Last review: 02/27/2012

Conservation Ideas - Building Operator

• Verify outside air (OSA) dampers are closed during unoccupied hours, including morning warm-up periods. Fresh air is critical, but heating OSA when it is not needed increases energy costs. Typically 15 CFM of OSA/person is standard.
   
• Confirm the amount of outside air matches occupant load. An inexpensive improvement is CO2 or VOC sensors to match expensive outside air to occupant load.
   
• Be sure damper motors are operating properly.
   
• Confirm that the OSA economizer is functioning properly and using free cooling when OSA temperature is below about 65 degrees. Most buildings are in cooling when the outside air temperature is above 55 degrees. The core of buildings over 20,000 square feet are almost always in cooling, even during the winter heating season.
   
• Check to make sure exhaust fans are running only during occupied times. Check that dampers on exhaust fans close when the fan is not operating. Adjust fan belt tension.
   
• Inspect control schedules to heat only sections of the building as needed. For electric space heating, stagger start times to help reduce demand charges.
   
• Monitor stack temperatures on fossil fuel boilers. If the stack temperature is more than 400 degrees F above the boiler room temperature, schedule the boiler for a tune-up.
   
• Turn off circulation pumps during unoccupied times if no freeze conditions exist. Heat loss from poorly insulated pipes can be a major loss of energy. Check hot water insulation levels.
   
• Install controls to automatically reset hot and cold deck temperatures based on the space demand. (Usually inexpensive, controls can save 10% of space conditioning costs, and typically increases employee comfort).
   
• Check multiple parallel chillers for light load operation. Check chillers for cycling and use the smallest chiller.
   
• Verify that the building control system is going into night setback during unoccupied hours. Just because it’s a computer controlled system doesn’t mean it is working right!
   
• Make sure that simultaneous heating and cooling does not occur—is there a stuck valve?
   
• Confirm that your adjustable speed drives (ASD) are not running constantly at 100% speed. Most ASD’s have an output monitor to report percentage of operation. A motor running at 50% uses 1/8 the energy of a motor running at 100%!
   
• Change out 50-watt incandescent exit lights with 1 - 5 watt LED exit lights that last 25 years.
   
• Re-configure lighting and upgrade to energy efficient fixtures if below current standards. The use of efficient task lighting and less ceiling fixtures will save lighting energy.
   
• Install electronic timers on parking lot lighting to turn off at a selected time rather than burning all night long. Allow sufficient lighting for safety and security.