1. Energy Check Up:
Real Time Survey
&
7 Habits of Highly Effective Energy
Managers
Dr. Ken Currie, Director, Center for Manufacturing
Research – Tennessee Tech University
Associate Director of Industrial Assessment Center

2. Identify the sector that best represents
your organization.
A. Commercial
B. Large Industrial
C. Small/Medium
Industrial
D. Public
E. Other

3. • Fans & Pumps are usually oversized to
consider worse case scenarios. Variable speed
drives allow for a throttled output with a
corresponding variable electrical load to
reduce flow.
• Furnaces are designed for peak product flow
but typical flow may only require a subset of
the burners to be in service.
Habit #1: Engineers Design for “Just-In-
Case” NOT Energy Efficiency

4. Does your organization have a formal
written energy management plan or
energy policy?
A. Yes
B. No
C. Don’t know

5. • Compared to electric motors, the work that is
conducted by compressed air is 7 times more
expensive.
• Inappropriate uses and leaks are common losses in a
compressed air system resulting in significant wasted
energy – i.e. In a system that is running a 200 hp
compressor, 30% represented by inappropriate uses
and leaks can cost approximately $4,500/yr in a single
shift operation.
• Poor management of air supply can yield inefficiencies
for costs and also in meeting demand events.
Habit #2: Air is Free, but Compressed
Air is Very Expensive

6. Does your organization have a procedure
for employees to suggest energy savings
opportunities?
A. Yes
B. No
C. Don’t know

7. • Changing bulbs is a good first step, but all light
is not created equal and replacing one fixture
for another fixture may yield more lumens
than what is needed. Consider reducing the
number of bulbs to reduce lighting levels as
appropriate for the task.
• Sensors and controls allow for occupancy
sensors, daylighting, and timers.
Habit #3: Motel 6 Got it All Wrong –
They Should Not Have Left the Lights On

8. Do you use occupancy sensors?
(warehouses, manufacturing areas, conference
rooms, copy rooms, etc.)
A. Yes
B. No
C. Don’t know

9. Has your organization established required
payback periods for energy projects?
A. Yes
B. No
C. Don’t Know

10. • Few industrial operations are truly 24/7 and as
result large motors such as compressors can be
turned off for significant savings. One company
assumed that these compressors were being
turned off when in fact there was a perceived
production requirement that they be left on –
reality was quite different.
• Compressor sequencing and controls can
adversely affect energy efficiency and the
operational understanding (or lack thereof) of
these controls can better align reality with
optimal operation.
Habit #4: Reality is Usually Somewhere
Between our Expectations and Total
Chaos.

11. Are fixtures or equipment turned off
during extended unoccupied periods?
(Ex: evenings, weekends, plant shut-downs)
A. Yes
B. No
C. Some, but not all
D. Don’t know

12. • Air & steam leaks, HVAC efficiency losses,
results of poor maintenance, equipment
degradation all result in the need for a
continual management process.
Habit #5: Low Hanging Fruit Always
Seem to Grow Back

13. Has your organization had energy
assessments done at its facilities
in the past?
A. Yes
B. No
C. Don’t know

14. • Perceived needs for quality, production
throughput, and refusing to change anything
that may cause a production perturbation
often conflict with changes to reduce energy.
• Energy Management Systems create a cross-
functional energy management team working
to analyze and improve processes at the
lowest possible energy consumption.
Habit #6: Production Needs vs. Energy
Reduction – Can’t We Just All Get Along!

15. Does your organization have an energy
management team?
A. Yes
B. No
C. Don’t know

16. Are departments in your organization
required to track energy usage?
A. Yes
B. No
C. Some, but not all
D. Don’t know

17. • Sub-metering helps to align energy
consumption with significant energy uses
allowing for concentration of effort.
• Measuring energy performance should be
calculated as a basis of production (energy
intensity) without consideration for rate
changes – MMBtu/unit production
Habit #7: You Can’t Reduce What You
Don’t Measure, and You Can’t Measure
What You Don’t Meter

18. Has your organization established energy-
per-unit metrics?
(Ex: energy cost per pound of product)
A. Yes
B. No
C. Don’t Know

19. Thank you for participating
in our survey!
This project is funded under an agreement with the State of Tennessee. This material is based upon work
supported by the Department of Energy under Award Number DE-EE0000160. CFDA 81.041.