ABSTRACT
A frequent criticism of the quality and accuracy of energy audits is that they overestimate the savings potential for many customers. This entry discusses several problem areas that can potentially result in over-optimistic savings projections and suggests ways to increase quality and produce more accurate energy audits. Performing an energy and demand balance is the initial step a careful energy analyst should take when starting to evaluate the energy use at a facility. These balances allow one to determine what the largest energy users are in a facility, to find out whether all energy uses have been identified, and to check savings calculations by determining whether more savings have been identified than are actually achievable. Use of the average cost of electricity to calculate energy savings can give a false picture of the actual savings and may result in over-optimistic savings predictions. This entry discusses how to calculate the correct values from the electricity bills and when to use these values. Finally, the entry discusses several common energy-saving measures that are frequently recommended by energy auditors. Some of these may not actually save as much energy or demand as expected except in limited circumstances. Others have good energy-saving potential but they must be implemented carefully to avoid increasing energy use rather than decreasing it.
