Energy Efficiency

Energy conservation is a key factor in reducing the operating cost of a facility. Imagine cutting your energy bill by implementing simple tactics to lower energy use and slice spending. While this is not the first time energy efficiency and energy conservation have been at the forefront, time and time again, GBA’s Energy Audit team finds facilities that lack these solutions. For instance, do your facility lighting levels meeting IESNA standards? Have your HVAC systems been set properly? Even computer settings can have an impact on increased energy use.

Based on GBA’s experience conducting energy audits, our team has collected recent data from over 95 public-sector buildings spanning 3,000 to 405,900 square feet. We’ve seen all types of city, county and state facilities with mechanical systems encompassing chillers and boilers as well as simple split systems and roof top units. Building envelopes have ranged from metal building shells to concrete masonry units, and florescent and incandescent lighting was typically observe. As noted in the chart below, we have provided a list of fundamental energy conservation measures evaluated from these common facility types to aid in reducing your energy bill:

 

Energy Conservation Measure	Energy Conserved	Average Savings
Change temperature setpoints	81,597	$1,815
Implement computer sleep mode	612,300	$1,322
Remove lamps from fixtures and meet IESNA standards (Illuminating Engineering Society of North America)	38,170	$1,056
Replace T12 lamps with T8 lamps	20,710	$518
Turn off lights in unoccupied spaces	96,440	$2,158
Replace incandescent lamps with CFL	11,733	$372
Install daylight controls	541,050	$11,140
Implement night and weekend setbacks on programmable thermostats	261,724	$3,229
Install pipe insulation	111,474	$855
Install window shading	26,575	$430

*Values are the average savings from single building energy audits performed during the Resourceful Kansas program.

Start integrating these solutions at your facility to gain results that will pave the way towards a sustainable future. Not only will you pinch pennies, but many of these standards can be implemented at little to no cost. Visit www.energy.gov  to discover more tactics to target your energy efficiency and conservation needs.

If you serve as an operating leader in Kansas for a public utility, our team will be sharing these tips and more at the Kansas Municipal Utilities Conference May 8-9 in Wichita, Kansas. Learn more about this educational event at www.kmunet.org. 

We welcome your energy efficiency and conservation success stories - share your results with us in the comments!