After you’ve benchmarked your office’s current energy consumption, an energy audit can further detect the sources of energy inefficiency and pinpoint leaks. An energy audit can be performed by a simple walk-through of the home or building using a paper checklist (provided by local utility companies), by utilizing an online/computer analysis of past energy use (also provided by local utility companies), and/or by hiring a professional energy auditor who will use equipment such as blower doors or infrared cameras to analyze heat loss, appliance efficiency, etc. It depends on how in-depth and thorough you want to be and, more importantly, how committed you are to heeding the recommendations.
Do It Yourself: The U.S. Department of Energy’s Web site has a free do-it-yourself guide to energy audits. In addition, many local and regional utility companies, including Anaheim Public Utilities, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, offer free energy audits and do-it-yourself online energy audit programs.
Professional Auditors: If you would like to hire a professional energy auditor, contact the California Building Performance Contractors Association or the California Home Energy Rating Services.