Energy audits
Directive (EU) 2018/2002 defines Energy Audit as “a systematic procedure aimed at obtaining adequate knowledge of the energy consumption profile of an industrial or commercial facility or of public or private utilities, identifying and quantifying cost-effective energy-saving opportunities, and reporting on the results.”
An energy audit is therefore an analysis procedure that aims to detect the energy consumption of a building or business, industrial plant or activity, with the aim of measuring its energy use and allowing the identification of possible efficiency and savings measures. The reference standards are the DLgs of July 14, 2020, no. 73, and, in a broader sense, Directive (EU) 2018/2002 on energy efficiency.
STAKEHOLDERS IN THE ENERGY AUDIT
The legislation stipulates that large enterprises and enterprises defined as “energy-intensive” are required to carry it out, every 4 years. Large enterprises are defined as all entities, regardless of their legal form, with more than 250 employees and annual turnover exceeding 50 million euros, or whose total annual budget exceeds 43 million euros.
On the other hand, all those enterprises that have high consumption (greater than or equal to 1 GWh) of electricity, with a high impact on their turnover, are considered energy-intensive. More than 3,000 enterprises in Italy fall into this category. Can decide to carry out a voluntary energy diagnosis, even small and medium-sized enterprises. Beyond regulatory obligations, conducting energy audits is, in fact, a valuable tool even for small and medium-sized companies that, for example, can identify any energy waste or loss, understand how to improve production processes, and possibly evaluate sourcing from renewable sources. Reducing the environmental impact of the activities carried out by one’s company undoubtedly leads to increasing the trust of one’s stakeholders and demonstrates one’s commitment to sustainability.
THE BENEFITS | The advantages of an energy audit lie in the possibility of actions that organizations may decide to take, as a result of the audit:
- Drafting an energy balance of the building, production facility or company;
- Realistic and up-to-date data that make it possible for companies to define energy efficiency interventions and operations;
- Implementation of consumption monitoring and measurement systems;
- Reduction of consumption and i costs;
- Optimization of production processes;
- Reducing environmental impact;
- Enhancement of corporate image.
BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES | ASACERT inspectors will conduct one or more technical inspections, using the support of specialized instrumentation such as thermal imaging camera, thermal flow meter, hygrometers and Blowerdoor, among others.
The goals will be multiple:
- Define the state of the property
- Assess the characteristics and functionality of different areas of the building
- Estimating the stratigraphies of dispersing structures
- Evaluate any maintenance required
- View the thermal power plant, refrigeration units and related distribution, regulation and emission systems
- Evaluate any energy upgrades previously performed
- Acquire the consumption of different energy carriers in the building (natural gas, electricity)
The field checks will then be followed by a processing phase of the data and material acquired, with the aim of:
- Evaluate the overall energy needs
- Validate electricity and natural gas bills
- Estimate the total annual energy expenditure
The audit phase can also be deepened by requesting, as an additional service, the installation of a network of sensors aimed at detecting the consumption (electricity, methane gas) punctually of the entire facility and individual facilities that have the greatest impact on energy costs.
REALIZATION TIME | 1-2 weeks (without installation of the sensor network).
INVOLVEMENT OF COMPANY CONTACTS | The availability of a plant maintenance manager is required, both when collecting information and when preparing the Technical Report.
INDUSTRIAL – GENERAL | The purpose of the service is to assess the current energy consumption of machinery and equipment, enable the organization to identify possible interventions aimed at improving energy efficiency, and prepare a cost-benefit analysis for the identified interventions.
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES AND EXPECTED RESULTS | The process involves:
- The collection and processing of electricity, natural gas and water bills for the past 12 months and information on facilities and utilities deemed to be particularly energy intensive, along with the company’s production data.
- Interviews with some key figures in the company to learn about the status of plant and machinery, collect any reports of abnormal behavior, and get an overview of the company’s main production processes in order to correlate them with energy consumption.
- Comparison of energy requirements with typical industry values in order to identify trends and correlations with endogenous and exogenous parameters, defined with the Client, who will be able to identify possible interventions on machinery and equipment to optimize energy consumption, with related cost-benefit analysis.
- A final report “Energy Audit of the Company’s Consumption” summarizing the analysis conducted and its results that will be presented to the Client at the end-of-project meeting.
The audit phase can, in addition, be deepened by requesting, as an additional service, the installation of a network of sensors aimed at detecting the consumption (electricity, methane gas) punctually of the entire facility and of the individual facilities that have the greatest impact on energy costs.
REALIZATION TIME | 1-2 weeks (without installation of the sensor network).
INVOLVEMENT OF COMPANY CONTACTS | The availability of a plant maintenance manager is required, both when collecting information and preparing the Technical Report.
INDUSTRIAL SERVICE FACILITIES | The service aims to perform the analysis of different facilities used within the company to serve production, such as:
- Compressed air system
- Cooling System (Refrigeration Units)
- U.T.A. Groups.
- Heating system
The above will be necessary in order to enable the organization to identify possible rationalization and optimization actions and interventions aimed at improving performance and thus increasing energy efficiency.
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES AND EXPECTED RESULTS | For each of the facilities listed above, the activities include:
- The analysis of the characteristics of the plant, through the evaluation of available documentation, in order to verify its correct sizing in relation to business needs. If the Principal does not have the plant data, ASACERT, also provides for the preparation of plant schematics and their sectorization;
- The analysis of how the facility is used in relation to business needs.
Upon completion of the activities, a Technical Report will be produced for each of the analyzed facilities with the evidence gathered, summarizing the analysis conducted and its results, which will be presented to the Client during the end-of-project meeting.
IMPLEMENTATION TIME | 2 – 4 weeks, depending on available data and documentation (without installation of the sensor network).
INVOLVEMENT OF COMPANY CONTACTS | The availability of the person in charge of the plant or plant maintenance is required both in gathering information and in preparing the Technical Report.
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION FACILITIES | The purpose of the service is to perform an analysis of the various plants/production lines/machinery within the company that are considered to be the most energy intensive, in order to enable the organization to identify possible rationalization and optimization actions and interventions aimed at improving performance and thus increasing energy efficiency.
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES AND EXPECTED RESULTS | For each of the different types of production lines or machinery identified and selected with the Customer, the activities involve the analysis of the characteristics (gathered through the evaluation of available documentation and a series of inspections) in order to give an evaluation of them from an energy point of view by relating them to certain indices related to the company’s production. Upon completion of the activities, a Technical Report will be produced for each of the analyzed facilities, summarizing theanalysis conducted and its results, which will be presented to the Client during the end-of-project meeting.
LEAD TIME | 2 – 4 weeks, depending on the type of production line and available documentation (without installation of the sensor network).
INVOLVEMENT OF COMPANY CONTACTS | The availability of the person in charge of the plant and/or production department(s) is requested at the stage of both gathering information and drafting the Technical Report.
FIELD MONITORING OF ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION | The purpose of the service is to perform energy consumption diagnostics of the most energy-intensive electric utilities in the company, in order to enable the organization to identify and verify the possibility of implementing possible interventions aimed at efficiency and energy savings. This service can be provided in combination with the Energy Audit or as a single instrumental assessment service.
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES AND EXPECTED RESULTS | Planned activities include:
- The collection of nameplate data of the electric utilities analyzed;
- The collection of information regarding the usage patterns of the monitored utilities;
- The evaluation of recorded consumption compared with the usage of the analyzed utility.
Upon completion of the activities, a Technical Report will be produced summarizing the analysis conducted and its results, which will be presented to the Client at the end-of-project meeting.
IMPLEMENTATION TIME | From 2-3 weeks to 2-4 months, depending on the number of utilities to be monitored and monitoring conditions (weekdays, holidays, full load, low/high season).
Companies whose electricity consumption depends on different periods of the year are offered a planned measurement campaign on discontinuous time intervals in order to define the profile of energy consumption, on time, throughout the entire production year.
INVOLVEMENT OF CORPORATE CONTACTS | It is requested, at the stage of both gathering information and drafting the Technical Report, the availability of:
- Electrician and/or electrical system manager;
- plant manager;
- responsible for maintenance.
INFRARED MONITORING OF CORPORATE ENERGY SYSTEMS AND BUILDINGS | The purpose of the service is to perform infrared monitoring of the Company’s energy production, distribution, and utilization equipment through the use of a thermal camera in order to identify any anomalies in the various facilities and enable the organization to assess the appropriateness of undertaking possible improvement actions. The same service can focus on the building envelope to assess leakage. This service can be provided in combination with the Energy Audit or as a single instrumental assessment service.
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES AND EXPECTED RESULTS | Activities include:
- An inspection aimed at surveying the general situation;
- The realization of thermal field measurements by thermal imaging camera, producing color images in the electrical, thermal and refrigeration, and architectural fields;
- Numerical processing of the detected thermal field in order to quantify energetically and economically the dispersion.
Upon completion of the activities, a Technical Report will be produced that includes summarizing the analysis conducted and its results, which will be presented to the Client at the end-of-project meeting.
- The analysis and processing of the acquired data in order to evaluate the dispersions of different systems under different conditions and modes of operation and of the building;
- The identification of possible interventions aimed at rationalizing the energy consumption of the utilities analyzed;
- The economic/financial evaluation of possible interventions by assessing the achievable savings, investments and their payback periods.
IMPLEMENTATION TIME | 2 to 3 weeks, depending on the number of utilities to be monitored and the monitoring conditions (weekdays, holidays, full load, low/high season) and the size of the property.
INVOLVEMENT OF CORPORATE CONTACTS | It is requested, at the stage of both gathering information and drafting the Technical Report, the availability of:
- responsible for the monitored facilities;
- plant manager;
- responsible for maintenance.