News
GREEN SCENE: Awareness On Upswing
April 1, 2010
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| Corporate awareness of green is on the upswing, from small companies to large, says Robert Ragozine, president of Donnelly Mechanical's recently formed energy efficiency consulting division,Donnelly Sustainable Energy Services. Overall, clients are much more aware of the bearing of electrical and mechanical systems on their bottom lines and effective rents, as well as the impact of tax incentives and rebates. There are many steps you can take to green your building, including retrofitting your lighting system, replacing your HVAC with more efficient systems, and installing variable frequency drives and digital building controls, he says. |
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| Donnelly Sustainable Energy Services at work. Looking to go green? Robert suggests getting an energy audit, with a benchmark study as a possible subset. When you finish the audit, you can see where you can improve and take action. Make sure everyone in your corporation is aware of the process—too often, facilities professionals may have different concerns and priorities than the financial and legal executives, and decision making and funding needs to be a team effort. And make sure your goals are clearly defined—it's all about the dollars, and many people want payback in two years or less. Don't consider it an expense, but an investment in your building, he says. |
