NECA CONRACTORS LEED THE WAY
IN GREEN BUILDING TO IMPROVE

A BUILDING’S ENERGY PERFORMANCE.

Mission: Energy Efficiency
The National Electrical Contractors Association is committed to ensuring its member contractors are prepared in serving building owners and users with energy-efficient, innovative alternatives to traditional building methods. To support this initiative, NECA’s national office is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council. The USGBC is a non-profit organization committed to expanding sustainable building practices.

Building Energy Audits
As leaders in all aspects of electrical construction, NECA contractors are skilled in conducting building energy audits that detail a building energy’s usage. Our member contractors can provide a Total Energy Management checklist to help owners analyze the best energy options, materials fixtures and controls to minimize waste and maximize efficiency.

The Installation of Energy Efficient Systems
Over 40 percent of what LEED® certification covers is the work that electrical contractors perform, including atmosphere and lighting control, on-site renewable energy generation and management, construction materials and lighting component selection, and light-pollution reduction. This means that when an owner decides to go for LEED® certification, the electrical contractor will likely have the most influence on the project’s success.

What many building owners and managers are learning, even as LEED® standards are being mandated in some areas, is that designing and building a LEED®-certified building is not easy – they need the help of an energy solutions expert. That is where NECA and its contractors can help. NECA encourages and trains NECA member contractors to become adept in meeting LEED® certification for new construction, auditing and retrofitting existing buildings to improve efficiency, and installing renewable energy technologies safely and efficiently.

“Energy efficient systems are an important aspect of LEED® ratings, but their real attractiveness to building owners lies in the money they can save over the life of a building,” said Rob Colgan, NECA Executive Director of Marketing. “NECA contractors are in a great position to help those owners achieve their green building goals by creating innovative and fully integrated energy-efficient systems.”

Colgan also points out that consumers are becoming more educated about alternatives to convention power generation, like solar, wind, and biomass. “Effectively using these alternative methods of power generation, however, takes specific skills and experience with a wide array of new products, and NECA contractors have a distinct advantage in this area,” he said. “Our training programs are the acknowledged leader in photovoltaic installation, and our annual trade show features the most significant gathering of alternative energy technologies specifically for electrical contractors.”


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RELATED INDUSTRY SITES:

NECA Connection “Going Green”
www.necaconnection.org/green/

U.S. Green Building Council
www.usgbc.org

This 2010 NECA Electrical Design Library publication is solely devoted to ideas that can improve a building’s energy efficiency. A recent press release by NECA touches on energy audits that NECA contractors undertake in providing comprehensive energy solutions that meet a building owner’s goal of cleaner energy output and lower energy costs.

Bethesda, MD –“Green energy” retrofits and renewable energy sources offer some of the best opportunities for building owners and managers to dramatically lower their property’s power consumption – and their power bills. The National Electrical Contractors Association’s (NECA) latest publication in its Electrical Design Library focuses on six ideas that incorporate the latest advances in energy-efficient technology.

“Building owners should start by working with an electrical contractor to complete an energy audit of their facility to learn how power is being used and where their best opportunities for energy savings exist,” said Rob Colgan, NECA Executive Director, Marketing. Colgan also coordinates NECA’s Energy Solutions Task Force.

“A few of these ideas might not be quite ready for prime time,” Colgan said, "but they are great examples of where the technology is heading--and sooner than you might think. Often the best solutions are easy rather than exotic – relighting with energy-efficient fixtures and using occupancy sensors and advanced lighting controls.”

NECA contractors are the leaders in offering comprehensive energy solutions that meet a building owner’s goals. “NECA contractors start by showing an owner how he can save money on his operating costs,” Colgan said. “Reducing a building’s carbon footprint is a great additional benefit.”