A Guide to Energy Retrofits

Understanding & forecasting energy upgrades

By: Zach Denning March, 18th 2014

So youre looking for an energy upgrade path because someone has found that youre spending atrocious amounts of energy in your building. Where do you start? What maximizes your returns in the shortest amount of time? Do you make a large capital investment into new HVAC equipment and hope that returns are high enough to not surpass your lease? Many owners and tenants think more minimalistic by retrofitting existing equipment and adhering to new, stringent maintenance standards to extend equipment life. But how long is that equipment expected to last? HVAC and lighting account for nearly 75% of your total energy expenditure as outlined by BOMA. Properly choosing an upgrade path for energy reduction in a new building should be based on risk assessment and proven returns. When considering energy savings in an existing building you have to look at several factors in ascending order, including: 1. Is the existing equipment too old to retrofit? Investing in equipment retrofitting versus replacing units may prove to be a cheaper alternative that can still produce great returns. Yet, if the equipment is too old, you run the risk of complete failure in the near future and replacements could offset all initial savings of the retrofit. 2. How efficient is the design of the HVAC system? If the previous tenant or owner remodeled the building numerous times there are problems that could limit the potential to save energy - Despite mechanical upgrades. The addition and removal of zones within a building could require the equipment to be replaced entirely due to over or under ventilation. Actual layout and design of the system can greatly influence the decision to replace or retrofit equipment.

3. Can the existing equipment even be retrofitted for efficiency? Up until the last five years package equipment manufacturers had been resistant to implement modulating control of units due to increased cost. As a result, most equipment was installed as constant volume Unable to reduce consumption even when buildings lacked occupancy. Innovative companies, like Controlco in California, have found ways to retrofit existing constant volume package units with modulating speed and temperature controls to drastically increase efficiency based on actual occupancy. 4. How is the equipment being controlled? Of BOMAs thirty low cost, energy savings measures, twenty-five are directly related to proper equipment control. Simple strategies like load reduction and scheduling can save anywhere from 15-30% of your HVAC energy when properly implemented. If HVAC equipment consumes 75% of your total energy that means simple building automation reduction strategies could reduce your total energy bill up to 25%. When considering retrofitting units, engineers need to be very cautious about the age of the equipment and the expected life, as replacements for failures will undoubtedly skew anticipated savings. Retrofitting existing package air handlers, for example, could save as much as 60-70% versus replacing the entire unit itself. Yet, if the equipment fails within two years the energy savings will be negated by the emergency install costs of a new unit. Controllability of equipment in a building remains the primary source of energy savings in any retrofit. When considering upgrade options, tenants and owners should be striving to maximize overall controllability of the units How finite is the level control? If you can regulate the temperature and volume output of an air handler based on zone feedback you can capitalize on mechanical savings. In order to achieve this level of control, mechanical contractors are often employed to install modulating equipment from mixed air dampers to Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs). Typical building automation retrofits try to preserve existing zone control (VAV and local thermostat) and focus mainly on retrofitting the larger energy consumers including air handlers and central plant equipment. Yet, how can you reduce the new, more efficient equipment if you dont invest in zone control to measure actual building load? Workarounds

typically include outdoor air and return air temperature resets, although direct zone feedback can account for up to 15% more reduction than either strategy due to its direct measure of building load. Although typically overlooked during retrofits, proper zone control implementation is a vital part of any control system and can be scaled accordingly to exploit significant returns. Every existing building must be evaluated separately to properly deduce consumption and develop unique reduction strategies. Although two buildings may both utilize package rooftop air handlers, there is a possibility that one of the buildings requires 100% capacity during occupied hours while the other only needs 50%. Trying to reduce the equipment load in the first building may lead to tenant discomfort and an inability to achieve any savings. Most evaluations are based on the existing level of equipment control and the financial impact of upgrading to reduce equipment load. Proper mechanical and control review are required for any retrofit project to properly retrofit and replace key equipment in a building.

I currently maintain an engineering sales position at Western Allied Mechanical. Our business is consulting customers on energy consumption and reducing costs through a joint mechanical and automation venture. Im an avid follower of the industry and am always open to new opportunities and approaches. You can reach me at zdenning@westernallied.com or my cell at 650-798-4154.