Module 3: Energy Conservation

Identifying Options

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Don’t have time to read background information, but want to start taking action anyway? See EnergyStar’s “12 Sure Savers”

Easy no-cost behavioral options

There are several simple, no-cost options for reducing your electricity use and bills. All these take is a change in behavior or equipment settings. For example:

Turn it off - Offices are often operating no more than 50 - 60 hours a week, so why pay for the electricity to run lights, computers, and other equipment for the full 168 hours? It is usually easy to turn off most, if not all, lights and equipment at the close of business. Taking it a step further, make sure lights get turned off in conference rooms and other areas that see infrequent use. Some equipment, such as copiers, can be turned off during long periods of no use.

Myth: Fluorescent lights last longer if not turned on and off.

Reality: Switching fluorescent lights on and off does slightly shorten their life. However, any time lights are not needed for more than about 10 minutes, you save more money by turning them off than by leaving them on.

Turn it back - Turning back the settings on certain equipment, such as thermostats and water heaters can be a real money saver. Of course, you have to balance the comfort of the occupants, but this balance can be found with a little experimentation.

Thermostats - The U.S. Department of Energy recommends setting the thermostat to 78 F in the summer and 68 F in the winter. If your current July setting is 73 F, try an experiment by setting the thermostat to 74 F for a couple weeks and gauge the comfort levels. If successful, bump it to 75 F, and so on, until you reach a reasonable level. People prefer various temperatures, so it will be hard to please everyone. However, if you find that some employees are running heaters under their desks during summer, that’s a sign the settings may be too low! Consider moving folks around to warmer or cooler spots caused by sunlight or A/C vents. Don’t forget to turn the thermostat back when the office is unoccupied! A programmable thermostat is the best way to automate this behavior. Set summer month temperatures even higher and winter month temperatures even lower (by 10-15 degrees F) when the office is unoccupied. Make sure to time the thermostat for a comfortable office when people arrive in the morning.

Myth: A common misconception associated with thermostats is that a furnace works harder than normal to warm the space back to a comfortable temperature after the thermostat has been set back, resulting in little or no savings.

Reality: This misconception has been dispelled by years of research and numerous studies. The fuel required to reheat a building to a comfortable temperature is roughly equal to the fuel saved as the building drops to the lower temperature. You save fuel between the time that the temperature stabilizes at the lower level and the next time heat is needed. So, the longer your office space remains at the lower temperature, the more energy you save. ^[1]

Water heaters - Water heaters should be set to 120 F, instead of the typical 140 F or more. Setting the water heater temps lower will not only save money and energy, but will reduce the chances of scalding, which can happen rapidly at temps of 140 and above. ^[2]

Use daylight – Take advantage of the light provided free by the sun. In some cases, interior lights can be turned off during some parts of the day or at least turned back. Balancing sunlight with the potential heat load that may accompany it in some situations will be necessary. The use of daylighting has been shown to increase occupant productivity and attitude.^[3] For more information on daylighting visit the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Program.

Professional help

Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute and UGA’s Engineering Outreach Service both have energy audit expertise and can be called upon for technical assistance in the state of Georgia (and beyond).

Technical staff at P²AD can also provide some basic technical assistance related to energy efficiency in your office space. Contact info@P2AD.org or 404-651-5120.

Southface Energy Institute in Atlanta can likewise provide assistance with energy efficiency. 404-872-3549

Additionally, there are many consultants and Energy Service Contractors (commonly known as ESCOs) that can provide fee-based services, often employing performance contracting, which enables the client to get energy efficiency work done inexpensively. In exchange, the ESCO gets paid out of the savings they generate for the client. For more information, see the Energy Services Coalition. According to the coalition, performance contracting begins to make sense if your facility has more than 40,000 square feet of floor area or if you spend more than $40,000 a year on energy bills.

Module 3: Energy Conservation

Identifying Options

Easy no-cost behavioral options

Professional help

References