Gbrinton - All Comments

re: Improve your building envelope and save costs

ljschultz376 — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:15:01 GMT

I suggest a smoke pencil from Chimney Balloon, Janesville, WI for checking for air leaks and which way the air flow is going, in or out. If you check for where the heat is going and where the cold is coming in, you have a chance of correcting the energy losses you are enduring. If you wish suggestions on other energy and ventilation issues, call me or email me.

Larry Schultz

larry.schultz@kci.com

410-746-6768

re: How important is the building envelope?

Building Envelope Consultant — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:43:38 GMT

The building envelope plays a major role in the performance of the HVAC system because of air leakage and the performance of the thermal barrier (insulation). The building should be under positive pressure and conditioned air is lost due to air leakage, but if it is under negative pressure, exterior air and moisture in the forms of both liquid water and water vapor will be drawn into the building. This will add load to the HVAC system, as well as effect indoor air quality. The glazing of the exterior wall will effect natural lighting of the interior, impacting the electrical load for lighting.

Assessment of the air barrier can be done with air pressurization tests (both positive and negative) complemented with smoke testers and thermographic cameras. The thermographic camera assessment will also identify voids in the thermal barrier, as well as trapped moisture in the enclosure assemblies indicating a problem with the water barriers.

A retro-commissioning assessment should be done for the HVAC, controls, lighting, and building envelope to determine what improvements to each will have the greatest impact on reducing the energy use of the building. Retrofitting the building envelope can be expensive and the ROI can only be determined on a case by case basis.

re: How important is the building envelope?

tomokariver — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:18:01 GMT

You may wish to check your HVAC that typically use 30% to 45% of your incoming KW and are unbalanced most of the time. A dirty and or corroded unit can drop efficiency as much as 40%. When it does this you use more KW and the unit cannot dehumidify. There are several things you can do cheaply on existing units to rectify the problem. One is to install a misting system that applies mist on the condenser fins while it is running. This cools the fins. Cool N Save and Evaporcool are examples of manufacturers of this equipment. You also may coat the same fins with a inorganic coating that prevents corrosion and by the nature of its surface tension keeps the unit cleaner without reducing heat transfer. MicroGuard is an example of such a product.

re: Mission Possible: How to Select and Work Effectively with Your Project Team

JustAJanitor — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:45:04 GMT

Another sales pitch! ALL YOU NEED AND WANT IS ALL OF INFORMATION SO YOU CAN BOMBARD US WITH MORE SALES PITCHES!

BOY, I HOPE THAT THE WEBMASTER GOT OUR LAST POST ABOUT SEGREGATING THE SALES PITCHES IN A SEPARATE AREA!!!!!!!

re: How can you reduce (non energy) operational costs?

Tom Moriarty, PE, CMRP — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:13:07 GMT

Paul had an excellent point. My recommendations for non-energy cost savings are maintenance planning and scheduling and PM optimization.

In my past, my team was able to recoup over 30% of available labor hours by doing a better job of planning and scheduling work. Those labor hours were used to reduce overtime costs and take a large portion of contracted work back in-house. Our team was not working harder, they were working smarter. We looked one to two weeks ahead and arranged for parts, scaffolding, etc. well ahead of time. Some emergent work will always cause disruptions to the work schedule, but strive to have everything arranged before hand.

The other big saver was going through each system and looking at the maintenance tasks. We normally find that 20% to 30% of PMs are non-value added and can be stopped. Another 15% to 25% can be replaced with predictive maintenance technology. Predictive maintenance will have an up front cost for hardware and training, but over the system life-cycle you normally end up saving many times the initial purchase cost in avoided failures. Identifying equipment defects early allows you to plan and schedule the repairs before complete failure.

The idea is to drive as much maintenance as possible to planned and scheduled activities as opposed to reactive, run-to-failure approach. Reactive maintenance is typically 2.5 to 4.0 times more expensive than planned and scheduled.

re: How can you reduce (non energy) operational costs?

nwoods — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 05:08:04 GMT

I liked this Paul, very sensible everyday stuff that we all need to look at. I liked the fact that you put it right back on all of us. You showed we can be just as good at cutting costs and using our heads as the next guy>

re: How can you reduce (non energy) operational costs?

Paul Bellville — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:09:09 GMT

I have attended more than a few seminars about reducing non-energy cost over the years...this was prior to the LEED movement.

I work for the Eastman Kodak Company at their Massachusetts location. At that location we cut all non-value adding expenses…everything! Our facility faced closure…. We cut line item, by line item! In the end, twenty years later…that facility is still there! beacuse of cost reduction...

When we were reducing costs, we looked at our trash disposal; we were paying to get rid of our facility trash (paper, cardboard, process waste ect..) we actually turned the trash into a profitable product or disposal neutral position reducing our solid waste disposal cost significantly. We also looked into office products: (a huge amount of waste) started ordering in bulk, our purchasing dept. worked the best deals…Then we focused our attention to our contactor services. We questioned: are they the best value for us…do they provide value added services… We were surprised again- not the best value in town, so we bid out everything and contactor rates fell in line. We also questioned are all employees aligned with the company goals…. Soon they were……And much more (15 years of more)…

The determination of value added comes down to common sense; look for waste wherever it exists and eliminate or reduce it where you can. You do not have to pay for LEED consultants (more waste). Just ask the important questions: can we live and thrive without this service or the product, how do I reduce cost without impacting quality, can it be done for less money…. Ask your contractors or vendors to reduce their cost… if their answer is: there answer is nothing we can do, I cannot go any lower... Then, you should get another quote for services and/or products and switch providers if necessary.

Take it from someone who has been on each side (customer and contractor), the contractors will take you for a ride if you let them.

I define contractors as: all of those who provide a service or product to a end-user.

Example: A few weeks ago, I asked a vendor to quote a flow meter for me. I gave them the specs (as well as their competitor). A few days later I received the quotes… I noticed the quoted prices were close, I related this to all parties involved…and wouldn’t you know that suddenly their prices dropped…by $1000 on a $8,000 item. We ended up ordering the flow meter from one of the vendors when I felt like I was getting a decent price… aprox $7000.

Saved over $1000 on one $8000 product…We spend 3.6 million dollars a year on maintenance services and products.. This is one small example of savings.

Competition between us all ensures continuous improvement…

Best Regards

Paul Bellville

Solutions-North East

301 Newbury Street #171

Danvers, MA 01923-1027