One million square feet of local business space assessed!

 Here at the Community Energy Challenge, we're all about the numbers. The CEC is working toward the goal of helping Whatcom County save $1,000,000 in energy costs by providing affordable energy assessments to local businesses and homes. So far we've assessed 330 homes and completed projects on 80, finding potential savings of $200-$400 or 20-30% of annual energy costs per home. As for local businesses, 59 have signed up so far and we are finding the potential for an average of $500-$1,000 in annual savings per business, or 3-5% of energy costs per year.

Commercial Conservation Services, the division of the Community Energy Challenge that serves local businesses, has recently reached another exciting numerical milestone. Our Commercial Conservation Specialist, Martin Selch, has assessed over 1,000,000 square feet of local business space.
The CEC has served a wide variety of business types, from restaurants to churches, grocery stores to manufacturers, warehouses to funeral homes, kennels to banks. At 1,380 square feet, A-1 Builders is the smallest facility that has been assessed so far, while Samson Rope is the largest at 118,000 square feet. Click Here to see the current list of businesses that have received an energy assessment.

During a business energy assessment, Martin walks through the building with the facility manager, assessing all energy and water using equipment, from personal computers to heating furnaces, including an overview of the building envelope. This normally takes 2-4 hours and gives him the information he needs to write a report with personalized energy saving recommendations for the business. The CEC provides ongoing support as the business works to implement the recommendations, as well as financial incentives and energy use monitoring.

To sign your business up to participate in the Community Energy Challenge, contact Emily at 360-647-7093 x113 or emily@sconnect.org.