Company helps others reduce utility costs

Based out of its new Round Rock headquarters, FSG Energy President Patrick Davis said the company is empowering businesses to better understand their energy usage and save money as a result.

FSG Energy conducts detailed energy studies of a client's entire real estate portfolio by linking into the stores' lighting, heat, ventilation and air-conditioning systems. For large clients such as Walgreens, that means installing meters in about 3,900 stores.

"There's a lot of data when you control all the air conditioning and lighting," Davis said.

FSG Energy translates the data into reports that identify potential operational and energy savings. For example, a report might give the exact dollar amount a client can save by raising the thermostat one degree at its hundreds or thousands of different stores, Davis said. In another case, the report might identify the ideal time for a store to host special events.

"We take and convert the data into information that [clients] can use and understand," Davis said. "It's literally the DNA of their [energy] usage."

Clients are usually most interested in identifying which stores are the least energy-efficient, Davis said. He said business owners are often shocked with what the initial report tells them.

"All too often, they have gone across their portfolio and made [energy-related] decisions but never really saw the impact of that decision," Davis said. "They never thought whether that was a good or bad decision. Without the data, they were just guessing."

From its Round Rock headquarters, FSG Energy can remotely engage the HVAC and lighting systems for a client's thousands of different stores. By better understanding energy issues, clients can achieve anywhere from 10 to 20 percent in annual energy savings, Davis said.

"We are on the business side, but we also want to save the world," he said. "We know we're a part of something that's bigger than any individual company is involved with, and there's a chance for us to deliver a world to our kids and grandkids that was better than when we started [the company]."

Facility Solutions Group

FSG Energy is a division of Facility Solutions Group, which has its headquarters in South Austin.

Other FSG divisions include lighting, contracting and electrical, technology, and signs.

"If it uses electricity, chances are we have a division to support it and products to repair it or upfit it," FSG Energy President Patrick Davis said.

Davis said every FSG division fully commits to its projects and industries. Greg Mattison, who handles marketing for FSG Energy, said he doesn't know of another company that offers a similar variety of services.

"We have different competitors in different divisions, but I haven't come across a competitor who can handle all the things we do," he said.

FSG Energy Tech Center

Technicians with years of experience working with heating, ventilation and air condition, or HVAC, and lighting systems primarily staff the FSG Energy Tech Center, FSG Energy President Patrick Davis said.

From the Round Rock office, the Tech center staffers support the technicians working in the field.

"[Field technicians] are just one phone call away from having a senior technician who knows these systems in and out," he said.

Davis said FSG Energy provides an opportunity for experienced, blue-collar technicians to work in an office setting.

Eric Bowers, who was a field technician for 18 years, said working in the FSG Energy office easily beats working in the field.

"It's a lot easier to be inside an office than in an attic or on the roof," he said.

101 E. Old Settlers Blvd., Ste. 200, Round Rock, 512-835-6120, www.fsgi.com