Are You Paying $70,000 More in Energy Costs for your Building than the National Average?

Your first question might be “what is the national average?” or “how do I benchmark my building to compare?”. The answer is to perform an energy star analysis to see how your energy spending stacks up against the national average of other buildings with the same usage and size as yours.

You can imagine how it felt when we told one of our clients that they were in fact paying $70,000 more than the national average. After the customer initially called on our expertise because their building automation controls system was not functioning; we realized a closer look at their energy usage was needed. Speer performed an in-depth energy study where the first step was to calculate their Energy Star Rating based on a year’s worth of utility bills. After the study was completed, we made recommendations and plans to recoup as much of that extra money they were paying as possible.

Our staff identified the following opportunities for energy savings:

• program night-time temperature setbacks
• limit individual temperature controls
• update controls system

The bulk of the problem lied in an outdated controls system. Communication had broken down between fan coil unit’s and the controls system, there were no night-time set backs programmed in, and individuals were controlling their own thermostats and fans to try to correct their comfort issues themselves.

After a complete model of the building was created based on architectural drawings, the Speer team was able to implement a plan to update the building’s control system and knock out the issues they uncovered. The project got started in February 2011 and the building is trending towards an energy savings of $40,000 annually.

Now – ask yourself that $70,000 question again, it’s time to do something about it if you have no idea how to answer it.

How to Achieve 30% Energy Savings from your Beach Towel in Greece

DownTown Tianos III, Ltd. Property at 175 S. Third

About a year ago DownTown Tiano III, Ltd. purchased a 13 story office building in downtown Columbus, OH. Among the challenges the new owner was faced with was an aging control system. The system was so old in fact that there was nobody in the area who had the know how to service it.  With minimal or non-operating scheduling systems for the lighting and HVAC systems in the building the new owner was well aware that his building was wasting energy.

How can the owner, who spends a great deal of his time over-seas get a handle on the energy consumption of this building? The solution is simple…web based controls. Speer Mechanical was able to identify multiple areas for energy savings and retrofit the building with the Philips Teletrol eBuilding product.

Danos Tiano, President says “Philips Teletrol is a great product, I have nothing but good things to say about what it’s done for my building and how easy it was to work with Speer to get it designed, installed, and up and running.”

A sampling of energy conservation measures implemented by the new system includes:

• HVAC schedules – unique for each floor
• interior lighting schedules – unique for each floor
• exterior lighting schedule

The new system has served the owner well, providing 30% energy savings per year. Better yet, Danny can monitor the building’s energy consumption from his home office or from his office in Athens, Greece.

What do I need to know about my building’s control system?

We’ve come up with a few key things you should understand about your buildings’ automation system. As a building manager, operator, or owner you should have a grip on the following:

• Common problems for aging controls systems
• Determining and stretching the useful life of controls
• Establishing the need for new controls

Common problems for aging controls systems

Problems with aging control systems can stem from a variety of places. Some problems are simply a need for improvement to meet the tenants wants/needs while others are functional limitations. Possibly the most common issue is the lack of a long term plan to leverage and ensure that the control system remains operational.

• Need for Improvement – Opportunities:
• control energy use
• reduce labor costs associated with operating less dependable equipment
• Functional Limitations:
• load shedding capabilities
• point of use zone control
• Lack of a Long Term Plan
• staff have interfered with and circumvented the systems leaving them ineffective

Determining and Stretching the Useful Life of Controls

As a general rule most experts agree that controls are due for a face lift every 10 years or so. Anything beyond 10 years is aging, like many electronic devices, controls tend to go through generations on a fast-track basis. The life of controls will vary depending on their flexibility, if the controls are proprietary to a brand of equipment they usually have less ability to integrate with newer controls and therefore will not produce a holistic view of your building’s total energy use. If the system is less proprietary and more inter-operable there may be more life left in even a 15 year old system. BACnet came into being in 1995, these systems are likely to have more longevity.

Options for extending the life of an aging controls system include:

• Installing of a hybrid control system
• Upgrade the system in affordable phases

Establishing the Need for New Controls

Taking a simplistic approach, answer these three questions:

1. Are new building controls required to market the building or increase productivity of a business unit?
2. Is there a new operating standard or goal — for example, energy savings, LEED or other operation-focused designation, or resolving HVAC complaints — that new building controls will achieve?
3. Is the current control system obsolete or is the building being penalized in increased service costs?

Read more about the above topics.

What is the Energy Star Rating? How do I Utilize it?

Calculating the Energy Star Rating of your building provides you with a report that includes the following information:

• Total Energy Usage
• Total Energy Spent
• Carbon Footprint (Greenhouse Gas Emissions)
• Comparison of energy spent and energy costs with facilities of similar size and use

How do I utilize this information?

Benchmarking your buildings’ energy performance is a key first step to understanding and reducing energy consumption and your carbon footprint. Calculating the Energy Star Rating for your building provides you with a benchmark based on a national survey conducted by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration. This national survey, known as the Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), is conducted every four years, and gathers data on building characteristics and energy use from thousands of buildings across the United States.  A rating of 50 indicates that the building performs better than 50% of all similar buildings nationwide, while a rating of 75 indicates that the building performs better than 75% of all similar buildings nationwide. Buildings rating 75 or greater may qualify for the ENERGY STAR label.

Establishing your building’s energy star rating provides  a means of tracking energy saving measures.  Energy costs typically account for 21% of the total cost of operating a building, working towards a higher energy star rating will save a substantial amount of money.

OK, how do I get started?

To calculate your building’s energy star rating you merely need to gather the following information:

• 1 Continuous year of energy bills
• Basic building information (size, usage, age, etc.)

Find out where your building stacks up to those of similar function and size nationwide. For more information visit the ENERGY  STAR website.

Dan Shuman, Account Manager | Service Division, Achieves Energy Management Certification

Atlanta, Georgia, April 6, 2011 – The Association of Energy Engineers announces that Daniel M. Shuman, C.E.M. has met the educational, experience and rigorous testing requirements needed to qualify as a Certified Energy Manager® (CEM®) and has joined the ranks of over 9,500 CEMs worldwide. Dan graduated from The University of Dayton with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree in 2007 and joined Speer Mechanical in 2009. Dan is an account manager for the service division.

The Association of Energy Engineers, AEE, founded in 1977 is a nonprofit professional society located in Atlanta, Georgia with over 14,000 members in 78 countries. Established in 1981, the Certified Energy Manager® (CEM®) provides a recognizable affirmation of demonstrated competencies in a wide range of energy-related principles and practices. Professionals seeking the CEM® designation must meet a board-approved list of pre-qualifications of field experience, prior educational achievements, and a passing CEM exam score.

The CEM® program is widely accepted and respected both in the u.s. and internationally. The CEM® designation is recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Office of Federal Energy Management Programs (FEMP), and the U.S. Agency for International Development, as well as by numerous state energy offices, major utilities, corporations and energy service companies.

CEM® are now found engaged in all the various aspects of the energy industry, including major multi-national corporations: utilities; controls and performance contractors; federal, state, and local governments; universities; hospitals; regional school districts; local entrepreneurs, as well as consultants in the energy field.

The designation “Certified Energy Manager SM” is a registered service mark and CEM® is a registered trademark with the United States Trademark and Patent Office.

Go to www.aeecenter.org/certification for more details about AEE Certification.

Contact:
Helen Ardavin, CEM Certification Director
Association of Energy Engineers
770-447-5083, x. 218
helen@aeecenter.org

For more information on the Association of Energy Engineers go to www.aeecenter.org

Introducing “Cliff Notes for Controls”

Speer Mechanical, a Philips Teletrol Systems Integrator since ’93, is excited to bring you “Cliff Notes for Controls” a series of articles available on our blog to help building owners and managers understand the importance of their facilities’ control system design, functionality, and maintenance. We will begin with an overview of the following:

• Common problems for aging controls systems
• Determining and stretching the useful life of controls
• Establishing the need for new controls

Each month we will highlight one of the 11 Energy Conservation Measures a control system can achieve for your building.

Jared Keron, General Manager | Building Automation Controls, Achieves Energy Management Certification

Atlanta, Georgia, February 22, 2011 – The Association of Energy Engineers announces that Jared Thomas Keron, C.E.M. has met the educational, experience and rigorous testing requirements needed to qualify as a Certified Energy Manager® (CEM®) and has joined the ranks of over 9,500 CEMs worldwide. Jared graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree, Mechanical Engineering in 2001 and joined Speer Mechanical in 2002. Jared is the general manager of the Building Automation Controls division.

The Association of Energy Engineers, AEE, founded in 1977 is a nonprofit professional society located in Atlanta, Georgia with over 14,000 members in 78 countries. Established in 1981, the Certified Energy Manager® (CEM®) provides a recognizable affirmation of demonstrated competencies in a wide range of energy-related principles and practices. Professionals seeking the CEM® designation must meet a board-approved list of pre-qualifications of field experience, prior educational achievements, and a passing CEM exam score.

The CEM® program is widely accepted and respected both in the u.s. and internationally. The CEM® designation is recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Office of Federal Energy Management Programs (FEMP), and the U.S. Agency for International Development, as well as by numerous state energy offices, major utilities, corporations and energy service companies.

CEM® are now found engaged in all the various aspects of the energy industry, including major multi-national corporations: utilities; controls and performance contractors; federal, state, and local governments; universities; hospitals; regional school districts; local entrepreneurs, as well as consultants in the energy field.

The designation “Certified Energy Manager SM” is a registered service mark and CEM® is a registered trademark with the United States Trademark and Patent Office.

Go to www.aeecenter.org/certification for more details about AEE Certification.

Contact:
Helen Ardavin, CEM Certification Director
Association of Energy Engineers
770-447-5083, x. 218
helen@aeecenter.org

For more information on the Association of Energy Engineers go to www.aeecenter.org