Green Energy & Sustainability Consulting
A full service
Environmental & Sustainability Consulting Firm
At Fulcrum Energy, we thrive in working with organizations to improve their environmental practices.
Our clients embrace sustainable business practices to recognize a variety of benefits including reduced inefficiency, improved bottom line, and increased market recognition.
We offer completely customized sustainability solutions to fulfill the needs of our clientele.
Energy Audits
Energy Audits are a great way to examine how a facility is operating. Fulcrum can design an audit to meet a client’s needs or perform a standard ASHRAE Level One Energy Audit. Clients can expect a 10-25{c2345c20fe5d28d15a2d63d45ef2c530b35a6b1eee98b951de0103d080af6335} reduction in energy bills.
A typical Energy Audit includes:
- Analysis of current energy usage
- examination of building operations schedules
- Lighting load breakdown
- Energy consumption profile
- Inventory of systems and devices
- Recommendations on ways to reduce energy bills
Energy Benchmarking
Fulcrum eliminates the stress and hassle while ensuring your building receives the highest possible ENERGY STAR rating. With our experience, we will manage your ENERGY STAR portfolio by accurately entering building data and energy reports to maximize your score.
Whether under a time crunch or simply unfamiliar with energy benchmarking, our clients oftentimes hire us for our national benchmarking knowledge to ensure legal requirements are filled accurately, completely, and on schedule.
An Energy Benchmarking report from Fulcrum includes:
- Analysis of the last 12 months of energy use
- Trends in usage over that time
- Prescribed solutions to reduce usage and increase savings
Energy Benchmarking
Fulcrum eliminates the stress and hassle while ensuring your building receives the highest possible ENERGY STAR rating. With our experience, we will manage your ENERGY STAR portfolio by accurately entering building data and energy reports to maximize your score.
Whether under a time crunch or simply unfamiliar with energy benchmarking, our clients oftentimes hire us for our national benchmarking knowledge to ensure legal requirements are filled accurately, completely, and on schedule.
An Energy Benchmarking report from Fulcrum includes:
- Analysis of the last 12 months of energy use
- Trends in usage over that time
- Prescribed solutions to reduce usage and increase savings
LEED Certification
Fulcrum provides a menu of options for organizations wishing to achieve LEED certification. Our team can tailor its involvement to your needs, by project managing every facet of the LEED project, providing support to staff performing the heavy lifting of LEED, or becoming involved in specific LEED credits. Below is a sample of LEED services Fulcrum can perform:
Pre-Application Project Analysis
If LEED certification is a goal for your organization but you’re unsure how achievable it is for your building, UHG can help with a Pre-Application Project Analysis. This analysis is a 1-2 month study of a property to determine where it stands in relation LEED. Fulcrum will meet with staff and collect data from the property to accurately estimate:
- How many credits a property can achieve
- How long the certification process will take
- What LEED certification will cost
- What steps need to occur before the performance period can begin
LEED Project Manager
The LEED process relies heavily on the documentation of the project by a local source. The creation of this documentation can be very time consuming and precise, thus most organizations hire an experienced firm, like Fulcrum, to manage the process as LEED Project Manager. In this role, Fulcrum normally works alongside the property management, engineering staff, and third party contractors in the following roles:
- Manages the entire LEED process
- Coordinates team work loads
- Fills in the gaps and works in the trenches with clients
- Minimizes client staff time spent on LEED certification
LEED Project Coordinator
Some organizations have the bandwidth to perform the numerous tasks required for LEED. These organizations wish to have someone coordinating their work efforts and providing LEED templates for staff to fill in. For these organizations, Fulcrum acts as Project Coordinator:
- Manages the entire LEED process
- Coordinates team work loads
- Provides fill-in-the-blank LEED templates
Other LEED services available include:
- LEED Credit Expert
- Execution of the LEED Custodial Effectiveness Assessment
- Performance of a LEED Waste Audit
- Creation of LEED-specific surveys
- LEED Maintenance
- Performing regularly scheduled LEED check-ups
- Maintaining LEED policies
- Performing yearly reporting on credits previously achieved
Green Property Condition Assessment
Fulcrum will analyze a property and provide operational and capital assessments of the property’s infrastructure and condition. The assessment will include:
- Water infrastructure
- HVAC infrastructure
- Lighting infrastructure
- Renewables infrastructure
- Building envelope
- Landscaping
- Any identified assets/FFE that a property owner wishes to have examined
The report will help property owners understand what sustainability related upgrade opportunity exist, what their capital implications are and what their operational implications are.
Energy Modeling
Fulcrum will utilize LEED approved energy simulation software to model the energy usage of the proposed facilities and help maximize the efficiency of the building. Fulcrum can provide an energy model to meet the purposes, certifications, or standards required by a project.
Energy Modeling
Fulcrum will utilize LEED approved energy simulation software to model the energy usage of the proposed facilities and help maximize the efficiency of the building. Fulcrum can provide an energy model to meet the purposes, certifications, or standards required by a project.
Design and Implementation
Fulcrum is knowledgeable on industry best practices and cutting edge projects allowing our team to provide ideas to support the architect in creating a cutting edge building design. As part of these tasks, Fulcrum would be responsible for:
- Being involved in conceptual design conversations
- Providing best practice information
- Presenting innovative project ideas
- Creating weekly inspiration 1 pagers
Waste Management
Fulcrum can assist projects in meeting their waste reduction goals. As part of these tasks, Fulcrum would be responsible for:
- Setting a material waste goal (i.e. less than 1{c2345c20fe5d28d15a2d63d45ef2c530b35a6b1eee98b951de0103d080af6335} of materials go to landfill)
- Providing deconstruction support services
- Ensuring site materials get re-used/recycled
- Managing the site waste stream from project inception until the CO is received
- Designing ongoing waste management infrastructure
Waste Management
Fulcrum can assist projects in meeting their waste reduction goals. As part of these tasks, Fulcrum would be responsible for:
- Setting a material waste goal (i.e. less than 1{c2345c20fe5d28d15a2d63d45ef2c530b35a6b1eee98b951de0103d080af6335} of materials go to landfill)
- Providing deconstruction support services
- Ensuring site materials get re-used/recycled
- Managing the site waste stream from project inception until the CO is received
- Designing ongoing waste management infrastructure
Building Energy Storage Analysis
Energy storage solutions, such as peak shaving, time-of-use reductions, building back-up, and solar pairing, all require system analysis. Fulcrum can help an organization analyze its energy usage and provide the data necessary to understand how much savings exists in installing energy storage solutions.
Building Commissioning
Fulcrum will perform the fundamental commissioning needed for a project either using Energy Star Protocols or using the Prescriptive Path. Each path has specific requirements which Fulcrum will help an organization navigate. Generally, Fulcrum would be responsible for:
- Developing the Owner’s Project Requirements
- Developing the Basis of Design
- Reviewing the OPR, BOD, and project design
- Developing and implementing a Cx plan for major systems including Central HVAC, in-unit HVAC
- Confirming incorporation of Cx requirements in the construction documents
- Developing construction checklists
- Developing a system test procedure
- Verifying system test execution
- Maintaining an issues and benefits log throughout the Cx process
- Preparing a final Cx process report
- Documenting all findings and recommendations and reporting directly to the owner throughout the process
Building Commissioning
Fulcrum will perform the fundamental commissioning needed for a project either using Energy Star Protocols or using the Prescriptive Path. Each path has specific requirements which Fulcrum will help an organization navigate. Generally, Fulcrum would be responsible for:
- Developing the Owner’s Project Requirements
- Developing the Basis of Design
- Reviewing the OPR, BOD, and project design
- Developing and implementing a Cx plan for major systems including Central HVAC, in-unit HVAC
- Confirming incorporation of Cx requirements in the construction documents
- Developing construction checklists
- Developing a system test procedure
- Verifying system test execution
- Maintaining an issues and benefits log throughout the Cx process
- Preparing a final Cx process report
- Documenting all findings and recommendations and reporting directly to the owner throughout the process
SBA 504 Loan with Energy Public Policy Goals
In order to qualify for an SBA 504 Loan which seeks to meet Energy Public Policy Goals an organization must demonstrate that it meets one of the following requirements:
- Reduction of existing energy consumption by at least 10{c2345c20fe5d28d15a2d63d45ef2c530b35a6b1eee98b951de0103d080af6335} (this cannot apply to a startup business, however, an existing business buying a building may be eligible if the new location uses at least 10{c2345c20fe5d28d15a2d63d45ef2c530b35a6b1eee98b951de0103d080af6335} less energy than the prior location); OR
- Installation or upgrade of renewable energy sources at the property. This can include onsite solar or wind production, or utilization of renewable fuel such as ethanol or biodiesel. Once installed, at least 10{c2345c20fe5d28d15a2d63d45ef2c530b35a6b1eee98b951de0103d080af6335} of the building’s total energy must be derived from these renewable sources
- Implementation of sustainable design practices. This can include practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and choosing materials which minimize environmental impact.
SBA504 Energy Services – Fulcrum Resources Environmental can provide the following services to help a property meet their SBA 504 Loan with Energy Public Policy Goals:
Level One Energy Consumption Analysis
- Analysis of Existing Energy bills and scheduled energy reduction measures. Option best for organizations which plan to install measures which they are certain will do reduce energy by 10{c2345c20fe5d28d15a2d63d45ef2c530b35a6b1eee98b951de0103d080af6335} and need a SBA compliant report.
Level Two Analysis Energy Audit
- Analysis of Existing Energy bills, scheduled energy reduction measures, and recommendations to reduce energy. Option best for organizations which do not know the magnitude of their property improvements and need a SBA compliant report.
Renewable Energy Analysis
- Analysis of energy consumption and proposed Renewable Energy System. Option best for organizations which have a renewable system picked out and need a SBA compliant report.
Renewable Energy Design
- Analysis of energy consumption and design of a Renewable Energy System to meet SBA requirements. Option best for organizations which desire to pursue have a renewable system, need help designing system and need a SBA compliant report.
Case Study
Project Scope:
Fulcrum’s energy department created an analysis report for the purpose of demonstrating SBA 504 Loan eligibility per the request of L.A. Prep Inc. In order to qualify for this portion of the SBA 504 loan program, the total energy consumption for the building had to be both reduced by 10{c2345c20fe5d28d15a2d63d45ef2c530b35a6b1eee98b951de0103d080af6335} and generated by onsite renewable sources.
Project Analysis:
After collecting the property’s utility billing history, it was calculated that the buildings expected usage was 199,578 kWh/yr.
Based on this consumption, the solar PV system installed needed to generate 19,958 kWh/yr of electricity or more to meet the 10{c2345c20fe5d28d15a2d63d45ef2c530b35a6b1eee98b951de0103d080af6335} requirement.
Fulcrum was then involved with the solar PV system selection and vetting process. The contractor Greenmark Construction Company was suggested, who was to provide 45 panels of model SolarWorld 290W to the site. This came with an expected annual savings of $3,298 and average annual energy generation of 20,244 kWh/yr.