Building owners and managers are well aware of the rising costs to simply run a building. While many of these seem unfair and unavoidable, there are a few that can be controlled and mitigated.
Natural Gas and Net-Zero Carbon Goals
As part of Canada's plan to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, their carbon pricing program disincentivizes the use of carbon emitting energy such as natural gas through the Carbon Tax. The graph below tracks the previous and the planned carbon tax rates:
As you can see in the graph, the future carbon tax rate is planned to continue to rise, eventually exceeding the current supply rate itself.
Unfortunately natural gas is still one of the cheapest and most readily available sources of energy for heating both buildings and their water, however with developing technology such as more efficient boilers and heat pumps, its use can be minimized to avoid aggressively increasing carbon tax rates.
Keeping the Lights On: Shifting to Electricity
Changing from natural gas to electricity is much easier said that done, depending on building equipment and age some changes may not be feasible without extensive funding and grants. Fortunately the different government levels and utilities often run funding programs for energy efficient retrofits, especially in HVAC equipment.
While electricity from the grid is not taxed as heavily as natural gas, it is still subject to price variations and additional fees depending on consumer type.
Energy Saving and Distributed Energy Resources
To get the best of both worlds: funding for reduced carbon and reduced reliance on grid energy, we recommend energy retrofits, on-site generation and energy storage systems.
Energy retrofits and projects begin with energy audits, which are the best way to identify energy saving opportunities in your building. Energy audits take inventory of a building's equipment and systems, then identify several measures to save energy, and then finally recommend the most financially feasible options along with their payback time to guide organization leadership in decision making.
On-site generation increases your building's energy reliability and available electrical capacity for expansions and new equipment while avoiding the need for expensive service upgrades from the local utility.
Energy storage systems allow you to avoid expensive peak electricity rates by storing cheaper, more abundant energy overnight and using it when it is needed. A robust energy storage system and strategy may also make the new Ultra-Low Overnight Electricity price plan a viable option in cost savings.
How We Can Help
Mann Energy Solutions (MES) is a professional consulting engineering company that specializes in electrical and energy solutions, including engineering and implementation. Our experienced engineers can help work with your building’s unique profile to identify spare electrical capacity, energy saving opportunities, and design the best system for you. We have extensive experience with energy retrofits that make the most of your existing electrical capacity by optimizing building processes and equipment such as lighting, mechanical systems, electrical loads, and building envelope to reduce your energy use. Our firm has hundreds of installed electrical and power projects and we have been in business since 1983. Some of our services include:
Free site walk-through by our experienced engineers and technicians to provide an initial site assessment
Engineering feasibility studies
Incentive study and application
Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) for a turnkey project
Coordination with utilities for distribution system upgrades, service size expansions, and microgeneration through solar PV , energy storage and cogeneration
Energy storage
For more information or a complimentary assessment contact us through the main site, info@mannenergysolutions.com, or call (905) 597-5855.