What to Do After an Energy Audit

Move from a report to a programme of work

An energy audit can establish how a facility uses energy, how demand relates to production or weather, and where improvements may be worthwhile. Its value depends on what happens next. A long opportunity list can lose momentum unless the business turns it into decisions, responsibilities and a delivery plan.

A practical programme follows five steps: prioritise, plan and assign, implement, strategise, and review. Use each step to make the next decision clear.

1. Prioritise the opportunities

Use a value-and-ease assessment to decide what needs attention first. High-value, easier measures may be ready for action; high-value, difficult measures need a development plan. Lower-value, easy measures can fit routine maintenance or procurement, while low-value, difficult options may be deferred.

Add an evidence check before treating a project as ready. Record the proposed measure, equipment boundary, estimated benefit, cost assumptions, confidence level and dependencies. A favourable estimate with weak data may need further investigation before approval.

Check interactions between opportunities. Reducing a process load can change the size or savings of a later equipment replacement, so the benefits should not be added without examining the combined result.

2. Plan the next decision and assign an owner

Name someone responsible for each selected opportunity and for the overall programme. Set a decision date and identify the next evidence required, such as a measurement exercise, a refined equipment specification or a supplier quotation.

A useful action register includes the opportunity, owner, investment stage, next action, dependencies and performance measure. Retain the baseline and the assumptions used in the audit so later changes can be understood.

If funding or certificates are part of the case, check the relevant timing and evidence requirements before purchase commitments or installation. Separate feasibility approval, equipment orders, installation and commissioning dates rather than recording only that a project has started.

3. Implement with a complete business case

Start approved operational measures and incorporate appropriate projects into maintenance, procurement and capital plans. Larger measures may need feasibility work or design before the organisation commits to delivery.

Compare options using consistent assumptions about duty, operating hours and prices. Keep capital costs, energy-cost effects, maintenance benefits and potential incentives visible. State what could change the result and which approvals remain outstanding.

Record what was actually installed, commissioning results and departures from the design. Plan measurement before changing the original equipment, so the project has a credible basis for assessing its effect.

4. Embed the work in energy management

Connect the opportunity programme with the business's energy objectives, operating responsibilities and investment planning. Management, finance, engineering, operations and procurement need to understand the targets and the assumptions behind them.

Use performance measures that help people act. Where appropriate, relate consumption to production or another relevant operating variable, rather than judging performance only from monthly totals. Maintain the register as ideas move through assessment, approval, implementation and review.

This makes the audit part of an ongoing management process rather than a report that is revisited only when energy costs rise.

5. Review progress and verify the benefits

Schedule the review cycle when the programme is created. The original guidance recommends at least an annual review; individual projects may need earlier checks after commissioning or operating changes.

Review delivery progress, costs, operating performance and unresolved opportunities. Distinguish an audit estimate from a measured result and from any certificate quantity issued. If results differ from the forecast, investigate the operating conditions and assumptions before drawing conclusions.

Keep successful measures under review so performance does not drift. Update priorities as production, equipment, energy prices or business objectives change.

Make the next action specific

Choose an opportunity, assign its owner and define the evidence needed for the next decision. If the business needs support moving from assessment to delivery, contact Northmore Gordon with the audit and current project status. See also measurement and verification services.

What should be the first action after receiving an audit?

Prioritise the opportunities by value and ease, then check whether the evidence is strong enough for the next decision. Select an owner and a next action for the measures worth progressing.

Should the shortest-payback project always go first?

Not automatically. Consider evidence quality, operational needs, dependencies and interactions with other projects. An apparently attractive measure may need more investigation, while another may fit an immediate maintenance or procurement decision.

What belongs in an energy-project action register?

Record the opportunity, owner, investment stage, next action, decision date, dependencies and performance measure. Keep the baseline and assumptions available so changes between the audit and implementation can be understood.

When should funding and certificate requirements be checked?

Check them before purchase commitments or installation, while the required evidence and timing conditions can still be addressed. Record project dates precisely and keep potential incentive value separate from the engineering savings estimate.

How often should the programme be reviewed?

The original guidance recommends at least an annual review, with earlier checks where commissioning or operating changes warrant them. Review project progress and measured performance, then update priorities as conditions change.

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