Arezza - Volt Logistics

 Innovative Energy Savings Solutions for Small Towns and Businesses

Volt Logistics specializes in properties typically found on main street and historic districts, with a focus on energy savings and building automation systems.

Property Types range from hotel, vacation and other short-term accommodations, retail, and office buildings as well as museums and entertainment venues located in historic districts and main streets of towns and suburban areas.

Innovative Solutions for Business and Commercial Districts in Historic Towns and Neighborhoods

Small and Medium-sized Commercial Buildings account for 95 percent of building stock and consume half the energy in a sector of the economy responsible for 20 percent of the total energy consumption. Owners of smaller buildings are often unaware of the amount of energy wasted and the opportunity for savings that building automation systems provide.

Building Leases define how energy costs are divided between tenants and owners. Often, these leases are not structured in a way that promotes energy savings. Tenants have no incentive to save energy in their leased premises because energy costs are based on tenant square footage. Building owners have no incentive to invest in energy efficiency because the operating expenses are passed onto tenants.

Green Leases promote energy efficiency by creating lease structures which equitably align the costs and benefits of efficiency investments between building owners and tenants.

Energy Management Systems are utilized to centrally control devices like HVAC units and lighting systems across multiple locations. EMS also provide metering, sub-metering and monitoring functions that allow facility managers to gather data and insight to make more informed decisions about energy activities across their sites.

Distributed Generation occurs on a property site when energy is sold to the building occupants; here, commercial PPAs enable businesses and governments to purchase electricity directly from the generator rather than from the utility. Power Purchase Agreements PPA are a legal contract between an electricity generator and a power purchaser.

Revenue Sharing of the Energy Savings among Properties, Tenants, Equipment and Components Suppliers and Contractors

Innovative Water Conservation and Energy Efficiency Strategies on Main Street

Business and Commercial Districts Historic Towns and Neighborhoods

Integrated Water Systems in Small Towns and Rural Communities by 2030 the world will need to produce 50 percent more for food and energy and 30 percent more fresh water. Solar pumps are reliable technology which can compete with conventional pumping technologies such as diesel pumping. Large amounts of energy are used in the entire water cycle. Water Pumps play a major role in all water and waste water processes.

Small and Medium-sized Commercial Buildings account for 95 percent of building stock and consume half the energy in a sector of the economy responsible for 20 percent of the total energy consumption. Owners of smaller buildings are often unaware of the amount of energy wasted and the opportunity for savings that building automation systems provide. This sector hasn’t BAS for the following reasons: the high cost of tailoring software and acquiring hardware components is beyond the reach of most small- and medium-sized properties; the owner is not always the tenant that pays the utility bill, hence limited incentive to invest in the building’s energy efficiency.

Building Leases spell out how energy costs are divided between tenants and owners. Often, these leases are not structured in a way that promotes energy savings. Tenants have no incentive to save energy in their leased premises because energy costs are based on tenant square footage. Building owners have no incentive to invest in energy efficiency because the operating expenses are passed onto tenants. Green Leases promote energy efficiency by creating lease structures which equitably align the costs and benefits of efficiency investments between building owners and tenants.

Energy Management Systems can be used to centrally control devices like HVAC units and lighting systems across multiple locations. EMS also provide metering, sub-metering and monitoring functions that allow facility managers to gather data and insight to make more informed decisions about energy activities across their sites.

LEED Neighborhood Development building technologies and advanced real-time energy smart meters allow business and residential energy users to verify consumption in workplaces and homes. Passive Solar Buildings take advantage of the local climate with window placement and glazing, thermal mass, insulation and shading. Walls, floors and windows are designed and located to collect, store and distribute energy without the use of mechanical and electric devices. Conservation and efficiency are energy reduction techniques; conservation implies sufficiency and is the key to sustainability as it lowers energy costs by reducing resource depletion.

Digital Metering and Smart Grids smart meters enable two-way communication between the meter and the central system; unlike home energy monitors, smart meters can gather data for remote reporting. With the inception of electricity deregulation and market-driven pricing, utilities have been looking for a means to match consumption with generation. Smart meters provide a way of measuring site-specific information, allowing utility companies to introduce different prices for consumption based on the time of day and the season.

Sub-meters identify best practices to reduce energy and water consumption in a building allowing owners, property managers, condominium or homeowners associations to bill tenants for measured utility usage via individual water, gas and electric meters. Water Sub-meters promote conservation and help offset maintenance costs.

Distributed Generation occurs on a property site when energy is sold to the building occupants; here, commercial PPAs enable businesses and governments to purchase electricity directly from the generator rather than from the utility. Power Purchase Agreements PPA is a legal contract between an electricity generator and a power purchaser. 

Financing Energy Efficiency Projects face several financial impediments, including information. Financial institutions often lack a full understanding of energy efficiency technologies which are almost always investments with long repayment terms. Small towns and rural communities require specific and unique knowledge, expertise and funding sources.

 Innovative Water Resources and Energy Savings Strategies

 

Power Purchase Agreements

A Power Purchase Agreement PPA is a legal contract between an electricity generator and a power purchaser. Contractual terms may last anywhere between 5 and 20 years, during which time the power purchaser buys energy, and sometimes also capacity and services, from the electricity generator. Such agreements play a key role in the financing of independently owned electricity generating assets. The seller is typically an independent power producer - IPP.

PPAs Facilitate the Financing of Distributed Generation Assets

Distributed Generation occurs on a property site with energy is sold to the building occupants; here, commercial PPAs enable businesses and governments to purchase electricity directly from the generator rather than from the utility. The parties involved include:

The Seller is the entity that owns the project. In most cases, the seller is organized as a special purpose entity whose main purpose is to facilitate project financing, and

The Buyer is typically a utility or building occupants under the distributed generation scenario.

Regulations PPAs are typically subject to regulation at the state and federal level to varying degrees depending on the extent to which electricity sales are regulated where the project is sited.

Financing PPAs are the central document in the development of independent electricity generating assets; it defines project terms and credit quality and is key to obtaining non-recourse project financing.

ESCo is an energy and water service/savings company that provides design, implementation and financing of energy/water saving projects, retrofitting, conservation, infrastructure outsourcing, power generation and supply, as well as risk management.

Operations and Metering maintenance and operation of a generation project is the responsibility of the seller, including regular inspection and repair. Liquidated damages apply if the seller fails to meet these circumstances. The seller is also responsible for installing and maintaining a meter to determine the quantity of output sold.

Pricing electricity rates are agreed upon as the basis for a PPA. Prices may be flat, escalate over time, or negotiated. In a regulated environment, the Regulator will regulate the price. A PPA will often specify how much energy the supplier is expected to produce each year; any excess energy produced will have a negative impact on the sales rate of electricity that the buyer will be purchasing.

Billing and Payments PPAs describe how invoices are prepared and the time period of response. The buyer also has the authority to audit those records produced by the supplier.

Performance the buyer will require the seller to guarantee that the project meets certain performance standards. Performance guarantees let the buyer plan accordingly when developing new facilities or when trying to meet demand schedules, which also encourages the seller to maintain adequate records.

Power Purchase Agreements and Distributed Generation Projects