Energy Efficiency

Feasibility Study
for Energy Efficiency

Table of Contents

Overview
Why are Feasibility Studies Important?
Who Needs Feasibility Studies?
Synonyms & Related Terms
Typical Uses
Typical Results Achieved
Typical Symptoms
Typical Problems Encountered
Things to Consider
What's the PQA Advantage?
The Next Step

Overview

Feasibility Studies create a document that acts as a single source for all the critical information you need to make an informed decision about some opportunity, risk, option, or pending event.

Researched, developed, and written by experts, the Feasibility Study Report can be used by Managers as a quick self-study guide. Step-by-step, the reader is exposed to the important issues that should be considered before making a decision.

Why is a Feasibility Study Important?

There are risks associated with any status-quo, as well as with change. A feasibility Study gets you the critical information you need before you make that important decision to:

Continue doing as you have always done before
Change to some other technology, process, method, goal, or measurement

Nobody is an expert in everything. By obtaining the specific expertise you need, you can rapidly achieve the same results that would take longer & cost more for you to do it yourself.

Before investing significant amounts of time, money, or other resources, it's always good to get a second, expert opinion. If something has been missed, or assumptions are not justifiable, your risk is minimized the sooner these problems are discovered.

Who Needs a Feasibility Study?

Presidents
Sr. Managers
Financial Comptrollers
Engineering & Technical Managers
Maintenance & Service Managers
Office Managers
Anyone who needs a simple decision to a complex issue

Synonyms & Related Terms

Risk Assessment
Technical Study
Business Case
Economic Justification
BAT (Best Available Technology)
World-Class Technology
Benchmarking
Prototyping
Demonstration Site
Scale-up test process

Typical Uses

Generally, a Feasibility Study for Energy Efficiency will:

Look at past, current, and future energy consumption
Define past, current, & future needs, constraints, & resources
Investigate enabling technologies that can aid efficient and effective energy consumption
Define criteria for judging the various Options & risks
Define 2 or more (preferably 3) Options

For each of the Options identified above, the Feasibility Report usually provides:

Pros & Cons
Risks (Financial, Technical, Health & Safety, Environmental, Process, Customer)
Costs
Benefits
Constraint & limitations
Logistics, Precedence, & Successors
Budget Pricing (+ 50%) for the Purchase & Installation of the Proposed Project
Project Savings (+ 50%) calculated as Net Savings (Gross savings over current method - Operating Costs)
Return on Investment, Cash Flow, & Break-even Point
PQA's recommendations

Overall, PQA will also supply our Analysis, Findings, Conclusions, & Recommendations

Typical Results Achieved

Before you buy or decide, you have everything you need to make the best possible decision. Your risk is minimized.

Typical Symptoms

You probably need a Feasibility Study if:

You don't have specific, comprehensive, and current expertise in the subject matter
There are more than 1 options that have conflicting pros & cons
You have less than 3 clear choices that are acceptable to the Stakeholders (Choice only begins with 2 Options)
There are factors beyond your immediate control
There is long term consequences to your decision (ie. you're stuck with your choice for an extended period of time)
There are significant risks associated with one or more of the choices (ie. your career, or the organization's survival)
New or un-proven technology is involved
Old, antiquated technology is involved (up-date or upgrade is required)
You need someone else to blame in case things go bad

Typical Problems Encountered

Can't easily find the expertise you need
Lack of time to do a thorough job
Lack of data
Assumptions, especially un-announced or unintended or inappropriate ones
Personal bias
Do it Yourself, when you really need an expert
You never know what you don't know
Mis-Interpretations
Learn as you go
Delays, & mixed priorities cause loss of focus & continuity
Multi-tasking

Things to Consider Before Implementing a Feasibility Study

Why do you want to do a Feasibility Study?
How does Energy & energy efficiency rank on your organization's overall Priority list today? 20 years from today?
Why is Energy & energy efficiency a significant competitive factor for your business?
Why do you want to do a Feasibility Study now?
What are competitors & industry leaders doing about energy efficiency & supply?
How do your customers and Stakeholders feel about Green Energy, energy efficiency, Green House Gasses, and sustainable development?
What specific actions will you take once you receive your Feasibility Study report?
Would you still do a Feasibility Study, even if government subsidies were not available?
How will you find the best person to do your Feasibility Study?
What is your budget for doing a Feasibility Study (minimum $, maximum $, ideal $)?

What's the PQA Advantage?

PQA has 17 years experience at implementing Feasibility Studies in various industries. We have developed proprietary Feasibility Study systems that ensure data are accurate, timely, believable, and useful for management to make the best decisions.

A Feasibility Study implemented by PQA typically include one or more of the following features:

A Feasibility Study is custom designed to each organization's specific needs. One-size a Feasibility Study doesn't fit all
Feasibility Study data are collected for each of the 21 internal processes that exist in most For-Profit and Not-For-Profit organization. This means that Feasibility Study data is comprehensive, considers managers on a departmental, as well as a business process basis (across 1 or more departments).
Feasibility Study data are linked to the 9 Competitive Factors (the 9 reasons why customers buy from you instead of your competitors)
Feasibility Study data are linked to the 7 Deadly Sins for Customer Service (the 7 typical failures that occur between a company and its customers)
Customer & supplier satisfaction & loyalty survey are linked to Feasibility Study data for generating objective & subjective data for the "soft costs"
Project analysis templates for analysis of implementation cost, savings, cash flow, ROI, and ROQ (proprietary to PQA) before a project is approved.
Feasibility Study assessment, consulting, coaching, and implementation assistance to ensure effective implementation at all stages of your a Feasibility Study project.

The Next Step

If you or your organization want higher profitability, or significantly improve your stakeholder satisfaction, a properly designed and implemented Feasibility Study system may be of interest.

E-mail, or phone PQA (1-800-837-7046) for a free, confidential discussion of your current situation, and how a Feasibility Study may help.

PQA's typical recommendation is to do a rapid assessment of your organization. This includes the accounting system, current management measurement systems, all business processes, and interviews with key personnel. PQA then provides a report on our findings and recommendations on the Feasibility Study or other techniques that would be beneficial. You are provided an approximate cost to implement, as well as the currently estimated losses from the current system. An ROI and ROQ can then be calculated for the Feasibility Study on the proposed upgrade or implementation project.

If you decide to proceed, PQA can provide any necessary skills, training, or implementation assistance to ensure an effective system. PQA also offers quarterly or annual assessments to ensure the results predicted in the Feasibility Study are actually achieved by the project continuing to work at peak effectiveness.