1.
The simplest way to save money on your utility bill is to turn things off when you are not using them. There are many sophisticated ways to save energy dollars, but the most effective are the simplest.
a. If you don’t have programmable thermostats controlling your heating and air conditioning equipment, get them installed and use them.
b. If you have programmable thermostats, are you fully using them? Make sure the time clocks are set correctly, and the setback times and temperatures make sense for your building.
c. Do your parking lot lights turn on and off when they are supposed to? Make sure the photo cells or time clock controlling these are set correctly.
2.
Lights typically consume more electricity than air conditioning in a commercial building.
a. Are you turning lights off at night and when not in use? A building control would ensure that they are turned off, it is almost certainly a good investment.
b. If you have T-12 fluorescent tubes lighting areas now, change them to newer T-8 or T-5 fixtures. Power consumption will be reduced by about 40% and the payback will almost certainly be less than 4 years.
c. If your facility has high bay lighting that is metal halide, or high pressure sodium, change these lights this year. High bay T-5 lights consume half as much electricity and provide much better and longer lasting light. Doing this before the end of 2008 should qualify you for a $0.60 per square foot federal tax deduction per the “Energy Policy Act of 2005.” Payback on changing this lighting is almost certainly less than 2 years without taking into account the tax deduction.
3.
If your facility uses steam heat consider changing to hot water. Steam heat chronically wastes energy due to poor condensate return rates, failing steam traps and improper feedwater treatment. If you must keep your steam system, keep it well maintained.
4.
Carefully scrutinize how much outside air is brought into your building. You need enough outside air to keep everyone healthy, but the amount of outside air you heat and cool has a very dramatic impact on your utility bill. Consider using CO2 sensors to ensure you are always introducing the correct quantity of outside air into your facility, this strategy is called ‘Demand Controlled Ventilation’ and is typically not that expensive to implement.
5.
And the most basic energy saving strategy can actually be the most effective, that is:
a. Maintain your equipment!! Poorly maintained equipment not only wears out quickly, but does not operate efficiently. Keeping coils, fans, filter and damper clean saves energy. Leaking dampers and control valves are pick pockets plucking money out of your operational budgets.
b. Make sure your HVAC systems are working correctly. This is different than maintenance, review the sequence of operation that your heating and air conditioning systems operate and make sure that they are correct and make sense for the way your building needs to function. Towards this end, some larger facilities are paying for professionals to re-commission their systems to ensure all the sequences of operation are still operational and efficient.
