Archive: Energy Management
For commercial properties, there are two major areas of energy management: energy savings and an EMCS (energy management control system). A prospective tenant will want to know about this because it indicates whether or not the building owner is taking an aggressive approach to controlling operating expenses, which, after all, are paid on a prorated basis by the tenant.
Most energy management investment decisions are governed by dollars saved versus dollars spent and considers the length of payback. In office buildings, approximately 40 percent is used for mechanical equipment (HVAC, elevators, etc.), and 20 percent is used for miscellaneous purposes such as personal computers, photocopiers, fax machines, and the like.
The largest areas of energy usage also have the greatest potential savings. For example, major innovations have come from the lighting industry, resulting in rather dramatic cost savings. Energy management-related lighting retrofits typically have a one- to two- year payback. This generally fits into most owners’ expenditure guidelines.
The following illustrate some of the innovations to attract prospective tenants by cutting lighting costs:
- More efficient electronic ballasts for fluorescent light fixtures are replacing the heavy metal ballasts and are now economically feasible. Electronic ballasts consume far less energy than do the old-style ballasts. Additional benefits include considerably less heat production, which reduces the air conditioning load during the cooling months, and a lower failure rate, saving replacement costs and labor.
- The energy efficient T-8 lamps and ballasts easily justify the cost of replacing the previous generation of lighting. The same light levels, or lumens, are delivered to the working surfaces- desks, sales counters, and so on—using fewer lamps. Other benefits from group upgrading of ballasts and lamps include lower labor costs (spot lamp change-outs are reduced or eliminated); higher, more even lighting levels; and uniform lighting color.
- The fixture itself can be modified. Converting from prismatic to parabolic lenses helps make lamps and fixtures more efficient; it also removes the prismatic look (which dates the property) to the current state-of-the-art look of parabolic fixtures.
The other major area of energy management deals with the HVAC sides of the property—EMCSs. These systems have numerous applications. EMCSs vary considerably in cost, complexity, and effectiveness. The general applications are as follows:
- Time of day (start/stop)—controls such as mechanical equipment as lighting, chillers, air handlers
- Optimization—free cooling by using outside air, chilled water reset, condenser water reset, or supply air reset
Additional energy savings may be cost justified by the following changes in major equipment components:
- Upgrading chillers with more efficient ton per kWh rating to accommodate the federally mandated CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) based of refrigerant phase-out
- Replacing existing motors (pumps, air-handling units, etc.) with new energy-efficient, solid-state variable speed motors
Although these types of retrofits typically fall outside of normally acceptable payback parameters, other considerations might drive the decision.
Often, the energy management investment is viewed as a whole. One system might have a fast payback, another might be poor; however, bundled together they may be acceptable. There are financing mechanisms available where the cost is taken out of the savings and the owner has no out-of-pocket expenses. Sometimes, the savings are guaranteed and there is little or no risk to the owner. This concept is known as performance contracting.
Typically, the primary consideration in making an energy management investment is to reduce the property’s total energy consumption, making the property more profitable and/or competitive in the marketplace. Another consideration is to write the lease so the owner can recover these capital costs from the tenant, rather than by depreciation. Lastly, there is also a social consideration in not wasting energy by saving it for future generations. From a marketing perspective, some buildings are referred to as “green buildings” because they are designed to be efficient and environmentally friendly. This may attract a certain type of tenant who wants to promote an overall image of being pro-environmental in all aspects of their corporate citizenship.
