By Steve Rizer
A recent presentation employing the theme of “thinking small” generated a very large amount of advice for making facilities more energy efficient. “Energy-conservation projects don’t need to have high costs and long paybacks,” Eric Connery, facilities administrator for the Connecticut General Assembly, told professionals attending the International Facility Management Association’s Facility Fusion 2014 conference last Tuesday in National Harbor, Md. “Look at energy conservation as an ongoing project. Think small and think in terms of leveraging the money available in the best way possible.”
As for how to go about doing this, Connery urged conference attendees to, among other things, tune the boilers at their facilities at least once per year. For such equipment, he implored them to analyze oxygen and carbon-dioxide percentages and to “know your stack temperature.” He additionally advised them to “keep your filters and coils clean” and to “lubricate -- lubricate -- lubricate.”
Light-emitting-diode (LED) bulbs also represent an opportunity for significant energy savings, Connery said during his presentation, entitled “Saving Energy and Money One Watt at a Time.” He noted that although an LED costs about $20 and is more expensive than a compact-fluorescent (CFL) bulb (approximately $4) or an incandescent (roughly 70 cents), an LED lasts for about 25 years. By contrast, a CFL lasts about 10 years, and the lifetime of an incandescent is roughly one year. He estimated the annual electric cost for an incandescent at $8.87, a CFL at $2.37, and an LED at $1.95. He pointed out that LED prices are declining and that there are higher rebates available for such bulbs.
Connery also reported that his state’s legislature is saving $30,000 each year via steps it took to improve the energy efficiency of its 800-plus desktop computers. “Working with our IT [information technology] group, monitors were immediately reset to sleep after inactivity. A sleep setting was found to allow the computers to be awakened remotely for updates.”
In addition, Connery emphasized the importance of occupancy sensors, which “we have almost everywhere” in Connecticut’s General Assembly. He noted that with this technology there is a potential savings of 25 percent in private offices, 10 percent in open offices, 32 percent in conference rooms, and 42 percent in restrooms.
The ConstructionPro Network member version of this article includes seven additional energy-saving suggestions from Connery, coverage of a landmark "smart roof" project in Washington, D.C., and exhibitor briefs.
