Energy Audits

NCAT’s energy team is here to provide energy tune-ups that analyze energy usage, identify energy-saving opportunities, identify renewable energy options, and estimate project costs. Our team of engineers, scientists, and certified solar designers approach buildings and businesses holistically. We work with building owners and operators to scope energy audits based on their budget, timeline, operational concerns, and energy goals.  

Draught Works brewery We analyze heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC), refrigeration, motors, pumps, building shell, and lighting systems, and evaluate the site for potential alternative energy or fuel-switching opportunities.  

We have extensive experience auditing:  

  • Hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes 
  • Schools and campuses  
  • Offices 
  • Breweries  
  • Hotels  
  • Manufacturing plants 
  • Industrial facilities 
  • Retail and convenience stores 

NCAT’s energy audits result in practical, actionable steps a business or organization can take to save on energy costs and resources.  

St. Patrick’s Hospital in Missoula, Montana, is among the facilities that received an energy audit through NCAT and the state of Montana’s Energy Efficiency Program. The hospital saved more than $200,000 in energy costs alone after implementing some of the recommendations from their audit.  

“We budgeted $ 1.5 million for electricity for 2019 based on projected increase in operations and facility usage. We had NCAT do an energy audit in the fall of 2018,” said hospital facilities manager Tim Chopp. “From that we implemented several suggestions with very little out of pocket cost. We are on track to spend $1.3 million for 2019 from the substantial energy savings from those suggestion and we will implement some more suggestions in 2020. NCAT’s suggestions are obviously very helpful to us.” 

Energy Audit Case Studies

Thorton Building Energy Audit Case Study

The Thorton Building is a five-story building in Butte that contains office space and a 900-square-foot data center in the basement. The center is a significant consumer of energy, due to its servers and their dedicated cooling system. The building…

Real Food Store

Energy costs in grocery stores can be quite high. But thanks to an energy audit performed by the Montana Resource Efficiency Program (MREP), an organic grocery in Helena has a variety of options to reduce those costs. The Real Food Store…

Montana State Hospital Warm Springs

The Montana State Hospital Warm Springs exterior lighting consisted of a large variety of lights, including floods, yard lights, can lights, wall packs, and pole lights. A lighting project was completed replacing all of the exterior lighting…

Livingston School District

Following a lighting audit and recommendations made by the Montana Resource Efficiency Program (MREP), the Livingston (Montana) School District is poised to save over $36,000 in lighting costs each year. The School District is comprised of…

Livingston Ace Hardware

Livingston Ace Hardware Energy Audit Case Study The Ace Hardware in Livingston, Montana, is a 13,000 ft2 retail building.  The store owner contacted the Montana Resource Efficiency Program (MREP) for assistance with their lighting update. …

Granite County Courthouse

The Granite County courthouse, located in Philipsburg, Montana, was constructed in 1913 of brick and Montana granite. The building is three stories tall and is comprised of heavy woodwork, large wood and granite columns, a large dome with a…