For too many building owners, an energy retrofit means changing the lightbulbs in the lobby or other common areas. Actions like this are easy and result in some quick cost savings, but they can actually undermine your ability to really tackle your building's energy use from top to bottom. In fact, by "cherry picking" quick payback items, buildings owners are often left with a long list of measures with less attractive paybacks that never end up getting done (these are known as "energy orphans"). That's a shame, because these often slower payback items can do much more over the long run to control utility expenses.
 
By bundling a range of measures with different paybacks, you can create a financially palatable and much more significant energy efficiency package that can deliver annual savings in the range of 20% and a blended simple payback of seven years or less. This is also a great way of tackling the challenge of "building renewal" -- the need to keep equipment, systems and structures in good working order. Energy efficiency upgrades can produce the cash flow to help offset the straight expense of other building repairs.
 
Bundling can also create synergies that increase the benefit from individual items (e.g., better cladding or insulation may reduce overall building energy need to a point where smaller HVAC equipment will be required). Or if you need to replace aging equipment or make other repairs, there may also be an opportunity to take actions that improve building efficiency, such as installing high-efficiency equipment or better sealing the building envelope.
 
You can get advice on the best way to bundle a retrofit from an Energy Management Firm or engineering consulting firm— see the list of EMF's that work with the City of Toronto's Better Building's Partnership.
 
And don't forget about blended benefits. Energy upgrades not only mean lower utility bills, they may also mean lower maintenance costs as well. The cost of having someone regularly change a hard-to-reach incandescent bulb with a short lifespan may cost far more than an energy efficient bulb. And some energy retrofits may actually increase your property's value significantly.
 
» Next step: Moving forward on a retrofit — the key principles