Commercial Recommendations
SCHOOLS
Energy Use
School buildings are ordinarily built to last a long time, but many older
schools are plagued with energy systems that waste energy, cause discomfort, and
are costly to maintain—or all three. Planning and executing a comprehensive
retrofit can frequently alleviate all three problems cost-effectively. Lighting
in many older schools constitutes 40% of the energy budget, followed by HVAC and
plug loads at approximately 25% apiece and hot water at 10%. After reducing such
internal loads as lighting, it may be possible to install smaller HVAC
equipment.
Many programs aimed at improving the energy efficiency and physical plants of
schools to enhance the educational environment are available. These range from
U.S. DOE’s Rebuild America/Energy Smart Schools Campaign and U.S. EPA’s ENERGY
STAR for Schools Program to the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council’s High
Performance School Building Program. To learn more, visit the Consortium for
Energy Efficiency’s website page dedicated to energy-efficient schools at
www.cee1.org/com/bldgs/schools.php3.
Measures that are frequently found to be very cost-effective include the
following:
High-efficiency lighting
- Replace T-12 fluorescent fixtures with T- 8 or T-5 fixtures with
electronic ballasts.
- Use compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) to replace incandescents and save
energy and maintenance costs.
- Install and adjust automatic dimming controls to take advantage of
daylighting.
- Install and adjust occupancy controls in spaces used intermittently like
conference spaces, lounges, and storage rooms.
- Install LED exit signs.
- Upgrade parking lot lighting to save energy and reduce environmental
impacts.
- Educate janitorial staff, students, and teachers to minimize the use of
lighting.
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.
|
Daylighting
- Consider retrofitting skylights in classrooms, gymnasiums, and media
centers. If combined with a roofing retrofit (which may also include enhanced
thermal insulation), the incremental cost of installing skylights may be
diminished. Install light control by louvers or diffusers to avoid glare.
Install and adjust automatic dimming controls to take advantage of
daylighting.
- Install light shelves one-third of the way down existing window walls to
direct light across the ceiling while shading lower glazing from direct beam
solar, thereby avoiding glare. Accompany this retrofit with a fresh coat of
semi-gloss white paint on the ceiling or install new light-reflective
acoustical tiles.
- If light shelves are impractical, take advantage of existing windows to
provide daylighting by using overhangs or other shading devices to keep direct
beam solar from causing glare.
- Design supplemental electric lighting systems to optimize daylighting by
specifying dimmable ballasts, photosensors, and daylighting controls. When
installed, photocell daylighting controls should be carefully calibrated and
tested. School building personnel should be trained in the use of this
technology.
- The “Cool Daylighting” approach helps to control for glare, achieves
better light distribution, and lowers cooling costs (see
www.daylighting.org/what_is_cool_daylighting.htm).
High-efficiency HVAC
- Consider a modern two-pipe retrofit, particularly if adding air
conditioning to previously un-air conditioned school buildings.
- Choose high-efficiency packaged A/C units listed by the Consortium for
Energy Efficiency in their Tier 2 guidelines (www.cee1.org/com/hecac/ac_tiers/impcttbl.htm).
- Downsize to a new high-efficiency chiller in conjunction with lighting and
other retrofits. Maintain chilled water temperature as high as practical.
- Consider using evaporative cooling.
- Use condensing boilers with large turn-down ratios whose efficiencies
improve with turn-down. Maintain hot water temperatures as low as practical.
- Switch over to direct digital controls (from hydraulic or manual
controls).
- Install variable air volume air handling systems with variable speed
drives.
- Install premium-efficiency motors.
- Install demand-controlled ventilation to ensure good indoor air quality
while minimizing energy use. This strategy is especially effective in
intermittently used spaces such as auditoriums and gymnasiums, but is also
useful in classrooms.
- Install energy-efficient unit ventilators with face and bypass controls.
- Upgrade the energy management system; optimize settings to reflect
building usage, weather patterns, and to shave peak electric loads.
- Verify economizer function and control.
- Consider using cool air from the cooling tower with water-cooled chillers.
- Consider indirect-direct 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.
|
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) System
- Investigate installing a combined heat and power
system with a waste heat-fired absorption chiller to
supply the school’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.
Student Involvement
- Work with teachers to give students tours of the
building energy systems and energy efficiency
measures. Incorporate energy into the students’
curriculum.
Other Measures
- Install high-quality, low-flow shower heads. Lower hot water system
temperature to 120 degrees.
- Insulate hot water lines wherever accessible.
- Replace chilled water drinking fountains.
- Install energy-efficient office equipment and use energy-saving features
like sleep modes.
- Use the duplex mode on copying machines to save energy and paper.
- Educate students about energy efficiency. Involve them in turning off
equipment and lights, and encourage their input in suggesting operational and
retrofit options for saving.
- Continuously commission buildings; educate maintenance staff to anticipate
as well as respond to energy-related problems.
- Install Vending Misers on vending machines.
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. |
