Between 40 and 50 percent of the cost of ownership and operation for a rooftop solar system is contributed by administrative costs such as permitting, financing and connecting to the grid, according to the Department of Energy (via the New York Times).

Ramamoorthy Ramesh, the manager of the DOE’s SunShot program and a materials scientist from the University of California at Berkeley, said these “soft costs” are often overlooked. But reducing these costs will increase installations, bringing about innovation and cuts to hardware costs, he said.  ….

Best Practice Guides

The Energy Efficiency Council has best practice guides available for free to help companies improve their energy efficiency. 

Best Practice Guide to Energy Performance Contracts

This guide helps businesses through the process of Energy Performance Contracts, including:

• An overview of Energy Performance Contracting
• A tool to determine whether  Energy Performance Contracting is the best way for your organisation to improve its energy efficiency
• A step-by-step process for setting your goals, hiring an Energy Service Company, scoping your project and setting up a contract
• A plain English guide to understanding and using:
  • The Standard Detailed Facility Study Agreement
  • The National Standard Energy Performance Contract

Download the Best Practice Guide to Energy Performance Contracts

Best Practice Guide to Measurement and Verification of Energy Savings

Many factors can influence how much energy a facility uses, such as technology, weather and the number of staff using a site. As a result, working out how much energy an energy efficiency upgrade is saving requires more than just metering. Energy professionals need to use accurate measurement and repeatable methodology, known as a measurement and verification protocol.

This Guide presents a basic framework and methodologies for measurement and verification, to help energy efficiency service providers and customers understand the key issues for determining how successful a project has been.

Download the Best Practice Guide to Measurement and Verification of Energy Savings

December 5th, 2011  By: Tiffany Richmond  at www.energyadvantage.com

Do you know what’s impacting your company’s energy and environmental use? Do you have a reporting regime in place today? Does your company have a policy statement? Do you know how your organization compares to competitors? The industry? Do you know what best practices to follow?

Questions like these are the type of questions that are answered in the first step of a sustainability program. This article will outline how to develop a policy statement, how to analyze your current energy and environmental data and identifies industry best practices.

What is a sustainability policy?
A sustainability policy serves as a company’s public statement for its management and employees, plus a communication tool for its customers, vendors, and other interested parties. It is the heart and soul of a program as it explicitly states the value, commitment, and goals of an organization. The policy needs to be integrated into a set of parameters to make decisions on products/services it will manufacture, technology that will be used for production, and all supporting activities such as maintenance, transportation, energy, etc. ….