For a limited time, Roanoke County is offering 40 free energy checkups to County businesses. The program is being funded by a stimulus grant received by the County and is completely free to the first 40 businesses that sign up. The purpose of the program is to identify a wide variety of energy conservation actions and improvements that will save energy and improve the bottom line. While there are no strings attached, participants are encouraged to follow-up on as many of the identified savings measures as possible.
Eligible businesses will either own their own building or have a lease that allows them to perform building and equipment modifications. They must pay their own utility bills and have meters in their name. The size of the structure is limited to approximately 6,000 sq. ft. and must be single story. It should be either a completely detached structure or part of multi-tenant strip mall but have front and rear exterior walls and no occupied space overhead. Enclosed mall occupancies cannot be considered. Residential type structures are also eligible assuming they are dedicated 100% to business operations.
It is anticipated that businesses that follow-up on recommendations contained in the energy checkup can potentially save 30-40% on their utility bills. Energy surveys are on a first come, first serve basis and are being performed by an independent 3rd party, certified, energy auditing firm. The process takes about 2 hours and the client will receive a written report listing existing conditions and recommendations in order of least to most cost. It is common to find many weatherization and conservation items that are no or low-cost.