What to look for on a Site Audit – Hardware Change

Hardware in a business is a big consumer of energy, so energy auditors will often look to these to cut energy consumption. The usual focus on a site audit in terms of hardware is on the larger energy consumers such as:

• Chillers
• Compressors
• Large process equipment
• Lighting
• HVAC Systems
• Checking all controls are set to automatic

The reviewing of these assets is paramount, as they are often essential to the operation of the business. A failure to review the health of an asset can result in higher energy consumption due to inefficiencies and further down the line, shutdowns if/when they need repair.

Conducting frequent reviews of these assets and employing a comprehensive Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) schedule minimises the risk of downtime massively. When doing an assessment, look at the age of assets, typically the lifespan of large assets is 15-20 years, but many businesses exceed this, resulting in old, degraded and less efficient machinery.