Triad can help you obtain Energy Star recognition by comparing a building’s annual per-square-foot energy consumption to that of similar buildings from a national survey conducted by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration. Building benchmarking is performed as part of every energy audit. Benchmarking can be done for entire property portfolios prior to energy auditing to determine buildings with the greatest opportunity for energy efficiency improvements.

TRIAD follows American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). Level I Energy Audit consists of assessing a building’s energy cost and efficiency by analyzing energy bills and a brief survey of the building. The Level I Energy Audit Report will discuss energy conservation measures including estimated capital costs, anticipated annual energy cost savings and the simple payback or return on investment.

In addition to the scope of work described by a Level I Energy Audit, TRIAD provides the following services:

1. Include our opinions of cost and savings projections associated with potential major capital investments.
2. Provide opinions of cost and savings projections for potential “clean” or renewable energy sources, if applicable, in our opinion.
3. Discuss applicable potential opportunities that we find, if any, to reduce the cost of energy through available procurement strategies.
4. Discuss applicable utility rebate programs, state and federal tax incentive programs, and tax incentives that we find, if any, associated with the implementation of ECMs and or “clean” or renewable energy investments.
5. This service is the most popular service that TRIAD provides as it investigates all potential impacts of utility projects on cash flow. This audit can be upgraded in scope to a Level II or Level III Energy Audit if required.

TRIAD’s Level II Energy Audit consists of a more detailed building survey and energy analysis of a building for 12 to 36 month period. The Level II Energy Audit may include additional metering of larger energy consuming devices in order to breakdown the energy use in the building to supplement the utility data and develop a more developed building profile. This audit will include active data collection and may take up to three months to complete.

TRIAD’s Level III Energy Audit is comprehensive and focuses on the potential capital improvement projects identified during Level II and involves more detailed field data gathering and engineering analysis. Dynamic energy modeling is typically performed to provide a realistic energy consumption baseline. The Level III Energy Audit Report will provide detailed project costs and savings information with a high level of confidence sufficient for major capital investment decisions.

Once identified in an energy audit, TRIAD can assist clients with ensuring qualifications are met and with the application and paperwork associated with claiming utility rebates and government grants and tax incentives. Some utility incentive programs allow incentives for “custom” measures. TRIAD will work with utilities to get the most incentive possible out f these projects.

TRIAD has the capability to develop detailed building simulations to further analyze the energy consumption of the facility. Modeling the building allows Triad to quantify the interactions between multiple energy projects. Energy modeling is also required for many building energy certifications and to qualify for some federal government energy efficiency tax incentive programs such as EPACT.

TRIAD’s Professional Engineers and LEED certified professionals can certify facilities for qualified for LEED and Energy Star certifications.

TRIAD has experience with many Building Automation Systems (BAS) and can retro-commission existing systems to ensure the existing set-points and controls are optimized for current operating conditions.

TRIAD has qualified subcontractors who have a wide range of energy services. TRIAD subcontracts power factor correction services, thermal imaging, and blower door tests when it is recommended to augment our services. In addition, TRIAD has relationships with qualified installation contractors to implement recommended energy projects.

Triad’s principals have performed Energy Audits as part of Green Property Condition Assessments of affordable multi-family apartment complexes for HUD/OAHP. The audits included a physical inspection of the property, collecting and analyzing utility costs, and providing energy conservation measures (ECMs) based on simple payback analyses. In a recent energy audit of a 10-story 150-unit senior apartment building TRIAD identified eight ECMs that could potentially save the property owner around $50,000 per year for 10-years. The identified ECMs included geothermal HVAC systems and air-source heat pump domestic water heaters that could result in a 30% reduction of total electric consumption.