Energy Accounting is a process for recording, tracking and reporting the amount and costs of the various consumable utilities used by commercial-scale facilities.  It involves the establishment of a database for storing historical information on:

	Electricity
	Electrical Demand
	Natural Gas
	Other Fuels
	Water (optional)
	Sewer (optional)
	Solid Waste (optional)

Tracking the use of these utility commodities is essential to their effective management.  You cannot manage what you cannot measure.  An Energy Accounting system can assist Facilities Management in exposing excessive costs and opportunities for saving money:

	Find billing errors
	Account for usage
	Spot cost trends
	Track cost & usage fluctuations
	Allow comparisons - particularly for multi-site facilities - account for variations against indices such as weather and occupancy
	Establish utilities budgets quickly and efficiently
	Provide a basis for troubleshooting high usage/costs
	Justify capital expenditures

Specialized Energy Accounting software is typically employed to develop the historical utilities database and provide the essential analytical tools.  The software comes in varying levels of sophistication depending on the end-users needs.  Basic features include:

	Data entry macros for automation and speed in entering periodic utility billing information
	Importing capability for electronic billing data
	Graphical reporting features including trending
	Tabular reporting features including indexing
	Exporting capability for pasting reports into spreadsheets
	Utilities budget development with projected utility rate increases

More advanced features of Energy Accounting software can include:

	Intranet or Internet Server-based capability
	Allows use of sub-metered building utility information and/or  15-minute interval data
	Incorporation of Real-Time metering
	Chart interval data collected through meters or data recorders
	Profiling of energy consumption at any point in time for any piece of equipment, section of building, entire building or group of buildings
	Integration of utility billing management between Accounts Payable  and Facilities Management functions
	Compare different rate scenarios

DRS ENERGY MANAGEMENT provides database construction, maintenance and training services in support of clients' facility management needs for comprehensive Energy Accounting and Utility Resource Management.  We work primarily with the software developed by Save More Resources, Inc, including Utility Manager 4.0 and Z-Power.  For more information on how we can help you with your Energy Accounting needs, please call us at 360-671-9390.

 

Energy Code Compliance  Building Commissioning  Energy Auditing

Work Plan Development  Life Cycle Cost Analysis  Energy Accounting