Honest Buildings Aims to Foster Competition Among Green Buildings

A new startup company called Honest Buildings is striving to heat up the competition between buildings to promote making more of them green. The company has created a web site which aggregates data from a variety of sources including public databases, building owners, and companies which provide green products and services to create transparency and go-to reference for green building information. Their ultimate vision is to create a site where potential building space lessors could compare buildings to find those with lower energy costs due to energy efficiency technologies used within them. They also aim to provide a system which enables building owners to distribute RFPs and contractors and service providers to respond them for energy efficiency projects such as installing building energy management systems.

The website will launch on March 19th, so mark your calendars to head on over there and check it out.

Source: Gigaom

Tip of the Week

How much you pay for your business' electric utility bill is determined by a number of factors. Most of us are familiar with actual electric consumption being a factor, but many are unaware of an equally important factor called peak demand. Peak demand is the greatest amount of electrical consumption your building requires at any single point in time. The more electric consuming devices and systems you have running at the same time, the higher your demand. More importantly, devices containing power supplies, compressors, motors, or pumps require a higher initial amount of electric to operate until they are up to speed or capacity. An example would be an air conditioner or furnace. On the air conditioner the compressor has to power up along with a motor for the blower which pushes the cooled air through your ducts. With the furnace, even gas furnaces has blowers to push the heated air through the ducts.

The reason all of this applies to most businesses is because the majority of businesses fall within the General Service tariffs (rate plans) for their electric service. These tariffs charge customers based on both electric consumption and peak demand, so it's advantageous to get both factors as low as you can to reduce your bills. The best way to obtain an accurate picture of the devices and systems within your building and how they affect your consumption and demand is by having an energy monitoring system installed. These systems collect real-time data on the electric usage in the building. Once you have the information you need to make the changes to benefit your bills, you can take the next step by having a building management system installed. These systems can control electrical devices and the mechanical systems in your building. They automate the turning on and off of devices and systems based on a combination of sensors, schedules, and events. By doing so you ensure when these devices don't need to be running that they are turned off or setback to more efficient settings...automatically. They can also stage the turning on of devices and systems which provides a lower increase in demand compared to uncontrolled environments. To lower or limit your building's peak demand, take the following steps:

• Replace old or less efficient devices and systems with more efficient products
• Remove or turn off unnecessary or unused devices
• Install an energy monitoring system
• Install building management systems which can control electric devices (computers, printers, copiers, faxes, vending machines, etc.) and mechanical systems (lighting, HVAC, irrigation, security, etc.)

You should always consult a professional before making changes in your building or its systems. Mechanical systems are complex and require trained professionals to properly work on them. A reputable energy efficiency company, such as EZ-Integration Incorporated, will be able to identify the best courses of action for your building and provide the products and expertise required to implement those plans.

Tip of the Week

When considering energy efficiency projects for your facilities it's important to ensure you're taking all the financial benefits into account. Most organizations have a firm understanding of the savings from a resulting reduction in energy consumed but often overlook or are unaware of less obvious or indirect windfalls created by these types of projects. These oversights can make a significant difference in the ROI and thus potentially cause a feasible project to look unfavorable. Here are some areas of savings to  take into consideration for all energy efficiency projects:


Reduced Demand

Total KWh consumed is not the only determining factor in your utility bills. Peak Demand, the highest level of utility consumption demand by your facility within a time cycle, can also impact the amount you are charged for service. For example, on a hot summer day a building without a control system could have multiple HVAC units turn on at the same time or nearly the same time. This is undesirable as each HVAC unit draws an increased amount of electricity to power up its compressor. The amount of electricity required to keep the compressor running once it is fully powered is lower than the amount required to power it up. This creates a "peak" in your electric service demand while the compressor is powering up. So, if multiple HVAC units power up at the same time the peak is even higher, requiring your utility to have a greater amount of electricity available at all times in order to meet your peak demand needs when they occur. This results in a higher cost to the utility, which gladly passes the costs onto you. A control system being installed in the same building could provide communications between the HVAC units so that their power up is staggered enough to prevent the higher peaks and save you money on your electric bills.


Reduced Maintenance

Equipment breaks down as it ages and becomes less reliable and less efficient, requiring more frequent maintenance and replacement of parts. More frequent maintenance requires more of someone's time to keep things running which either takes away from the person's time to work on other equipment or eventually leads to the need to hire additional staff. It all means higher expenses. Over time new technology provides superior equipment with longer life, efficiency, and reliability. Even if it costs more for equipment containing the new technology the reduction in maintenance costs for it compared to the existing equipment may justify the additional cost or even lead to savings. An example of this would be comparing the cost of florescent lighting to LED lighting. LED lighting has a much higher purchase cost but it also is more efficient, has 4 times or more life, and doesn't require ballasts. In most cases the costs of LED lighting over the life of the product compared to florescent lighting are lower and the longer life frees up maintenance staff.


Another example would be in the case where a control system that provides alerts and notifications when equipment is not working properly is installed in a building. By having a system which notifies maintenance staff when issues occur, the need to have staff spending time surveying the building for equipment issues can be reduced or eliminated altogether. Not to mention the utility savings realized when an issue causing additional consumption or demand is caught and addressed in a timely manner rather than being caught and addressed whenever someone happens to notice it. Maintenance staff can't be everywhere at the same time, but a control system can be.



Increased Equipment Life

Energy efficiency projects can also have components to them which result in increased life of equipment in a building. Doing things like turning off lighting and electronic devices, or setting back thermostats when a building is unoccupied reduce the number of hours that equipment is running leading to it lasting longer before needing replaced or repaired. Other measures such as dimming lighting when sufficient natural light is available lead to increased life of equipment as well.


As you can see there are many savings opportunities and benefits to be derived from and accounted for when determining the total impact an energy efficiency project can have on a business' bottom line. Finding someone who can identify these items is crucial to making a fully informed decision on the viability of an energy efficiency project. Firms such as EZ-Integration, Inc. provide the services and control systems which help businesses and building owners get the most out of their projects. For more information on all the benefits an energy efficiency project can bring to you visit www.energysmartpartners.com , email us at info@energysmartpartners.com, or contact us by phone at 1-877-928-4111 or if you're in the State of Ohio at (614) 495-3700.

Tip of the Week

The best ways of making our businesses and homes more energy efficient are the ones which cost little or nothing to implement and do not effect the comfort of our environment or the use of devices we rely on. One of the devices most commonly used in people's daily lives, computers, are a significant source of energy consumption. But, it's not like we're going to start using them less or stop using them altogether to save energy either. Fortunately when it comes to computers there is a painless, cost-effective solution; use laptops instead of desktops whenever possible.

The average desktop computer consumes between 150 and 250 watts of electricity when in use compared to the average laptop which only uses between 15 and 60 watts of electricity. That's as much as a 90% reduction! Plus, the 150 to 250 watts consumed by a desktop computer doesn't count the devices connected to it. You can add another 15 to 75 watts for an LCD monitor, or if you're using an old CRT monitor that number could be 80 watts or more. Now consider that laptops when put into sleep mode consume even less, as little as a fraction of a watt, and the savings keep stacking up. Of course there's also the benefit of laptops being portable too.

So the next time you're looking to replace a computer in your home or business, choose a laptop and enjoy the savings that come with it.

Illinois Tells Utilitites to Prove Smart Grid Benefits or Pay

The Illinois state legislature recently passed a bill requiring utilities to prove they can deliver on the promises they made regarding Smart Grid projects in the state. It will still allow the utilities to add a $3 per month charge to consumers' bills, but if they fail to meet certain benchmarks in the areas of reduced outages, energy theft, and inactive meters, the state will assess them penalties. It also places requirements on utilities to reduce estimated billing by 90 percent, and bad debt and unpaid bills by $30 million. Failure to meet the goals established in the bill will result in financial penalties, including a portion of their profits. Illinois is the first state to tie financial penalties to Smart Grid projects and their smart meter systems. To read the full article, go to http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/illinois-to-smart-grid-prove-youre-worth-it-or-pay/

Cloud Computing and Energy Efficiency

I read an article this weekend discussing reasons that there has been a rising interest in cloud computing from businesses and why it will continue to do so in 2012. Of note in the article is the mention of energy efficiency being one of the drivers for the push to this technology.

"Energy Savings Power Better Business and the Greater Good – Energy efficiency, especially a reduction in CO2 emissions reductions, will be a key imperative for many companies. In 2012, companies will take advantage of public-private partnerships to invest in everything from more efficient lighting to energy-efficient heating ventilation and air conditioning systems, to installing energy-efficient technologies.

It is also more likely that they will begin to investigate flexible computing models – like the cloud - that leverage on-demand capacity for peak loads, while powering down during periods of lesser demand."

-Source: Why Cloud Computing will come of Age in 2012 by David Howorth, Regional VP Verizon IT Services

Smart Grid: Boom times ahead for EE and DR, economists conclude

Some interesting news today highlighting predicted growth for the Energy Efficiency and Demand Response markets. A study conducted by a pair of economists concluded that the Energy Efficiency and Demand Response markets are headed for a boom that will last through the year 2020 and beyond. With the country's continued trend of growth in demand outpacing added generation from new power plants this isn't surprising. Combined with the increased costs of generation from renewable sources (solar, wind, etc.) prices are certain to continue rising which will lead businesses and consumers to seek out ways of controlling their energy usage and costs. It's good to see a viewpoint of those markets from a non-industry source especially one with such a bright forecast. For more details and a link to the study click on the link below.

 

Smart Grid: Boom times ahead for EE and DR, economists conclude

T12 Utility Incentives Ending Soon

Effective January 01, 2012 manufactures will no longer be allowed by law to produce T12 florescent bulbs. The electric utility companies have taken note of this change and many, including AEP Ohio, will discontinue providing energy efficiency project incentives for upgrading T12 fixtures and bulbs to more efficient products. If you have these fixtures or bulbs in your building now is the time to replace them before the incentives are discontinued. For more information on how to take advantage of these incentives and others like them, contact EZ-Integration, Inc. at (614) 495-3700 or visit our Web site at: http://www.energysmartpartners.com.

ESP Concept: A team of Tradespeople focused on energy efficiency

It takes a team to solve energy efficiency problems. And the team members must be focused on energy efficiency so they have the products, knowledge, experience and interest to offer energy efficient products and services. Most tradespeople working today were trained to install products in the most cost effective way without consideration for long-term operating costs. But energy efficiency is all about long-term operating costs. So, if you and your tradesperson are just focused on his bill, you'll miss the big picture. The cheapest approach today may be the most costly in the long run.

And your electrician probably isn't an HVAC or computer networking expert. But technology advances are integrating building systems together to act as one system. And they offer remote access and control which requires some IT networking expertise. So, if you're thinking that it must be a challenge to find a team of tradespeople who are all focused on energy efficiency and are versed in the very latest technology and are willing to work together on a shared project; you're not alone. Energy Smart Partners is just that team. They are bringing together all of the team members needed to really approach energy efficiency holistically. LEED Architects, HVAC experts, plumbing contractors, electrical contractors and IT networking gurus are all working together to create integrated solutions.

Parking Lot Lights are Energy Wasters

Parking Lot Lights should be controlled better. Have you noticed how many parking lots are fully lit even when they are empty because the stores or offices are closed? And have you noticed how many parking lot lights are on at 5pm in the Fall when it is still daylight. These are obvious inefficiencies that can be solved by applying some thinking and technology.

Old manual timers that don't know about sunrise or sunset times or daylight savings time are often set during the Winter. So, they have to come on too early the rest of the year. To work properly in the Summer, they must be manually reset, which often doesn't happen. They also must be reset whenever there is a power outage. This effort also requires building managers to keep track of the lights and visit the buildings to reset them. Technology can solve this problem by using digital controllers that can be programmed for sunrise/sunset and even store hours.

Parking lot lights are also usually wired together in large groups and turned on/off together at a circuit breaker. So, an entire section of lights must be left on even after hours. Technology can solve this problem too. By controlling individual light poles, outlying lights can be selectively turned off after normal business hours. Even when some employees work late, they can park in brightly lit areas while the other parking areas are more dimly lit. Since parking lot lights are big users of electricity, these are huge savings. Technology can offer other benefits too. Property managers can control the lights remotely with their smartphones, for instance. Energy Smart Partners can analyze a buildings' parking requirements and offer an energy efficient lighting plan. There are incentives offered by Utilities that make these changes very cost effective. ROI's are usually less than one year.

the Building's Empty but the Lights are On

Since many offices are unoccupied for up to 14 hours a day, why are their lights still on at 11pm on a Saturday night? They are serving no purpose for anyone at that hour – so why are they still burning bright? When you are out in the evening, notice how many offices are brightly lit when the parking lots are empty. Notice that the parking lots are still fully lit too; but that's the subject for another post. Back to the lit building....Some people try to explain it by telling me "Those are Night Lights". But, they should be called “Occupancy Lights”. The real purpose of these lights is to provide for basic lighting when the building is occupied. They provide basic fill lighting and light hallways to exits. So, again, why are they still on when the building is empty? This is so obviously silly; you can't help but wonder why. Why are we so blatantly wasteful? Is this waste really intentional or are we just en mass forgetful? Maybe we all just can't remember to turn the lights out. OK, I'm having a little fun here, but seriously folks?

Well, as usual, energy efficiency is not always that simple. Until recently, when a building was being built, the construction cost was the most important consideration at the time. Buildings that have control systems and meet the latest code requirements for lighting are supposed to know when the building is not occupied. But often, even they are not programmed properly. Operating efficiency hasn't been important until very recently. So, most existing buildings are prime candidates for retrofits to improve their energy efficiency. Technology is available to solve the problem; it just requires thought and some money. Energy Smart Partners can offer alternatives for turning the lights off and ensuring that they are turned back on when someone enters. The savings are substantial and the cost is readily recovered by the electrical cost savings. Utilities even have programs to help pay for the costs. AEP, for example, will pay for up to 50% of the cost. So, for building owners who want to address the problem, the payback is just a little over a year. For the low cost to control a tenant occupied space, there is really no reason not to. Have you thought about the energy that your building uses lately?