Saving on energy costs and sustainability
By Lynn Burkhart Jr., [email protected]
Saving money is vital, under current economic conditions. Although economic recovery signs are becoming more frequent, it is doubtful it will ever alleviate the need for running a tight ship.
Monthly electrical expenditures are significant, and with multiple locations, even small decreases can add up quickly. HVAC and lighting are two areas accounting for up to 85% of monthly energy costs.
Are you “Out of the Loop”?
While HVAC systems can be complicated, it is up to the owner to see that he is getting the best maintenance program for his operations. Our surveys indicate many firms let HVAC contracts go to the lowest bidder, without realizing that the latest maintenance technology to lower monthly heating and cooling expenses is not covered in the contract.
Bidding specifications on HVAC maintenance contracts should be adjusted to get a bottom line advantage on not only the contract fee, but also on energy reduction and improved equipment sustainability.
There are several actions that can be taken to determine first hand if the HVAC maintenance program in place is having a positive impact on the bottom line. One of the single biggest actions that can be done is simply to look. As the HVAC system uses 40% or more of a buildings electrical usage, it is well worth taking the time to take a look. Without looking, you are in fact out of the loop.
HVAC Systems: Where to Look and Handle
It is important to look inside the HVAC air handler. It may be large, or may be a smaller unit often found on rooftops of stand-alone buildings. If you are unable to get to these units, ask the maintenance staff to take a few digital pictures of the inside. You want to look at the cleaning and heating coils.
Cooling and heating coils are much less efficient when their surfaces are covered by dirt, biological films and other contaminants. The coil surfaces are where cooling and heating comes out of the unit that changes the temperature in the building air. Dirt and contaminants on the surface of a coil have an insulating affect, like a towel wrapped around an ice pack. The towel insulates the ice pack so less cooling occurs when the ice pack is placed on your skin. In effect, a similar thing happens when cooling and heating coils are wrapped in dirt and other contaminants. They just cannot heat the building air as well as they would if they were clean.
ASHRAE (American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers) performed an engineering study in 2006 proving dirty coils increased energy costs by 10% or more.1 This study was done on air handlers that were cleaned one year before, so the problem is compounded when traditional coil cleaning is not done annually. Unfortunately, this is often the case as the cost of coil cleaning itself eats into the bottom line.
However, new technology is available that keeps coils clean for longer periods without maintenance attention and capital cost expenditure. There are now coatings specifically engineered for HVAC coils that can provide a shield from greases encountered in fast food restaurants, bakery dusts, dirt, biological film, mineral scale and other contamination that can accumulate. The coil coatings prevent the accumulation and effectively reduce the insulating impact of the deposits as well as the number of cleanings needed. This also reduces the cost of maintenance manpower. (For more details, see our white paper on “Energy Management Thru Clean Coils.”)
Air Handler Sustainability
The replacement of air handlers is expensive. It is not uncommon for the replacement of one air handler to cost $75,000 or more. After 15 years, many units show signs of internal corrosion of the metal – one of the leading reasons air handlers need to be replaced. In large buildings, all the air handlers were installed at the same time. If one is in need of replacement, there is a good chance that many others will queue behind it for replacement as well.
Until a few years ago, when this happened the owner was looking at a good sized financial hit, sometimes running close to a million dollars or more depending upon the number of replacement units. In the majority of cases, the replacements were not budgeted, putting a further dent on cash flow.
However, new technology now used in commercial buildings, nuclear plants, industrial facilities, and hospitals, allows for easy refurbishment of corroded air handlers. This alleviates necessity of HVAC removal, downtime, and replacement. For use on roof top units as well as larger sized equipment, monetary savings with this permanent fix is significant, as much as 20 to 1 over the cost of replacement. For more details, see our white paper on “Sustainability of HVAC Air Handlers.”
Other HVAC Expense Areas and Potential Savings
In an effort to cut costs, replacing air filters is often cut back. While it might seem like an easy way to control expenses, it is usually not. Filters are there to trap dirt, and prevent it from alighting on vital coils that transfer heat or cooling energy. When not changed, air cannot pass thru the filters easily, and the HVAC fan can use more energy, often eliminating savings one thought he would have.
Cold or hot air leaking from air handler doors is another energy waster. You can easily tell if this is occurring just be passing your hand around the units outside access doors. If you feel air leaks, the remedy is simple. Just have the seals replaced.
An HVAC owner “in the loop” will see that improved equipment sustainability and energy reduction result in not just cost savings, but also provide benefits in improved air quality and better utilization of manpower as well.
1. ASHRAE JOURNAL NOV 2006
Lynn Burkhart Jr. is president and founder of Controlled Release Technologies (cleanac.com), which manufactures HVAC maintenance products area to enhance sustainability and energy efficiency. Lynn may be reached at [email protected].