Have you given thought to improving the energy efficiency and reducing the carbon footprint of your facilities? Are you concerned that new insulation, improved lighting or repairs to the aging heating and air conditioning system are simply not in the budget?
Whether you’re an owner or a tenant, it makes dollars and sense to do some careful analysis of your building’s performance—and let the numbers be the judge.
“In a sluggish economy, many companies are reluctant to invest in energy efficiency,” says Craig Whittaker, president of Greensboro, N.C.–based ESG Energy, a company that offers energy auditing services and sustainability consulting. “At many facilities, managers are just too busy putting out fires and no one is stepping back looking at equipment, looking at the building and thinking, ‘What should we replace?’ The fact is you can run your business much more profitability by being more efficient. And there are many incentives businesses can tap into at the federal and state level.”
“One thing we are witnessing is that many of our clients are seeing a much higher ROI for renovations and retrofits than they are getting on capital expenditures, paying for new facilities and new lines of business,” says Randy Pool, managing partner at Stantec, an architectural and engineering firm with corporate headquarters in Edmonton, Alberta.
“Much is being written and talked about regarding the ‘soft’ benefits of sustainable design,” Pool says. “To work for a company that takes it personally, that is modifying your work environment to make it healthier and less impactful on the environment, gives employees a sense of pride in their company. It has been shown to improve productivity and reduce turnover. From a PR and marketing standpoint, communicating your company’s sustainability goals is powerful both internally and externally.”
Seal the envelope
A good place to start is to conduct an energy audit. Public utilities generally offer a simple walk–through inspection.
Or you can hire a qualified auditor to check the building envelope—walls, windows, roof and foundation—and assess the efficiency of the heating and cooling, lighting and mechanical systems. Private–sector companies provide a range of energy auditing services and use a variety of methods, such as blower door tests and thermographic scanning with infrared cameras. Many vendors of energy–related products and services also offer energy audits.
“Our customers receive a detailed report that includes a schedule or model of their projected return on investment for all recommended improvements,” Whittaker says. “We let them know this improvement will have a payback in one year or that one in five years. We encourage clients to invest in the rapid paybacks first in order to save for the longer paybacks.”
A comprehensive audit of a standard, boxlike structure typically costs between $1,500 and $5,000, depending on building size, Whittaker says.
“Repairing holes and adding insulation to the building envelope yield the fastest payback,” he says. “The roof is the No. 1 place to insulate—all of your heat seeps out through there. Make sure walls are insulated, as well. A spray–on foam insulation can be easily applied almost anywhere. Many older buildings from the 1960s have little or no insulation. Windows are a major cause of heat loss. It may make sense to add thin films to increase a window’s R–value.” R–value is a measure of thermal resistance.
Manufacturers that use significant amounts of water may want to investigate water reuse systems. With water conservation a growing concern, low–water consuming devices such as low–flow and dual–flush toilets, touchless faucets and waterless urinals can reduce usage and save money.
Bright lights, big savings
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 40% of energy use in the commercial sector is for lighting.
The typical commercial facility has a lighting system that is 15 to 25 years old, lighting experts say. Light quality degrades as systems age. Older systems also consume more electricity and generate more heat than newer bulbs and fixtures, causing the building’s cooling system to work harder.
Lighting change–outs normally offer a rapid payback. When deciding which of your facilities to retrofit, choose the ones with the longest operating hours, the largest electric bill and highest electricity rates. (In the United States, cost per kilowatt hour varies widely from region to region, even within the same state.)
For lighting upgrades, electric utilities often will issue a specified rebate amount per fixture.
“If your specific retrofit isn’t on the energy company’s list, don’t give up. See if they have a custom option,” says Madeline Fazzalari, a LEED–accredited professional and the director of business development for Progress Solar Solutions, a solar and energy–efficient lighting solutions company based in Apex, N.C. “Then get an approval from them in advance to receive a one–time rebate after your work is done.”
“The newest fluorescent lighting offers much better efficiency, better light quality, better controls and longer life,” says Brad Salamone, vice president and general manager of energy services company Atlantic Energy Concepts, based in Reading, Pa. “It’s quite affordable to change out older T12 (linear tube fluorescent) bulbs for T8s, as well as switch from magnetic ballasts to more efficient electronic ballasts.”
An incandescent bulb used for general space lighting will last between several hundred to 2,000 hours. Older generation T12 fluorescent lamps may last 10,000 to 15,000 hours. The newest T8 and T5 bulbs have a life of 30,000 to 50,000 hours. The longer lasting bulbs mean less frequent changes and lower maintenance costs for facilities with “high–bay” or ceiling fixtures.
The payback on lighting upgrades depends on your operating hours, Salamone says.
“If you’re running one shift, you may have a three–year payback, with two shifts two years and with three shifts, perhaps 15 months,” he says. “We do a lot of work where the savings from a lighting system upgrade are allocated to pay for other needed systems, such as a new boiler.”
There are new light fixtures with light–emitting diodes, which use a fraction of the energy of fluorescent fixtures and have a far longer life.
“We view LED as an emerging technology,” Salamone says. “We’ve been doing “Exit” sign retrofits for 15 years. It’s making great strides in lumen–per–watt performance, but there’s no commonality between manufacturers yet. If you buy the bulbs they’re not interchangeable on other fixtures.”
“Outdoor lighting is ahead of indoor with LED,” Fazzalari says. “It’s still expensive technology for the interior, but the exterior payback is quite good due to reduced electricity, replacement and maintenance costs. LED is generally rated at 50,000 hours of life or more. At 12 hours a night, that’s more than 11 years of life. Compare that to high–wattage parking lot or flood lights—and having to pay to frequently change out exterior bulbs using bucket trucks to reach 30–foot poles.”
Harnessing sun and wind
The technology to run a mattress factory on solar and wind power exists today, according to the experts.
The sturdy roof of a large facility can hold a number of photovoltaic panels. And there are vertical–access wind turbines, “which, unlike propeller wind turbines, spin quietly, like a spool of thread,” Pool says.
“They don’t injure birds,” he continues. “They have very elegant designs and are much smaller in scale so they can be placed on a rooftop.”
Facilities that invest in solar and wind power can offset their electricity bills by selling “green” energy back to the power grid for a premium price. Manufacturing plants that use a lot of hot water can add solar thermal panels, which use a closed system and a heat–transfer fluid to produce hot water.
There are a variety of new solar technologies—and government incentives to install them. In the United States, there is currently a 30% federal tax credit for installing solar photovoltaic and solar thermal systems. Many states offer additional tax incentives.
“There are dozens of suppliers of solar panels,” Pool says. “They go from straightforward, fixed–plate panels to ones that pivot to follow the sun during the course of the day and the season. Those are a little more expensive and more maintenance intensive. So, you need to have a firm commitment to solar power.”
“Typically photovoltaic is quoted at $5 to $7 per watt installed. You look at your power bill and see how many kilowatts of power you’re using, then figure out how much you need to generate,” Pool says. “The payback is generally three to five years. The cost of photovoltaics is going down and their efficiency is improving.”
“Relatively new and advancing rapidly is thin–film photovoltaic technology,” Pool says. “We’re just now seeing it become readily adapted. It’s integrated photovoltaic that can be molded onto the side of the building or on the roof. Or with photovoltaic roof tiles, you can have the entire roof be a solar panel.”
“We are seeing a lot of solar–powered parking lot lights,” Pool says. “It’s not a big upfront cost. They’re self–contained, very user friendly and have an impressive payback for renovations and retrofits. With new construction, it’s actually cheaper to put in solar panels than use traditional electrical power—you don’t have the cost of trenching and laying electrical lines. And even on a cloudy day, a solar panel can produce 70% to 80% of needed power.”
More ways to conserve
Building–control systems reduce energy consumption by ensuring that features are used only when necessary. For instance, occupancy sensors automatically dim and turn lights on and off, whether in conference rooms, hallways or the factory floor.
“Lighting control systems can be really complex and centrally controlled from a computer or be very basic,” Salamone says. “A very simple system may cost as little as 50 cents per square foot. The typical range for a lighting upgrade or retrofit system is $1 to $3 a square foot.”
Sensors also can monitor building temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide demand, telling the HVAC system exactly how to adjust the building climate.
Payback on a full building control system is about two years, says T.J. Bell, sales engineer with Greensboro–based energy services company Brady Trane.
A building’s HVAC system “may be running 24/7, yet it’s little understood and often simply ignored as long as it keeps the space comfortable,” Bell says. “HVAC is the next largest user of energy after lighting. But often no one at a company ‘owns’ the controls.”
Installing programmable thermostats and setting back temperatures 10 degrees when no shifts are working yield significant savings. “Smart” thermostats cost between $50 and $200. Choose models that are easy to override to ensure the building is comfortable during unscheduled events or late–night work, the experts say.
“General preventive maintenance of HVAC equipment gets the most bang for your buck because you keep it operating at an optimal level, instead of repairing it or replacing it when it fails,” Bell says. “Get an annual maintenance contract, plan on two to four equipment tuneups a year. Filters ought to be changed quarterly. Preseason tuneups prevent system breakdowns, help maintain a unit’s energy–efficiency level and lengthen the life of the equipment.”
“If it’s an older building, have the system balanced and checked for duct leakage. As much as 15% to 50% of the output could be leaking,” he says. “Checking the system balance in large office buildings makes sense about every five to 10 years.”
“It’s common right now to upgrade your HVAC to a higher SEER (seasonal energy efficiency ratio) rating,” Whittaker says. “We find lots of buildings with a SEER of 8 to 10. Now you can get an equipment rating of 20 and you qualify for government incentives at 15 SEER or higher. It’s a longer payback because these systems are more expensive. The expected payback is within five to 10 years, but it’s shorter with incentives.”
If you need a new HVAC system, buy properly sized equipment, advises the nonprofit Consortium for Energy Efficiency in Boston. At least 25% of all rooftop units are oversized, resulting in dramatically increased energy costs and equipment wear.
“As a general rule for AC, you double the equipment cost to come up with the total cost of the project—the other half is installation, labor and permitting,” Bell says. “Check with your electric utility; many offer rebates on new equipment installations.”
Wherever energy is consumed, there is an opportunity to reclaim it. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, heat recovery is one of the most effective ways to optimize a building’s energy efficiency. Using a heat exchanger to transfer energy from HVAC exhaust to condition incoming air can recover 50% to 80% of the energy used to heat or cool air coming from outdoors. Similarly, if your manufacturing process uses hot water, you can strip the heat out of the liquid and reuse that energy.
Operating in a more sustainable fashion often requires a culture change at a company, building design and energy experts told BedTimes.
“Does staff tend to leave lights on in unoccupied spaces?” Whittaker asks. “Are machines running even when not in use? Many draw significant power even in standby mode. Can existing equipment be modified to use less energy or can you do the same job on a smaller piece of equipment—one that isn’t an energy hog? I visited one plant during the night shift. It was running at one–third capacity, yet all the lights were on. ‘Why?’ I asked. The manager said, ‘We’ve always done it that way’. ”
Let the sun shine
Numerous studies show that “daylighting” improves worker well–being and productivity.
“Daylighting is everything from solar tubes to additional windows to light “shelves” that reflect sunlight up to the ceiling. These allow you to reduce the amount of air conditioning you use by taking away the heat created by lighting,” says Randy Pool, managing partner at Stantec, an architectural and engineering firm with corporate headquarters in Edmonton, Alberta.
Solar tubes, or tubular daylighting devices, are a newer technology. They use reflective optics to channel lighting into interior spaces. Daylighting devices can be paired with light sensors that automatically adjust artificial lighting on cloudy days.
Take advantage of energy-saving incentives
When you’re planning upgrades to your facility, investigate tax deductions and credits from federal, state and local authorities, as well as rebates from utilities for energy–efficient retrofits.
- The federal economic stimulus—the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009—included $40 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. Of that, $3.1 billion went to states to offer incentives for energy–efficient construction and retrofits. The law also funds a two–year, renewable energy grant program through the U.S. Department of Energy equal to 30% of the cost of a given solar project. In addition, the law finances low–cost loans to businesses pursuing efficiency projects.
- The Federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 created the Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings Tax Deduction, which has been extended to qualifying projects completed before Jan. 1, 2014. Under this provision, building owners or tenants can write off the complete cost of upgrading a building’s indoor lighting; heating, ventilation and air conditioning system; hot water; or building envelope. A combined upgrade is capped at $1.80 per square foot. An upgrade for just one of these systems is capped at $0.60 per square foot.
- Mattress manufacturers and industry suppliers may be eligible for free energy assessments through the U.S. Department of Energy’s voluntary Save Energy Now initiative. The program’s goal is to drive a 25% reduction in energy consumption and carbon emissions from U.S. industrial processes during the next 10 years. Depending on a manufacturer’s size and energy usage levels, a range of free assessments and consultations are available.
One ‘LEED-er’ in certifying ‘green’ buildings
There are a number of third–party “green” building rating systems around the world. One of the better known is the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. The six pillars of LEED are sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, indoor environmental quality and design innovation.
The council cites studies from the University of California Berkeley and the University of California San Diego that found the upfront costs of LEED certification range from no additional outlay to 6% of total construction costs, depending on the level of certification desired.
A prerequisite to LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance certification is participation in the Energy Star Program run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy.
Buildings must achieve a score of at least 60 (out of 100) to be eligible to pursue LEED–EB OM. Higher scores earn points toward a building’s LEED certification level. LEED projects are certified according to the number of points achieved based on how green a building is—Certified (26–32 points), Silver (33–38), Gold (39–51) and Platinum (52–69). For more information, check www.usgbc.org/leed.
Additional resources
- Alliance to Save Energy
- Association of Energy Engineers
- Canada Green Building Council
- Database of Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency
- Daylighting Collaborative
- Directory of Energy Efficiency and Alternative Energy Programs in Canada
- Federal Energy Star program (for buildings and manufacturing plants) or download a free building upgrade manual
- International Association of Lighting Maintenance Companies
- National Association of Energy Service Companies
- U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Building Technologies Program
- U.S. Department of Energy’s Save Energy Now Industrial Technologies Program
- U.S. Energy Information Administration and find state–by–state energy rates
- U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System
