ASHRAE Audits Standard
Energy audits are the best way to uncover valuable insights to how, when and where energy is being used within a facility – driving efficiency improvements to produce overall energy savings.
As part of our energy services, Askon offers ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers) Level energy audits to help customers better identify opportunities to increase overall efficiency with lighting, water, building development, HVAC systems and controls.
ASHRAE Audit Level I, II, & III are standard industry best practices to measure energy but vary in complexity and outcome.
LEVEL I – PRELIMINARY WALK-THROUGH ANALYSIS
Level I is categorized as a baseline audit, with a rudimentary screening of historical billing data, primarily the last twelve (12) months, as well as a rapid assessment of the building’s configuration and energy systems. A walk-through with operating personnel is intended to assist the energy team understand how the building performs relative to its peers. If promising energy saving opportunities are noted and further evaluation is warranted, a Level II audit begins at this time.
LEVEL II – ENERGY SURVEY & ANALYSIS
Level II builds on and incorporates the activities of Level I findings. Promising Energy Efficiency Measures (EEM) are further evaluated, analyzed and modeled into capital improvement projects. Typical EEM projects include lighting, building controls, building envelope, ACMV systems, plug loads, and water usages.
Askon’s process centers around a detailed discussion with the building owner’s maintenance and operating team to explore potential problem areas along with clarifying financial and non-financial goals. Recommended EEM financial analysis is performed for each measure based on implementation estimates, site-specific operating cost savings, and the customer’s investment criteria. Sufficient reporting detail is provided to justify project implementation.
LEVEL III – DETAILED ENGINEERING ANALYSIS
Level III addresses more complex capital projects from the Level II audit. This engineering analysis focuses on the whole building and requires computer modeling. More detailed building information requires the need for field data collection as well as additional baseline data provided by building owners. Field data collection is required and dependent on unique site usage. The model is calibrated using actual utility data to provide a realistic basis against which to compute operating savings for the proposed EEMs.
