Energy Performance Contracting

Direct Energy Business Services’ energy performance projects provide energy and operating savings to our clients. The savings can pay for the capital costs to implement over a defined payback period.

Our comprehensive services include:

• Energy analysis, including audits, feasibility, benchmarking, energy budgeting and life cycle analysis.
• Project development and implementation of Energy Retrofit Measures.
• Project and Construction Management Services.
• Demand response.
• Measurement and Verification.

We put our expertise, resources and commitment into the customer relationship to create strategic value by mitigating owner expense and risk through providing a single point of accountability and responsibility through the Design- Build Approach.

Benefits of the Design-Build approach:

1. Single Source Responsibility – The design-build approach provides both development/engineering and construction under a single contract. The client's control of the entire design-build process is strengthened by contracting with a single firm, unconditionally committed to the success of the project.
   
   
   
2. Early Knowledge of Firm Price – The design-build team, working closely with the client, accurately conceptualizes the completed project at an early stage. Continuous and concurrent estimating during the development of design results in accurate “not-to-exceed” construction costs and schedule far sooner than is traditionally possible. This permits firm establishment of project feasibility and financing well in advance of final construction documents.
3. Value Engineering – Specialized design and construction personnel, working and communicating as a team, evaluate alternative systems, materials, and methods efficiently and accurately. From the outset of the project, both specialized design and practical construction expertise is brought to bear upon all components of a project. Operating expense is evaluated against capital cost to optimize life-cycle costs.
4. Time Savings – Design and construction are telescoped, and bidding periods and redesign time are eliminated and long-lead time purchases are made early in the design phase. Total project duration is significantly reduced, resulting in earlier utilization and superior total project economics.
5. Quality Enhancement – Design-build inherently provides higher quality than the separate, often conflicting owner/consultant/engineer vs. contractor approach. Because the design-builder has responsibility for performance, he is motivated to build in quality. Design-build eliminates the traditional "finger pointing" and allows resources and attention to be productively focused on cost effective solutions that reflect best value and quality.
6. Dollar Savings – Design and construction experts work together from the start, so decisions affecting cost and design are made simultaneously. That can mean significant money savings to clients.
7. Potential for Reduced Administrative Burden – During procurement, the potential exists for design-build to reduce the Owner's administrative burden; however, preparing RFPs and conducting evaluations can be resource intensive during the early learning curve. During actual design and construction, the Owner is not required to invest time and money coordinating and arbitrating between separate design and construction contracts, but rather, is able to focus on timely decision making.
8. Improved Risk Management – Performance aspects of cost, schedule and quality are clearly defined and responsibilities/risks are appropriately balanced (individual risks are managed by the party best positioned to manage that risk). Change orders due to "errors and omissions" are virtually eliminated, because the design-builder has responsibility for developing drawings and specifications as well as construction a fully-functioning facility.