For property managers and commercial building owners, saving money is synonymous to doing best commercial HVAC practices. Energy waste can cost your business high utility bills; and when you are trying to have a successful business operation, every dollar counts.

Taking steps to lower energy costs can also help in the longevity of the equipment you use. Gaining a reputation for being energy conscious and environmentally friendly can serve beneficial for your company as it can attract potential customers who value those things as well.

Don’t allow energy waste to keep your business from prospering. To maximize the money and time you invested in reducing your energy costs, here are some tips and strategies you can apply to your commercial property.

Conduct an energy audit

Before you can even take steps to lower your energy consumption, you need to know when, where, and how energy is being used throughout your commercial property. Building owners should gather and assess their property’s energy bills for the last two to four years. Try to determine some patterns. Is there a spike in energy consumption that is not related to the changing of seasons? Are there tendencies for your commercial HVAC system to run less effectively? The more you know about your building’s energy usage, the easier it is to determine what the issues are and address them.

Do routine preventative maintenance

One of the most effective ways to control your commercial energy costs is by ensuring that your commercial HVAC systems are running at the peak efficiency. To achieve this, create and follow a preventative maintenance schedule. When you put off the cleaning, replacing dysfunctional parts, and other maintenance tasks, you will most likely experience everything from minor consumption loss to expensive major unit failures.

Don’t delay repairs

It can be incredibly tempting to schedule an HVAC repair for next week, next month, next quarter, or even next year – especially when you think that you will have more money to budget for repairs as you wait longer. However, that is not a good strategy, especially when you factor in the consistently growing expense of an incompetent HVAC operation to the repair cost.

Take advantage of smart technology and programmable thermostats

Energy used when there is no one in your commercial building is energy wasted. When your heating and cooling systems are still running at the preferred temperatures of the building occupants – even after they are gone for the day or the weekend, then you are contributing to your energy waste. Install a programmable thermostat that will allow you to have energy-efficient settings. As the name suggests, you can program the thermostat to the preferred temperature of your building tenants while they are inside the premises, and then have the thermostat turn off when the tenants leave. On the other hand, thermostats equipped with smart technology can detect the absence or presence of people in the property and adjust the temperatures accordingly.

Opt for variable refrigerant flow systems

Variable refrigerant flow systems provide advanced solutions that instantly move refrigerant from one area to another. This process allows the efficient transfer of heat to where it’s needed within the building. These variable refrigerant flow systems can give you substantial energy savings.

Make structural changes

The design of a building, especially of older ones, causes heating and cooling inefficiencies. In many cases, it’s worth the investment in time, money, and effort to reconstruct and redesign the problem area to correct the issue. For example, if your commercial property has a shipping area that is continuously exposed to outside temperatures, then it should be separated from the rest of the structure with thick doors that seal correctly and insulated walls to save energy.

Perform a consistent check for energy-wasting acts

Building managers and property owners tend to focus on more systemic issues. Thus, energy consumption within the property is often overlooked. For example, when occupants run space heaters because it gets uncomfortably hot or cold, or when they are continually opening doors or windows even when the commercial HVAC is running, wastes a tremendous amount of energy. Assign someone to check the building on a regular basis so the administration can detect these bad practices so that they can be corrected right away.

Educate the building tenants and employees on energy-saving habits

Many of us would gladly use energy wisely if we are made well aware of what the best energy-saving practices are. If you’re a property manager or building owner, educate your tenants on the actions that will have positive effects on energy costs.