Commercial Recommendations
GROCERY STORES
Energy Use
Grocery stores have long operating hours and a complex mix of energy demands.
Primary energy use is for lighting (34%) and product refrigeration (30%).
Grocery stores that have food service and food preparation areas can have high
water-heating loads, representing 10% or more of total energy use. HVAC
constitutes most of the remainder of the load in grocery stores, roughly 25%.
Many grocery stores are overlit by older fluorescent lamps that suffer from poor
color rendering and inefficiencies.
Measures that are frequently found to be cost-effective include the
following:
Refrigeration
- It is usually worthwhile to upgrade refrigeration systems in grocery
stores to include efficient, state-of-the-art technologies. Include dewpoint
controls for anti-condensate heaters on refrigerated cases so defrosting is
matched to actual need. Incorporate efficient cooling system components such
as high-efficiency compressors, water-cooled condensers, floating-head
pressure controls, and multiple, unequally-sized compressors feeding the same
manifold.
- Install floor insulation in coolers. The floors of some walk-in
refrigerators in many grocery stores are simply concrete slabs that are
neither insulated from the earth underneath nor around their edges.
Retrofitting these with floor insulation improves cooler efficiency.
- Use efficient lighting in refrigerators and save twice: this retrofit
lowers the electricity use for both lighting and cooling.
The Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) has
developed a specification for energy-efficient
refrigerators and freezers, and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency has begun labeling energy-efficient
refrigeration products through ENERGY STAR®. Information
is available on the Commercial Refrigerators and
Freezers section of CEE’s website at
www.cee1.org/com/com-ref/com-ref-main.php3 and
www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=commer_refrig.pr_commercial_refrigerators
for ENERGY STAR.
High-Efficiency lighting
- Replace T-12 fluorescent fixtures with T- 8 or T-5 fixtures with
electronic ballasts. Select bulbs with good color rendering. Lower color
temperatures (5,000 K or below) give a warmer “feel” to products. Using
uplight fixtures eliminates hot spots in the ceiling area, gives shadow-free
illumination of the products below, and enables good visual acuity at lower
lighting levels. This contributes to making shopping less frenetic and lowers
lighting and cooling costs.
- Install and adjust automatic dimming controls to take advantage of
daylighting and enable lowering light levels for restocking and cleaning while
the store is closed.
- Install and adjust occupancy controls in warehouse areas.
- Install LED exit signs.
- Upgrade parking lot lighting to save energy and reduce environmental
impacts due to light spillage. Light fixtures which illuminate areas that
don’t need it or the sky itself produce light spillage.
Find a list of ENERGY STAR-qualified CFL bulbs at
www.energystar.gov/ia/products/prod_lists/cfl_prod_list.pdf.
A list of ENERGY STAR-qualified LED exit signs can be
found at
www.energystar.gov/ia/products/prod_lists/exit_signs_prod_list.pdf.
| Utah Power has organized a Lighting Energy
Efficiency Alliance, whose members are vendors,
contractors, or distributors involved in promoting
energy-efficient lighting. The link below will
connect you to Utah Power’s lighting vendor list on
the Utah Power website. This vendor list is updated
on a regular basis.
|
High-Efficiency HVAC
- Install a demand-controlled ventilation system. When only a few people are
in a store, energy can be saved by decreasing the amount of ventilation
supplied by the HVAC system. A demand-controlled ventilation (DCV) system
senses the level of carbon dioxide in the return air stream and uses it as an
indicator of occupancy. DCV can save energy during peak cooling periods when
many shoppers are at work and occupancy is low.
- Install variable air volume air handling systems with variable speed
drives.
- Choose high-efficiency packaged A/C units listed by the Consortium for
Energy Efficiency in their Tier 2 guidelines (http://www.cee1.org/com/hecac/ac_tiers/impcttbl.htm).
- Downsize to a new high-efficiency chiller in conjunction with lighting and
refrigerator case retrofits. Sizing the HVAC equipment to take into account
the cool air leaking from cases and cabinets can usually justify downsizing
the chiller, offsetting the higher first cost of high-efficiency equipment.
- Use condensing boilers with large turn-down ratios whose efficiencies
improve with turn-down.
- Switch over to direct digital controls.
- Install premium-efficiency motors.
- Upgrade the energy management system; optimize settings to reflect usage,
respond to changing weather patterns, and control peak electric loads.
- Continuously commission the building.
- Consider evaporative cooling.
The Consortium for Energy Efficiency designates
specifications for high-efficiency commercial packaged
air conditioning equipment and maintains a database of
qualifying products at
www.cee1.org.
| Utah Power has organized an HVAC Energy
Efficiency Alliance, whose members are vendors,
contractors, or distributors involved in promoting
energy-efficient heating, ventilation, and air
conditioning equipment. The link below will connect
you to Utah Power’s HVAC vendor list on the Utah
Power website. This vendor list is updated on a
regular basis.
|
Building Envelope
- Install high-efficiency glazing carefully chosen for each building
facade’s relation to the sun and other variables. When installing new glazing,
choose a product that has high transmission in the visible spectrum (to
enhance daylighting within and view from inside and out) but low transmission
in the infrared (low solar heat gain coefficient, SHGC, and low emissivity in
the far infrared, “low-E”) to enhance energy performance during the cooling
season. Install overhangs to limit direct beam sunlight coming in store
windows.
- Install insulation in strategic areas.
- Undertake air sealing, including duct work and door weather stripping.
- Install an ENERGY STAR cool roof that has high reflectivity.
Learn more on the
Building Envelope Energy Efficiency Measures page.
Plug Loads
- Use low-energy sleep functions on computers, printers, and copiers.
- Choose ENERGY STAR commercial refrigerators, water coolers, and other
appliances.
Details on office equipment that meet ENERGY STAR
criteria for energy efficiency are available at
www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=ofc_equip.pr_office_equipment.
Employee
- Ensure that stockers, building maintenance people, and cleaning staff are
enthusiastic about savings and adopt work habits that support energy
efficiency.
- Involve all employees in energy savings efforts, provide efficiency
education for work and home, and encourage employee suggestions on energy
savings opportunities.
- Track energy use and utility bills and investigate anomalies. Document
energy savings and report results to management and employees.
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) System
- Investigate installing a combined heat and power
system with a waste heat-fired absorption chiller to
supply the store’s electricity, heating, and cooling
needs. When properly sized and designed, such a system
can save substantial money, avoid the large thermal
losses associated with conventional power generation
at utility plants, avoid the transmission and
distribution losses associated with delivering the
power over power lines, and avoid separate fuel usage
for heating. When a waste heat-fired absorption
chiller is part of the CHP system, it can drastically
cut down on peak-time electricity used for cooling
loads.
Learn more about CHP on the
CHP Energy
Efficiency Measures page, or by visiting the website
of the
Intermountain CHP Center. The Center works in the
areas of project support and facilitation, education and
outreach, market assessment, policy review, and
coalition building. Visit the
Intermountain CHP Buyer’s Guide website to access
information about vendors, contractors, and distributors
who can turn your project idea into reality.
Benchmarking
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and
Department of Energy through the ENERGY STAR® Program
have developed an energy performance benchmarking
tool. The tool enables building owners to evaluate
the energy performance of their buildings on a scale of
1-100 relative to similar buildings nationwide. The
rating system accounts for the impacts of year-to-year
weather variations, as well as building size, location,
and several operating characteristics. Buildings rating
75 or greater qualify for the ENERGY STAR label.
Eligible space types, representing over 50% of U.S.
commercial floor space, include:
- Offices (general offices, financial centers, bank
branches, and courthouses)
- K-12 Schools
- Hospitals (acute care and children's)
- Hotels and Motels
- Medical Offices
- Supermarkets
- Residence Halls
- Warehouses (refrigerated and non-refrigerated)
For further information or to download the
performance benchmarking tool, see
www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=evaluate_performance.bus_announcing.
Assistance
Utah Power has a host of programs targeted to
meeting its customer’s energy efficiency needs. Visit
the
Utah Power profile page by
clicking here. |
