The First Facility Management Blog

Increasingly, college administrators understand that the first step in greening their campuses begins with addressing the energy and resource efficiency of its buildings. Through a $2.4 million energy savings performance contract now being executed by the Building Technologies Division of Siemens Industry, Inc., Florida A&M University (FAMU) is now on the path to a greener and more sustainable campus for the students and faculty.

“Through this contract with Siemens, FAMU will add a significant project to the list of measures that we will take to help improve the environment and reduce our energy consumption,” said FAMU President James H. Ammons. “Siemens is guaranteeing cost savings, providing training for our staff and helping us to monitor and maintain the equipment.  Siemens has a vested interest to see that we generate those savings.”

The Tallahassee, Fla. Campus, which encompasses 156 buildings and some 3.9 million square feet, is the largest historically black college and university in the country and home to 12,274 students. Work has already begun implementing lighting upgrades, pipe insulation, and steam trap replacements at the campus’ central plant. When work concludes in spring 2010, Siemens guarantees energy savings that will provide equivalent cost savings (depending on utility rates during the ten year contract) of more than $4.1 million, enough to cover the financing and provide a return on the overall investment.

As far as sustainability is concerned, FAMU stands to gain even more. Once implemented, the retrofits and upgrades are calculated to reduce C02 emissions by 4.5 million lbs., equivalent to planting nearly 15 acres of trees. Moreover, Siemens will deliver to students and faculty a more comfortable interior environment with better management of heating, ventilation and air conditioning and lighting. For example, the color rendering of the new lighting systems are closer to that of natural light, thus reducing glare and eyestrain. With standardized lighting across the campus, lamp and other parts inventories are less costly to manage and maintain as well.

About Siemens:

Siemens Industry

Siemens Industry, Inc. (SII) is the U.S. affiliate of Siemens’ global Industry Sector business—the world’s leading supplier of production, transportation and building technology solutions. The company’s integrated hardware and software technologies enable comprehensive industry-specific solutions for industrial and infrastructure providers to increase their productivity, sustainability and profitability. The Industry Sector includes six divisions: Building Technologies, Industry Automation, Industry Solutions, Mobility, Drive Technologies and OSRAM SYLVANIA.  With nearly 222,000 Siemens Industry Sector employees worldwide, the Industry Sector posted a worldwide profit of $2.7 billion on revenues of $47.7 billion in fiscal 2009.  www.usa.siemens.com/Industry

Building Technologies

A division of Siemens Industry, Inc. (SII), Building Technologies (BT) Division is a leading provider of energy and environmental solutions, building controls, electrical distribution equipment, fire safety and security systems solutions.  BT’s solutions enable America’s buildings to be more comfortable, secure and environmentally friendly as well as less costly to operate. With a U.S. headquarters in Buffalo Grove, Ill., BT employs 7,400 people and provides a full range of services and solutions from more than 100 locations coast-to-coast. Worldwide, the company has 28,000 employees and operates from more than 500 locations in 51 countries. The Building Technologies Division posted worldwide revenues of $8.1 billion in fiscal 2009. www.usa.siemens.com/buildingtechnologies

About Florida A&M University:

Florida A&M University (FAMU) was founded on October 3, 1887. Today, FAMU offers 62 bachelor’s degrees and 39 master’s degrees. The university has 13 schools and colleges and one institute. The university also offers a juris doctor at its College of Law in Orlando. FAMU has 12 doctoral programs which include 10 Ph.D. programs: chemical engineering; civil engineering; electrical engineering; mechanical engineering; industrial engineering; biomedical engineering; physics; pharmaceutical sciences; educational leadership; and environmental sciences. Doctorates are awarded in physical therapy and public health. With an enrollment of more than 12,000 students, FAMU is part of the State University System of Florida and is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

President Obama has been talking about the need for a smart grid to help keep America sustainable and competitive — and in fact, the current proposed economic stimulus package includes $54 billion for renewable energy, energy efficiency and smart grid projects. What exactly does that all mean and how will it affect your area?

See video from Siemens here.

A smart grid delivers electricity from suppliers to consumers using digital technology to save energy and cost.

Our current grid resembles a huge network of electrical roads and highways — some are high speed, with electrical traffic covering far distances and others covering shorter distances moving at a slower pace. For this grid to work efficiently, electrical traffic needs to be kept at a steady, consistent pace throughout the grid. Too much “traffic” at one particular time can cause jams or bottlenecks in the system.

Because today’s power needs have changed so much — and power production is growing at a much faster rate than our grid capacity — it is imperative to have good “checks and balances” put in throughout the system to make sure that we can monitor and increase/decrease power to different parts of the grid when necessary to maintain a smooth, consistent flow. Utilizing smart meters and smart appliances together with a smart grid, will give consumers control over their own power consumption and electricity costs. All this will help our nation save money, protect our power sources from blackout, create jobs and deliver clean, alternative forms of energy to every corner of America.

Did you know?

• America operates about 157,000 miles of high voltage (>230kV) electric transmission lines.
• While electricity demand increased by about 25% since 1990, construction of transmission facilities decreased about 30%.
• It is estimated that power outages and disturbances cost the economy from $25 to $180 billion annually.

According to a survey released earlier this week by Siemens, many companies are uncertain about how to identify opportunities and reach goals for energy efficiency, especially in the realm of their data processing and storage. The study, which examined general IT efficiency attitudes and practices, revealed that nearly three quarters of the Fortune 2000 respondents (87%) believe it is important to pursue overall energy efficient practices, but only 48% have a stated goal to reduce their carbon footprint, and even less have begun to take action.

“As businesses continue to search for ways to save money and alleviate the strain on the power grid, green technology across the board is becoming a necessity rather than just ‘the right thing to do’—examining and implementing data center efficiencies is one major area we cannot overlook,” stated Ken Cornelius, CEO of Siemens One, a business unit of Siemens AG. “If we do not start looking closely at our data centers now, 70% of the world’s data centers will have tangible system disruptions by 2011 and the systems will experience world-wide brown outs over the course of the next five years.”

Data centers account for 2.5% of the world’s energy use, which is expected to grow by 12% a year, placing more strain on the power grid. The EPA notes that the energy used by data centers in the U.S. is more than the electricity consumed by all of the nation’s color TV sets and comparable to the electricity consumption of approximately 5.8 million homes. According to the Siemens survey, a majority (65%) of leading Fortune 2000 companies recently reported that the costs of running their data centers have increased over the last few years.

Seventy-two percent of those surveyed said the size of the investment was the primary barrier to improving their data center energy efficiency, followed by lack of specific information on the return of the investment for making changes (38%), server down time required to implement changes (38%), and concerns about running legacy software on new systems (34%).

Respondents also showed concern about their data centers exceeding processing capacity and the risk of losing their data. About one-quarter (27%) worry a “brown out” or exceeding process capacity will affect their data centers, while 27% are worried about losing data, 15% worry about aging facilities, and 10% expressed concern about high energy costs.

“The tools and technologies are available to help companies get started—whether it is simply through server virtualization, installing power monitoring systems, retrofitting an existing structure, or with new construction,” added Cornelius.

The above findings were the result of a survey commissioned by Siemens Corporation and KRC Research from October 23 to November 24, 2008. A nationally represented sample included top, high, and mid-level executives of Fortune 2000 companies that are in some way involved in making decisions about their companies’ data centers. Because Fortune magazine does not publish a list of the top 2000 companies, the sample was created by extending the Fortune criteria: the 2000 largest American companies, ranked by annual revenue.

(Photo courtesy of Siemens)

To help reduce energy use and help the environment the City of San Leandro, CA recently approved a contract with Siemens Building Technologies, to build a 330 kilowatt cogeneration facility at the city’s water pollution control plant (WPCP). Expected to save 60% in plant energy use, the new power plant has the potential to reduce CO₂ emissions by 1,500 tons per year, or the equivalent of planting 1,500 new trees. The new facility represents a major step in helping the city meet its goal of reducing San Leandro’s greenhouse gas emissions by 25% below 2005 levels by 2020.

“Any way you look at this project is a win-win,” says San Leandro mayor Tony Santos. “We are cutting the city’s energy costs and reducing the city’s impact on global warming; reusing a waste product, namely, grease; and using only funding that is specifically dedicated for this purpose, preserving our general fund monies for critical city programs. It is exciting to be at the forefront of cities taking on this type of project and look forward to all the benefits it will bring.”

The $5.6 million agreement with Siemens includes design, construction, and maintenance for the cogeneration system. Project costs will be covered by WPCP enterprise funds, which according to San Leandro officials are collected annually from city sewer service fees and will be used for maintaining and improving the plant. The new facility will also take advantage of applicable rebates, including a $255,000 self-generation incentive program (SGIP) rebate from local utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E).

“The city of San Leandro has put themselves at the forefront of municipal sustainability and energy efficiency by embarking on this innovative renewable energy project,” says Mike Kearney, sr. director, U.S. energy & environmental solutions for Siemens Building Technologies. “Through the conversion of waste to energy, this new cogeneration plant not only takes advantage of local resources, it is kinder to the environment—through reduced greenhouse gas emissions—and will operate at a lower cost.”

The WPCP treats an average of 6 million gallons per day of municipal and industrial wastewater and is the largest single consumer of electrical energy of all city facilities. Currently, the plant uses PG&E supplied energy to run wastewater treatment operations. The plant also produces some 96,000 cubic feet per day of methane gas (a greenhouse gas shown to be 21 times more potent than CO₂), most of which is burned off and not reused. The new co-generation facility will now use all the methane gas to fuel specially designed reciprocating engines (large internal combustion motors) to spin generators that will produce the electricity needed to power the plant and treat the wastewater. 

In addition, the heat produced by the reciprocating engines will be recycled in effect and used to raise the temperature of the water needed in the treatment process. This system is efficient because it uses normally discarded methane to create both electrical energy and heat; hence, the term cogeneration.

The proposed facility features three major components: three 110 kilowatt generators that produce 285 kilowatts of continuous electrical energy needed to power the plant; a gas conditioning facility that cleans and cools the methane from the WPCP’s digester (making it suitable to fuel the reciprocating engines); and a grease receiving station that will accept additional waste grease from commercial waste haulers to enhance the digester process and increase methane gas production. With the new system, not only will the city be recycling grease from companies throughout the local area, it will improve the performance and efficiency of the generators while generating revenue from grease disposal fees.

Prior to construction, the project will require review and approval by the city’s Community Development Department and permits from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Construction on the facility should begin in late summer 2009, after the necessary permits and reviews have been completed.

Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport has partnered with Siemens Building Technologies to install AMAG Technology’s Symmetry Homeland Security Management System throughout the entire airport. Symmetry Homeland is AMAG’s government approved security management system. Anchorage International Airport chose an unrestricted enterprise level, cluster aware fault tolerant solution to ensure system operability at all times. Symmetry Homeland will integrate with the airport’s existing Verint video management system and StentoFon’s intercom system.

“This is an exciting opportunity for both Siemens and AMAG to partner on a project of this magnitude,” said Siemens Building Technologies general manager for Alaska, Leverette G. Hoover. “There will definitely be some challenges with keeping the existing system operational, while bringing the new system online, but the Siemens Alaska team is ready to take on this challenge face to face and ensure a successful project.”

AMAG’s Symmetry M2150 8DBC panels met the airport’s strict requirement of installing ROHS complaint products. ROHS regulations restrict the use of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, PBE, and PBDE in electronic and electrical equipment, enforcing environmentally conscious manufacturing standards. AMAG Technology, part of G4Tec, a manufacturer of scalable, integrated security management systems headquartered in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England, was the basis of the design on the specification. Symmetry Homeland’s robust platform and database along with its scalability will continue to meet the airport’s needs as it grows.