There’s more to energy management than simply managing energy

On the surface, an energy consultancy, like ourselves, are seen as people who come into a business, make some checks and tell you to switch off a few lights.

Hardly worth the time, money and effort, right? But this couldn’t be further from the truth.

In this post, we’ll dispel that myth and show you how much work an energy consultancy does to lower carbon emissions that’ll save your business money.

What does an energy consultancy do?

At Inteb, our services are aligned to our clients main sustainability goals: optimizing utility costs, energy efficiency using accurate and real time energy data and reducing carbon emissions…

Here’s a breakdown of everything we do…

Utilities

Don’t have time to interrogate energy suppliers and micro-manage your bills?

We do – and here’s how we do it:

1)   Procurement:  – we monitor the wholesale markets daily and our experts get you the best price on gas, electricity and water.

2)   Bureau services:

• Bill Validation: which analyses and validates your utility bills to make sure you’re being charged correctly.
• Tenant Recharging: which includes the management and installation of meters for multiple occupancy buildings, bill processing, distribution and managing of payments for landlords.

3)   MOP DC/DA contracts: Meter operator (MOP) and data collector/data aggregator (DC/DA) contracts are a significant part of the non-commodity costs on your electricity invoice.

By splitting these charges, we consolidate and re-negotiate new (and better) contracts for you.

Metering

Inteb provides electrical tracing/schematics, hardware, installation and maintenance services for all your utility metering.

Like Utilities, Metering is split into three sub-categories:

1)   End-to-end Meter Management:

• Submetering: which measures electricity, gas, water, LPG, oil, steam and heat consumption and provides surveys, system design and installation for industrial and commercial premises and landlords.
• Tenant submetering: which implements accountability for energy usage to ensure fair billing for multiple tenants.
• Process & equipment sub-metering: for site and facilities managers who need to understand how, where and when energy is being used.
• Heat metering: for distributing heat to multiple buildings, sites or occupants.

2)   End-to-end site works: which includes new meter installations, meter relocations, exchanges and/or disconnections, multi-utility connections, power factor corrections, disconnection, reconnection, upgrades and downgrades.

Inteb also provides a full report, detailing recommendations for sub-metering to aid accurate tenant recharging.

3)   Track and trace surveys: which identify the exact electrical distribution and metering arrangements in a multi-let commercial building.

Net-Zero Carbon Solutions

Net-Zero is big right now, with the UK government committed to reducing emissions to net zero by 2050 and many large business are following suit or even making bolder commitments.

It’s so important and in-depth, it’s split into six sub-categories:

1)   Strategy: which is where we help create and implement your net-zero or carbon-negative strategy, Once we have understood your ambitions, we will develop a roadmap that’ll be good for your bottom line, great for your reputation and create a positive impact on the wider environment. We also can help with:

• Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES): to support landlords and property owners by identifying and implementing changes to achieve an EPC rating of E or above.
• Streamlined energy and carbon reporting (SECR): to assist your business in managing SECR obligations, including calculating accurate emissions data.
• Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS): to help you set a clear, achievable strategy that guarantees a ROI through reduced consumption.

2)   Data-driven energy reduction programs: where our analysts work with day plus one data to identify quick wins to reduce emissions and costs – fast.

3)   Real-time optimization and control: our advanced energy monitoring and management system supports you in reducing consumption in several ways, including:

• Data explorer: so you know when, how and where energy is spent and which equipment consumes the most.
• Alarms: which alert you to excessive consumption on-site outside regular working hours.
• Control devices: which allow you to set parameters on when electricity and heating comes on and goes off.
• Reports: to help you monitor your company’s energy consumption.
• Key Event Reports: which show you when consumption is at its highest.

4)   Renewable energy supply chain: we research the leading suppliers in eco-friendly services, systems and equipment, saving you time and giving you a wide choice of green businesses to work with.

5)   Auditing: our Building Management Systems (BMS) monitor and control heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and lighting, which can account for as much as 80% of a building’s usage.

6)   Compliance: to make sure you’re fully compliant with certifications and inspections, including TM44,  ISO & BREEAM, DC161 and CHG Protocol Reporting.

For more information, please read our Compliance page.

How we’ve helped businesses reduce their energy consumption.

There’s a lot to take in above, but what’s the outcome of implementing some of these services?

Colin Jones, Inteb Managing Director, explains:

“What can proper energy management do for a business?

One story that springs to mind is our work for a UK leading mutual life, pensions and investment company. There was no centralized approach to energy management and very little accurate data to share with tenants and property managers. Close measuring and monitoring of energy usage and adopting clear and achievable targets resulted in sustanble savings of more the £500k over a number of years as well as a reduction of over 5,000 tonnes of CO2.

We discovered all sorts such as disfunctional BMS’s and plant and even identifying employees working at weekends and switching plant on unnecessarily, which meant an entire building was being lit and heated for just a few staff! We engaged with cleaners who had brilliant ideas to save energy, and of course working effectively with maintenance teams we had a real teams approach to energy management!”

Stories like these are not uncommon. In fact, the most common stories we hear are from businesses who light and heat empty premises:

• At night
• Over the weekend
• On bank holidays
• Over Christmas

We’ve helped countless companies create strategies, install real time metering and control systems, complete mandatory paperwork, lower emissions and make savings, and you can read more about them in our Case Studies.

Have we changed your mind?

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by how much you need to do to be compliant, don’t panic. Energy management is so much more than making a few checks and unplugging a printer that’s not in use.

So, if you’re ready to reduce your emissions and start making savings as soon as possible, Inteb can help.

Ready to work with an energy management consultancy?

Let’s get the conversation started – call us now on 0151 601 3476