Where are the savings?
The knowledge of increasing costs and heightened environmental awareness have created a niche for companies that specialize in offering facility executives a way of reducing their energy costs while improving the performance of their power systems. More efficient light sources combined with better control, offer significant improvements in energy efficiency
By Maria Laitalainen
One such company is Warsaw-based Bricks & Bits Poland, a company founded in 2001 and owned by the Dutch investment group Star West Capital.
"At the moment, our solutions have proven to save an average of 25 to 35 percent in lighting systems and a further 30 percent in air-conditioning and refrigeration systems," said president of Bricks & Bits, Daniel Schlitner.
Bricks & Bits' clients such as Geant, McDonald's, Volkswagen, Champion, Tesco, Leroy Merlin, and Euro RTV AGD, all use light for long periods of time and have large retail spaces. Bricks & Bits has also signed agreements with two banks- Bank Ochrony Środowiska and ING Lease-which support the business concept behind the company and offer preferential credits to the potential clients.
"We don't just sell them equipment, but we also become responsible for the resulting savings," Schlitner explained. "We actually come and implement certain hardware, which we tailor to the needs of the business. We research the site and think of ways in which the particular client could save energy. We further finance the solution and become a co-partner to the future savings."
While retail clients want to cut their electrical energy and cooling energy costs, office owners are looking for saving solutions on a completely different level. Bricks & Bits helps facility management companies and developers to monitor and meter the energy flow in their buildings, something that later changes the settlement philosophy with tenants.
"In an office building we come and connect meters to each energy consumer, whether it is a particular tenant or common space such as the lifts or the stairs," said Daniel Schlitner. "We would then provide the owner with a balance of energy, showing them how much comes into the building and where it's being used. Usually they know how much energy they are buying but they don't know where it is being used or who is using the most."
With overall energy costs in office buildings exceeding the 30- to 40-percent mark of total costs, it is no wonder that facility managers are turning to solutions that could help them make substantial savings. Occupancy controls can be used to limit the operation of the lights in an area to only those times when they are needed. Dimming, when used in buildings with large windowed atriums, for example, can be used in response to how much daylight is available.
"If you are able to show your tenants that your management charge is lower, it's an advantage on the market and you are able to attract more tenants," said Daniel Schlitner. "Using an energy saving system is a marketing tool. We also help owners to make the process of energy charge-out a more transparent procedure, allowing tenants to control their costs," he added.
In shopping malls, which offer a lot of common space, energy saving companies help to allocate the common usage charge to each of the tenants, rather than charging them a fixed fee.
"We are replacing the old system of charging energy per square meter by charging tenants with the real cost," said Schlitner. "Today tenants really prefer to pay for what they are using. People are more aware of the need to save energy and to reduce their expenditures, and for companies that care about their finance as well as corporate image, this truly is a win-win situation."
By Maria Laitalainen
One such company is Warsaw-based Bricks & Bits Poland, a company founded in 2001 and owned by the Dutch investment group Star West Capital.
"At the moment, our solutions have proven to save an average of 25 to 35 percent in lighting systems and a further 30 percent in air-conditioning and refrigeration systems," said president of Bricks & Bits, Daniel Schlitner.
Bricks & Bits' clients such as Geant, McDonald's, Volkswagen, Champion, Tesco, Leroy Merlin, and Euro RTV AGD, all use light for long periods of time and have large retail spaces. Bricks & Bits has also signed agreements with two banks- Bank Ochrony Środowiska and ING Lease-which support the business concept behind the company and offer preferential credits to the potential clients.
"We don't just sell them equipment, but we also become responsible for the resulting savings," Schlitner explained. "We actually come and implement certain hardware, which we tailor to the needs of the business. We research the site and think of ways in which the particular client could save energy. We further finance the solution and become a co-partner to the future savings."
While retail clients want to cut their electrical energy and cooling energy costs, office owners are looking for saving solutions on a completely different level. Bricks & Bits helps facility management companies and developers to monitor and meter the energy flow in their buildings, something that later changes the settlement philosophy with tenants.
"In an office building we come and connect meters to each energy consumer, whether it is a particular tenant or common space such as the lifts or the stairs," said Daniel Schlitner. "We would then provide the owner with a balance of energy, showing them how much comes into the building and where it's being used. Usually they know how much energy they are buying but they don't know where it is being used or who is using the most."
With overall energy costs in office buildings exceeding the 30- to 40-percent mark of total costs, it is no wonder that facility managers are turning to solutions that could help them make substantial savings. Occupancy controls can be used to limit the operation of the lights in an area to only those times when they are needed. Dimming, when used in buildings with large windowed atriums, for example, can be used in response to how much daylight is available.
"If you are able to show your tenants that your management charge is lower, it's an advantage on the market and you are able to attract more tenants," said Daniel Schlitner. "Using an energy saving system is a marketing tool. We also help owners to make the process of energy charge-out a more transparent procedure, allowing tenants to control their costs," he added.
In shopping malls, which offer a lot of common space, energy saving companies help to allocate the common usage charge to each of the tenants, rather than charging them a fixed fee.
"We are replacing the old system of charging energy per square meter by charging tenants with the real cost," said Schlitner. "Today tenants really prefer to pay for what they are using. People are more aware of the need to save energy and to reduce their expenditures, and for companies that care about their finance as well as corporate image, this truly is a win-win situation."
