ATLANTA - Procedures to assess a building's energy use and its energy savings potential are contained in a new publication from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). Procedures for Commercial Building Energy Audits provides steps to guide analysts and owners in conducting audits and a uniform method for reporting basic information, such as building, system, and energy use characteristics.
"Energy audits should be performed to understand how energy is being used in buildings and where there are opportunities for energy and cost savings," said Richard Pearson, a principal contributor and member of ASHRAE Technical Committee 7.6, Systems Energy Utilization, which oversaw the publication. "Many buildings waste significant amounts of energy, and the benefits of doing an energy audit can be substantial energy cost savings."