the "Blue Pyramid"

Think your facility is running at optimal efficiency? Chances are…you should think again. ASHRAE building energy audits have become standard protocol, because most every building has hidden inefficiencies that are waiting to be discovered. For that reason, we topped off the 2013 EnergySMART workshop at California State University Long Beach (CSULB) with a mock ASHRAE Level 1 energy audit of the campus’ iconic Mike and Arlene Walter Pyramid.

Commonly referred to as the “Blue Pyramid” among students, this athletic facility and special events center is the epicenter of campus activity. Keeping the facility a well-oiled machine – and an efficient one, at that – has been a top priority for Paul Wingco, the campus’ Energy and Sustainability Manager. The triangular shape of the building comes with a unique set of energy efficiency challenges, so Paul and his team have chosen to work with EnerNOC on a number of energy efficiency solutions in order to achieve and maintain optimal energy savings.
EnerNOC Project Engineer, Clay Waters, lead us through the mock ASHRAE Level 1 Audit, which is a rapid facility walk-through to identify high-level energy saving opportunities. The resulting deliverable from a Level 1 audit is a report which includes: a prioritized list of energy efficiency measures (EEMs), building energy consumption benchmark data, and an outline of applicable utility incentive programs. After a short 60-minute walk-through, Clay identified a number of key EEMs, including:

• Pulse-start metal halide lighting upgrades in the gymnasium, which could provide longer lamp life up to 50% and increase lumen maintenance by up to 33%
• HVAC and lighting occupancy sensor setbacks in trophy rooms that were unused a vast majority of the time
• Retro-commissioning to optimize air handler settings and damper supply and return levels

Clay stressed that an audit is a great first step to identifying high-level energy saving opportunities, but for both commercial and industrial buildings, you're guaranteed to get the highest return on investment through a data-driven approach to energy efficiency. Retro-commissioning (RCx) will frequently yield the high return because these projects often identify low and no-cost operational tweaks, which then result in substantial energy savings. If an audit is an oil change, retro-commissioning is a full tune-up, as RCx dives deep into the building to make sure each piece of equipment is working together in the most efficient way possible. CSULB has also chosen to use monitoring-based commissioning (MBCx) technologies to ensure that The Walter Pyramid maintains the energy savings achieved though audits and RCx over time. Paul mentioned that the energy data monitoring from MBCx is key to giving him the insight he needs to achieve persistent savings, and we agree!


sumber dari: energysmart.enernoc.com