Energy Saver

DECCW provides subsidised energy audits and facilitation to help NSW businesses identify and implement energy savings. An independent energy audit can be crucial in determining your energy use and identifying projects that will deliver cost savings.

Energy audit

Benefits of an energy audit

• Energy and cost savings
• Specialist energy advice and technical support
• Help to measure and understand energy use
• Opportunities to network and share energy efficiency ideas

What level of audit is appropriate?

Level 1 audit
Based on a relatively simple "walk-though" of the site with estimated energy savings and implementation budget calculated to within an accuracy of +-40%.

Level 2 audit
Requires significantly more on-site investigation, measurement and energy monitoring. The energy saving and implementation budget estimates of a Level 2 Audit are delivered with an accuracy of +-20%.

Level 3 audit
Requires even more detailed site investigation and analysis of energy efficiency measures; often involves sub-metering of equipment. The energy saving and implementation budget estimates of a Level 3 Audit are delivered with an accuracy of +10% for capital costs and -10% for energy savings.

Eligibility

To be eligible for energy audits organisations must:

• use between 160MWh and about 10GWh of electricity a year
• commit to paying 20-50% of the audit cost
• collect pre-audit energy data and develop a resource consumption baseline
• develop an active resource efficiency team
• undertake the Sustainability Advantage Resource efficiency module
• be willing to implement cost effective energy efficiency recommendations
• commit to reporting on resource savings at 6, 12 and 18 month intervals after the energy audit.

Businesses required to submit a NSW Energy Savings Action Plan or an Energy Efficiency Opportunities Assessment are only eligible for any additional NSW sites not mandated to complete an action plan or assessment.

Resource efficiency module

On-site Resource Efficiency workshops will help your organisation improve its bottom line by identifying ways to lower water, energy and materials consumption and reduce waste.

DECCW will help you establish a resource efficiency team and provide technical support to help your people prioritise and implement projects. The resource efficiency team will establish meaningful goals aligned to clear, achievable targets and key performance indicators.

NABERS rating

NABERS (the National Australian Built Environment Rating System) is a star rating of the environmental performance of existing buildings which includes offices, retail and hotels on a 1-5 star scale. From October 2010, NABERS mandatory disclosure for commercial buildings over 2,000m squared will be introduced.

The NABERS energy assessment will be conducted simultaneously to the energy audit, saving time and resources in identifying and collating data.
Note: The NABERS component of the audit is not directly subsidised by DECCW.

The Sustainability Advantage energy audits are a $20 million extension of the Sustainability Advantage Program and part of the NSW Government's $150 million Energy Efficiency Strategy. This strategy is helping NSW households, government and business save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.