Enigin On:

How to produce the World's Best

Energy Audit Report
- And avoid it ending up in the bin!

Business Development Team

Enigin PLC

14th July 2009

Producing a great report can be a critical success factor in building a successful Energy
Management Business – getting it wrong can be a very, very, expensive missed
opportunity.

Firstly you have to ask yourself ‘what constitutes a good energy audit report’? And how
can I make mine ‘The Best’?

Is the best: -

…the one with the most colourful pictures?

…is it the one with the most technical information?
…is it from the person with the most letters after their name?
…or the one that stands out on the table because it’s the thickest?
Surely, it must be the one that breaks the energy costs for every appliance down into
the smallest decimal point!

WRONG…

The ‘Best Energy Audit in the World’ is the one that the customer understands and
confidently acts on and thereafter enjoys the benefits of making substantial cost
savings, improved efficiency and reduced maintenance year after year - it’s a successful
business proposal that you profit from as well.

Sadly most Energy Audits end up in the bin. Quite likely they will be handed around
from department to department for a while … awaiting their final destiny.

Energy Audits don’t benefit the provider or the customer unless the recommendations
Copyright Enigin plc. Business Development Team 14th July 2009
are implemented. Audit reports should be designed to encourage implementation, but
often they impede it instead. The goal in writing an audit report should not be the report
itself; rather, it should be to achieve implementation of the report recommendations and
thus achieve increased energy efficiency and energy cost savings for the customer.

The objective is to answer the following questions for the customer in a ‘user friendly’
way: -

1. Where am I right now with my energy usage? – The problems.

2. What am I trying to achieve? –The targets.
3. What are the choices open to me, and what are the risk/benefit options? – The
solutions.
4. Which is the best course to take all things being considered? – Action.

If you can present the options for you customer in terms of your professional
recommendations and at the same time give them supporting evidence to back up your
statements this will add weight to what you are proposing.

If you can then present these best options in such a way that the cost or investment
required to implement the recommendations is covered entirely by the saving being
generated and then guarantee the results so as to remove any risk… then you have just
produced ‘The World’s Best Energy Audit’ for your client and it will be far less likely to
end up in the bin!

You need to keep your objective clear in mind. There are two goals when producing an
Energy Audit.

1. Your first goal is to provide your clients with the facts necessary to make
informed decisions about your report recommendations.

2. Your second goal, which is as important as the first, is to interest your clients in
implementing as many of your recommendations as possible.

A user-friendly audit report will help you to achieve both goals. Put simply your Audit
report is a comprehensive ‘proposal’ for your customer to spend more money with you
on your recommended energy saving products.

So what is a ‘user friendly’ report?

People generally think of the term ‘user-friendly’ related to something like a computer
program. A program that is user-friendly is one that helps you use it with a minimum of
difficulty. We apply the same term to audit reports to mean a report that communicates
its information to the user (reader) with a minimum amount of effort on the reader's part.

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We operate on the belief that a reader who is busy will not want to spend his/her
valuable time struggling to understand what the report is trying to say. If the report is
not clear and easy to follow, the reader is likely to set it down to read later, and ‘later’
may never come!

Let’s consider a few facts from the experts in this field: -

True of false?

ALL people make buying decisions based on emotion… Not logic.

Yes, this is really, actually true. Engineers, accountants, executives, attorneys,

housewives, and ministers - and butchers, bakers and candlestick makers - We all
fundamentally make all of our decisions based on emotion, not logic.

Logic supports our emotions and is used to justify our decisions after we have made
them. Logic plays a part, but emotion is the core ingredient.

Some people think emotion has no place in business-to-business (B2B) marketing.

Those people are likely to tell you that your ‘report’ should be 'just the facts sir.'

Sorry: They're absolutely, 100% totally dead wrong.

You can use those people to write instruction manuals and employee handbooks, but
keep them out of your sales and marketing department. This sort of thinking is exactly
why most business-to-business communication is so DULL.

The Cardinal Sin in writing audits or proposals is to be boring!

OK, so how do you use emotion in an Energy Audit?

Try to begin with the conversation that's inside the reader's head - right now.

There is an emotional reason why the person agreed to this audit in the first place…
What is it?
What are they irritated about?
What are they worried about?
What opportunity are they trying to capitalize on?
If that person were to launch into a rant right now, what would they say?

You're not done yet. Once you've reinforced the conversation inside their head take it a
step further. Tell them about even more problems they'll have if they don't consider all
of the data. Tell a horror story or two, if that's appropriate. Point out a few more

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problems they probably haven't thought of yet. Mentally walk with them through their
problems and the consequences of doing nothing.

How do you do that?

Know your audience. The first thing to keep in mind when you start to write anything is
to know your audience – their personalities and their needs and tailor your report to that
audience. When writing a commercial or industrial audit report, your report may be read
only by the owner operator; on the other hand your readers can range from the
company president to the head of maintenance. If recommendations affect a number of
groups in the company, each group leader may be given a copy of the report. Thus, you
may have persons of varying backgrounds and degrees of education all looking at the
report. Not all of them will necessarily have a technical background. The primary
decision maker may not be an engineer; the person who implements the
recommendations may not have a college degree.

The Energy Audit is in effect a more comprehensive version of the initial EnergyMaps
proposal you used to secure your client in the first place. The format is ‘similar’ only
more comprehensive with several sections within the folder for you to include all the
technical date to back up your recommendations – the objective is of course the
same… to secure business.

Start with an executive summary, which briefly describes your recommendations and
tabulates your results such as the energy and dollar savings and the simple payback
times. Highlight the benefits achieved thus far with the EnergyMaps programme and
the targets that you believe can be achieved.

Follow that with a brief description of your recommendations and provide details on all
of the products and solutions offered in the ‘products’ section of your folder.

You will also need to provide a detailed section that we call the technical supplement.
This section of your report includes the calculations that support your recommendations
and any specific information relating to implementation.

Use a simple, direct writing style. Technical writers often feel compelled to write in a
third-person, passive, verbose style. Because energy audit reports are technical in
nature, they often reflect this writing style. Instead, you should write your audit report in
clear, understandable language. Remember, your reader may not have a technical
background. Even one who does will not be offended if the report is easy to read and
understand.

Here are a few suggestions:

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Simplify your writing by using active voice. Writers often are reluctant to take
responsibility for their recommendations; they use passive voice to avoid responsibility,
saying ‘It is recommended...’ or ‘It has been shown...’ rather than ‘We recommend...’ or
‘We have shown...’

Consider that you are addressing the report to one or more individuals. Write it as if you
were speaking directly to the reader. Use the words ‘you’ and ‘your.’ Make the report
plain and simple.

Not: Installation of high-efficiency fluorescent lamps in place of the present lamps is

recommended.
But: Install high-efficiency fluorescent lamps in place of your present lamps.
Or: We recommend that you install high-efficiency fluorescent lamps in place of your
present lamps.

Avoid technical jargon that your reader may not understand. Don't use acronyms such
as ECO, EMO or EMR without explaining them. (Energy Conservation Opportunity,
Energy Management Opportunity, Energy Management Recommendation.)

Often the concepts we are trying to convey in an audit report are not easy to explain in a
limited number of words – try to present important information visually. Where
appropriate, use illustrations or drawings to reinforce the benefit. Eniscope will deliver
information in a number of visually engaging ways, which can be printed and made part
of your Energy Audit.

The methodology and calculations used to develop your recommendations are

potentially useful in an audit report. Including the methodology and calculations gives
technical personnel the ability to check the accuracy of your assumptions and your
work. However, not every reader wants to wade through pages describing the
methodology and showing the calculations. Therefore, you may wish to provide this
information in a technical supplement to your Audit Report. Since this section is clearly
labeled as the technical supplement, other readers are put on notice as to the purpose
of this section.

A major problem with many reports is a failure to explain the assumptions underlying the
calculations. For example, show how you got the numbers... ‘Your facility operates
from 7:30 am to 8:00 pm, five days a week, 51 weeks per year. Therefore, we will use
3188 hours in our calculations.’

It would be beneficial to use one section of your report to list your standard assumptions
and calculations. That way you don’t have to repeat the explanations for each of your
recommendations. Typically some of the standard assumptions/calculations included in

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this section could be operating hours, average cost of electricity, demand rate, off-peak
cost of electricity, and any other relevant factors.

Some writers assume that their readers will understand their recommendation even if it
is not explicitly stated. Although the implied recommendation may often be clear, the
better practice is to clearly state your recommendation so that your reader knows
exactly what to do.

Not: Install occupancy sensors in the conference room and restrooms.

But: You should purchase 5 occupancy sensors; install one in the conference room
and one in each of the four restrooms.

Important to always consider is that the integrity of a report is grounded in its accuracy.
This does not just mean correctness of calculations. Clearly, inaccurate calculations will
destroy a report's credibility. But other problems can also undermine the value of your
report.

Be consistent throughout the report. Use the same terminology so your reader is not
confused. Make sure that you use the same values. Don't use two different load
factors for the same piece of equipment in different recommendations.

Proofread your report carefully. Typographical and spelling errors devalue an otherwise
good product. With computer spell checkers, there is very little excuse for misspelled
words, but at the same time they can make some silly assumptions. The sort of readers,
who are likely to notice this type of error, will wonder if your technical calculations are
similarly flawed.

Let’s consider the main sections of what is likely to make up ‘The World’s Best Energy
Audit Report’… the following report format will likely meet your clients' needs and should
give them what they need to make a decision in favour of your proposal.

Executive Summary:

The audit report should start with an executive summary, which basically lists the
recommended energy conservation measures and shows the implementation cost and
dollar savings amount. This section is intended for the readers who only want to see
the bottom line. Although the executive summary can be as simple as a short table, you
should add some brief text to explain the recommendations and, if appropriate, include
other special information needed to implement the recommendations.

Results to Date:

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Highlight the benefits achieved so far from implementation of the EnergyMaps
programme both in terms of energy saved and other demonstrable benefits. Include
comments from staff if appropriate. Include some data from Eniscope.

Energy Saving Opportunities:

Focus on the potential energy saving that have been identified and project this saving
across five years to make the figures come to life. Based on the company’s profitability
(if this is available) project what level of turnover would be required to achieve the same
bottom line profit.

Problems Requiring Immediate Attention:

Define the problems currently experienced within the facility and the consequences of
doing nothing in terms of waste and other losses.

Recommendations:

In this section you should outline the steps that your client should consider in order to
start implementing your recommendations - highlighting the benefits/rewards that come
from proceeding with all your recommendations. It is often good to priorities these as
‘action plans’ on the basis that some will provide a better ROI (return on investment)
than others. This section should detail A. the no-cost options already implemented
during the EnergyMaps programme, B. Low cost options where the saving can be
guaranteed, and C. The longer-term investment opportunities where payback is more
than two years, but still beneficial. In the ‘closing’ part of the sales process you could
ask them if they intend to go for all of the recommendations or just the ‘low cost’ energy
saving options on which we can guarantee early payback? – either way you get a sale!

Pay As You Save Plan.

Include a short discussion of the ways your client can pay for the recommendations.
Ideally you should have a leasing company that you have a relationship with. Or,
present it to the company on the basis that you recommend they use their preferred
leasing company and you are happy to make the arrangements on their behalf. You
may wish to cover the traditional use of company capital, loans for small businesses,
utility incentive programs, and the shared savings approach of the energy service
companies, if these are relevant. Remind your customer they are paying for the
solutions anyway in terms of wasted energy – it is simply a matter of what they will have

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to show for the money they are already spending.

Performance Guarantee:

Provide details on the product and performance guarantees and reassure the client that
their investment is ‘Risk-Free’. Where else can they get a 25% guaranteed return on
investment?

Energy Saving Products

This section should include the product data sheets (brochures) that relate to the
products or solutions we are recommending.

The Technical Supplement

The technical supplement is the part of the report, which contains the specific
information about the facility and the audit recommendations in ‘technical’ terms. The
technical supplement has two main sections: one includes your assumptions and
general calculations; the other describes the recommendations in detail including the
calculations and methodology

Here you provide the reader with the basis for understanding your calculations and
assumptions. You could include a short description of the facility. Standard values
calculated in this section include operating hours, average cost of electricity, demand
rate, off-peak cost of electricity etc. Here you should explain the methodology used to
arrive at your savings estimates. Provide the equations and show how the calculations
are performed. Adroitly, by placing the calculations away from the rest of the information
rather than intermingling it, you won't scare off the readers who are not that interested in
‘technical stuff’ but need to know the other information.

Appendix

Use an appendix to ‘dump’ your lengthy data tables. Your customer will almost never
read them but at least they provide some reassurance that your calculations,
assumptions and recommendations our based on a solid foundation – which of course
they are. They provide backup information without cluttering up the main body of the
report.

In summary, many audit reports are not user-friendly – that’s why most of them end up

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in the bin! Most often, they are either lengthy documents full of explanations,
justifications and calculations, or they are very short with little backup information. If a
report is so long that it intimidates your readers by its very size, they will invariably set it
aside to read when they have more time – if ever. What’s more it is almost impossible to
‘close on the day’. If it’s so short that needed information is lacking, the readers may not
believe the results and again you will have nothing to close on.

Writing a user-friendly audit report presented in one of the specially designed Enigin
Audit Report four ring binders, is an important step in promoting implementation of audit
recommendations. Put simply – you need to find out what people need and show them
how to get it… and give them the motivation by building desire for your solution in a
credible way. You need to figure out what your customers like, and what they hate, what 
keeps them awake at night, what gives them ulcers and what catastrophic events they 
dread – and make it clear how much additional profit they can make.  

You need to observe what aspects of their business they're emotional about, and design 
your solution in the form of ‘The Best Energy Audit Report in the World’ to address those 
felt needs.

You want to balance your sales message and emotion with credible factual data, so you 
build   a   strong,   persuasive   guide   that   your   customer   can't   stop   reading   and   that 
ultimately moves them to action.

Enigin PLC
info@enigin.com
www.enigin/com

This document is provided as a guide for Enigin partners to produce a meaningful Energy Audit report for client
companies. In preparing this document recognition is given to the works of Lynne C. Capehart, Project coordinator;
Barney L. Capehart; Director University of Florida Energy Analysis and Diagnostic Center, Department of Industrial
and Systems. Ian Wrigley FRSA. Perry Marshall. Their expertise and/or white papers were utilized as a reference
during the preparation of this guide.

Copyright Enigin plc. Business Development Team 14th July 2009