A desk study of the building's energy performance, benchmarked against comparable non-refrigerated warehouses in a cool-humid climate and prioritized against the actual consumption pattern. Client name, address, and account identifiers are withheld in this public sample.
| 01 | Executive Summary Verdict, key numbers, top 3 opportunities | 3 |
| 02 | Building Profile Physical and operating characteristics | 4 |
| 03 | Utility Analysis 12 months of electric and gas usage | 5 |
| 04 | EUI Benchmark Your energy use intensity vs. CBECS peers | 6 |
| 05 | Load-Shape Analysis Baseload, peak, seasonality | 7 |
| 06 | End-Use Estimate Where the energy dollars go | 8 |
| 07 | Prioritized ECM Categories Five ranked improvement opportunities | 9 |
| 08 | Recommended Next Step Roadmap to a Walk-Through Audit | 11 |
| 09 | What's Not In This Report Scope of a $199 desk study | 12 |
| 10 | Methodology & Data Sources How the numbers were derived | 12 |
At $65,660 in annual utility spend across 60,000 sq ft, this facility runs above the peer band for non-refrigerated warehouses in a cool-humid climate. The gap is concentrated in two places: heating a 28-foot high-bay volume through an Illinois winter, and equipment that keeps drawing power after the last shift ends. Both are addressable without replacing major equipment.
Facts provided by the client are shown as reported. Where a field was left blank, we used conservative assumptions common for a late-1990s tilt-up distribution building; those are called out and can be refined in a Walk-Through Audit.
Electric use is comparatively flat, which is the signature of a lighting- and process-driven building rather than a cooling-driven one. Gas is the opposite: nearly everything happens between November and March.
Energy Use Intensity (EUI) normalizes energy consumption by floor area, so buildings of different sizes can be compared on the same footing. The blue band on each gauge is the typical peer range for non-refrigerated warehouses in a cool-humid climate zone, drawn from Department of Energy CBECS data.
Two shape metrics tell us how well equipment matches occupancy. Baseload is what runs when the building is empty; peak-to-average tells us how spiky consumption is relative to a flat-line average.
The lowest month is February at 31,200 kWh, an implied always-on load of about 46 kW against a 128 kW peak. Anything under 30% is efficient; 36% in a building that closes at 10 p.m. suggests lighting zones, the air compressor, and battery chargers keep drawing power overnight. This is the cheapest finding in the report to act on.
An average draw of 48 kW against a 128 kW peak matches a 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. operation with a mid-day activity peak. Unlike the baseload figure, this shape is healthy: demand charges here reflect real work being done, not equipment left running by accident.
Summer months (Jun–Aug) account for 117,900 kWh, 28% of annual electric use: a mild cooling signal that mostly reflects the 4,000 sq ft office block, not the high-bay. Winter months (Nov–Mar) account for 14,860 therms, 83% of annual gas use. The building effectively has one large seasonal load (heating) riding on top of a steady year-round electric base.
Implication: heating-side measures (destratification, dock sealing, unit-heater scheduling) act on the seasonal spike, while lighting and baseload measures act on the year-round base. The two groups don't overlap, so their savings stack cleanly.
The breakdown below applies CBECS end-use percentages for non-refrigerated warehouses in this climate zone to the actual annual consumption. The dollar amounts are directionally right but not exact; verifying them precisely requires an equipment inventory, which is covered in the Walk-Through Audit tier.
Each category is scored against the specific signals in the data, not a generic checklist. Savings ranges are typical industry values; specific project costs and payback numbers require an on-site walkthrough.
ECMs 02 and 04 both act on the heating load, so their savings are not fully additive; a diminishing-returns factor is applied when multiple measures target the same end-use. ECMs 01, 03, and 05 act on largely independent electric end-uses and stack cleanly. A realistic combined outcome for all five, coordinated together, is 15–24% of annual utility spend, roughly $9,800 to $15,800 per year against a $65,660 baseline. That is a range, not a promise; the Walk-Through Audit replaces it with a modeled number.
Ameren Illinois business efficiency incentives cover LED high-bay retrofits, occupancy sensors, HVLS fans, and compressed-air measures through both standard (per-fixture) and custom (per-kWh-saved) tracks; typical coverage runs 20–30% of installed cost for the measures in this report. Separately, §179D of the federal tax code provides a per-square-foot deduction for qualifying building efficiency improvements in commercial buildings.
Rebate pre-approval matters: several Ameren programs require application before equipment is purchased. Specific program matching and application support are covered in the Walk-Through Audit tier.
This report is a desk study. It tells you where the building stands and what to look at, but it does not replace an on-site walkthrough. The next step, the Walk-Through Audit, is where the ECM categories above become specific projects with real cost estimates.
Book within 90 days of report delivery and the $199 comes off the top of the Walk-Through Audit invoice. (For McLean County Chamber members, this report is free through the Chamber's Energy Savings Program, so the walkthrough is simply quoted at its listed price.) If you decide not to move forward, no further action is required; the report is yours to keep.
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A benchmark report is exactly that: a benchmark, plus prioritized categories. It does not include any of the following. If a decision you're making depends on one of these, a Walk-Through Audit is the next step.
Utility data. Twelve months of consumption and cost were provided by the building owner from Ameren Illinois billing records. Blended rates are derived by dividing total annual cost by total annual consumption per fuel.
Peer benchmarks. Building-type end-use percentages and EUI peer ranges are drawn from the U.S. Energy Information Administration's Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS 2018), the most recent complete release. Peer ranges reflect non-refrigerated warehouses in climate zone 5A (cool, humid) at comparable floor area.
Climate. Heating and cooling degree days are drawn from Central Illinois 30-year climate normals published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Diminishing-returns treatment. When multiple ECM categories target the same end-use (here, destratification and dock sealing both act on heating load), a 0.7ⁿ factor is applied to stacked savings to avoid double-counting. This is the same treatment used in the AURA Insight consultant workspace.
Methodology posture. This report's methodology is informed by ASHRAE and Association of Energy Engineers energy-survey practices. It is not a Standard 211 Level 1, 2, or 3 deliverable, and does not claim compliance with any specific audit standard.
Sample disclosure. This is a public sample of the Automated Benchmark Report. The client's name, address, account identifiers, and report date are withheld at the client's request; figures are representative of a mid-size Central Illinois distribution warehouse.
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Public sample · client identifying details withheld