How energy-efficient is your company really? Many companies pay high energy costs without knowing exactly which processes and systems cause the greatest consumption. However, a detailed analysis of energy consumption is the key to identifying potential savings, reducing costs and achieving sustainability goals.
However, since the publication of the Energy Efficiency Act, the determination of total energy consumption has taken on a new dimension, as you need to know what obligations apply to you. Caution: Companies are obliged to publish economic measures and register their waste heat starting from as little as 2.5 GWh/a (2,500,000 kWh/a).
In this article, you will learn how to determine your company’s energy consumption, what steps you should take to do so and how you can optimise the entire process to save energy and therefore costs in the future.
Why is it so important for companies to determine their energy consumption?
Energy is a significant cost factor in many companies. By analysing consumption in detail, potential energy savings can be identified and targeted measures taken to increase efficiency. This enables companies to reduce their operating costs in the long term and remain competitive.
Furthermore, sustainable development is only possible if progress is constantly monitored. Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight knows this. Constantly stepping on the scale can certainly trigger unpleasant feelings, but without it, we don’t know where our progress is at the moment and what we should do next.
And sustainability is not just a trend, but an important competitive advantage. Companies that measure and optimise their energy consumption make an active contribution to climate protection and improve their environmental image. This can have a positive impact on external perception and open up new business opportunities. Particularly in the current political climate, transparency of one’s own consumption is a first step towards independence from uncertain world events.
In the future, however, we see a completely different issue facing companies: Irrespective of political decisions, banks and insurance companies will focus more and more on sustainability. Companies that do not take the consequences of climate change into account in their planning may be offered less favourable credit terms, or possibly even no insurance cover at all.
Step-by-step guide: How to analyse your company’s energy consumption
And in order to create transparency, the first step is to summarise the consumption and costs caused by energy for the past year, or preferably the past three years. Consumption trends can already be recognised in this first step and initial measures can be derived.
In addition to electricity and gas consumption, this also includes a number of other energy sources that are often ignored, but which in individual cases have a very large impact on overall consumption and therefore of course also on potential savings.
We are primarily talking about the vehicle fleet, as the operation of transportation with fuels is also part of a company’s total energy consumption (with very few exceptions). For larger companies, this can amount to less than 1 % and therefore have little relevance for the overall balance, but must of course be included in accordance with the law in order to be able to map overall consumption.
Sometimes it is also difficult to assess energy consumption in rented properties in which your own company is not responsible for operating the heating system. Here you are often dependent on the quality of data from third parties. In many cases, the total costs are simply allocated by area and exact consumption cannot be determined. In this case, it is possible to approximate consumption using standard parameters. It is not possible to exclude consumption in those cases.
BAFA has published the “Information sheet on determining total energy consumption” on its energy audit page, which primarily addresses the balance limits and the energy sources excluded from total consumption: Link (German language only)
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
The known problems in determining total energy consumption
The biggest obstacle to determining your own energy consumption is the lack of a solid data basis. As a rule, an annual bill for electricity consumption is available, and with a bit of luck also for heat consumption, be it natural gas, heating oil or district heating. Although this information is sufficient to determine the total consumption, it does not provide any real indication of possible optimisation. This requires more precise measurements, ideally in quarter-hour or hourly resolution.
Monitoring systems are not always necessary for this. According to Section 12 of the Low Voltage Connection Ordinance (NAV), so-called recording power measurement (RLM) is mandatory for every consumption point with more than 100,000 kWh/a electricity consumption or more than 100 kW connected load. This means that the grid operator already has quarter-hourly values for the electricity connection that can be queried.
The same applies to the gas connection, although the limit values are significantly higher here. RLM metering is only required from 1.5 million kWh/a or a connected load of 500 kW. Here too, the data can be retrieved from the grid operator, but only on an hourly basis.
Incidentally, the “Act to Restart the Digitalisation of the Energy Transition” means that all electricity meters with a consumption of more than 6,000 kWh/a will be equipped with a smart meter in the future, so that these connections can also be permanently monitored.
Another problem often arises when data from previous years can no longer be found or has not been properly accounted for. In such a case, an estimate can also be made on the basis of known values. Of course, this is only possible if the data basis is comparable, for example if there have been no fundamental changes to the overall condition of the building.
One of the most common problems we encounter during audits or other analyses is missing or insufficient service charge statements. When an audit is carried out, a complete year must be used, and ideally also the last complete year. Often, however, no statements are available well into the new year. In these cases, older data can also be used for an initial estimate.
It is also important that energy consumption that is passed on to third parties is no longer included in the scope of your own company. This is of course not only important for determining the total energy consumption, but also for proper billing of the tenant’s energy consumption. Caution: In the case of generating your own electricity (CHP-units or PV-systems) and the levies received as a result.
Legal requirements and standards: What obligations do your company have?
Even if my company’s focus is not on saving energy, why should I still be informed about my own consumption? The answer has already been outlined in the introduction, and we will now go into this in more detail. Obligations are derived from energy consumption.
Since November 2023, when the Energy Efficiency Act was published, companies with a total energy consumption of more than 2.5 GWh/a (equivalent to 2,500,000 kWh/a) have been obliged to carry out the following activities:
1. creation of an implementation plan for economic efficiency measures
Companies are obliged to identify and evaluate measures to improve energy efficiency. Particularly cost-effective measures (i.e. those with an amortisation period of less than 50% of the typical life-time) must be documented in an implementation plan. Although there is (still) no legal obligation to implement these measures, the documentation obligation is binding. The implementation plans can either be published on the website or as part of the annual report.
2. obligation to utilise waste heat
In the future, companies will have to record and evaluate the waste heat they generate and avoid or utilise it wherever possible. This applies, for example, to internal utilisation (e.g. preheating water or rooms) or feeding it into a heating network.
It is also mandatory to report these waste heat quantities to the platform for waste heat, which can be found at the Federal Centre for Energy Efficiency (BfEE, German language only)
However, if a company’s energy consumption exceeds 7.5 GWh/a, the company is obliged to introduce an energy management system.
Conclusion: Recommendations for action for companies with high-energy consumption,
As the article has already made clear, recording and documenting your own energy consumption is relevant to fulfilling the legal framework conditions and saving energy (there will be another article on this shortly).
The clear recommendation for action from our side is:
- Check promptly whether your company exceeds the 2.5 GWh threshold.
- Identify cost-effective measures at an early stage and carry out a cost-benefit analysis.
- Set up internal monitoring.
- Adhere to deadlines and document all steps in a comprehensible manner.
Of course you can contact us at any time if you have any questions about your energy consumption!