Slightly over a year ago, the city of San Francisco unveiled an ordinance requiring commercial buildings over 10,000 square feet to get commercial energy audits every five years. Each building covered under the new law would also need to benchmark this data as part of an initiative to lower energy consumption citywide and impact finances for the larges energy consumers. For green building professionals in the Bay Area, this ordinance represented a huge career opportunity.
In cities with similar initiatives, the commercial energy auditor stands to make a sustainable living. The first step to entering this field is enrolling in a commercial energy audits training course from an accredited provider. This course teaches students to apply the basics of building science to help businesses save money by reducing consumption. In as little as a week’s time, any person can get started with a career as a commercial energy auditor.
For most commercial facilities, energy consumption accounts for the single largest operating cost. Any opportunity to reduce consumption can deliver major cost savings to a business. Small business owners are especially challenged when it comes to finding ways to make their facilities more energy efficient. They usually operate with smaller budgets and lower revenues. The trained energy auditor has the skill set to assess a building’s energy consumption profile and provide recommendations for cost-saving improvements.
Commercial energy audits can lower greenhouse gases when they are performed on a large scale. If you live in an area with significant investment in energy efficiency initiatives, then you have even more reason to obtain commercial energy auditor certification. As energy grows more expensive, business owner will continue looking for affordable ways to cut costs. Commercial energy auditors can rise to the occasion as well as find a sustainable revenue stream in the clean energy workforce.
