energy costs are variable and which are fixed. It may be helpful to go so far as to determine variable-cost-per-KPI and fixed-cost-per-KPI functions separately. This information will also aid your organization while developing hedging strategies to reduce exposure. The forecasts can be used to determine how much energy will be required and, as a result, how large purchasing deals must be to guarantee adequate energy at a reliable price point in the future.

The evaluation of energy efficiency projects can also be made clearer through the use of cost-per-KPI metrics. ROI’s and simple paybacks do not tell the whole story. It can often be beneficial to examine how each measure may impact the cost-per-KPI metric. In this way the business impact of energy reduction projects can be evaluated next to labour-related and financing measures which are typically measured against your key performance indicators already. Measuring against KPI’s can also clarify the interrelationship between projects implemented concurrently. Typically, deriving the impact that a single project has on costs or consumption is impossible when multiple projects have been implemented at the same time. Measuring against KPI’s and drilling these values down to business units or cost centers help to clarify the impact each measure has on the company’s overall performance.

All companies may see value in diffusing energy related information in terms the entire organization can understand, however implementing this process requires a great deal of focus on gathering and maintaining effective and up to date datasets. Measurements against KPI’s are only as good as the data that is being used. Developing and implementing a comprehensive data plan focusing on accuracy is fundamental to effective measurement. The best KPI’s are leading indicators; keeping this information up to date is essential and crucial for effective reporting.

Using a cost-per-KPI metric will increase the clarity and effectiveness of communications throughout the business units of your company. When everyone can see the impact energy costs have on their business process they align themselves to manage the impact their individual business unit has on the company as a whole. The use of consumption-per-KPI metrics are invaluable when forecasting future energy requirements and developing hedging strategies. Cost-per-KPI metrics can be used as performance indicators themselves and can be used to compare the viability of energy projects as well as the performance of business units.

The old adage says “you can’t manage what you don’t measure”. Expressing energy as a per-KPI metric ensures that a firm is not only measuring the impact energy has on its operations, but that it is being measured in a meaningful way to all the firm’s stakeholders and decision makers.

Individual provinces have differing regulatory regimens, market conditions, incentive programs, energy related greenhouse gas factors and GST/HST cost structures. For companies operating facilities across Canada, provincial differences should be considered when developing a corporate energy strategy.

To begin, a fundamental analysis of your company’s corporate energy spend should be completed. This is a simple table of your annual energy use and cost by commodity, including a subtotal by province. The annual period can be any 12 month period – for example the latest calendar or fiscal year, or the most recent 12 months. To start, calculate unit rates by commodity by province. Add provincial emissions factors to the table and calculate carbon footprint by commodity by province.

For example, in Ontario the emissions factor for 2009 electricity use is 0.000220 tonnes CO2 equivalent per kilowatt hour (tCO2e/kWh). If a company uses 10 million kilowatt hours per year, its electricity related carbon footprint is 2,200 tCO2e.

From the provincial analysis, consider the following:

1. How is my energy use distributed provincially?

Energy-related regulations and incentive programs are set primarily on a provincial basis. Fish where the fish are – if 50% of your electricity spend is in Ontario, and 5% is in Quebec, it makes sense to focus first on developing a strong understanding of Ontario incentive programs.

2. What are my unit costs of electricity and natural gas by province?

Unit costs, for example electricity and HST costs, vary by province. British Columbia, Manitoba, and Quebec have lower electricity rates as a result of their relatively low cost hydro-electric generation. Alberta and Ontario have higher electricity rates. All things being equal, money spent on lighting retrofits for example, is better spent in Alberta than Manitoba. With natural gas, unit rates trend higher as transportation costs increase moving east from Alberta. This should be taken into account when looking at where to spend money on natural gas related initiatives.

3. Provincially, what is the carbon footprint associated with my energy use?

Electricity-use related greenhouse gas emissions vary dramatically by province. For example, the emissions factor associated with electricity use in Quebec is 0.000011 tCO2e/kWh versus 0.000820 for Alberta. The same electricity use in Alberta contributes 75 times the carbon it does in Quebec. Once again, all things being equal, if you are focused on reducing your carbon footprint, reduced electricity use gets you significantly “more bang for your buck” in Alberta than Quebec.

Once you have your provincial analysis complete, it can be used to help prioritize your energy efficiency investments and provide input into your organization’s corporate energy strategy.

Figure 1 is a bubble graph of unit electricity cost versus electricity use by province for a fictitious company – ABC Company. The bubble size represents the relative carbon footprint associated with its electricity use. Imagine Figure 1 has four quadrants with the upper right quadrant representing provinces with high energy use and high energy cost. This area represents prime regions that ABC Company should focus on.

Figure 1 identifies that ABC Company’s three largest electricity using provinces are Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta. Of these three, Ontario has the largest electricity consumption. This signals that ABC Company should make it a priority to understand the energy efficiency incentive programs available in Ontario. Alberta has the highest electricity-related carbon footprint and the highest unit cost. Quebec, while having high consumption, has the lowest carbon footprint and lowest unit cost. If ABC Company’s focus is carbon footprint reduction, the company should make energy efficiency improvement in Alberta a priority. British Columbia, Manitoba, and Quebec are low cost and low carbon footprint. New Brunswick, while relatively low in energy use, has a relatively high unit rate and high carbon footprint.

Figure 1 – Electricity Use and Rate by Province

In the development of an effective corporate energy management program it is important to take into account provincial differences. A summary of energy use and cost by province inclusive of unit costs and provincial emission factors will provide a valuable framework from which to develop a corporate energy strategy. It’s a low cost early step that will help guide important investment decisions before moving to high cost, site specific capital initiatives.

This saying still holds in the rapidly developing discipline of total energy and environmental management. Many organizations are now struggling to elevate the procurement and utilization of energy to an enterprise level as a response to drivers such as volatile energy prices, emerging supply technologies, and greenhouse gas emissions regulatory and reporting requirements.

Energy data and information systems and processes are an important foundation for successful energy management planning, implementation and continual improvement. These systems are also consistent with continuous improvement approaches applied to other corporate priorities such as financial or inventory controls.

The collection and validation of data and information required for an effective energy management program can be a complex task which will only increase as energy end users face an increasing amount of energy-related data and information inputs.

Organizations that do not adequately arm themselves with the data and information related to their energy use will not be able to track progress towards their goals and will end up working in an environment that lacks the transparency and accountability required to achieve success.

But measuring alone will not achieve and maintain the results that are possible with a good energy management strategy and implementation. Energy-related information quickly loses its value in the absence of aligned management and administrative structures, designed to continually work towards energy management goals.

Why is energy management becoming an enterprise-level challenge? Why is it moving from a “technical” activity assigned to operational staff and moving firmly on to the agenda of CEO’s and CFO’s? There are a number of critical elements that make up a total energy and environmental management approach. The success in addressing each and every one of these elements relies on well-structured and maintained energy data and information systems and procedures.

Corporate Energy Committee
In the same vein as well-known enterprise level corporate committees, the establishment of a corporate energy committee is an important foundation for an optimal energy and environmental program. The committee can also be the place where high-level, energy and environmentally related corporate concerns can be addressed, such as risk, image and compliance.

Energy is becoming a larger part of overall risk assessments because of price volatility, supply security and government compliance. The days of ‘greenwashing’ are over as consumers will demand detailed facts and figures and possibly third party verification and accreditation in support of such claims. Governments are getting serious about energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emission reductions, regulatory acts such as Ontario’s Energy Efficiency Leadership Act within Bill 21 and the United States Waxman-Markey Bill. All of these aspects demand significant data collection and manipulation and enterprise level decision-making.

Energy and Environmental Policy
Organizations are often highly motivated to adopt energy efficiency and other green policies and promote them to the public. But in the absence of good data and information systems and organizational structures it is very difficult to assess the costs of implementing and maintaining these policies, thus undermining their effectiveness.

Energy and Emissions Baseline
An energy and emissions baseline report provides an overview of an organization’s energy consumption, costs and emissions for a recent fiscal period and becomes a critical benchmark against which the success of future energy and environmental policy and programs can be measured. The baseline is entirely dependant on data and information related facilities energy use, energy supplier information, water and treatment usage and relevant facility metrics which affect energy consumption and cost such as production data, hours of operation, facility area etc.

Opportunities Assessment
A review of every facet of an organizations energy related operations addresses the gap between existing and best management practices. This includes financial, accounting, procurement operations, design, construction and environmental functions. In combination with the baseline report data and information, the opportunity assessment is used identify opportunities for energy efficiency and environmental improvement as well as the potential costs and benefits.

Strategic Plan
The strategic plan sets out the corporate energy management objectives. It addresses the importance and impact of energy management on the company’s profitability, sustainability and, ultimately, its value. The plan outlines the framework in terms approach, resources, and timeline for implementation. Based on these strategic considerations, more detailed action plans can be developed for each area as described below.

Budget and incentives required to resource energy efficiency and environmental programs are reliant on high quality data and information systems. The budget is typically based on historical consumption and cost data from the baseline report. Access to government programs typically requires detailed analysis of expected results and reporting on the performance post-implementation.

Energy and emissions monitoring and reporting requires relevant data to be captured continuously monitored over time so that periodic reports can be prepared to show how the company is progressing towards its stated objectives and targets, and versus budget.

Diligent energy procurement requires reliable data and information in support of monitoring developments in energy procurement markets, assessing direct purchasing strategies, and implementation and management of direct purchases.

Energy efficiency for existing facilities is a fundamental goal of total energy management. This typically involves employee awareness programs and capital expenditures to improve energy-using equipment and systems. Both approaches rely on well structured data systems to assess feasibility, prioritization, calculate paybacks and reporting on expected results.

Emissions and carbon offsets trading is a critical components of future carbon management mechanisms. If a cap and trade mechanism is put in place, organizations will be hampered if they have not established rigorous energy and emissions accounting systems.

Conclusion
All of the issues listed above, when considered as a whole, are critical management issues that cannot be properly addressed without the appropriate measurement tools and management processes.

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure” is much more than an overused cliché. Organizations that don’t embrace the challenge run the risk of being left behind in the emerging green economy.

“Make it so Number One”, the famous words of John Luc Picard should be an inspiration to Energy Managers. Once you’ve obtained senior level approval to precede with your energy management plans, it is time to make it happen.

There are many ways to do this. Many organizations have set rules and policies concerning the implementation of operational programs and capital budgets. Be sure to understand the approval process thoroughly (this should have been covered in the early stages of the strategic plan development). A good cross sectional energy management team will assist you in navigating the approval and implementation process. There are no substitutes for thorough planning and good communication at this stage. Regardless of whether you are implementing an awareness program or a major capital retrofit there are some basic steps to ensure success.

Project Development

Step 1
In most cases I recommend starting with a pilot project. The pilot project provides the best guarantee for success of a full scale project or roll-out. The first step is to select a small sample of facilities or sites that would be representative of the larger project. The selection can be based on scoping audits results and baseline analysis that would have been completed in the Opportunity Assessment phase (check out our article on Developing an Energy Management Program for more details on the Opportunity Assessment phase).

Step 2
The next step would be to collect detailed information from the selected sample sites. These details are important in preparing the scope of work for the pilot project. This may require hiring a qualified consultant to complete an audit and prepare the scope of work on your behalf. It is a good idea to involve contractors that you intend to invite to bid on the scope of work as they can provide valuable and knowledgeable input.

Step 3
With the scope of work prepared, the next step is to put the pilot project out for bids. It is important to follow corporate energy procurement policies when doing this. At the pilot stage, it may be worthwhile to select a couple of contractors so that you can evaluate their performance for possible inclusion in the program roll-out. Additional monitoring should be included in the pilot project so savings can be accurately measured. Make sure to allow adequate time before and after the work is done to collect enough monitoring data.

Step 4
Upon successful completion of the pilot project, the next step is to prepare the roll-out plan. The results of the pilot will be useful in selecting suitable sites, estimating costs, benefits and preparation of the roll-out schedule.

Analysis from the pilot program will goes into the preparation of the final business case. This business case is to be presented to senior management in order to get authorization to proceed with full a scale project. This business case should be brief and clearly present the key technical and financial parameters of the project. Be sure to identify and include any potential government and utility incentives in your analysis. Life cycle cost benefit analysis (LCCBA) is the best way to present the financial benefits. You should also include cash flow and P & L impact. If the project is good and the business case is thorough you should expect a speedy approval to proceed. At this point it should be noted that every day of delay means another day of lost savings.

Project Approved, on to Implementation

You should follow your corporate energy procurement policies once you have received approval to proceed. Be sure to allow enough lead time to submit and receive approvals for government and utility incentives.  Communications is key during the implementation phase. Facility managers and employees and in some cases customers need to be aware of what is going on. This will minimize disruptions and encourage full cooperation during the project. Awareness of the project and your energy management objectives will go a long way towards ensuring that savings are not compromised once the contractor have left the site.

You can expect a few visits from “Murphy” during the course of the project. It is not uncommon for contractors to suggest alternate equipment or configurations. In these cases it will be necessary to revisit the business case in order to assess the impact of the suggested changes on the financial goals of the project. This will need to be done during the project and again once the project is complete.

Proper commissioning and optimization are also important to success. The engineer and/or the contractor must ensure that the installed systems have been properly commissioned and the performance is specified in any bid documents. Following commissioning, there should be a period of optimization, where the performance of the system is continuously monitoring and fine tuned to maximize energy savings. This could take 3 months to a year to complete.

Once the system is working well, it is important to revisit the business case and update it with actual as-built information. This step proves to management that you have good accountability. This documentation is also a requirement for payment with most incentive programs and can be used in the creation of emission credits. Hopefully the results are as expected. If they are better or worse than expected you should be able to explain why and provide a clear picture of lessons learned. As Babe Ruth once said, “Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.” This type of presentation will strengthen your credibility with senior management and facilitate approval of future projects.

At this point don’t forget to celebrate your success. A good case study will go a long way towards promoting your program both internally and externally and provide momentum for your energy management program.

In the next article we make the jump to hyperspace and explore advance energy options such as distributed generation and renewable energy.

In my experience, the greatest challenge facing energy champions in an organization is not identifying good energy savings projects; it’s the frustration of getting financial approval from senior management. My opinion is that there is no point in spending a lot of time and effort developing an energy management program if the resources are not in place to ensure its success. The Golden Rule that applies to energy projects is that “he who has the gold rules”. Therefore, very early in the energy management process, an energy champion should be asking his superiors to “show me the money”. 

Calculating Financial Parameters

It’s widely known that it takes money to make money, but even if we know the money is there, how do we access those financial resources? First we need to know what the financial parameters are that matter most to the company. As you get closer to the top of the company, into the “C” level, you find that the drivers are tied to increasing the value of the company, especially in this new era of sustainability.

However, calculating the increase in value of a company is a little more complicated than simple payback. There are tools to help you in this process. The U.S Energy Star program, Financial Value Calculator is a tool that helps you speak the “C” level language.  It translates energy efficiency initiatives into impact on corporate financial value, increases in earnings/share, and price to earnings ratio. This calculator helps you understand how a sound energy efficiency program can add value to the company and communicate these benefits to senior management.

Another useful tool for project evaluation is Life Cycle Cost Benefit Analysis (LCCBA). Life Cycle Cost Analysis provides a sophisticated financial analysis that considers financing costs, energy costs, and replacement costs, as well as operating and maintenance costs over the life of the project.  Opportunity costs for money (discount rates) and the impacts of inflation on the economics of the project are included.  Non-energy-related benefits, such as improved productivity and environmental impact can be included.

The simple payback method typically ignores all costs and savings occurring after the point in time in which payback is reached.  It does not differentiate between project alternatives having different service lives, and ignores the time-value of money when comparing the future stream of savings against the initial investment cost.  Decisions based on simple payback criteria tend to undervalue the benefits of energy efficiency projects.

Financing the Energy Management Program

The Financial Value Calculator and Life Cycle Cost Benefit Analysis allow an energy management team to understand and capture all the available benefits. This is essential to understanding how to finance the program. There are many options and many variations on the different themes of financing including third party, shared savings, off balance sheet and “outside the fence”. Regardless of whether the company uses its own capital or borrows funds, there is always a cost of money. Savings from an energy management program must be sufficient to pay for the cost of the program, including the cost of money.

Simple rule to remember: CFOs are not interested in small projects. It is better to roll-up your projects into bigger package than to try to get approval separately for a bunch of smaller individual projects.

Many energy champions get frustrated with the approval process and opt to go the shared savings route. This is also known as the performance contracting or guaranteed savings approach offered by many Energy Service Companies (ESCOs). These approaches are fundamentally good and have evolved in response to the challenge of getting projects approved at the “C” level.

When the great industrialist and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller was asked “How much money is enough?” He responded: “Just a little more than you have.” I will address this situation in the next article when I cover government and utility incentives.

In 1979, just a year out of school, I jumped at an opportunity to move into energy management, a bold move for an electrical engineer who slept through most of his thermodynamics classes. It was an opportunity to help companies save energy and money. At the time, I was working for a utility. My employer justified helping customers because it allowed them to use their generating capacity and infrastructure more effectively.  The government, which regulated the utility, encouraged this activity as it also helped to conserved valuable natural resources and secure its supply for future generations.

The more I got immersed in energy management I found that saving energy improved productivity, increased profitability and created jobs. While working on industrial heat recovery projects in the late 80s, I realized the enormous impact that saving energy can have on reducing harmful emissions, including greenhouse gases, to the environment. No matter where I travel to work, these same benefits of energy management exist. Energy management is a “Win-Win-Win” proposition – its good for people, the economy and the environment.  As I look back over my energy management career, I can safely say I have never lost any sleep over that impulsive decision, almost 30 years ago, because saving energy is the right thing to do.

Today, more than ever, energy management is not only the right thing to do, it is the socially responsible thing to do. The inefficient use of energy, by growing global economy, is threatening to deplete our natural resources and suffocate the earth with greenhouse gases.

Fundamentally, we need energy to provide a safe, reliable and comfortable environment in which to live and work. We need energy to travel, and to produce the goods and services we need. A good organization needs to understand the energy supply train – how energy can be transformed from its raw state (oil, natural gas, wood, water, wind solar, etc), into an energy commodity  (Btus, GJ, kWhs), transported and cost effectively converted to meet the needs of the end user in an environmentally responsible way. This is a broad and complex topic. It requires knowledge of government policies and regulations, finance, risk management, accounting, marketing, human resources, economics, engineering, technology, the environment and, let’s not forget, thermodynamics. To complicate matters further, all of these areas are constantly changing. Successful energy management requires a process that can deal with all of these factors.

In upcoming articles, I will be addressing how to drive this energy management process as it relates to the commercial, industrial and institutional end user.  I intend to provide sound timely advice and support for developing and implementing effective energy management programs. I will discuss topics such as:

• Corporate commitment;
• Strategic planning;
• Government and utility incentives;
• Energy awareness;
• Project development and implementation; and
• Renewable energy opportunities.

So, I will end off this first article with a thought taken, and slightly modified, from a cartoon my kids used to watch. “What are we going to do in the next article? The same we do in every article. Try to save the world!”

Energy Exchange will deliver you meaningful and relevant content surrounding a myriad of topics related to sustainable energy. Energy Exchange will strive to provide topical information that will help you make informed decisions when it comes to energy management practices.

Energy Advantage is a total energy management organization with a depth of expertise in the energy and environmental area. We look to deliver tangible results in terms of reduced risks, costs and environmental impacts to organizations across North America. We want to help you stay informed on emerging issues, provide best practices in energy management and offer opinions and advice on effective energy solutions. Look for articles that surround topics such as energy procurement, energy reporting, environment management, energy efficiency and sustainable energy management.

So why read Energy Exchange? With over 12 years of experience in the energy and environmental industry we have a lot of extensive knowledge that we would like to share. We strongly believe in continuous learning and want to help you stay informed and educated by sharing our expertise on emerging trends, developments and best practices.

Energy Exchange articles will be written by internal energy and environmental experts and marketing professionals. We will be posting twice a week, so keep an eye out for new content! You can also subscribe to our RRS feed to receive updates of Energy Exchange.

We are really excited to launch a series of energy management articles by Peter Rowles. Peter is an engineer and energy expert with over 20 years of experience in the energy industry. The series will address how to successfully drive a sustainable energy management program within an organization. Articles will focus on program development, energy savings initiatives and making the program operational.  Topics include:

• Corporate commitment;
• Strategic planning;
• Government and utility incentives;
• Energy awareness programs;
• Monitoring and tracking; and
• Emission credit creation.

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Experts at Energy Advantage