Webinar recap: Bridging the Gap Between Facility Comfort and Financial Control

What if energy efficiency wasn’t just about lowering bills, but about freeing up resources for the priorities that matter most? Rising utility costs threaten to erode those priorities, yet they also present an opportunity: to rethink how finance, facilities, sustainability, and energy teams collaborate.

In their recent webinar, EnergyCAP’s Thomas Diliberti, Senior Manager of Energy and Utility Solutions at EnergyCAP, and Steve Heinz, Founder of EnergyCAP, revealed practical strategies to bridge the gap between financial control and facility comfort, delivering savings today and resilience for tomorrow.

Understanding each team’s priorities

The conversation began with a recognition that each department faces unique pressures:

• Facilities and Operations focus on comfort, safety, and cleanliness—keeping spaces functional while juggling renovations, maintenance, and compliance.
• Finance manages utility bills, budgets, and funding allocations, often uncovering hidden savings opportunities in billing errors and rate misclassifications.
• Sustainability/ESG teams ensure adherence to frameworks and ethical standards, while also communicating successes internally and externally.
• Energy Managers act as the “coaches,” connecting data, strategies, and people across departments to drive measurable results.

The message: collaboration is key. True efficiency emerges only when these teams share data and align priorities.

The cost of inaction

Utility rates across the U.S. are projected to rise significantly in the coming years, with double-digit increases expected due to population growth, infrastructure challenges, and climate change. Now is the time for organizations to act and develop strategies that anticipate these increases, rather than scrambling to react later.

Practical strategies for savings

Tom and Steve highlighted both office-based and field-based tactics:

Finance-Focused Approaches

• Spot utility billing errors such as duplicate bills, incorrect meter multipliers, or sales tax charges for exempt organizations.
• Review rate schedules and exploring better options, especially as building functions evolve.
• Benchmark accounts to quickly identify outliers and hidden inefficiencies.

Facilities-focused approaches

• Follow the simple philosophy: “Turn it off. Set it back. Tune it up.” This means turning off systems when not needed, setting back lighting, HVAC, and other systems to reduce loads, and tuning up equipment for peak efficiency.
• Leverage 15-minute interval (smart meter) data to virtually audit buildings, catch early start-ups, verify setbacks, and even detect leaks.
• Benchmark buildings by age, system type, or performance to uncover energy hogs.

The role of data and technology

A central theme of the webinar was the importance of a single source of truth for energy data. Utility bills, smart meter data, occupancy schedules, and rate information must all be integrated into one platform to empower cross-department collaboration.

Emerging technologies like AI will only amplify the value of high-quality, financial-grade data, making it possible to predict and optimize building performance with greater precision.

Culture, action, and communication

Technical strategies alone aren’t enough. As Diliberti emphasized, “Culture and action are critical. Building a culture of energy conservation and collaboration is where change begins.” Wins should be celebrated and shared widely through dashboards and reports, not only to inspire teams but also to strengthen the case for future budget requests.