Category Archives: Use Less Energy

Energy Savings ROI in Functional Business Terms

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rising business performanceThere are many options for evaluating energy savings ROI (return on investment).  “Payback” is still the most widely used measure of value and describes the number of years it takes for the cost of an investment to be recovered through the annual savings that it provides.

Many industry corporate managers are often not impressed by proposed energy savings.  Yet the same results may be enthusiastically received when impacts are related to Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the client’s business operations.  This means expressing a reduction in energy use (or cost) per unit that the business uses to measure output and productivity on a daily basis:  tons of product, barrels of product, gallons per revenue passenger mile, energy costs per square foot, energy cost per meal served in a restaurant, BTUs per employee, or the total annual energy spent as a percentage of net income.

Defining your energy costs of production is an essential step to understanding how energy affects your productivity and profit margin.  Businesses are best served by making the additional effort to carry the efficiency project ROI, Payback and Savings calculations out one step further and applying the energy costs/ savings to the functional business KPIs that represent the strategic purpose of the business.

Once the energy efficiency projects are brought back full circle and get measured in day-to-day operational terms the company will achieve true synergistic reductions in energy use.

Get Going

Armed with total energy usage data, meter data, Energy Star rankings and a prioritized list of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), a Facilities Manager is prepared to establish a list of operational units of output that can be directly tied to energy consumed.  Conversely, all energy conservation measures and energy efficiency measures can now be expressed in operational business terms

  • Define your organizational business metrics or production measurements.
  • Redefine your current energy efficiency project in terms of Business KPIs.
  • Create company, employee and/or tenant awareness with lobby and cafeteria based energy reporting kiosks.
  • Establish an on-going measurement, monitoring and tracking program for these newly established KPIs.

75 Energy Efficiency Measures to Lower Your Utility Bill

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IdeaThis list of energy efficiency measures and projects is a great place to start in determining which activity will have the greatest impact on your building, with your tenants and on your operational cash flow:

  • Building envelope improvement
    • Weather/infiltration sealing
    • Increased insulation
    • High performance window replacement
    • Low emissivity reflective window film (to reduce unwanted solar gain in the summer and increase the R-value of windows in the winter)
  • Lighting
    • “Delamping,” i.e. permanently turning off/disconnecting unneeded light fixtures
    • “Relamping,” i.e. replacing inefficient light fixtures or lamps with high efficiency fixtures/lamps
      • Convert T-12 fixtures/lamps to T-8 or T-5
      • Relamp 32 watt T-8 lamps with 28 watt T-8
      • Eliminate incandescent bulbs
      • Convert all exit lighting to LEDs or switch to photoluminescent signs that require no electricity
      • Beware of retrofitting with indirect lighting – while classy looking it may require more fixtures and more wattage
    • Increase reliance on task lighting in order to decrease general illumination without adversely affecting productivity
    • Improve lighting controls
      • Occupancy sensors
      • Timers (stand alone or energy management system or EMS-interfaced)
      • Daylight harvesting sensors and controls including simple photocells
    • Convert outdoor lighting to high pressure sodium
    • Eliminate/reduce outdoor decorative lighting
    • Consider LEDs for general indoor and outdoor illumination (the technology is almost there)
    • Consider outdoor solar powered-LED light fixtures (this technology is also almost there)
    • Require white or off-white wall paints for maximum light reflectivity so adequate lighting levels can be achieved with minimum lighting wattage
    • When renovating spaces, design new lighting for less than 1.0 watts per square foot
  • Boilers
    • Replace old boilers with new high efficiency boilers
    • Do not oversize replacement boilers
    • Retrofit boilers with variable flame burners
    • Consider multiple high efficiency modular boilers to improve efficiency by better matching hot water heating loads
    • Consider replacing boilers with cogenerators (which also produce electricity)
    • Control boiler output water temperature with outside air temp reset so boiler does not need to heat water hotter than necessary
    • Retrofit boilers with flue gas/stack heat recovery
  • Chillers
    • Replace old chillers with new high efficiency chillers whose efficiency curve best matches your load profile
    • Do not oversize replacement chillers
    • Operate at peak efficiency (by adjusting water flow, load, condenser/evaporator water temps, etc.)
    • Replace old cooling towers with new high efficiency towers
  • Air conditioning
    • Replace older AC equipment with maximum efficiency models
    • Discontinue use of inefficient window units
    • Reduce AC operating hours
    • Turn off reheats and stop controlling humidity levels during the cooling season
    • Clean cooling coils on a regular basis
    • Maximize use of “free cooling” with economizer cycle
    • Use open windows and passive cooling when mechanical air conditioning is not needed
    • Close windows when air conditioning is in operation
    • In dry climates consider evaporative cooling
    • In humid areas consider desiccant cooling
  • Temperature control
    • Reduce temperature settings in winter
    • Increase temperature settings in summer
    • Maximize night, weekend and holiday temperature setbacks
    • Install tamper proof or remote thermostats
    • Control space temp remotely by EMS
    • If occupant controlled thermostats are required, then limit range of adjustment to ensure campus temperature policy compliance
  • Motors, fans and pumps
    • Adjust operating schedule to minimize run hours (review and update periodically)
    • Replace old motors, pumps, and air handling units with high efficiency
    • Control motors serving fans and pumps with variable speed drives (VSDs)
    • Operate VSDs at maximum acceptable turn-down; vary by time of day and occupancy; also vary by season
    • Convert constant volume fan system to variable air volume
    • Reduce outside air volume during morning warm-up cycle and where/whenever possible through damper settings and demand control ventilation
    • Reduce needless pumping by eliminating three-way by-pass valves
  • Laboratory Ventilation and Fume Hoods
    • Switch to a “green chemistry” teaching program that doesn’t require fume hoods
    • Turn off 100% outside air ventilating systems whenever possible, e.g. in teaching labs whenever classes are not in session; shut down or slow down related supply fans
    • Decommission/remove unneeded fume hoods and reduce fan system outside air volume
    • Eliminate unneeded fume hoods by using ventilated storage cabinets instead of hoods for chemical storage
    • Retrofit constant volume fume hood ventilation systems to variable air volume
    • Retrofit conventional fume hoods with low-flow hoods and reduce outside air volumes
    • Retrofit these systems with heat recovery
  • Heat recovery
    • Run around loops
    • Heat wheels
    • Heat pipes
    • Desiccant wheels
    • Air-to-air heat exchangers
    • Install heat recovery
  • Energy Management Systems (EMS)
    • Switch to direct digital control (DDC) systems
    • Purchase EMS systems which are easy to program (so programming capabilities will be fully utilized by facilities staff)
    • Utilize and optimize use of EMS energy conservation programs, e.g.
      • Optimal start/stop
      • Night setback
      • Demand shedding
      • Remote programmed lighting control
  • Fuel Switching
    • Consider converting electric space and water heating to natural gas
  • Energy Intelligence & feedback systems
    • Accessible display units that show energy use and savings can have dramatic results in energy use behaviors

Ways to Save Energy for Building Owners and Property Managers

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bag of profitsBusiness owners and property managers are under constant business pressure to improve tenant services, make their buildings more “Energy Efficient” and accomplish all of this while reducing operating expenses year-over-year. For these reasons (and others), they are always looking for ways to save energy.

These “opposing” objectives bring to light the business challenges faced by business owners each and every day.  They are too busy to focus on energy efficiency with so many other things interrupting their daily activities.  When the Utility bills arrive, they just pay them and move on, as they are keenly aware of the impact on operating costs.

Business owners have a general understanding of how much the utilities cost each month but they are not necessarily aware of how those costs convert into consumption of kilowatts, kilowatt hours, Therms, gallons or cubic feet.

For example, this baseline tracking brings to light why the electricity usage might be high on a weekend when:

  • The factory is closed but the heat and air conditioning are BOTH running with no-one in the building!
  • An air compressor is running when no machines are operating.
  • The lights are on in the building at midnight when there is no second shift.
  • Every desktop computer monitor is left on when the entire staff goes home for the evening.
  • Common area lighting remains on all weekend. A potential for additional savings exists with the installation of motion sensors and conversion to compact florescent lighting.

The path to reducing energy expenses is best served by using energy management software as a service to establish a baseline energy consumption profile.   This easily tracks and monitors the costs of energy and the volume of kwHours and natural gas therms consumed by buildings, and begins to analyze why certain things are happening.

For business owners and property managers to begin saving money on their energy bills, they should consider these and other methods to pay less for energy as well as use less energy.

How to Perform a Building Energy Audit

USACE, Sembach develop net-zero energy master plan
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USACE, Sembach develop net-zero energy master plan

USACE, Sembach develop net-zero energy master plan by USACE Europe District on Flickr

Building energy audits can be performed on commercial and industrial buildings to assess the amount of energy currently being used and assist in prioritizing and implementing energy-efficiency projects. Energy audits use a variety of techniques to evaluate energy efficiency and identify potential efficiency improvements to lower utility bills and increase comfort. Energy Star rating is just one method of establishing a comparative baseline of the energy usage of a building. Energy audits will assist building owners and property managers in identifying ways to help lower operating costs and create a more competitive position for their building in the real estate market.

Energy audits can be obtained at no cost to the building owner and at a minimum should include a review of the building envelope and building operations.

Typical energy audit reports will include similar recommendations in the following areas:

  • Building Envelope and Building Operations
  • Lighting Systems
    • Occupancy sensors for lighting in amenity areas
  • Heating and Cooling
    • Scheduled start and stop of HVAC equipment and lighting
  • Water Heating
    • Reset boiler hot water temperatures based upon outside air temp
    • Lower domestic hot water temp to 120 degrees
  • Energy Management Systems and Controls
    • Repair/ Replace defective zone control valves
    • Controls to lock out central cooling below 50 degrees
    • Controls to lock out central heating above 65 degrees
  • Set space temperatures during unoccupied times up to 85 degrees/ set back to 65 degrees at night
  • Annual Maintenance
    • Changing filters, cleaning coils and cleaning tubes/duct-work
  • Heat Recovery Operations

Sample Energy Audit Recommendations

Low Cost/ No-Cost Energy Conservation Measures

  • Install Programmable thermostats
  • Insulate interior hot water pipes
  • Install photocell control of parking lot and exterior lighting
  • Global Control for computer monitors “off” after 15 minutes of inactivity or at night

Retrofit or Upgrade at next replacement cycle

  • Evaluate potential savings for alternate Power Systems – Variable Frequency Drives
  • Install low flow faucets, and toilets
  • Install higher efficiency heating or cooling systems
  • Increase roof insulation
  • Evaluate window replacement
  • Replace higher efficiency lighting in common areas, exit lighting and stairwell lighting

Higher efficiency lighting in room areas, especially to replace incandescent bulbs

Get Going

  • Take advantage of DOE’s Energy Star – energy benchmarking software to easily get started and help you establish priorities.
  • Contact a deregulated energy broker in your area and request a free energy audit
  • Contact your local utility company and request a free energy audit
  • Review, prioritize and assign energy conservation measures and energy efficiency measures to ensure all high impact ROI and Low Cost projects are assigned and implemented first.

Contact your local energy broker to provide a list of all available energy rebates and tax incentives.