Commercial Energy Audit
Most commercial buildings waste a significant proportion of their energy budget in places the monthly bill cannot explain. A commercial energy waste diagnostic identifies where that waste is likely to be and what it would cost to fix, before you commit to any retrofit spend.
Finding Where Your Energy Budget Is Going
Commercial buildings rarely waste energy in one obvious place. The waste is typically spread across overnight baseload, HVAC systems running to fixed schedules regardless of occupancy, heating and cooling working against each other, poorly controlled lighting and hot water systems with high standing losses.
A commercial energy waste diagnostic maps consumption by system and area. It identifies which losses are significant enough to be worth fixing, which improvements offer the fastest payback, and what the sensible order of work should be before any capital is committed. Typically 15 to 30 percent of annual energy spend can be recovered through practical, commercially sensible changes.
Who It Is For
- Hotels, serviced apartments and short-stay operators
- Commercial landlords preparing for MEES EPC requirements
- ESOS-obligated organisations (250 or more employees)
- Multi-site businesses with rising or unexplained energy costs
- Any organisation spending more than £30,000 per year on energy
What Prompts It
- Energy bills that have increased without obvious explanation
- A planned retrofit or upgrade that requires a baseline first
- ESOS Phase 3 compliance requirement
- EPC improvement needed for lettings compliance or sale
- ESG reporting that requires verified consumption data
What a Commercial Energy Diagnostic Covers
HVAC Systems
Assessment of heating, cooling and ventilation for efficiency, sizing, controls quality and scheduling. HVAC typically accounts for 40 to 60 percent of a commercial building’s total energy consumption and is usually the highest-value area to address first.
Lighting and Controls
Review of lighting technology, occupancy sensing and scheduling. We identify where lighting waste is highest and what savings may be available from LED retrofit and controls improvements.
Building Fabric
Review of insulation levels, glazing quality and air infiltration. Poor fabric does not appear as a line item on an energy bill, but it multiplies the cost of everything else and should be understood before specifying heating or cooling plant.
Metering and Visibility
Review of existing metering coverage and data quality. Without adequate metering, you cannot see where energy is going or measure whether changes are working. We identify gaps and what it would cost to close them.
Compliance Position
We flag ESOS, MEES and EPC compliance risks identified during the review so you can address legal obligations alongside energy improvements, rather than managing them as separate projects.
Prioritised Action Plan
Every review concludes with a ranked list of improvement opportunities, ordered by payback period and disruption risk. You know what to address first to get the fastest financial return, and what to defer until the sequencing makes commercial sense.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is a commercial energy waste diagnostic different from a standard energy audit?
Most people use the term commercial energy audit. What Evolution NetZero delivers goes further: a system-level review that quantifies waste by area, sequences improvement priorities by payback period and flags compliance gaps alongside savings opportunities. For ESOS-obligated organisations, the review satisfies the ESOS assessment requirement and gives you a practical roadmap rather than a compliance tick. See our ESOS compliance support page for more detail.
How long does a commercial energy audit take?
A paid site review for a single commercial building typically takes half a day on site. The full findings report, including system analysis and prioritised recommendations, is usually delivered within five to ten working days. Before committing to a paid review, our free desktop report gives you a useful picture of likely waste areas using existing data, with no site access required.
What does a commercial energy audit cost?
Cost depends on building size and complexity. The free desktop report is a sensible first step: it costs nothing, requires no site visit and helps identify whether the savings opportunity is large enough to justify a paid diagnostic. Site-based reviews are charged separately and scoped once we understand the building.
We’re based in Dorset and carry out commercial energy diagnostics for businesses across Dorset, the South West and southern England — see how we support businesses in Dorset.
Once waste is identified, ongoing energy monitoring for commercial buildings helps confirm the improvements are holding.