Solar energy has become one of the most common and well known forms of renewable, clean energy around. But many worry that solar may not be quite what the solar companies are professing it to be.

If you own a commercial building, you’re probably constantly thinking of ways to reduce your operating costs and increase your property value. Many executives see their monthly utility bill as just another operating expense, just another bill to be paid. In reality, thirty percent of the operating budget of most commercial buildings is spent on energy costs. The worst part? Almost all of them are overpaying for it!

Whether you own a small business, a large commercial building, a cold storage facility, or a manufacturing operation, it’s important to take advantage of any programs, rebate incentives, and strategies that may help you save money on energy bills. There are short-term strategies that can positively impact your bottom line immediately, as well as long term strategies that can reduce your energy consumption and stabilize your energy consumption in the future.

Refrigerated warehouses (cold storage facilities) have one of the highest electric energy consumption rates in the commercial building sector. After personnel, energy is usually their second highest operating expense.

When we throw things into the trashcan, we rarely think about where the trash goes. It is, after all, out of sight, and therefore (for most of us), out of mind. The World Economic Forum recently published an article about how much Americans waste, and surprisingly enough, we were #10 for energy consumption and #8 for carbon-dioxide emissions. You might be thinking, “that’s not as bad as I thought it would be.” But waste, like time, is tricky to measure objectively.

While most people’s interaction with cold storage is limited to their fridges and freezers, in reality, the cold storage facilities are an essential part of every consumers life.

What are Demand Charges?

We all know that depending on how we use energy, we are charged differently. For most of us, that is to say small time customers, our energy bill comes in the form of a flat rate based on our total energy used for the billing period. Larger consumers of energy on the other hand, are often charged a higher number based on their demand. These are referred to as demand charges.