LEDs do have many advantages.

1. Although 35 lpw is not much compared to a fluorescent it is an improvement over incandescent bulbs. A 2.6 watt LED replaces a 15 watt incandescent.
2. The LED bulb last a long time (25,000 hours) so it is a good application where maintenance is difficult like a chandelier
3. The LEDs are directional, this makes for a good spot lighting, but a poor area lighting.
4. The LED is vibration resistant. They work well in ceiling fans. Our TCP brand LED lamps are outdoor rated and work well in cold locations.
5. The TCP LEDs are dimmable and look pretty good with a CRI of 80. They look much better than some LEDs, which have weird color casts.

If you’re interested in what technologies are currently hot check out “Lighting’s Workhorses” by Jim Benya in Architectural Lighting. Pay special attention to the graph. It shows which lamp technologies are efficient and which are not. Effective Concepts has a good selection of all the lighting listed in the article: Tungsten, Halogen, Metal Halide, Ceramic Metal Halide, Fluorescent (Cold Cathode, PLs, Biax, Induction, T8, T5s, etc), and even LED lamps.

Rebecca Ellis (Questions & Solutions Engineering, Inc) has written some interesting articles on the use of Trend Logs for Engineered Systems Magazine. In the articles she talks about monitoring critical building parameters (temperature, Internal Air Quality, Humidity, pressurization, etc) along with energy consumption. Ellis suggests creating a list, prioritized based on the systems benefit. “Each trend log should consist of points such as temperatures, valve positions, damper positions, set-points, motor speeds, etc., that can illustrate the reaction of inter-related control parameters all on one graph. I recommend keeping the number of points on each graph to no more than six to eight, if possible. That may mean splitting a system into separate temperature control, humidity control, pressure control, etc., trend.” She points out it is better to start small than to bite off too much.

The secret to monitoring your building is knowing what to expect. For each set of graphs, there should be a corresponding baseline graph of expected values for each mode or season of operation. An instruction sheet outlining steps to take if the recorded values don’t match the baseline values  give the Operations and Maintenance staff guidance to bringing the system back into an optimal state. However, she also points out the baseline should not be seen as that optimal state but as a minimum performance standard. The Operations staff should strive to improve the system and match the changing needs of the building and its occupants. Ellis points out three areas the staff should look at:

• Identify operational problems before they become performance problems;
• Identify inefficiencies before energy use and costs escalate; and
• Track energy consumption and measure the impact of conservation measures implemented by the O&M staff.

Ellis points out this is not a trivial undertaking and ideally would be done on a monthly basis with a small group of trained operations specialists. She says the process has been computerized and can continuously analyze the data but is only meaningful when used with off-the-shelf  system components.

There are huge savings to optimizing your building control system. In my option it is well worth the time and will yield energy savings, cost savings, and better comfort for your occupants. I think it also makes your operations staff feel like they’re running the building and not the building running them.

References

Trend Log For Ongoing Monitoring and Optimization by Rebecca Ellis in the August 2009 edition of Engineered Systems – Picking your points and selecting your scope to avoid getting overwhelmed.

Trend Log Analysis II by Rebecca Ellis in the July 2009 edition of Engineered Systems – In which a mysterious five-degree difference is a $4,400/yr anomaly. “In the best of all worlds, these types of trend logs would be collected and analyzed up to three times during the first year of operation, depending on the local climate: 1) during the winter; 2) during the summer; or 3) during a transition period, either spring or fall.”

Trend Log Analysis by Rebecca Ellis in the June 2009 edition of Engineered Systems – How to spot performance problems hidden beneath the surface?  “Most building systems do not experience drastic changes in load conditions during normal operations. Therefore, the Functional Performance Testing (FPT) process does not allow observation of the systems under normal operating conditions and load fluctuations. The use of trend logs to validate extended operation of some or all of the systems is a valuable process to supplement field functional testing.”

What is your current impression of the ACES energy efficiency targets?

What is your opinion of the awards structure in the ACES Bill?

source: Engineering Systems, August 2008, page 8

1. Parking garage lighting retrofits
   Effective July 1, 2009, Minnesota Xcel Energy business customers converting from 150W or 175W high intensity discharge (HID) lighting to two- or three-lamp T8s or T5H0s are now eligible for a rebate of $50 per fixture. Xcel has simplified the process with new rebate forms. See the Parking Garage Lighting Application for requirements and rebate incentive information.
2. Lighting Redesign Studies
   A complete building-wide lighting system analysis of can show you the best approach to improve lighting design or to reduce existing light output while maintaining proper lighting levels for your needs. Xcel has increased lighting redesign study incentive to 75% of the cost of the study, not to exceed $25,000, and more than doubled many of our equipment rebates.
3. More Lighting Rebates
   Every step to lower lighting use, from installing energy-efficient lighting to adding controls or offering in-depth photometric analysis can significantly lower your customers’ energy bills and earn substantial rebates.
   A) $400 per kW saved for preapproved projects when they add their lighting system to a building control system or add microprocessor controls to lighting systems.
   B) Custom Efficiency program now offers a method of analyzing lighting projects that yield greater rebate potential for your customers.
4. Boiler Rebates
   New boilers, efficiency-boosting add-ons and tune-ups for boilers used for space heating and/or domestic water heating now can go through our Boiler Efficiency rebate program without preapproval. Xcel offers rebates for projects that improve the efficiency of existing equipment such as boiler tune-ups, steam trap repair/replacement and boiler add-ons.

Updated Minnesota Energy Code

The long-awaited Minnesota Energy Code for Commercial Buildings will take effect on June 1, 2009. The code itself adopts the ASHRAE 90.1-2004 Energy Standard with minor modifications.

The new code will have an impact on Energy Design Assistance, Cooling Efficiency and Variable Frequency Drives. Because the adoption of a new, higher energy code will result in increased minimum efficiencies.

For more information about the commercial energy code, please visit the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry construction codes and standards energy Web site.

	K-12 School Buildings For elementary, middle, and high school buildings, which have a wide variety of heating and air-conditioning requirements. Options for daylighting, an important component in schools, are included.
	Small Office Buildings For office buildings up to 20,000 ft2 the bulk of office space in the U.S.; and provides benefits and savings for the building owner while maintaining quality and functionality of the office space.
	Small Retail Buildings For retail buildings up to 20,000 ft2, typical uses: retail; strip shopping centers; automobile dealers; building material, garden supply, and hardware stores; department stores; drugstores; equipment and home furnishing stores; liquor stores; and wholesale goods .
	Small Warehouses and Self-Storage Buildings For warehouses up to 50,000 ft2 and self-storage buildings that use unitary heating and air-conditioning equipment, which represent a significant amount of commercial warehouse space in the U.S.
	Highway Lodging For typical hotels found along highways having up to 80 rooms, generally four stories or less, that use unitary heating and air-conditioning equipment, which represent a significant amount of commercial hotel space in the U.S.

]]> http://www.effectiveconcepts.net/?feed=rss2&p=119 0 http://www.effectiveconcepts.net/?p=101 http://www.effectiveconcepts.net/?p=101#comments Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:30:00 +0000 Craig http://www.effectiveconcepts.net/?p=101 Next to Lighting, Motors are the second best area for saving money in your facility. Did you know that electrical costs account for approximately 95% of your motor’s lifetime costs? Drives and speed controls provide further savings when motors are run for long hours with light loads. This all adds up to big savings when it comes time to look energy improvements.

Pumps and fans represent a major portion of the electrical load in a commercial building. Motors used in HVAC and Refrigeration systems can account for 30% of the total load.  Any time you have motors operating 2,000 hours or more in your facility it would be wise to replace them with NEMA Premium motors. Even if they aren’t running this long, it may still make economic sense to update if you have high utility rates, high motor repair costs, if your utility offers rebates to upgrade.

Motor Savings

Annual savings from specifying NEMA Premium motors

Based on enclosed fan cooled motor (1800 rpm), 8000 hours annually, 75% load,
and $0.05/kWh electric rate. (Courtesy of the Department of Energy)

You can calculate your own energy savings and develop a wn motor management plan by using the tools found on the MDM website.

Motors Decisions Matter is a national campaign designed to improve the way motor repair or replace decisions are made by promoting the financial and performance benefits of sound motor management policies. MDM aims to increase awareness of motor management opportunities; boost demand for NEMA Premium® motors and best practice motor repair; encourage the market to engage in motor planning; and, enable various stakeholders to collaborate nationally to enhance local effectiveness.

Start with the 1*2*3 Spreadsheet. This spreadsheet takes your basic data inputs (nameplate data, cost of energy, purchase and repair costs, and operating hours, incentives) and calculates energy costs, capital investment, life cycle cost, annual savings, net present value and simple payback. This allows you to make a decision to replace the motor immediately, repair, or replace upon failure.

With this information in hand, it can make it easier for the ‘boardroom’ to implement energy-saving capital projects.

Drives

Adjustable Speed Drives are suggested when the rated load is delivered less than 40% of the time or the average output is less than 60%.

Mark Jewell in the August 2008 issue of Engineered Systems writes,

In addition to saving energy, drives can offer greater control over motor speed, which can prolong motor life and reduce maintenance costs. Drives can also increase productivity by empowering more precise control of process operations, which can result in higher product quality. In certain applications, the installation of drives can enable load-shedding strategies that can benefit from demand-response programs, which are playing an increasingly important role in maintaining grid reliability in the face of steadily growing electricity demand.

Rebates & Incentives

In the Minnesota, both Xcel Energy and Moorhead Public Service offer rebates.

Xcel Energy Motor Efficiency Program – Xcel offers rebates ranging from $4-$18.50/HP depending on whether you are replacing, or upgrading a motor and the motor’s efficiency. They also offer $30/HP incentive for Drives. See their website or download the program brochure for more details.

Moorhead Public Service uses the Bright Energy Solutions program, which offers incentives from $4-$15/HP depending on the NEMA Premium motor’s size. The program has rebates for pumps and $40/HP for Variable Frequency Drives. See the Bright Energy Solutions website for more details.

References

• Opportunities for Motors And Drives by Mark Jewell, Engineered Systems, August 2008
• Show Me The Motor Money! by Mark Jewell, Engineered Systems, November 2008
• Motors Decisions Matter – "contains information you can use to develop a motor management plan that meets your company’s needs. The information can also lead to partnerships with your local sales & service center, vendor, utility or other energy-efficiency representatives who may offer added support."
• The Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency. "DSIRE is a comprehensive source of information on state, local, utility, and federal incentives and policies that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency. Established in 1995, DSIRE is an ongoing project of the NC Solar Center and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council funded by the U.S. Department of Energy."

The program is run through participating member utilities of the Missouri River Energy Services of which MPS is a member. Missouri River is a collection of municipal utilities operating in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. If you are a customer of one of these utilities this program is for you.

The meeting was well attended by the three partners of Bright Energy Solutions: Moorhead Public Service (MPS), Missouri River Energy Services (MRES), and Franklin Energy (Program administion.)

Ray, Chuck, and I arrived early to meet with the MPS staff. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres were served. Bill Schwandt, General Manager of Moorhead Public Service welcomed the guests and introduced his staff and those of MRES and Franklin.

Kurt Hauser, is Missouri River’s Energy Services Technical Coordinator. Kurt explained the constraints Missouri River Energy Service operates under. The Bright Energy Solutions program will help them satisfy Minnesota’s legal requirements and delay building new generating plants.

After the presentation, Ray and I had a one on one meeting with Kurt Hauser about the program, help we might need, and services we could provide including facility auditing. For a new program it is pretty complete. Looking at the application forms, the program should be as easy to deal with as Xcel Energy’s programs.

All three organizations reiterated they would be happy to help in anyway they can. Dennis Esienbraun (MPS, Energy Services Manager) asked to be contacted early in any project particularly if the project involved any custom incentives.

The plan is broke down into these sections…

Bright Energy Solutions Energy Efficiency Incentive Programs

• Lighting Retrofit Incentive
• Lighting New Construction Incentive
• Motors, Pumps, VFD Incentive
• Cooling, Chiller Incentive
• Food Service Incentive
• Custom Incentive
• Specialty Measure Incentive
• HVAC Incentive for Residential Customers

Lighting
The program offers a nice cash rebate to replace T12 Fluorescents with T8 or T5 lamps and electronic ballasts.
There is a larger rebate if you install new super efficient electronic ballasts such as the Sylvania PROStart. There is also a cash rebate for using 28 Watt T8 lamps if you already have 32 watt T8 lamps. The rebate pays for the cost difference so I highly recommend contacting us about these lamps.
There is large rebate for replacing high bay HID fixtures. This is an easy retrofit; with the rebate it pays for itself quickly.
There are also cash rebates for Compact Fluorescents, Ceramic Metal Halide Floods, LED lamps, Induction Fluorescent Lamps, and Lighting Control systems. These are all technologies we can help you will.

HVAC
(Heat, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) They quickly covered these cash incentives. 
The Cooling, Chiller incentive covers: package systems, split systems, PTEC units, Heat pumps, Ground Source Heat Pumps (with an optional incentive for Desuperheaters), Window AC, Wall AC, Setback Thermostats, Chilled Water Resets, and Window Film. Obviously there are stringent requirements for these incentives but if you’re replacing equipment or adding new equipment these incentives can help pay for better equipment.
There are incentives for Motors, Pumps and VFDs. In our experience these three items usually have very good paybacks and the incentives are just icing on the cake.

Food Services
Bright Energy Solutions offer cash incentives for Energy Star rated: Solid Door Refrigerators, Solid Door Freezers, Ice Machines, Steam Cooker, Holding Cabinets, Fryers, Griddles and Ovens. So if you have a commercial kitchen and are thinking of upgrading or adding commercial electric equipment these incentives can be a big help.

Residential
Many of the incentives listed above are also available for residential customers of MPS and MRES. This includes: Furnaces, Central Air Conditioners, Ground Source Heat Pumps, Air to Air Heat Pumps, and Compact Fluorescent Lamps.

Custom Incentive
Almost anything not listed above that cuts your electric demand in the summer months can be file under the Custom Incentive. Contact MPS or ourselves for assistance in calculating the potential incentive.

Effective Concepts has all the forms and expertise to help you maximize your energy savings, cost savings, and incentive, so if you’re a customer of Moorhead Public Service or another municipality that is a partner of Missouri River Energy Services we can help you.

I first heard about Stephen Wolfram when he wrote Mathematica. This is a very cool program for those interested in math and need a tool more powerful than Excel. My own math/engineering needs are satisfied by Excel so I never looked further. Stephen Wolfram followed this up by inventing a new branch of science!  I read his book: A New Kind of Science this made a strong impact due my passion for Chaos Theory.

His new project Wolfram Alpha is sort of a combination of both Mathematica and his New Science.
I’m not sure I fully understand Alpha, but I have run the demo and listened to Stephen talk about the project. (It is interesting to hear him explain all the difficulties involved. Stephen wasn’t sure until very recently that it was even possible.) Alpha is not a search engine nor an encyclopedia. This causes difficulties when we try to use it as such. It is also difficult to fully explain when the concept has no antecedents. I feel sort of foolish even trying.

I was listening to This Week In Technology* and was struck by the comment, "Search is yesterday’s battle… the frontier is: social, live, local, and deep web."
The deep web  is a theme of my client. Michael Benidt has written a couple blog posts on this topic. I see Alpha as a tool to not only access these databases, but to use them without having a math and/or engineering degree. Using natural language one can ask a question and have Alpha go find the answer, or even more importantly calculate the answer using one or more of these databases.

I know from my own experience that my best projects, where I received the most money and kudos, came from solving problems using Excel, and vast sets of data. I had to manually find the data, cull through it, and design a model in Excel to arrive at the answer(s). Often these projects would take hours, days, or even weeks to work through. So from my perspective Alpha is a very exciting tool. It may not be much to look at right now, but there is no reason it can’t get better and better as more data(bases) are added and the back end systems are refined.

It is possible no one will be able to figure it out or Google will duplicate the work- either way the Alpha is important even if it doesn’t become the Omega.

I watched the Google Wave presentation and what I saw impressed me: the best of Twitter, email, wiki, blogs, and IM all rolled into one product. Wave may just solve all the problems of email with one open source product. If it can stop spam they would have a real winner on their hands. Wave must be at an early phase because it kept crashing in their demo, it didn’t seem to slow the presentation team down.

It seems to me that Twitter, Facebook, etc are all trying to ‘fix’ email by walling off part of the internet. This works until the services get popular and the spammers get inside the wall. It also seems to me that both Twitter and Facebook are turning into micro-blogging sites. In Twitter’s case it is returning to its roots.

Microsoft has renamed its search engine again.  Bing is actually pretty good. I don’t know if it would replace Google as my default search engine, but it has some nice features. It is certainly worth adding to your search sidebar. I’ve already added it my Firefox Keyword Search **. b=Bing

To learn more about Bing or take the Bing Tour follow this link http://www.discoverbing.com/

• *Podcast 197 was particularly interesting as they talked about Education, Microsoft Bing and Google’s Wave.
• ** I’m a big fan of using Keyword Search in Firefox. I simply type the letter, a space, and the search terms and Firefox does the rest. I currently have a=Amazon, b=Bing d=Dictionary.com, g=Google, i=IMDB.com, t=Technorati, and 2=Zap2It.com. More Info

Mr. Gowan has a great quote about the problem of having tools that no one can use, “.. these tools are only intelligible to people who know buildings.” In other words what good is having an Intelligent Building if you have to hire an engineer to talk to it. Mr. Gowan goes on to say,

The buildings industry has spent the better part of the last two decades trying to wring engineering and implementation labor and cost out of system installations. Now it is time to wring labor out of the day-to-day tasks associated with assessing the effectiveness of building operations.
First and foremost, this is about recognizing that trend logs and alarms do not improve performance, and in many cases they are not effective at pointing out opportunities for improvement. Leveraging a tool to highlight areas for concern is the first step in creating intelligent building management tools that provide an easy intuitive way to see what is happening in the building or on the campus.

Mr. Seewald’s article builds on this point. He gives the example of the 2010 Honda Insight with its Eco Assist, which allows the driver to make good fuel efficient driving decisions. Good decisions could also be made in high performance building operations if the system generated real-time performance feedback and actionable information. Mr. Seewald believes ‘The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’ may be a catalyst for these changes. I’m less optimistic that a government led top down approach ever works.
I think ‘if you build it, they will come.’ I’m sure there are a lot of frustrated managers and owners out there that would love to have control over their buildings.

References

• Green Intelligent Buildings, What Next? by Jack McGowan, Engineered Systems, May 2009 – Beyond the stimulus package and the “plumbing,” let’s look at GEMS and the next logical steps for the industry and the building it serves.
• Shifting To A Smarter Shade Of Green by Jeffrey Seewald, Engineered Systems, May 2009. – A real change in hue? From the GIB Conference to the automotive industry and beyond, the mood rings true.
• System Training: It Starts With The Client by Howard McKew, Engineered Systems, June 2009. – “So often, the O&M staff is left out of all the early building program decisions, and yet this staff will eventually inherit the building. At that point in time, the facility staff can either embrace the building and its systems or not take ownership and begrudgingly operate and maintain it. In the end, they are either part of the solution or part of the problem. Let’s start at the start with the solution and the budget to provide system training.”
• Operations & Maintenance Manuals: It Starts With The Client by Howard McKew, Engineered Systems, August 2009. – “Maybe I’m exaggerating the process, but my point is that although there will be requirements for O&M manuals, no one is going to devote the time needed to compile a useful document for the O&M staff after the design team, contractor, subcontractors, and equipment manufacturers are gone.”

1. Only cool to the desired dew point when necessary
2. Control cooling using variable volume to the maximum extent possible
3. Keep the building positively pressurized
4. Shut down outside air when the building is unoccupied
5. Provide minimal temperature control with DOAS makeup air units

Once he reviews the pros and cons of each strategy, Jeff reviews two dehumidification system design strategies: dedicated outdoor air systems, and Precool and reheat ventilation air with energy recovery. We see more of the latter in our work.

The September 2009 issue of Engineered Systems has an article “Humidification and Dehumidification: Technologies And Strategies To Manipulate The Psychrometric Effect.” by Bruce McLay. In this article McLay reviews the primary types of Humidification Systems and their associated psychrometic charts. The article also features some very good illustrations by the AEI.

1. Isothermal Humidification
2. Adiabatic Humidification
3. Solid Desiccant Wheel
4. Enthalpy Wheel (Summer Mode)
5. Cooling Coil
6. Desiccant Wheel (Seattle Biotech AHU)
7. Pennington Cycle

Introduction from the article:

The increasing globalization of scientific research, advanced health care, and other specialty facilities is expanding the range of climates in which facilities with specialized HVAC needs are sited. At the same time, rising energy prices and the volatility of global energy markets have driven some rethinking of traditional means of humidification and dehumidification of buildings. This article examines a number of tools that may be used alone — or, in select cases, more effectively together — to reduce energy consumption, be it in Jeddah or Seattle, in Hyderabad or Hyde Park.