Nobody likes wasting money and energy efficiency is one of the best ways to waste less. Billions of dollars spent on wasted energy every year could be avoided with easy fixes. Energy efficiency is showing up in magazines, TV shows, and books galore as a great opportunity for businesses and homes to stretch their tight budgets, and it doesn’t hurt that it’s the cleanest and cheapest energy resource around. The first step to realize this opportunity and get more efficient is getting audited by businesses like Green Irene, Empowered Energy Solutions, Recurve, Pro Energy Consultants, and SEES Inc.

The word audit can make people a little nervous, but this is the kind of audit you want to have, one that saves you money. Energy audits examine buildings for their performance, looking for opportunities for better lighting, heating, cooling, energy controls, solar power, weather sealing, appliances, and windows.                                         

One of the biggest restraints holding back energy efficiency projects is that people and businesses are reluctant to invest the money needed. To get these projects moving, governments, utilities, and others are supplying billions of dollars of incentives for energy efficiency through tax credits, rebates, loans, and grants. The financial return on energy investments occurs far more rapidly than most people expect, with some projects paying for themselves in one or two years, or less. 
 
Another important factor is having good information. Talking with a building occupant or owner can be a great source of information to find and solve energy problems in buildings. Green Irene provides the Green Home Makeover or Green Office Makeover for a personal approach, with their Eco Consultants talking one-on-one with owners and occupants and looking over a home or business to find ways to save energy, as well as other green improvements. 
                                                           
Energy audits frequently utilize tools like the blower door test and thermographic analysis to examine and optimize building performance. Recurve (previously called Sustainable Spaces) is an energy auditor and contractor in the San Francisco Bay Area that improves the efficiency of residential properties. While contractors often focus on a single aspect of buildings, like solar or HVAC, Recurve takes into account the whole building system to find the solution that makes the most sense for each home. 
                                                                                                 
Empowered Energy Solutions (EESI) in San Diego, CA is focused on boosting the efficiency of commercial properties, starting with a diagnostic examination of the building. The next step is to find the mix of improvements that provide the optimal financial solution for everyone involved, as well as saving energy. The innovative software EESI is developing evolves toward the best energy solution in each case, taking into account all of the incentives that are available, the cost of financing, the initial cost, and the expected reduction in energy costs. 
 
Pro Energy Consultants also deliver energy audits, and provides a franchise opportunity for people to hit the ground running and take advantage of the tremendous opportunity to build their own business doing energy audits. I also talk about the huge opportunity to deliver energy efficiency in my new book “Starting Green”.
                                
Recently I ran across an opportunity with SEES, Inc. to get an easy on-line energy audit. If you click here and do a quick survey about your building, you’ll get a free, detailed 10-20 page report laying out how you can improve your energy efficiency.  Since the incentives for efficiency vary greatly from place to place, they also provide a handy list of all of the incentives, rebates, and grants available in your zip code that will make getting started easier. For more info, they’ll send an Energy Guide and Green Energy Talk Magazine, no charge, and they’re working on message boards at www.greenenergytalk.org for those who want to join the conversation.
 
For all of the progress being made to improve energy efficiency, we’ve only just scratched the surface of what can be done. Get audited today and take the first step to save money with energy efficiency. 

Glenn Croston is a consultant, the author of "75 Green Businesses" and "Starting Green", and the founder of Starting Up Green, helping green businesses to get started and grow. 

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