How much energy does your business use? How much is dedicated to manufacturing processes, and how much is required for day-to-day building operations? And perhaps more importantly, where can you save on energy?
This is the role of an energy efficiency audit in manufacturing. It is a complete assessment of all the energy used by your business to identify trends, optimize processes and save your business money.
Key components of a manufacturing energy audit
Energy audits are typically carried out over days or weeks. Auditors are responsible for thoroughly evaluating where companies consume energy, how this energy is used and whether the usage aligns with expectations.
For example, a manufacturing company might discover that overall energy use is 20% higher than expected given current operating conditions. Given the sheer number of operations that draw energy, pinpointing the source of this overage can be challenging. This is the role of an energy audit — determining the root causes of energy overspend.
There are four common components of industrial and commercial energy audits:
1. Facility examinations
First up are facility examinations. This includes an evaluation of core facility components such as lighting systems, HVAC frameworks, compressed air systems and building insulation. Consider a compressed air system. Even pinhole leaks create constant air loss, which means machines must work harder — and draw more energy — to maintain air pressure.
2. Production equipment assessments
Next are production equipment assessments. These include evaluations of motor systems, conveyor belts, robotics networks and high-performance or high-consumption machinery. Even a single underperforming system can lead to a domino effect that increases energy use down the line.
3. Operational behavior evaluations
In some cases, what you’re not doing makes the difference. This is the role of operational behavior evaluations, which consider common practices such as equipment idle time, energy consumption patterns and maintenance practices.
For example, if your company follows a reactive maintenance model, where maintenance only occurs after machines fail, you may be wasting energy. Here’s why: Before machines fail, they often consume more energy. For example, a lubricant leak in high-stress equipment can cause a significant temperature rise, which in turn increases the energy required for cooling. Machine data collection paired with ongoing evaluation of machine behavior helps catch potential issues early.
4. Data analysis
By tracking and analyzing data from utility bills, meter readings, machine logs and IIoT sensors, businesses are better equipped to understand energy use patterns at scale and make changes that improve operations. This is part of the larger shift to data-driven manufacturing, which sees businesses capturing and using the data they generate every day to streamline key processes.
The role of maintenance and IIoT in energy audits
Energy audits are often complex and time-consuming. Even smaller manufacturing firms may use hundreds of production machines, paired with heating, cooling, lighting and other systems, and there may be thousands of possible sources for energy efficiency.
Smart maintenance and IIoT tools can help streamline the process. Smart maintenance, also known as predictive maintenance, tracks machine behavior to create a baseline operational pattern. If energy usage increases suddenly or rises steadily over time, teams can take action to proactively inspect machines and identify issues.
IIoT tools, such as sensors and condition-monitoring devices, meanwhile, can detect anomalies such as vibration, heat or air leaks that drive energy loss in real-time.
It’s also worth deploying computerized maintenance management software (CMMS) to help centralize this data. These solutions can be configured to both log energy use patterns and alert maintenance teams if energy usage spikes.
Steps to conduct an effective energy audit
Energy usage patterns are unique to your business. Effective energy audits standardize the measurement and evaluation process, helping companies identify and eliminate inefficiencies.
Effective energy audits should include these six key steps:
1. Preliminary assessment
Preliminary assessments gather existing energy data such as total spend per month, energy usage per day and per machine, and production line maintenance records. Using this data, companies can set audit objectives, such as identifying common areas of energy overspending or reducing the total amount of energy consumed.
2. Site walkthrough
Physical inspections through site walkthroughs are next. It’s one thing to discuss production systems; it’s another to see them in person. Site walkthroughs can help audit teams spot potential problems that initial assessments didn’t reveal.
3. Measurement and monitoring
The use of metering tools or IIoT solutions lets you measure and monitor machine performance over time. This provides a baseline for energy usage and helps you identify outliers.
4. Data analysis
Data analysis follows measurement. By tracking energy usage over time and carrying out detailed analysis, your teams can pinpoint areas for improvement.
5. Recommendation report
Once data has been collected and analyzed, energy auditors provide a recommendation report that summarizes their findings and offers ROI-backed improvement opportunities.
6. Implementation
Last but not least in this process? Implementation. Recommendations are only effective when they are integrated into daily operations and maintenance workflows. In addition, these recommendations should be reevaluated over time to ensure they remain accurate.
Common energy-saving opportunities in manufacturing
It’s one thing to carry out an energy audit and see the results — it’s another to use these results in practice.
Common energy-saving opportunities include:
- Upgrading outdated motors or switching to VFDs — Upgrading motors or switching to variable frequency drives (VFDs) can increase machine life expectancy and reduce the risk of unexpected energy costs.
- Installing energy-efficient lighting and smart HVAC — Energy-efficient lighting, such as LED systems and smart HVAC controls that can adjust to building and staffing conditions in real-time, can reduce front-line energy consumption.
- Repairing leaks in compressed air systems — Even small leaks lead to sustained energy increases. Evaluation and repair of these systems minimizes energy overages.
- Automating the shutdown of idle machines — Idle machines are still operating, which means they’re still drawing power. Automating the shutdown of these machines after a set period of inactivity reduces power consumption.
- Retrofitting equipment with energy-saving technologies — Older machines that are still in operation can benefit from newer technology, such as IIoT sensors that can be mounted directly on equipment or located nearby. These sensors provide real-time insight into machine performance and energy usage.
- Enhancing insulation or temperature regulation — Increased energy usage is often passive. For example, poor insulation in climate-controlled areas leads to a higher baseline energy use for cooling. Improved insulation brings this baseline down.
Business benefits of performing an energy audit
Energy audits are more than good operational practice — they also offer a line of business benefits, such as:
- Cost savings — Audits can pinpoint energy waste and remediate issues. This leads to lower energy bills, reduced machine downtime and longer asset lifetime, all of which result in cost and energy savings.
- Regulatory compliance — Many manufacturers must now meet regulatory requirements set out by the EPA or DOE or defined by standards such as ISO 50001.
- ESG alignment — Energy auditing can also improve sustainability in production and help companies meet environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.
- Risk reduction — Energy management systems informed by audits reduce the risk of machine overheating, equipment failures and power surges.
- Reputation boost — Many consumers and stakeholders now want actionable evidence of green manufacturing efforts, such as the reduction of pollutants or the use of renewable energy. An industrial energy audit can demonstrate a company’s commitment to sustainability and can help boost its public reputation.
Make energy efficiency measures a core competitive advantage
The goal of energy efficiency audits isn’t just to inform — it’s to drive action. Equipped with accurate data about typical energy use, operational outliers and emerging trends, your business is better equipped to understand current energy environments and make changes that help improve industrial energy efficiency, enhance energy conservation, and create a core competitive advantage.
At ATS, we have the experience and expertise to help you design and deploy maintenance processes that improve visibility, increase accuracy, and give you the insight you need to drive real change.
With ATS, your audits aren’t just analytical, they’re actionable. See how we can help.
