Greening Existing Facilities

I was listening to a webinar today on simple measures that can be taken to begin the process of greening existing facilities. It is important to establish a baseline to determine where improvements can be made. Below are a few of the items that Allan Skodowski, LEED AP discussed. More information can be found at www.thevirtualgreenexpo.com.

• Visit your building late at night. Conduct a night time audit of all spaces inside and outside of the building, including signage, lighting, plug loads, etc. What is on, what is off, what is just plugged in?
• Compare day vs. night data. What is on at night that doesn’t need to be on?
• Evaluate building start times vs. equipment start times. Often, HVAC systems are scheduled to come on at least an hour before the building is occupied so that it will be comfortable when people arrive.  How long does it really take to get into that ideal range?
• Read all utility meters to understand all utility charges and keep track of trends.
• Evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of current HVAC systems.
• Utilize the EPA’s EnergyStar website for help. This tool can guide you through what data to collect and track for one or many buildings. (www.energystar.gov)

Once this data is collected, a baseline is established.  What simple improvements can be made without adding cost that will help improve operating costs?

 

• What is on at night unnecessarily? What can be monitored and turned off at night? Can site lighting be dimmed during certain hours? What basic training can be done to encourage staff to improve their habits?
• Try to cut 15 minutes off of the start and end times of HVAC or other timed systems and see if anyone notices the difference.
• Check controls, clean coils, change filters, check dampers on HVAC equipment. Is everything running properly and as efficiently as possible?
• Look at Energy Star’s recommendations for other possible improvements.

 

Many school districts also utilize energy management systems that constantly monitor HVAC and electrical systems. These can be incredibly useful in tracking trends and being able to visualize when something has become out of sync.