Single Energy Projects Don't Maximize Savings

IndustryWeek (Greg Jarosinski, president & CEO, Constellation Energy's Projects & Services Group) - Reducing energy usage and costs gets easier when your energy initiatives work in tandem as part of a comprehensive energy strategy.

The hesitancy to take on energy initiatives that improve sustainability or efficiency is understandable if you approach projects one at a time instead of tackling several at once as part of a comprehensive energy strategy. For example, developing a major on-site solar installation would certainly help you achieve your environmental goals but probably exceeds your budget for new energy infrastructure if you build and finance it yourself. Likewise, individual energy efficiency projects can make incremental improvements but rarely signal to stakeholders your corporate commitment to sustainability.

There is a better approach to sustainability, but it requires you to think bigger.

By implementing multiple energy conservation measures at once, the combined suite of projects is more likely to justify comprehensive self-funding measures, including major renewable energy systems.

This comprehensive commitment to energy efficiency will be more visible, more financially viable and more effective. Savings from projects with rapid payback periods can help offset the costs of projects with longer-term paybacks, such as solar energy systems. You're doing these short-term, lower-cost projects anyway -- upgrades to high efficiency lighting, HVAC controls or insulation. Maximize their value by doing more, combining them with the major projects that you've been putting off or did not think were financially possible.