Commercial Recommendations
HOSPITALS
Energy Use
Hospitals have high energy use per unit of floor area and high energy bills,
but a number of technologies can be employed to lower them significantly.
Hospitals have office spaces and a number of facilities that are open 24 hours
per day. Because of the risk of microbial contamination, high ventilation rates
with 100 percent fresh air are required. Accordingly, hospitals are dominated by
HVAC energy use (45%), but they also consume a lot of electricity to light
24-hour areas (25%). Most also have significant process loads for sterilization,
laundering, and cooking. With plug loads, these total 30% in typical facilities.
Measures that are frequently found to be cost-effective include the
following:
HVAC
- Recover heat from central plant equipment by installing heat-recovery
coils in the exhaust air handlers to capture waste energy without the risk of
contamination.
- Recover waste heat from exhaust stacks of boilers to preheat boiler makeup
water or combustion air.
- Recover heat from sterilization equipment, laundries, dishwashers, and
cleaning equipment to pre-heat fresh hot water.
- Install a waterside economizer for nighttime cooling.
- Downsize to a new high-efficiency chiller in conjunction with lighting and
other retrofits.
- Use condensing boilers with large turn-down ratios whose efficiencies
improve with turn-down.
- Switch over to direct digital controls.
- Install variable air volume air handling systems with variable speed
drives.
- Install premium-efficiency motors.
- Install demand-controlled ventilation.
- Ventilate garages in response to environmental conditions.
- Upgrade the energy management system. Optimize settings to reflect usage,
respond to changing weather patterns, and control peak electric loads. Lights
and air conditioning in spaces occupied only during business hours are often
left on all the time. The energy management system can automatically shut off
lighting and set back HVAC systems in spaces occupied only during the daytime.
A combination of occupancy sensors and time switches can accommodate people
who arrive early or stay after the end of the business day.
- Continuously commission the building.
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) System
- Investigate installing a combined heat and power system to supply all of
the hospital’s electricity, space heating, hot water, and steam loads.
Hospitals are good applications for CHP because of their need for
highly-reliable power free of dips or surges, and their high, constant thermal
load. 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 and steam.
- Incorporate an absorption chiller into the CHP design. An absorption
chiller that runs off the waste heat from a CHP system drastically cuts down
on peak-time electricity used for cooling loads. For additional information
about CHP and absorption chilling, visit the website of the
Intermountain CHP Center.
Lighting
- Install compact fluorescent bulbs in place of incandescents in hospital
rooms, halls, and elevators.
- Install energy-efficient lighting in all other spaces, being sure to
replace T-12 fixtures with T-8 or T-5 fixtures with electronic ballasts.
- Install and calibrate automatic lighting controls in conjunction with
skylights and clerestories in open areas to dim lights in response to
daylight.
- Install LED exit signs.
- Upgrade parking lot lighting to save energy and reduce environmental
impacts due to light spillage.
- Upgrade garage parking lighting.
Building Envelope
- Install high-efficiency, specularly-selective glazing carefully chosen for
sun exposure on each facade and other variables.
- Install interior or exterior shading devices.
- Install insulation in strategic locations.
- Undertake air sealing, including duct work.
- Install an ENERGY STAR cool roof.
Plug Loads
- Use low-energy sleep functions on computers, printers, and copiers.
- Choose ENERGY STAR office equipment and appliances.
- Install Vending Miser on vending machines.
Employee
- Ensure building maintenance and cleaning staff are enthusiastic about
savings and adopt work habits that support energy efficiency.
- Ensure that key maintenance people are properly trained in the use of the
facility’s energy management system.
- Involve all employees in energy savings efforts, provide efficiency
education for work and home, and encourage employee suggestions on energy
savings opportunities.
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. |
