It was changing state legislation that sparked Nabholz and Viridian to form Entegrity, an energy services company based in Arkansas. In 2013, the State of Arkansas passed legislation that allowed Energy Performance Contracting, a financing mechanism used to pay for energy efficiency improvements all at once that are then paid back through annual energy savings resulting from those improvements. Entegrity was formed to help clients realize these long-term energy savings by making key upgrades, now within reach due to energy performance contracting financing.
The merger between Nabholz and Viridian utilizes each company’s strengths – Viridian uses their expertise to perform energy audits and recommend solutions to improve client’s energy efficiency, and Nabholz employs their construction expertise to execute those upgrades. Together, these two companies form Entegrity—a singular entity that simplifies the process for clients.
Entegrity works within existing facilities to determine what equipment – such as lighting, chillers, or boilers – needs to be upgraded to reach maximum efficiency. Entegrity then presents these findings and suggestions to the client. Together, they create an action plan based on what makes sense for the client’s budget and time frame.
The energy performance contracting market is exploding. Since the passage of legislation in 2013, Entegrity has procured over $13 million in performance-based projects, with an additional $15 million currently in the design phase. The company offers everything from lighting solutions, investment-grade energy audits, design assistance, bid coordination, construction management, systems commissioning, and on-going measurement and verification, and both public and private clients often take advantage of multiple Entegrity services.
Entegrity serves many K-12 clients who capitalize on this financing mechanism to lower energy costs and devote saved monies to other areas of the budget. Many choose to do lighting retrofits, transferring from incandescent bulbs to LED lights. Lighting upgrades often pay for themselves in two to four years, so the school starts realizing savings in a short period of time. Entegrity also offers a seven-year warranty on LED lights, which to a school administrator has a separate value in reduced custodial costs.
Other clients choose to make larger scale upgrades. In these situations, Entegrity performs extensive audits to assure upgrades will pay for themselves before the newly installed equipment becomes outdated and needs to be replaced.
If you need assistance managing rising energy costs and maintenance expense and want to realize long-term energy savings, contact Entegrity at 501.414.0058 or info@entegritypartners.com.
