Need help shrinking your energy bills?

Just like residential customers, businesses are trying to become more energy efficient, but businesses are faced with challenges beyond turning out the lights, lowering the thermostat and putting plastic over the windows.

Wisconsin has several programs to help businesses assess their energy needs.

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How often when staying in a hotel, have you cranked up the heat or the air-conditioning without giving a second thought to the expense? After all, hotel guests aren't charged by how much energy they use, so why not be comfortable, right? But, when checking out, often the heat or air is left running until the housekeeping staff comes in, resulting in a huge operating expense for the hotel owner.

Technology may be changing that scenario. Two Madison hotels � Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites/Madison-West and Days Inn have installed energy-management controls for heating, cooling and lighting systems in guest rooms.

Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites installed the ENTERGIZE system in 157 guest rooms in November 2004.

The system works with a key card and a passive infrared motion-detection system. When the guest leaves the room, the controls send a signal to the thermostat to relax the HVAC system to an "unoccupied" set point. When the guest returns, the key card activates the system and it readjusts to meet guest comfort levels.

If rooms are vacant for an extended period, the system will maintain a minimum temperature until the room is reoccupied.

The hotel's general manager, David Phaneuf, said the estimated savings is about $30,000 a year. The hotel's parent company, Wisco Hotels, plans to install the system in seven more properties. "It's a great idea and common sense for saving energy," Phaneuf said.

Steve Jansen, general manager at Days Inn on East Broadway, said his hotel installed the Onity system in June 2005. The system also works with a motion detector and a sensor attached to the entry door. "With energy costs rising, this was one that we could actively control and see our results relatively quickly," said Jansen. The program is expected to pay for itself in two to three years.

Both hotels worked with Focus on Energy to determine which methods would work best. Focus on Energy is a public/private partnership coordinated by the Wisconsin Department of Administration's Division of Energy. Since July 2001, the program has helped Wisconsin's businesses and residents cut their utility bills by more than $61 million, reducing energy consumption by 572 million kilowatt-hours, and more that 27 million therms of natural gas.

Local utilities including Madison Gas and Electric (MGE) refer business customers to Focus on Energy for assessment of energy programs and for incentives such as low-interest loans to make energy improvements.

Matthew Matenaer, an energy adviser at Focus on Energy, said that lodging facilities use a lot of energy to operate lights, swimming pools and business centers, and 40 percent to 80 percent of the facility energy costs result from heating and cooling guest rooms. "It's an important cost control that can be maintained through the use of guest room energy-management controls," Matenaer said.

MGE account representatives and technical support staff work with about 250 businesses a year to help manage their energy costs. In most cases, according to Scott Olsen of MGE, the customer's energy use is benchmarked before MGE staff visits the site. "Benchmarking data is used to compare a specific customer's annual energy intensity in terms of kilowatt-hours per square foot and therms per square foot to an average annual energy intensity for a group of similar buildings. This provides MGE staff with guidance on relative energy efficiency-levels in the building and which technologies may offer the best energy and cost-savings opportunities," Olsen said.

The site visit is used to learn more about the facility, including a better understanding of the mechanical and electrical systems as well as how the equipment is operated. Some of the most cost-effective options are related to how the existing equipment is operated.

The account representative talks with the customer in detail about any concerns, learns how the equipment is operated and sees firsthand which systems are in place and how they interact with each other. Usually, by the end of the site visit, MGE staff can offer direction on the top two to four items to focus on for energy savings.

St. Mary's Hospital is working with Focus on Energy on two projects: a lighting reduction in many areas of the hospital and boiler economizer stacks.

Gary Rothenbuehler, director of plant services, said St. Mary's would not have been able to fund these projects on its own. "With the help of Focus on Energy, we were able to reduce our energy usage sooner. We look forward to working on future initiatives that will help us with energy savings in our new inpatient tower," he said. St Mary's current project with Focus on Energy is the installation of variable-frequency drives for several applications in the inpatient building slated to open in late 2007.

The Madison School District has been making energy up-grades to schools and administration buildings since 1997. Many of the projects - such as new chillers and lighting, window, steam-valve and boiler replacements - have been coordinated by Focus on Energy and Honeywell.

Doug Pearson, director of building services, estimates the district saves $500,000 annually in energy costs because of the upgrades. "With ever increasing energy costs, we continue to look for opportunities to reduce our consumption. We have been integrating energy-efficient design into our maintenance projects for eight years. We are now taking steps to further educate the students and staff on how they can help save energy and reduce our impact on the environment," Pearson said.

Alliant Energy offers Shared Savings, a program that assists business, industrial and agricultural customers to identify and implement energy-efficiency programs. Since 1997, more than 4,100 Shared Savings contracts have been executed for schools, local governments, offices, factories and retail stores. Shared Savings offers low-interest loans so that businesses can install energy-efficient equipment. In 2004, Shared Savings customers had an average energy savings of 6 percent.

Mark Mortensen, owner of All-Color Powder Coating in Oregon, has used the Shared Savings program several times since 1986. Mortensen's business does environmentally friendly surface painting for point-of-purchase displays, store fixtures and the chairs on the UW-Madison Union Terrace, to name a few of the applications. The paint is baked onto the surface in a natural-gas-powered oven. The drying process is also powered by natural gas. The first project that Mortensen did with Shared Savings was modifying the ovens in 1986 to reduce natural-gas usage. Six years ago, the program helped Mortensen relocate his business to Burr Oak Avenue in Oregon. Through his partnership with Shared Savings, he was able to expand his shop in 2002 and 2005.

Upgrading industrial fluorescent lighting fixtures and the addition of energy-efficient machinery, including an infrared convection heater for drying the paint, have resulted in higher productivity. The new equipment processes more units and the line moves faster, allowing Mortensen to reduce costs while increasing productivity.

"We are running two times the product in our new 25,000-square-foot shop at the same energy cost as in our old 6,000-square-foot location," Mortensen said.

Jeff McCarthy, account executive for Shared Savings, said Mortensen showed a 20 percent return on his investment, and the projected savings is 300,000 therms per year.

The energy savings that Mortensen realizes pays his monthly Shared Savings loan payments. "Businesses that save money on energy can also experience better competitiveness, and a strengthened bottom line. Stronger companies mean a stronger Wisconsin economy, and conserving energy benefits the environment. Directly and indirectly, there are many paybacks to operating an energy-efficient business," said Pat Keenan, Alliant Energy director of sales and strategic accounts.

The Energy Center of Wisconsin works with electric and gas utilities to promote energy efficiency and to demonstrate ideas that benefit both energy producers and energy consumers. The ECW also helps businesses with environmentally friendly and energy-efficient "green" building design.

The ECW was founded in 1989 and is a private nonprofit organization dedicated to improving energy sustainability, energy efficiency, renewable energy and environmental protection. The organization has completed hundreds of energy projects for both business and residential markets. Laurel & Associates Ltd., Degnan Design Builders Inc. and The Renschler Co. are some of the Madison businesses that have benefited from the Energy Center's expertise.

The ECW is also a resource for publications on energy efficiency. Abby Vogen, senior project manager/commercial programs, said ECW has industrial fact sheets and research materials available to the public.