Energy Treasure Hunts: Generating Cost Savings & Reducing Emissions

October 22, 2024
Participants in an energy treasure hunt investigate an industrial facility for opportunities.

Societal — and in a growing number of locales regulatory — pressures around energy consumption, reducing carbon emissions and responsible environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting are mounting.

What does this mean for facilities management? Offsetting operational costs is critical to financial success, and building owners are looking to their facilities management providers to contribute by delivering innovation and cost savings.

Through Energy Treasure Hunts, ESFM has been able to identify energy conservation measures (ECMs) that deliver significant energy savings and lower emissions, with little financial investment required by the client. Across five locations totaling 2.4 million square feet, Energy Treasure Hunts identified $1.9 million in annual energy savings. This equates to eliminating 6,896 metric tons of CO2 emissions.

The significant energy and cost savings ESFM has identified for clients through Energy Treasure Hunts resulted in ESFM achieving ENERGY STAR Industrial Service and Product Provider (iSPP) status, a first-of-its-kind distinction for an FM provider.

Successfully executing Energy Treasure Hunts across a facility has proven to:

  • Deliver a low-cost program that identifies energy inefficiencies and cost savings.
  • Identify opportunities to reduce facility carbon emissions.
  • Increase support of sustainable practices across an organization by involving and engaging occupants.
  • Support clients with regulatory compliance, including state specific Commercial Building Energy Benchmarking Policies.

To ensure this innovative program would bring maximum value to clients, ESFM ensured it followed the Energy Treasure Hunt guidelines published by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR program.

OVERVIEW

Energy Treasure Hunts are a four-day, focused exercise facilitated by a subject matter expert (SME) that involves multiple teams of facility occupants from various departments, who:

  • ON DAY ONE: are trained by one or more SMEs to identify where energy is being wasted around a building, earning 8 continuing professional development (CPD) hours.
  • ON DAYS TWO AND THREE: document observations and work with SMEs to begin quantifying their findings in cost and emissions savings.
  • ON DAY FOUR: present their group’s top three recommended ECMs to site leadership, prioritized by financial and carbon footprint impact.

This collaborative session trains participants to calculate the emissions equivalent of utilities used, a skillset often reserved for third-party auditors or online tools, that will continue to serve the client’s sustainability initiatives. The emissions equivalent of reduced energy use is a critical data point that informs project and capital investment priority for implementing the findings from the Energy Treasure Hunt and beyond.

COST & IMPACT

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that the typical commercial and industrial facility in America uses only 60% of the energy it consumes, and the rest is wasted.

Energy Treasure Hunts are a low-cost way to identify significant energy savings — up to 30% from behavior change alone, according to the DOE.

Furthermore, these activities promote team ownership of findings, strengthening the occupant commitment to sustainability targets, while identifying ECMs that are often low- or no-cost to implement.

At a medical device manufacturing site in New Jersey, for example, ESFM’s Energy Treasure Hunt presented $385,000 of annual savings, equivalent to 2,147,600 kWh and 1,500 metric tons of CO2 emissions. Low-cost opportunities included insulated pipes and heat exchanges, lowering air compressor PSI, fixing air leaks and cleaning/replacing air filters.

A case study from this client site had previously earned an award for the results of its energy management program. The additional findings underscore the differentiation in approach to identifying energy efficiencies: they don’t replace or diminish large-scale capital investments towards asset optimization, but they do enhance them.

ENERGY TREASURE HUNT VS. ENERGY AUDIT

The cost of implementing recommended ECMs from Energy Treasure Hunts can be drastically lower than those of a traditional energy audit because they include impact from operational changes and human behavior.

For example, simply turning off lights when a room is no longer in use or closing blinds in conference rooms with west-facing windows in the afternoon during summer months, lowers utility usage. The influence of occupant behaviors cannot be measured by the building automation system (BAS), but the estimated savings can be quantified during an Energy Treasure Hunt.

Implementing high-level energy audit findings can involve significant capital costs ranging from $100,000 to $1 million for equipment upgrades and process optimization changes, based on specific circumstances of the facility and the scope of the high-level audit recommendations. A typical Energy Treasure Hunt includes no-cost or low-cost outcomes, typically ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 depending on the size and age of the facility.

Facility management providers who self-perform this service, like ESFM, effectively slash the cost of using a third-party vendor by tens of thousands of dollars. Additionally, the provider is in place as a trusted partner to execute next steps, including repairs and project management.

EDUCATION & ENGAGEMENT

Beyond the initial bottom-line benefit of Energy Treasure Hunts is the compounding effects of trained and engaged occupants.

Each includes approximately a dozen people representing multiple departments. Not only do these participants receive professional development but they’re also empowered to continually identify energy conservation measures at their site, creating a mechanism for continuous improvement.

Energy Treasure Hunts naturally increase the engagement of participants in their employer’s environmental goals. By leveraging the perspectives of a diverse team of local personnel, not just building managers and engineers, fresh eyes see different aspects of a facility and discover new energy conservation opportunities.

Through the treasure-hunting process, participants become invested in their organization’s emission targets and the performance of their facility, creating sustainability ambassadors with influence across their departments and communities.

CASE STUDIES

A summary slide of ESFM's 5 recent treasure hunt case studies, identifying $1.9 million in annual savings.Since providing Energy Treasure Hunts as a service, ESFM has identified potential savings of 30% on average, despite differences in facility type and geography. For example,

  • Furniture manufacturing facility – Jasper, Ind., approximately 100,000 square feet, $162,113 annual savings
  • Medical device manufacturing facility – Mahwah, N.J., 500,000 square feet, $385,000 annual savings
  • Food manufacturing facility – Naperville, Ill., 500,000 square feet footage, $189,000 annual savings
  • Life sciences research and development facility – Puerto Rico, 1,000,000 square feet, $857,000 annual savings
  • Research and development facility – Plainsboro, N.J., 256,000 square feet, $305,000 annual savings

CONCLUSION

Energy Treasure Hunt findings can act as a precursor to establishing long-term energy management action plans and impact progress toward client sustainability targets. They also can enhance an existing, successful energy program.

Before investing in renewable energy, clients are encouraged to explore energy efficiency, noting a much higher rate of return.

A graphic featuring a building blueprint highlighting ESFM's various Energy Management Solutions.While ESFM’s self-performing Technical Services & Energy Solutions team optimizes building systems through a variety of efforts, including continuous monitoring and energy analysis of assets connected to the facility’s BAS, the Energy Treasure Hunt captures savings opportunities beyond those activities.

Facility management providers can learn from this success.

To learn more about creating an Energy Treasure Hunt program, or training a subject matter expert to lead them, contact [email protected].

See more from the Technical Services & Energy Solutions team at www.esfm-usa.com.