Commercial energy audits

A structured examination of how a building or estate uses energy: the meter data, the plant, the operating pattern and the tariff, set against each other so that waste is shown with the evidence behind it rather than asserted. The output is a written report with measures stated in order, each with the figures that support it.

An audit is a point-in-time examination: it reads the records, visits the site where the data leaves questions, and reports. Monitoring is continuous measurement after that, so the measures taken are confirmed against the meter rather than assumed to have worked.

Not always. A year of half-hourly data, the invoices and the plant schedule answer much of it. Where the data leaves a question it cannot answer, such as what runs overnight and why, a visit is arranged and what was seen is recorded in the report.

A written report setting out what was examined, what the data showed and the measures worth taking, in order, each with the figures behind it. Where the data does not support a measure, it is left out rather than padded.

The first review, which reads your invoices and meter data and tells you whether a full audit is worth doing, costs nothing. Where a full audit is justified, its scope and fee are set out in writing and agreed before the work begins.

No. ESOS is a statutory scheme with its own qualification rules, coverage requirements and lead assessor sign-off. A commercial audit can feed evidence into ESOS work, but it does not replace it. The ESOS page sets out the statutory position.