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Advanced Energy Audits

Guest post by: Eric A. Woodroof

Article Overview: Advanced Energy Audit Methods for Non-Residential Buildings

Advanced Energy Audits

Building on last month's article, "How to do a Basic Energy Audit", we now will explore some of the more advanced auditing and reporting techniques. Of course not all of these ideas will be appropriate for every facility, but many will help your reports get more attention and credibility. With respect to conducting an energy audit or "survey", data collection and analysis becomes a more important factor when doing a "Phase II" level report. There are numerous instruments that a good energy surveyor should have and some of these tools can be expensive, but they will usually pay for themselves with the savings they identify or the way they can reveal additional savings opportunities.

If you want to really understand a system (or validate some claims by the facility staff about operations), putting data loggers on facility equipment is a good idea. Data loggers are relatively inexpensive (about $100 a piece) and you can put them next to motors, compressors, lights and many other systems to determine when the machines are turning on/off and other operational data over long periods of time. Some energy auditors will put loggers on equipment at the beginning of their survey and collect them later (1 day to three months) to validate their assumptions. Collecting and displaying data is a really good way to test the "theories" of how the building is actually operating and accurately estimate the possible savings.

Another inexpensive device is a light meter to determine the lighting levels in different areas of the plant. Often, you can find areas that are over illuminated when compared to standards set by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America. The data really helps as most people are unwilling to believe that their lights are too bright, until you can show them the actual measurements.

I believe that a picture is worth a 1,000 words, so I advocate using a camera to document what you find during an energy survey. Photos and videos can capture an operation and literally show an opportunity while avoiding a debate. In a recent survey, I took some video of a facility that had its lights on during the evenings and weekends when no one was present within the facility. I also took video of areas that had some occupancy sensors installed to show that savings are possible. Another video shows compressed air leaks in a de-activated area of the plant. You can watch these videos on the profitablegreensolutions website.

An infrared camera can also be used to show where heat is being lost within the facility. You can use these images to explain the value of insulation to almost any CEO as the picture really makes the point. Although an inexpensive infrared camera might cost a few thousand dollars, I believe it is worth it as it can also reveal hot spots in electrical equipment and fuses that are about to fail (which may cause an unplanned facility shutdown).

If you do a lot of surveys on facilities with boilers, a combustion analyzer is a very helpful piece of equipment. You basically insert a probe into the exhaust stack of the boiler and measure the characteristics of the gas to determine the efficiency of combustion. In the hundreds of audits that I have done, we almost always found savings opportunities with the boilers and the measurements allowed us to quantify the savings. It is really surprising how many facilities do not have automatic combustion tuning equipment when nearly all highway vehicles do have combustion analyzers. When you consider the fuel costs of a large boiler, (much larger than your average car fuel expenses) a 1-3% savings can pay for combustion controls in less than a year.

If you are looking at a building with steam pipes or compressed air lines, ultrasonic leak detectors can help you find the leaks even while the plant is operating and creating a noisy environment. Both steam and compressed air leak detectors are about the size of a brick and you carry this around the plant (wearing earphones) listening for leaks when you point the probe in different directions. During one audit of an automobile manufacturer, I identified $ 1.6 million in savings from air leaks that were found using ultrasonic detectors. The payback to fix the leaks was less than 2 months.

In conclusion, there are many ways to present your findings. I recommend using as much video and photos as practical and always write a good 1 page executive summary. In the executive summary, be sure to highlight the benefits of the findings in your report and do not focus on the details (as an engineer, this is easier said than done). If possible, use a headline (just like in the papers), to capture the reader's attention and let them know why they can't miss reading your report. If you like, you can see download a sample executive report for one of our recent clients, just go to the profitablegreensolutions website.

Ultimately, the effectiveness of the entire energy audit depends on whether or not it is implemented... and that depends on whether or not people like the idea... and that depends on if they actually read your report! You can have a bigger impact if you utilize one or two of the auditing and reporting techniques mentioned here. You can also create a separate PowerPoint presentation so you can engage and interact with your audience. This usually will improve the acceptance rate of your report... or at least ensure that your boss/buyer/client received the information.

Good luck!

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Article Tags: advanced energy, energy audit, energy audits, nonresidential buildings



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