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Phases of an Energy Management Program

NHI's comprehensive energy management programs typically follow four distinct phases: Strategy; Solution Design and Development; Implementation; and Organizational Change Management.

Phase 1: Strategy. In the Strategy Phase, NHI identifies the important business issues and elicits and refines the business requirements for the energy management initiative. Working jointly with the project team and key stakeholders, NHI defines a "future state" vision. The gap between the current state and future state provides the basis for understanding the sources of energy cost savings. Then, the business benefits are quantified and summarized and a business case is prepared. The Strategy Phase is completed when the business case is accepted by senior management and resources are approved for Phase 2.

Phase 2: Solution Design and Development. The Solution Design and Development Phase involves the creation of a comprehensive, holistic energy management solution. The primary outputs from this Phase are detailed designs for the technical and business processes, pilot and prototype results (used to test and refine the solution designs), and detailed recommendations.

Phase 3: Implementation. Phase 3 involves implementing the portfolio of energy efficiency ideas contained in the Phase 2 recommendations. Improvements include both technology upgrades/replacements and changes in business processes and practices.

Phase 4: Organizational Change. Organizational change management activities are implemented during this Phase. These activities are typically quite varied and may involve job design/redesign, training, and the development of reward and recognition programs.

For large energy management initiatives, NHI breaks down each of these Phases into smaller, more manageable projects and/or workstreams. This disaggregation helps us and our clients better monitor and track project status and mitigate risks because each of the smaller projects has its own workplan, project team, and list of specific outputs. These smaller focused projects tend to address specific business or technical issues.

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