Why is this so useful? First, and foremost, it lets your administration know that you're doing a good job. If you don't tell them, they won't know. By providing an ongoing history of all facilities' energy consumption, it really tells a story. If you replaced a burner last year, this will help you illustrate the economic impact. If the new burner didn't help, it may give you some ammunition to go back to your contractor and ask why.

Even if your numbers aren't all that good, when you first report your findings to the administration, it demonstrates that you're working on a plan to make improvements. You can't make a plan to go somewhere, if you don't know where you are. This is your starting point.

If the administration complains about busting the energy budget, the annual analysis helps you illustrate that it was the number of heating degree-days, or increased cost per unit of fuel, that caused the problem, not the consumption rate.

This calculation is also important to understand the basic need for energy conservation. Even with today's increased ventilation requirements, a steam heated facility, in a region with approximately 8,000 heating degree days a year, should be able to operate in the range of 6.0 Btu/square foot/heating degree-day. If you're operating much lower than that, you may have a need for investigating your ventilation rates. You may not be providing adequate outside air for your occupants. If your consumption is significantly higher, you definitely have good economic justification for a boost in your energy optimization program. Again, benchmarking can help you with the economic justification.