Paying for energy while budgets are tight can make things difficult, especially when there are many other expenses businesses need to pay for. The energy bill is unavoidable, but there is good news and there are many ways to cut costs.
1) At night, reduce lighting on site
Your site might be operating day and night, but there are strategic ways to conserve energy at night. You need to keep the near perimeter of your sight, all exits, entrances, main parking lots, and emergency pathways well lit. Between these places however, you can seek places that are the least occupied and shut off certain circuits. Remember, that during certain seasons, there is less daylight, so light controllers need to be adjusted according to the darkness.
2) Retrocommission
Identify less-than-optimal performance in your facility’s equipment, lighting and control systems and make necessary adjustments. While retrofitting involves replacing outdated equipment, RCx focuses on improving the efficiency of what’s already in place.
By retrocommissioning, you could potentially save up to 16% annually. Paybacks typically can be done within the year. This can be extremely beneficial, especially if the root of your energy-wasting issues might not be extremely noticeable.
3) Get the Community on Board
Makes sure the rest of your team is on the same page: custodians, security, staff, faculty, and everyone else who occupies the space. Make a plan for custodians to clean certain rooms at certain times, for security to make sure all equipment is turned off afterward, and that your staff turns off the lights whenever they are not in the room.
4) Turn Off the Lights in the Vending Machine
This is a great way to save energy because vending machines are not essential to the function of your facility. Remove the lights, and leave a note explaining your energy-saving, environmentally-friendly initiative.
5) Create Zones from Your Raised Floor
Install CRAC units below to pressurize the underfloor and push air up. In order to section off new areas, install baffles under the raised floor.
6) Reduce Kitchen Energy
Kitchens often require a lot, if not most of the energy in your facility. Figure out when and how the equipment is being used in the kitchen; for example, is it left on all day after being used in the morning? Once you figure this out you can establish and execute proper kitchen usage procedures. Research how much your kitchen staff is saving each month by reducing run-time of the equipment. Follow up with them, show them their savings, and encourage them more.
7) In Hotels: Minimize Solar Heat Rise
This technique costs nothing and reduces the amount of unwanted heat from the sun from entering the rooms. Simply ensure that drapes are closed to about a shoulder length, which can also keep heat in during the winter.
8) Cooling Tower System Rather Than a Water-cooled Refrigeration System
Cooling Tower systems save money and gallons of water. To cool down the refrigeration, install a small pump, connect it to the cooling tower water supply, and return it.
9) Reset Refrigeration Units to Appropriate Temperature
Recommendations for refrigeration is between 37 and 40 degrees F and freezers should be between 0 and 5 degrees F. Appoint someone to document the temperatures to keep them between these margins.
10) Purchase Your Own Transformer
If you use a lot of power, purchasing a transformer from your power provider could be beneficial in order to avoid increased charges because of deregulation.