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Scale Energy Management to Your Company

There’s an energy management program that’s just right for your company. It's all about sizing the key actions to create a program that works for you.

ENERGY STAR’s Guidelines for Energy Management outline the steps for building an energy program.

Review the Guidelines and then decide how to apply them to your organization.

Evaluate your energy management practices using the Energy Management Assessment Matrix for Small Companies (105KB)

Examples of Applying the Guidelines to Small and Medium Companies

ENERGY STAR Guideline Steps	Actions for Small and Medium Manufacturers	Additional Resources
Step 1 – Commit to Continuous Improvement	- Appoint a number of key people to form the energy team. - Create and post an Energy Policy in the break room.	Teaming Up to Save Energy Join ENERGY STAR
Step 2 – Assess Performance	- Gather energy bills and compare the past two year’s energy use. - Inventory large energy using equipment and systems. - Request a load profile from your utility. - Examine how your rates are structured. - Identify an energy metric to track (e.g. total energy or Btu/pound of production). - Use the ENERGY STAR Energy Tracking Tool to track progress.	Energy Tracking Plan (110KB) ENERGY STAR Energy Tracking Tool (12.6MB)
Step 3 – Set Goals	- Create a goal to motivate action. - Establish corporate/plant baseline(s) and a process for tracking energy use over time. - Use the ENERGY STAR Energy Tracking Tool to track progress - Consider taking the ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry	ENERGY STAR Energy Tracking Tool (12.6MB) ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry
Step 4 – Create Action Plan	- Identify no-cost actions to reduce energy use, e.g. turn off unnecessary equipment, fix compressed air leaks, etc. - Identify projects requiring capital, e.g. upgrade lighting, replace old motors, etc. - Take advantage of free or low-cost plant energy assessments from universities, the local utility, or state or local governments. - Write down your plan and share it.	Get Started on Finding Savings SMM Energy Guide (905KB) Industrial Energy Management Information Center
Step 5 – Implement Action Plan	- Challenge employees to find ways to save energy at work and at home. - Conduct an energy assessment. - Assign responsibility for carrying out energy projects. - Consider performance contracting to finance energy upgrades.	Ready-to-use Communication Resources
Step 6 – Evaluate Progress	- Compare progress against baselines. - Evaluate action plan and identify new areas for next year.	ENERGY STAR Energy Tracking Tool (12.6MB)
Step 7 – Recognize Achievements	- Create an annual award to recognize employees and facilities that achieve significant savings. - Achieve the ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry.	ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry

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