46% of Energy Efficiency Project Decision Makers Think Efficiency Projections are ‘Too Good to be True’

http://www.energymanagertoday.com
By: Linda Hardesty

Seventy percent of all commercial energy efficiency projects are less than $250,000 (see chart), and although million-dollar energy efficiency retrofits get a lot of attention, the small lighting projects and HVAC controls updates drive the market, according to a Noesis survey.

Noesis surveyed 363 respondents, 48 percent of whom work for companies that propose energy efficiency projects and/or sell energy efficiency equipment.

When asked who they most often propose energy projects to, 49.4 percent of respondents said the CFO; 19.3 percent said building staff, for example a facility director; 14.2 percent said the energy team, for example an energy manager; 10.2 percent said the property manager; while 6.8 percent said other.

When asked if the decision maker always believes the projections for the project’s energy savings, 48.9 percent of respondents said no; while 51.1 percent said yes. Some of the reasons the decision maker does not believe the energy savings forecasts include lack of understanding of the technology and lack of understanding of the math to make the projections. Also, the decision maker may be suspicious of the vendor who has a vested interest in selling the project. Interestingly, 46 percent of decision makers think the projections seem too good to be true.

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