Business Energy Use Infographic

 
Ecova, which we noted the other day won a 2012 ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence Award and has a long history of ENERGY STAR recognition, recently created a cool infographic (below) with some pretty interesting — and even shocking — facts about commercial and industry energy use.

One of the things that stands out to me is that utility expenses are the third-biggest budget item, yet almost 30% of companies’ energy use is wasted through controllable inefficiencies! WOW.

The good news, at least, is that energy intensity has been declining, dropping 8% from 2009 to 2011.

For more than what is in the infographic, Ecova has also released a white paper on business energy use trends. The company has quite the data set, so it’s got a lot to offer. From the page linked above:

We process and analyze energy expenses for more than 700 of the country’s largest enterprises, and we have detailed insight into over 25,000 MW of U.S. electricity demand. To the data from nearly a billion electronic transactions a day flowing across our system, Ecova adds external data such as sophisticated procurement, weather, client portfolio, and business productivity numbers to create a complete picture of energy consumption and costs for 5.5 percent of total industrial and commercial U.S. electric load; more than nearly any utility in the United States.

Here’s the infographic with some of Ecova’s key findings (view larger by holding down ‘ctrl’ or ‘command’ and clicking the ‘+’ button):

Here’s more on Ecova, and why it’s creating white papers and infographics on this important issue:

Ecova is the total energy and sustainability management company whose sole purpose is to see more, save more and sustain more for our clients. Using insights based on consumption, cost and carbon footprint data spanning thousands of utilities, hundreds of thousands of business sites and millions of households, we provide fully managed, technology-optimized solutions for saving resources, which in turn increase returns, lower risks, and enhance reputations.