Reduce your costs and retain your tenants. The following is a plan I think every Broker, Owner, Manager, Restaurant operator, Asset Manager and or Retail Professional should read. I see the questions all the time and then when we look for the answers we only find people who want to sell us things.

1. Follow The Yellow Brick Road to Energy Savings!
As a Certified Property Manager, Accredited Residential Manager and a Registered Apartment Manager
who specializes in Commercial Real Estate, leasing and investment sales with a specialty in Retail and
Restaurants, I often hear pitches from all sorts of companies hawking products that are the next best
thing. From solar panels, Emon Demon Meters, to LED Lighting all seem to want to sell me a product
rather than provide an analysis or long-term solution.
The one common factor is the sale of the product.
Why are we pitched and approached by every type of vendor, from architects, engineers to every type
of contractor? The reason is because they know we need to control our energy costs.
In my capacity as a manager who understands the bottom-line and what it takes to keep and maintain
tenants and to add value, I have been approached by all of the usual suspects to get to the end of that
yellow brick road. What I am about to explain is a different approach, something that should be
welcomed because at the end of the day, I was not presented with widgets to buy, but turn-key
solutions and path to meet my objectives . Pay attention and you may just learn something as much
about the process of problem solving and finding solutions to reducing your energy costs and retaining
tenants.
Freedom Energy Partners (FEP)
Freedom Energy Partners is an energy solutions company that takes time to understand your business
operation, your goals, and how you consume energy. FEP provides a comprehensive analysis and turn-
key implementation solution instead of selling you a specific product. FEP determines where you are
with regards to your energy consumption, what goals you want to achieve, and provide a clear pathway
to get there with pragmatic financial backup.
To better understand and absorb the point of writing this article, I need to explain where FEP surpasses
all the other companies in their specific industry. Most solar panel providers and energy device
salesmen want to sell you energy products but come up short on projections and overall guarantees.
FEP’s approach is different and overall the product is just the means to an end solution. FEP did not offer
to sell me specific products such as light bulbs, solar panels or some new technology instead they took
the time to understand my business and facility so they could accurately prepare an energy analysis for
me with real pragmatic solutions to meet my goals.
There are three ways to save on energy costs; and FEP uses all of these solutions based on your needs:
1. Rate: What is the current cost per unit the client is paying; and can we reduce your unit cost?
2. Consumption: Is there a way to reduce this consumption; and what can we do that make sense?
3. Renewal energy: Is it a good investment, based on the clients needs to generate their own
power?

2. If your goal is to reduce energy costs, you should insist upon having a complete energy assessment
report before making decisions on implementation of products. Completing a full-blown Energy
Assessment is time consuming and will cost you money upfront. The report and data however will
become an asset to your business, now and in the future. A properly completed Energy Assessment will
provide you with the following:
Client Goals: What do you want to try and accomplish?
Written report on how business is conducted
Electric Usage profile
Natural Gas Usage profile
HVAC usage profile
Lighting usage profile
Plug Load usage profile
Refrigeration usage profile
Miscellaneous usage profile
Other
o Detailed existing drawings so you can understand their analysis
o Benchmark calculations so you know how they came up with their financial analysis
o Rebate and incentives
Solutions with an implementation path
This is not some rudimentary brief analysis. It’s an in-depth study. FEP gathers information on site for all
equipment so they can look up the manufacturer’s specification, with regard to loads and usage output
for their calculations of how the business uses energy and what portion of energy is going to the major
equipment. Once all the information is gathered, they then input data into their proprietary software
where the outcome provides a graph to show distribution of power to certain large equipment such as:
lighting, HVAC, Plug loads, etc. At this point FEP can now make good pragmatic recommendations to
reduce your energy costs, whether through rate reduction, consumption reduction products, or
alternative power. Remember, this is all tied back to your goals, not theirs,
Lighting Solution Example:
Based on prepared CAD drawings produced by FEP of the existing lighting, and speaking with the
managers to understand the hours of operation and or use, they can determine how many kilowatts are
used for lighting in a given year. FEP then completes a financial model with alternative lighting to see if
the return on investment meets the owners’ goals. FEP uses a wide range of vetted lighting fixtures and
technology to come up with the best solution for you. Sometimes recommendations are LED and other
times it could just be some simple occupancy sensors that will achieve your goals.
The following is a table I know every project manager, property manager, asset manager, owner and
operator can use.

3. Energy Conservation Measure (ECM)
Calculation:
Example:
Material & Installation Cost $17,045.00
PECO Smart Start Equipment Incentive ($3,849.00)
Net Material & Installation Cost $13,196.00
Annual Maintenance Savings $887.00
Annual Energy Savings $3,170.00
Total Annual Savings $4,057.00
Initial Return on Investment (ROI) % 30.70% TAS Div. NM&IC
Investment Payback Period (Yrs.) 3.3 NM &IC Div. TAS
Estimated ECM Lifetime in (Yrs.) 10 *
Simple Lifetime Maintenance Savings $8,870.00 AMS x 10 Yrs.
Simple Lifetime Savings $40,057.00 TAS x 10 Yrs.
* Manufacturers warranty in hours and actual use for a blended rate:
* 8,760 Hours per Yr.
The formulas above are very helpful in projections but what FEP does is take things to a whole other
level in analysis. They offer a service that is concise, fair, inexpensive and shows how they got to their
calculations. They offer a whole array of financing packages, the larger deals the better.
For more information on Freedom Energy Partners, you should call Joe Bello at: 610-637-1342
If you want a recommendation on their services or would like to discuss operations management and
the overall strategy of tenant retention, contact me directly.
It’s all about saving on your operating expenses, and increasing your ever-decreasing profit margins.
Jack W. Intrator CPM, RAM, ARM
Retail & Restaurant Leasing Specialist
Tenant Representation and Negotiation
Commercial Real Estate and Investment Sales
Call: (610)-805-3849; email: adiner1676@aol.com