[Equest-users] Energy Modeling Fees

[Pasha Korber-Gonzalez]

Hi John,

I am soooo glad that you asked about this.  I would be more than happy to
talk with you and the rest of our energy modeling community about how to
price energy models, how to calculate & justify fees for energy models, etc.

This is a VERY important discussion that needs to happen amongst this group
and amongst our colleagues regarding the true value of our services and the
value that clients are willing to pay for our services.

What do you want to know?  What do you want to discuss?  I usually start
with a couple of baseline factors that I use as targets when I put together
fees for the projects that I bid on;  $/sq ft, $/hour, but as everything is
with energy models..."it depends."

Let's talk about this...  we can talk online or feel free to email me
offline, or call me at 308-763-1593.

As a bottom line--I will offer that at a base fee to cover 40 hrs worth of
billable work for any type of energy model at an average cost estimate of
$100/hr which is a good average for most consulting companies billable
rates.  Based on this very rarely should any energy model fee come in under
$4000 just based on the amount of work that needs to be done on even simple
models.   Of course your overall price/cost/fees need to be based on a
specific scope of work for whatever the energy model will be used for.
If there are others out there that have experience with energy model fees
please comment.  My base rule of thumb is this;  "if you give your client a
low fee the first time around, they will expect it everytime."  Once you
charge low fees for your services you will not be able to raise them as your
customers will expect low fees everytime.  Not only do "low-ballers" hurt
themselves but they hurt all of us in the industry.   All of us as
simulators know the amount of time & skill that it takes to learn how to use
these programs and how to execute projects successfully using these
programs.  If we are sending out low fees for these services we are severly
undervaluing our own work and giving our clients the wrong impression.  As
the art of negotiation is something that we work on everyday, it's better to
always start with the fee that you want, and then tailor, customize,
negotiate to a fee that you & the client can accept.  Maybe they don't get
as much work as they wanted, maybe you get a bit more in your fee than the
client planned to pay.  Win-win for all...when it all works out right.  ;)


Pasha


On Thu, May 20, 2010 at 10:14 AM, John David Waller <
jwaller at email.arizona.edu> wrote:

> Would anyone be willing to share what a 'fair market fee' for energy
> modeling services might look like?
>
> I realize that there are many variables involved in defining the cost of
> such services, i.e. level of detail, stage in the design process, size of
> the project, etc... I am an eQUEST pleeb, and seek only to determine
> reasonable rates for this service and ones that won't scare any potential
> clients away.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> John
>
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