ENERGY AUDIT & DECARBONIZATION ASSESSMENT

RAS Engineering provides energy audit testing for restoring and maintaining different types of buildings, including hospitals, residential, schools, chemical plants, power plants, FMCG, moulding, mines, hotels, and manufacturing industries.

RAS Engineering helps businesses conserve energy to protect the world from climate change. Being global citizen, we have some responsibility towards society to implement energy-saving ideas leading to improved productivity, saving money, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fulfilling energy demand. Being an energy audit compay, we advise house owners and commercial building contractors to consume optimum utilization of resources to reserve them for future generations.

The reality is that replacing building systems matching the original design will not resolve thermal comfort and air quality complaints, mitigate fire or flood risks, or significantly reduce energy use. Most owners use asset maintenance and renewal plans for their existing building systems. Moreover, condominiums have reserve funds or depreciation reports, whereas commercial owners typically have capital plans based on 5-year or 10-year horizons. Replacing “business as usual” window, cladding or mechanical systems today may achieve modest performance making it more difficult and expensive to reduce energy and GHG consumption when local laws or codes limiting energy or GHG use in existing buildings eventually take effect. 

HOW TO COMPLY AND REPORT

1.     Once the owner has executed a contract for an audit or decarbonization assessment, RAS notifies Dept of Environment. When the contract has been established the Building Department will allow reasonable time for a thorough analysis.

2.     RAS will perform an energy audit, retrocommissioning study, or Strategic Decarbonization Assessment as applicable and deliver the report to the building owner. The report will include

o  The Preliminary Energy-Use Analysis (PEA) - includes review of all data in the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager account used for submittal of the most recent benchmark report(s), including energy usage, floor area, space usage, and all attributes. The building owner must either provide a copy of the Portfolio Manager Data Verification Checklist, or access to the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager account. 

o  A list of all cost-effective retrofit (retro-commissioning) measures identified through an examination of the entire building, including all energy systems. For reporting purposes, RAS will consider how a building’s performance could be improved within the owner's “payback threshold”, an arbitrary length of time that can be as short as a single year. “Cost-effective” means energy efficiency measures that are estimated by the auditor to either:

1.     Each have a simple payback of 3 years or less,

2.     Each have a beneficial net present value,

3.     Comprise an integrated package with an overall simple payback of approximately 3 years, OR

4.     Comprise an integrated package with beneficial net present value. 

3.     Submit an online summary to the Building Department. A Confirmation of Energy Audit is a summary of the findings of an audit, retrocommissioning study, or decarbonization assessment.

STRATEGIC DECARBONIZATION ASSESSMENT

Decarbonization Strategy is one of the most effective ways to conduct audits of your house & buildings. It enables engineers to assess how energy-efficient your home or commercial building is. Rascom company helps businesses to take some necessary actions, including turn off vehicles at signals, using CFD or LED bulbs, using cycles, open windows instead of lights. These practices allow house owners or building contractors to save 5–30% reduction on energy Bills. This shows how much you’re concerned about nature, which positively impacts the environment.

RETROFITTING

Deep retrofits, also known as retro-commissioning, aim to significantly reduce atleast 50% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with some projects striving for Net Zero Energy or Zero Carbon targets. These retrofits go beyond simply replacing individual components of a building, such as boilers or lighting, and instead, consider the entire building and its systems.

A deep retrofit involves comprehensive improvements to the building enclosure, internal structure, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, and  site elements and landscaping. By taking a holistic approach, deep retrofits can achieve more significant energy savings and lower GHG emissions than piecemeal replacements.

One key aspect of deep retrofits is reducing passive loads, such as adding insulation and installing high-performance windows. These measures help reduce the building's reliance on centralized heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and can facilitate a shift from natural gas to cleaner electricity.

Improvements to the building façade, such as enhancing insulation and sealing air leaks, can significantly reduce cooling and heating loads. This can lead to substantial savings in air conditioning needs, particularly for older buildings.

In addition to energy efficiency, deep retrofits can enhance occupant health and comfort. Direct fresh air systems and improved building enclosures and windows can provide better indoor air quality and support passive survivability during power outages or when central cooling systems are unavailable. These benefits beyond energy savings can make the property more appealing to tenants or buyers and reduce health risks associated with extreme heat events.

Buildings without major system renewals are ideal candidates for deep retrofits. Energy and GHG savings can be realized by integrating deep retrofit measures into upcoming major repair projects.

Developing a phased roadmap for retrofitting the remaining systems can benefit buildings that have already replaced some systems (e.g., heating boilers, roofs, or light fixtures). This approach allows for incremental savings over time, eventually achieving deep savings when newer systems are retrofitted during their next renewal cycle.

By emphasizing the long-term benefits of deep retrofits, including energy and cost savings, improved occupant comfort, and reduced climate-related risks, property owners can make informed decisions about implementing these comprehensive and sustainable solutions for their buildings

TESTING FOR ENERGY PERFORMANCE

RAS has testing capabilities to test most areas of the envelope, site and interiors for energy performance and healthy indoor air.