The First Facility Management Blog

The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA)’s BetterBricks Initiative and the IFMA (International Facility Management Association) Foundation have joined forces to produce a practical guide for facility managers. This guide provides facility managers with a roadmap of how to initiate no-cost or low-cost energy efficiency strategies at their facility sites to reap immediate savings.

The “No-Cost/Low-Cost Guide” is the fifth in a sustainability series produced by the IFMA Foundation. The goal of the manual is to provide facility personnel with the tools to get started identifying problem areas and implement no/low-cost solutions to see immediate benefits. These tools have been principally derived from the article, “Common Opportunities: The Top Four.”

The guide offers several checklists that can be translated into spreadsheet templates to be used by facility managers when assessing their facilities. These are easily tailored to reflect various facility types, allowing for customization for a manager’s specific building.

The top four energy saving opportunities include:

1. Equipment Scheduling: The first step of a no/low-cost strategy is to determine where energy is being wasted. Unoccupied areas should not have chillers and coolers running. Establishing where this waste takes place is step one.
2. Sensor Error: Sensor settings are often out of sync and this section of the guide demonstrates what to look for, how to make changes and how to regularly schedule updates to monitor settings.
3. Simultaneous Heating and Cooling: Excessive reheating uses unnecessary energy and if an HVAC system’s settings are out of sync, it forces the air handler to work harder. The guide provides information on how to tune-up these systems.
4. Outside Air Usage: Optimum indoor air quality requires efficient ventilation and this can’t take place if dampers are stuck open or improperly calibrated. In the No-Cost/Low-Cost Energy Savings Guide, facility managers will find ways to cut energy costs just by maintaining this system.

The AEDG for Small Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities is the sixth in the 30% Advanced Energy Design Guide (AEDG) series designed to provide recommendations for achieving 30% energy savings over the minimum code requirements of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-1999.

“The recommendations in the Small Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities Guide provide good design practices for integrating energy efficiency in a healthcare environment, while maintaining indoor air quality and required airflow and pressurization relationships,” Shanti Pless, chair of committee that wrote the guide, said.

The Guide focuses on small healthcare facilities up to 90,000 square feet in size, including acute care facilities, outpatient surgery centers, critical access hospitals, and inpatient community hospitals. These buildings have intensive heating and cooling systems, which the Guide covers extensively; additionally, other important energy saving measures such as daylighting are included.

“The energy efficiency recommendations in the Guide were developed based on design experiences from members of a project committee made up of healthcare facilities design professionals, combined with the insight gained from modeling the energy performance of these specific recommendations,” Pless said.

Some tips that the Guide offers include:

• Providing an unoccupied air flow and temperature setback for spaces that are not used 24 hours a day, such as surgery suites;
• Installing high efficiency condensing boilers with an outdoor air temperature reset schedule for all climate zones to address the high amounts of reheat energy used by such facilities to control humidity;
• Carefully laying out lighting design to meet recommended lighting power density by space type;
• Maximizing the use of daylighting and daylighting-responsive controls through both side lighting and top lighting strategies in all space types that do not have air change requirements;
• Installing an insulated thermal envelope, with additional recommendations to address air barriers and continuous insulation strategies.

The recommendations allow contractors, consulting engineers, architects, and designers to achieve advanced levels of energy savings easily without having to resort to detailed calculations or analyses.

Also, case studies provide examples of advanced hospital and healthcare facility designs that demonstrate the flexibility offered in achieving advanced energy savings such as the 30% goal of the Guide.

The AEDG series has been developed in collaboration with these partnering organizations: ASHRAE, the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Since the Guides first began to be offered in early 2008, more than 200,000 have been downloaded. Other books in the series deal with small office and retail buildings, K-12 school buildings, highway lodging and small warehouse and self storage buildings.

For a free copy of the latest AEDG, send an e-mail to tfm@groupc.com with the words “AEDG Healthcare” in the subject line. For other versions of these guides, visit www.ashrae.org/freeaedg.

Requirements to “lighten up” energy use and costs through fenestration, parking lot lighting, and other proposed measures are being recommended for Standard 90.1. ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, provides minimum requirements for the energy efficient design of buildings except low-rise residential buildings. Currently, 15 proposed addenda to the standard are open for public review.

“As the industry continues to call for buildings and systems that use less energy, the Standard 90.1 committee is striving to find ways to reduce energy uses and costs,” Mick Schwedler, chair of the Standard 90.1 committee, said. “The proposed changes not only reduce energy use but move the standard closer to the workplan goal of a 2010 standard with 30 percent energy cost savings compared to the 2004 standards.”

Among the proposed addenda out for public comment is addendum cd, which would require active exterior control rather than just require the control capability; add bi-level control for general all night applications (such as parking lots to reduce lighting when not needed); and add control for façade and landscaping lighting not needed after midnight.

Eric Richman, chair of the standard’s lighting subcommittee, noted that studies from the California Lighting Technology Center at the University of California at Davis found that control strategies reduce lighting energy use by significant amounts during night time hours. A study by Polytechnic State University showed that parking lot lighting operates in a low mode 68% of the time.

Additional information from a study by Navigant Consulting shows that parking lots account for 22 Twh out of a total 57 Twh used for outdoor lighting annually nationwide. While this estimate includes all lit parking areas, the potential for energy savings in parking areas that are directly associated with specific building projects are significant and should be supported by the standard.

A second public review of proposed addendum, bn, would reduce solar loads by orienting the fenestration in more appropriate directions. Changed in response to comments during the first public review, this approach gives flexibility to building design teams to work with siting and fenestration and orientation as well as fenestration area to comply with the requirement.

Proposed addendum bb updates building envelope requirements for opaque elements, such as walls and rooms, and fenestration (windows and skylights). A number of changes were made in response to public comments during the first public review.

The proposed addenda to ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1 are available for comment only during their public review period. To read the addenda or to comment, visit this link.

Facility managers and business owners are thinking twice before tweaking workplace temperature settings. According to a new survey of office workers, 69% said they would be willing to sacrifice their preferred ideal temperature in the office to help their company conserve energy. However the survey also found that nearly four in five participants (78%) say they are less productive at work when they are too hot or too cold.

Johnson Controls commissioned a survey of nearly 800 American adults who work in an office setting. The good news: The findings indicate that many workers think their employers could be doing more to be energy efficient. The challenge: business owners must avoid a negative impact on office productivity and the possibility that workers may take action to circumvent their discomfort, including the use of portable heaters or fans, if temperatures are not ideal.

“Employers may be tempted to turn down the thermostats this fall, but this quick fix could lead to hidden costs,” said Clay Nesler, vice president of Global Energy and Sustainability, Johnson Controls. “Energy efficient systems and equipment is the win-win alternative, allowing businesses to save energy and money without sacrificing workplace productivity.”

Almost all participants (98%) said their office has been too hot or too cold at some point and when that occurs, most (78%) said they are less productive. Not only does workplace productivity suffer, individual actions—such as bringing a heating or cooling device into the office—result in increased energy use.

Additional findings:

• 49% of office workers have used a fan when it was too hot in their office, and 28% used a space heater when it was too cold.
• Nearly one-third (30%) have left their office building to take a walk outside when it was too hot or too cold in their work space.
• 41% have informed their office manager or custodian of their discomfort.
• Approximately seven in 10 (69%) have adjusted their clothing, such as adding a sweater, if was too cold or removing a layer if it was too hot.

American workers expect their employers to take action. The results indicate that 45% think their employer is not doing enough to make their office environments energy efficient.

With buildings accounting for 40% of primary energy use in developed nations, it is becoming increasingly important to find ways to build and operate them in an energy efficient manner. In recognition of this, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers and the International Facility Management Association are entering into an agreement that increases cooperation between the two groups.

The memorandum of understanding, which was signed last year at IFMA’s World Workplace Conference Expo, calls for sharing resources and collaborating on projects, publications, sustainability research, and educational offerings that will be beneficial to both organizations’ members and constituents. ASHRAE and IFMA will also work together on legislative and regulatory issues through their Washington, DC, offices.

“Engineers and facility managers share an important relationship in creating and maintaining buildings that are safe, healthy and energy efficient,” said Bill Harrison, ASHRAE president. “Now, ASHRAE and IFMA are seeking to take that cooperative relationship to the next level. This agreement strengthens the existing partnership between our two organizations. By working together on issues in the built environment, we can enhance our respective efforts to create a sustainable future.”

“ASHRAE’s indoor air quality standards have long provided benchmarks and guidelines for facility managers to use in keeping workers comfortable, safe and productive,” said David J. Brady, IFMA president and CEO. “In the new era of triple bottom line accountability on financial, social and environmental contributions, the need for energy vigilance and conservation is greater than ever.”

Tight budgets, rising energy costs, and efficiency upgrades are predicted to be top concerns among facility managers in 2009 and will be the primary topics of discussion at the 2009 Greater Cincinnati Energy Summit. The event will be held at the Banker’s Club in Cincinnati, OH, on Tuesday, January 27, 2009 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm.

“Northern Kentucky Electric Service is committed to helping facility managers reduce the cost of their annual energy expenditures without sacrificing productivity,” Northern Kentucky Electric Service president Mike Wissman said. “We created the 2009 Greater Cincinnati Energy Summit to help provide facility managers with the resources and know-how to save money and improve energy efficiency within their companies.”

Speakers for the event include:
Rob Jung, Energy Consultant for Duke Energy’s Incentive Program
Mike Glotfelter, Sales Manager for Northern Kentucky Electric Service
Matt Leesman, Principal of Leesman Lighting
Marvin Homan, Partner of Kentner Sellers Llp.

I will also be on the program, discussing facility management trends regarding “green fatigue,” the importance of Lifecycle Cost Analysis, and LEED.

The event, which will be presented by Northern Kentucky Electric Service, will address incentives and discounts available through area energy providers, efficient lighting upgrades and available rebates, and the cost effectiveness of making the switch to a more energy efficient facility.

Telkonet, Inc., a provider of centrally managed solutions for integrated energy management, networking, building automation, and proactive support services, has won a contract with Columbia Sussex, a national developer and manager of more than 70 hotels and casinos across 30 states. Approximately 1,300 guestrooms in the Doubletree in Rochester, NY, the Sheraton in Philadelphia City Center, and the Westin in St. Maarten have been equipped with the Telkonet SmartEnergy™ (TSE) in-room, occupancy driven energy management system, with additional properties scheduled for TSE implementation by the end of the year. After an analysis of product offerings, TSE won on the basis of its flexibility, scalability, and simplicity, interfacing with all of the various types of HVAC systems throughout the Columbia Sussex hotel properties.

Columbia Sussex hotel properties are regarded for their green practices and energy reducing measures, including installing solar hot water systems, supporting alternative energies, and providing preferred parking spaces for hybrid cars at its corporate office. Telkonet’s energy efficiency solution forms a part of this ongoing strategy, as Columbia Sussex project manager Scott Yung explains.

“We are truly impressed with the versatility of Telkonet’s system and its ability to manage our range of HVAC systems, such as PTAC units, four pipe systems, two pipe systems with electric heat, and split systems,” said Yung. “Telkonet’s advanced solution gives us tremendous flexibility to define how our HVAC systems control the heating and air conditioning—we are not limited to pre-assigned settings. And, with Telkonet SmartEnergy’s intrinsic scalability, we can install it as a fast deployment standalone system instantly to control energy usage and savings, or network the system with a property management system as part of a longer term strategy.”

With U.S. hotels spending $2,196 per available room each year on energy—6% of all operating costs—implementing an effective energy-efficiency system along with green operating procedures, can significantly improve a hotel’s profitability and bottom line. For example, a 10% reduction in energy consumption would have the same fiscal effect as increasing the average daily room rate by $0.62 in limited service hotels and by $1.35 in full service hotels.

“Controlling energy costs and demonstrating environmental responsibility is clearly a top priority for the hospitality industry,” commented Jeff Sobieski, Telkonet’s COO. “We are prioritizing new ways of encouraging this process, including working closely with government organizations and utilities on a range of rebate programs to help offset the initial equipment and installation costs. We are delighted to work with green focused organizations such as Columbia Sussex, where we can make a tangible difference to lower operational energy costs and help realize their environmental objectives.”

Telkonet SmartEnergy reduces the cooling and heating of unoccupied guest rooms using occupancy sensors, along with thermostats or PTAC controllers. With its patented Recovery Time™ technology, it maintains an energy efficient room temperature when vacant, and when occupied, returns to the guest’s preferred temperature within a select number of minutes, set by property management. For Yung, being able to set the recovery time for all properties all at once is a major time saver, providing consistent performance across all hotels, ensuring guest comfort, and delivering maximum room-by-room energy savings.

Central to TSE’s position are several principal unique features:

• A customizable thermostat that enables flexibility in defining the energy management system parameters, ensuring the maximum deliverable energy savings and optimum performance
• Complete control over defining the Sequence of Operations, optimizing the thermostat to meet a wide range of specific requirements for each heating and cooling stage, such as a pre-defined amount of time to implement each stage
• An assured, future-proofed design, using flash upgradeable CPU via the serial port with a variety of BAUD rates. For networked systems, the firmware image can be reflashed over the Internet.