Would Your Building Pass an Energy Efficiency Background Check?

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This summer, my EDF partner, Adam Hart, and I are running energy efficiency background checks on buildings at Mecklenburg County Real Estate Services in North Carolina. Of the county’s 100 facilities, we identified 15 energy-intensive sites and arranged site tours of them for a closer look. In our energy assessments of the facilities, the red flags for energy waste were older machines with low energy efficiency, lighting, and HVAC systems. The county’s indoor gyms and pools are equipped with over 300 metal halides that are 400W and 1000W, which run more than 50 hours per week. Due to their long re-strike time, daylight sensors and occupancy sensors cannot be used to help save energy. However, switching to lower wattage LED lights can cut current energy use by 85% and allow for the installation of daylight sensors and occupancy sensors for further energy reduction. Changing lights in the high ceilings will be a great challenge, especially in the pool areas. Although it seems time consuming and risky to change lighting above water, maintenance can put scissor lifts on the movable walkways to get to the metal halides and replace them.

This summer, my EDF partner, Adam Hart, and I are running energy efficiency background checks on buildings at Mecklenburg County Real Estate Services in North Carolina. Of the county’s 100 facilities, we identified 15 energy-intensive sites and arranged site tours of them for a closer look. In our energy assessments of the facilities, the red flags for energy waste were older machines with low energy efficiency, lighting, and HVAC systems. The county’s indoor gyms and pools are equipped with over 300 metal halides that are 400W and 1000W, which run more than 50 hours per week. Due to their long re-strike time, daylight sensors and occupancy sensors cannot be used to help save energy. However, switching to lower wattage LED lights can cut current energy use by 85% and allow for the installation of daylight sensors and occupancy sensors for further energy reduction. Changing lights in the high ceilings will be a great challenge, especially in the pool areas. Although it seems time consuming and risky to change lighting above water, maintenance can put scissor lifts on the movable walkways to get to the metal halides and replace them.

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HVAC is the most complicated and intimidating part of the whole building system to a Climate Corps Public Sector fellow with little background in engineering. Even after Adam and I did background checks on all the sites, we had no direct solution for upgrading those giant and inefficient machines. So Adam and I started to conduct interviews with HVAC experts and facility managers, acquiring valuable information along the way.

For further information:  http://www.justmeans.com/blogs/Would-Your-Building-Pass-an-Energy-Efficiency-Background-Check/1043.html