Edo Exchange: Senior Engineer Micah Allen on the Magic of Energy Efficiency

At Edo, demand flexibility and energy efficiency often go hand in hand. The same building data that supports demand flexibility also provides visibility into how buildings operate, revealing opportunities to optimize energy.

Micah Allen, Senior Energy Engineer at Edo, has more than two decades of experience working on practical energy-efficiency technologies across four continents. In his role, he helps organizations identify and implement efficiency improvements that improve building performance and lower costs. We asked him to share his perspective.

Tell us about your global journey in energy efficiency.

Allen: I’ve worked on energy efficiency for my entire career. I researched daylighting in Denmark, simulated building energy in Japan, hand-built a biogas digester in Tanzania, made structures out of bamboo in Costa Rica, and have done too many U.S. projects to count. The magic of energy efficiency works everywhere!

What continues to excite me is the multiplying impact of energy efficiency. When energy is saved at the end-use, much more is gained across the energy system. Saving a kilowatt-hour (kWh) in a building also preserves the energy needed to transport, generate and mine it.

In Kenya, high-efficiency household cookstoves use 40% less wood. That is great, but the other effects were enormous. The improvement also directly protects our lungs from smoke, conserves forests and reduces firewood collection. Each of those benefits has positive ripple effects on improved health, reduced labor, and ecosystem resilience. That’s why I’ve always found the work rewarding.

Energy efficiency is also one of the few areas where financial and environmental goals are aligned. Demand flexibility creates temporal value, but energy efficiency often delivers permanent savings year after year, making it one of the most compelling opportunities available to building owners. Improvements that reduce energy use often pay for themselves while also increasing building performance. Owners may appreciate the positive environmental impact or simply enjoy savings on their utility bill. That’s why energy efficiency resonates so strongly with people.

How should building owners think about measuring energy efficiency?

Allen: The first thing most building owners care about is dollars. They want to know how much they’re spending today, how much waste exists, and how much they could realistically save.

To measure that, we use energy use intensity (EUI), which is calculated by dividing the building’s total annual energy consumption by its total gross floor area. This is an apples-to-apples metric for comparing a portfolio of similar buildings. If an owner’s building has an EUI of 100 kBtu/ft2 and the average similar building in the region has an EUI of 75 kBtu/ft2, it is likely that the savings is cost-effective and achievable. However, EUI doesn’t always tell the whole story. A newly constructed building designed to modern standards will naturally perform differently than a one-hundred-year-old building, but this gives a good place to start.

What does a meaningful energy efficiency opportunity look like in practice?

Allen: Many building owners are surprised by how much savings potential still exists within their facilities. The size of the opportunity depends on the building, but in some cases we identify opportunities worth hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. In one recent school district assessment, we identified approximately $200,000 in achievable annual energy savings. That’s the kind of opportunity that immediately gets attention.

What’s important is distinguishing between theoretical savings and achievable savings. Our goal is to identify practical opportunities that organizations can realistically implement and benefit from over time. The most valuable recommendations are often those that deliver meaningful results while fitting within existing operational and budget constraints.

What are the most common opportunities you uncover during energy assessments?

Allen: If building lighting hasn’t been updated to LEDs, this is almost always the easiest win. Whenever equipment needs to be replaced, the owner has an opportunity to save money long into the future. Generally, if equipment is ENERGY STAR rated, it is cost-effective over time.

Beyond these strategies, there are many more opportunities in buildings for people who know how to look for them. This is what the people at Edo do, both physically and remotely through your building’s data.

How do energy efficiency projects create value?

Allen: One of the things I’ve learned throughout my career is that organizations are often motivated by the opportunity to improve efficiency, even when the initial conversation starts somewhere else. In fact, the energy-efficiency opportunity is often why many organizations ultimately sign up.

Those recurring savings can support budgets, improve facility performance, and free up resources for other priorities. The value isn’t limited to a single event or season. When improvements are implemented successfully, organizations can continue seeing benefits for years.

For utilities, this can create value as well. Programs initially focused on demand flexibility and virtual power plants can uncover broader opportunities to help customers lower consumption, improve operations, and strengthen long-term engagement.

How has better building data changed the way energy assessments are performed?

Allen: It has been a slow-moving revolution. Building engineers have long known that accurate data, reviewed thoughtfully, could yield big rewards. But making that happen has been a challenge.

Big buildings were controlled pneumatically. Large and complicated buildings were controlled by intricately designed networks of compressed air pushing open valves in truly ingenious ways. The digital revolution has replaced most of that, which has improved reliability at the cost of equipment generating vast quantities of data. Proprietary control and uniquely organized systems meant tools developed for one building usually were not compatible with another.

In recent years, however, there has been a profound change. Companies like Edo, have figured out how to untangle this sea of data into actionable information. Monitoring-based commissioning went from an interesting idea to a robust business model.

Although I always like to go onsite to conduct a physical audit, that is not as critical as it once was. It’s now possible to find worthwhile energy projects without stepping foot in a building. Sometimes, it’s even possible to do those projects remotely. This is a whole new world of building systems engineering.

How do energy efficiency and demand flexibility work together?

Allen: We often think about energy efficiency and demand flexibility as parallel efforts. In many cases, buildings can begin participating in demand flexibility programs while energy-efficiency opportunities are being identified, evaluated, and implemented.

Demand flexibility often moves faster because buildings can begin participating soon after they’re connected and configured. Energy efficiency typically takes longer because recommendations must be evaluated, prioritized, funded, and implemented. But the two are closely connected.

One of the most exciting things we’re seeing is that the same infrastructure that enables demand flexibility can also accelerate energy-efficiency work. The gateway and building data that support flexibility programs provide a much clearer picture of how a building is actually operating. That visibility helps us identify performance issues and prioritize improvements more quickly than traditional approaches alone.

For utilities, that’s an important benefit as well. A program that starts with demand flexibility can also help uncover broader opportunities to improve building performance, lower energy consumption, and create additional value for customers.

Can you share an example of how building data uncovered a hidden performance issue?

Allen: These were some relatively new, high-performance buildings in New York that appeared successful on paper. They were all-electric, designed to ambitious performance standards, and intended to demonstrate leading building practices. But when we visited the site and reviewed operational data, we found significant issues.

Some spaces were operating above 80% humidity, creating occupant comfort concerns and potentially increasing future mold risk. By identifying the issue and raising awareness, we helped the organization pursue a deeper commissioning effort to understand and address the underlying causes.

It’s a good reminder that building performance isn’t determined solely by design. Even well-designed buildings can develop operational challenges over time. The key is having enough visibility into building operations to identify problems early and take corrective action.

What do you enjoy when you’re not working as Edo’s energy efficiency guru?

Allen: I like to explore the Colorado mountains, travel overseas, and ferment food. I make kimchi, sauerkraut, kombuchas, and my own fermented pickles. One thing a “fermentista” quickly realizes is that home fermented food is so much better than its store-bought alternative. Store-bought pickles, for example, are simply cucumbers flavored with vinegar. A genuinely fermented cucumber has a much more complicated and more delicious flavor.

Connect with Micah on LinkedIn.