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Energy Solutions ESC Energy Solutions Center for Commercial Buildings How going green can help you save green presented to you by

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Energy SolutionsESCEnergy Solutions Center

for Commercial Buildings

How going green can help you

save green

presented to you by

ENERGY SOLUTIONS CENTER

2

ENERGY SOLUTIONS FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS

Please recycle this magazine after you read it.

President Ray LarsonGeneral Manager & CFO Rich AlfanoGroup Publisher Michael MaloneEditorial Director Mario MedinaManaging Editor Paula FelpsProduction Manager George ParkerGraphic Designer Ben CarpenterContributing Writers Pam Baker, Cindy Baldhoff, Molly Petrilla, Yereth Rosen

ENERGY SOLUTIONS FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS is published by PRISM Media Group, 1830 Lakeway Drive, Lewisville, Texas 75057. Visit www.prismmediagroup.com. No part of this publication may be reprinted without permission. © 2009 Energy Solutions Center.

Energy Solutions for Commercial Buildings is a trademark of Energy Solutions Center, and is pub-lished in cooperation with PRISM Media Group. We offer our special thanks to the utilities and other businesses that sponsor this issue.

ESCEnergy Solutions Center

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2 The Gas AdvantageCapturing the economic benefits of natural gas is difficult in some areas.

4 Easing the BurdenNew alternatives can help shoulder the current burden on the power grid.

6 Getting Green, Making GreenRestaurants can cut costs through investments in high-efficiency equipment.

8 Less Power, Better AirRooftop-unit technology can enhance efforts to economically meet site requirements.

10 Higher Efficiency, Lower CostsHE boilers can reduce C02, earn LEED points – and save you money.

11 In BriefEnergy news you can use.

12 Call in a BackupKeep business going strong – even during power outages.

When it comes to energy conservation and emis-sions reductions, not all fossil fuels are created

equal. In the big picture – the full-cycle picture from the source to the site — natural gas is cheaper, more efficient and leaves a lighter carbon footprint than most alternatives.

Delivering 1 Btu of energy through natural gas to an end user at a com-mercial building expends 1.047 btus, according to Department of Energy cal-culations, says David McAndrew, one of the department’s Federal Energy Man-agement Program representatives. But, on a national average, 1 btu of electric power used at the site requires 3.34 btus when all factors of energy delivery are considered.

Tracing the impact from end user to the original fuel source is relevant when considering overall carbon emissions and energy efficiency. “When you’re looking at the impact on the environ-ment, you need to look at source,” McAndrew says.

The full-cycle disadvantage of elec-tricity is particularly dramatic when that electricity is generated from the burning of coal. The Energy Information Ad-

ministration calculates that 48 percent of U.S. electricity generated in 2008 came from coal-fired processes. Natural gas produces 43 percent fewer carbon emissions than coal per unit of energy produced, and 30 percent fewer than oil, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Natural gas also enjoys an advantage over coal in that it does not produce a solid waste such as the ash waste left over from coal combustion, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, and overall the process of mining coal or uranium is not environ-mentally friendly.

Exceptions to the carbon-footprint and overall fuel-efficiency advantage enjoyed by natural gas over electricity occur in cases when electricity is pro-duced from sources other than fossil fuels, McAndrew says. The Energy In-formation Administration reports that in 2008 only 29 percent of U.S. electrical power was generated through non-fossil fuels such as nuclear, hydro and wind.

But for commercial structures, the problem is that what is easier on build-ing owners’ pocketbooks is not neces-sarily easier on the environment.

The Gas AdvantageAlthough natural gas has more advantages than electricity, capturing economic benefits is not

a simple task in some areas.

In the big picture, natural gas is easier on the environment

Reliance on coal makes electricity a bigger carbon emitter

“Spark spread” varies widely by geographic location

CHP offer natural gas conservation advantages, tax benefits and cost less to operate.

A T A G L A N C E

“Natural gas produces 43 percent fewer carbon emissions than coal per unit of energy produced,

and 30 percent fewer than oil, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.”

Please recycle this magazine after you read it.3

For more information on the distinction between source and site impacts: www.energystar.gov/ia/business/evaluate_performance/site_source.pdf www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=evaluate_performance.bus_ benchmark_comm_bldgs

For information on CHP technology: www.epa.gov/chp

For information on CHP in commercial buildings: www.gulfcoastchp.org/Markets/Commercial

For Energy Information Administration data on net electrical generation by energy source: www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricty/epm/table1_1.html

To calculate the emissions from buying or producing your own electricity on site: www.epa.gov/chp/basic/calculator.html

FOR MORE INFORMATION

“Spark spread” can dictate on-site choiceThe choice between natural gas and electricity usually comes down to the “spark spread,” the formula that determines the price difference of equal energy units. In areas where natural gas is readily accessible — such as much of the west, Midwest and Northeast — the spark spread is heavily in favor of that energy source.

Andrew Walker, senior engineer at the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., says natural gas is usu-ally the fuel of choice.

When the spark spread is in elec-tricity’s favor, there’s no direct way to reap financial rewards for doing the right environmental thing, adds Anne

Hampson, with the international en-ergy and climate change consulting firm ICF International Inc., However, there are alternative ways to capture

economic benefits from the efficien-cies of natural gas.

Building owners can realize mone-tary rewards through use of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) units, a major-ity of which are fueled by natural gas. CHP are essentially miniature electri-cal plants that make use of byproduct heat that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. Users who in-

stall such a unit will enjoy substantial energy savings through the recycling of heat and can take advantage of investment credits and accelerated depreciation offered by the IRS and various states as tax incentives for en-ergy savings, she says.

Other potential financial rewards depend upon geographic location and specific circumstances. Using natural gas on site instead of electrical power can help a building owner earn points toward Leadership in Energy and Envi-ronmental Design (LEED) certification. LEED certification, in turn, can qualify an owner for various local or state tax credits or exemptions.

Emissions streaming from a coal-fired power plant. Using natural gas instead of electricity usually cuts emissions substantially.

“In 2008 only 28.6 percent of U.S. electrical

power was generated through non-fossil fuels such as nuclear, hydro

and wind.”

ENERGY SOLUTIONS CENTER

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By all accounts, the North American power grid is overtaxed. Brown-outs in parts of the U.S. and

Canada occur with some regularity while black-outs predictably follow harsh weather conditions across the mainland. Amidst current sustainability problems looms a growing population with ever-increasing energy demands, creating an urgent need for new measures to relieve pressures on the grid.

Several viable options exist for ad-dressing the problems currently in play, and most increase the share of com-bined heat and power (CHP) for gener-ating electricity.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), CHP represents “a series of proven, reliable and cost-effective technologies that are already making an important contribution to meeting global heat and electricity demand. Due to enhanced energy supply efficiency and utilization of waste heat and low-carbon renewable energy resources, CHP, par-ticularly together with district heating and cooling (DHC), is an important part of national and regional strategies.”

IEA’s 2008 report, Combined Heat and Power: Evaluating the Benefits of Greater Global Investment, officially defines CHP as the simultaneous utili-zation of heat and power from a single fuel or energy source, at or close to the point of use. CHP can be viewed primar-ily as a source of power, with heat as a by-product.

CHP does not have a single form, factor or a defined set of technologies; rather it is always based on an efficient, integrated system that combines elec-tricity production and a heat recovery

system. According to the IEA report, by using the heat output from the electricity produc-tion for heating or industrial applications, CHP plants generally convert 75 to 80 per-cent of the fuel source into useful energy, while the most modern CHP plants reach efficien-cies of 90 percent or more. CHP plants also reduce network losses because they are situ-ated near the end user.

According to the IEA, CHP plants consist of four basic elements: a prime mover (engine or drive system), an electricity generator, a heat recovery system and a control system. The prime mover cre-ates recoverable heat while driving the electricity generator. CHP units are generally classified by the type of application, prime mover and fuel used.

Natural gas is currently the dominant fuel source for new CHP systems.

Sold on the Fuel CellOne of the newer technologies, fuel cells, can be found at an impressive new Verizon project in New York. National Grid, the largest distributor of natural gas in the northeastern U.S., provides the natural gas to power Verizon’s seven fuel cells in Garden City, N.Y. The fuel cells are designed to supply Verizon with

100 percent of the power it needs at this Long Island-based location. Here, the electric grid is the backup power in-stead of the primary source of power.

“That’s unique among fuel cell ap-plications, which generally use a fuel cell for partial electric needs,” explains Elizabeth Margulies, spokesperson for National Grid.

Simply put, here’s how it works: When the hydrogen that’s present in natural gas is combined with oxygen from the air, it creates water and chemi-cal energy that’s converted to electricity. A converter then changes the direct current to alternating current, with each

ENERGY SOLUTIONS FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS

Easing the BurdenNew alternatives can help shoulder the current burden on the power grid.

Enbridge’s hybrid fuel cell power plant produces 2.2 megawatts of ultra-clean electricity, enough to power 1,700 homes.

Please recycle this magazine after you read it.5

cell generating 200 kilowatts of power an hour. The waste heat is used in a co-generation system to help heat and cool the building.

“These cells were installed in 2005, and they have run continuously except for regular maintenance,” says Margu-lies. “This is one developing technology that has a bright future based on a reli-able past.”

Further north, a hybrid fuel cell proj-ect at Enbridge Gas’ office building in Toronto is showing remarkable results. Enbridge is Canada’s largest natural gas distribution company. “The hybrid fuel cell power plant generates very clean electricity as a by-product of the day-to-day distribution of natural gas,” says David Teichroeb, Fuel Cell Market Development at Enbridge. “Every day the same safe, reliable delivery of natu-ral gas to our customers now generates clean electricity. And it does it in or near cities where the ultra-clean power is needed most.”

Natural gas comes out of the ground at very high pressure, so pipeline com-panies use compressors to keep the natural gas at this high pressure and help move it over long distances until it is reduced for safe delivery to the user. When pressure is reduced the tempera-ture of the gas drops, and at many loca-tions the natural gas utilities inject heat into the gas to maintain the temperature above freezing. This is done by burning natural gas in large boilers that feed heat to a heat exchanger for warming the gas.

By using the hybrid fuel cell power plant, Enbridge reduces the pressure of the natural gas in the gate station as they’ve always done, but now also gen-erates very clean electricity at the same time. This first-of-its-kind pilot plant produces 2.2 megawatts of electricity — which is enough power for approxi-mately 1,700 homes.

Ranking high as one of the cleanest ways to generate electricity, this hybrid fuel cell operates without burning the natural gas and is the most efficient

power plant of its size. More than 60 per-cent of the energy is converted to clean electricity and Enbridge also uses the heat from the fuel cell, so the entire sys-tem is more than 80 percent efficient.

Enbridge’s installation combines two technologies — turboexpander, which expands gas to drive a compressor, and fuel cell. Although either technology can be used alone, Enbridge prefers the combined system, as the electricity output is predictable and complements intermittent renewable power. The hy-brid fuel cell tends to have peak power at many times when the electricity grid needs the most power.

Additionally, fuel cells still have a fairly high installed cost and therefore are limited to niche applications.

Another Alternative Clarion University of Pennsylvania’s advanced energy laboratory in its new Science & Technology Center demon-strates yet another type of CHP system: microturbines and solar power. The Na-tional Fuel Energy Laboratory, so called because of a 2007 National Fuel grant to fund the project, completed in June, features a 65-kilowatt equivalent (kWe) microturbine that generates electricity and heat from clean-burning natural gas. It works in tandem with the 26kWe solar photovoltaic array integrated into the roof of the $36.4 million building.

A gas microturbine extracts en-ergy from a flow of hot gas produced by combustion of natural gas in a stream of compressed air. While

spinning at incredible speeds the micro-turbine levitates on maintenance-free “air bearings.” (To get an idea of the speed, a car engine redlines at about 6,000 revolutions per minute (rpm), a race car might get up to 15,000 rpm, but the microturbine spins at 96,000 rpm.)

Distributed generation systems with combined heat and power such as the microturbine can be extremely fuel-ef-ficient. The microturbine system, which runs on clean natural gas, is 80 percent efficient compared to only 33 percent efficiency for conventional and polluting coal-fired power plants.

Beyond efficient CHP strategies to recover heat, natural gas is also used for cooling, which further spares the electric grid the wear and tear of overuse. In the U.S., 15 percent of all energy consumed in commercial buildings is for cooling — partly because of the year-long, huge cooling demands of data centers and process cooling, and partly for general air conditioning. Because natural gas cooling requires very little electricity, it frees up power for other applications and reduces the need for back-up generators during power outages.

The choice of systems such as these makes efficiency and conservation ef-forts work for any company, regardless of the company’s specific needs.

CHP www.poweronsite.com Gas Air-Conditioning www.gasairconditioning.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Clarion University of Pennsylvania’s new Science & Technology Center, which is fueled by microtur-bines and solar power, was completed in June.

ENERGY SOLUTIONS CENTER

6

As the “green movement” continues picking up steam, businesses are re-evaluating what it means

to be truly green. The foodservice busi-ness, like many other industries, has continued increasing its perception of what “green” is – and continues looking for ways to increase its environmental friendliness while at the same time cut-ting costs and minimizing its environ-mental footprint.

Being a truly green restaurant means becoming 100 percent sustainable – something that many may aspire to, but an achievement that few can actually claim. Restaurants who take advantage of innovations are finding that the payoff includes lower bills – saving them thou-sands of dollars annually – and an en-during contribution to the environment.

“Sustainability involves being envi-ronmentally responsible by reducing the amount of waste that is produced, ensuring that you are as energy efficient as possible and using food that is har-vested in an environmentally responsible way,” explains Domenic Musco of Na-

tional Grid. But convincing restaurateurs to seek out sustainability can some-times be a hard sell.

“Usually, restaurant owners are skep-tical of the higher upfront costs associ-ated with energy efficient equipment,” he says. “We often have to spend a lot of time explaining that, although it may have a higher upfront cost, it will cost substantially less over the long term.”

Becoming a Green MachineFor the Mezza Luna restaurant in Buz-zards Bay, MA., the decision to become more sustainable arose out of tragedy. A fixture in the town since 1937, the family-owned restaurant burned to the ground in October 2007. Rebuilding as an environmentally friendly establish-ment was simply a matter of common sense, says owner E.J. Cubellis.

“I knew I was going to be here a long time – this is a family landmark,” he says. “So you have to look at the big picture and say, ‘Do I want to spend an extra $20,000 now and save it down the road?’ When I’m here 20 years from now, and my electric bill’s not $20,000 a

month … I figured it was worth it to take the benefits of having a restaurant that’s environmentally sound.”

To begin his green rebuilding efforts, Cubellis worked with an architect to make the building as environmentally friendly as possible.

“The architect could only do so much; it came down more to the kind of equip-ment we were going to run more effi-ciently – like the HVAC and the lighting,” he says. “We did everything that was in the realm of reasonable. We took every advantage we could.”

That meant installing high-efficiency natural gas fryers, high-efficiency natural gas convection ovens, low-flow pre-rinse spray valves, high-efficiency condensing boilers, a high-efficiency indirect water heater, programmable thermostats, high-efficiency windows and insulation improvements. In some instances, Cubellis couldn’t make all of the purchases he wanted, but chose to make the purchases that would have the greatest impact.

For example, the restaurant has five fryers. The new, high-efficiency

ENERGY SOLUTIONS FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS

Getting Green, Making GreenRestaurants can cut costs through investments in high-efficiency equipment.

After Mezza Luna restaurant was destroyed by fire in October 2007, the owners decided to rebuild the popular restaurant as a sustainable facility.

Please recycle this magazine after you read it.7

models cost $2,500 more per unit than standard fryers and he didn’t have the financail resources to purchase five high-efficiency units.

“Two of our fryers only get used every other day for about an hour and a half at a time, so it didn’t make sense to buy the energy-efficient models to replace those two,” he says.

The other three fryers are on the res-taurant’s main production line and are in use all day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

“So we spent the extra $2,500 across the board for those,” he says. “That was $7,500 that was not in the budget, so you just have to know that you’re going to make that money back on the flip side.”

In addition, Cubellis sought out re-bates from utility providers. He was able to get $1,000 back on each of the high-efficiency fryers; in support of the restaurant’s energy-efficient improve-ments, the National Grid provided a total of $12,700 in rebates and incentives.

Further adding to the restaurant’s efficiency is the placement of the equip-ment. In the old building, the compres-sors and equipment were all located inside the restaurant, while the new design allows it to be on the roof.

“The equipment runs more efficiently

and you don’t have to turn on the air conditioning to compensate for the heat it creates,” he says.

Although most restaurants aren’t in a position to overhaul all their equipment, that doesn’t mean they can’t take steps toward becoming more efficient. Abner’s Restaurant in Oxford, MS., found that the addition of a low oil volume fryer made a significant difference on the bottom line.

Abner’s utility company, Atmos En-ergy, coordinated a test research project for the Gas Technology Institute, and identified the fried chicken restaurant as a good candidate for using the fryer. Atmos and GTI provided the restaurant with the fryer, which they used for about three months.

“The biggest thing that they esti-mated during that time was that they saved over 4,700 gallons of oil a year, based on their three-months savings usage,” says Patrick Hyde of Atmos Energy. “Based on what they pay for oil, it could be a $5,000 to $5,500 savings a year.”

The most telling sign that the fryer saved them money came at the conclu-sion of the test, Hyde says.

“They chose to keep it, which is a positive sign that it worked real well.”

Going Green for GoodFoodservice businesses can find many ways to become more sustainable. Few, however, have managed to do it as well as Pizza Fusion, an organic, earth-friendly pizza restaurant chain based in Florida.

Combining an eco-friendly menu – which includes organic beers and wines and foods without pesticides, preservatives, antibiotics and hor-mones – with facilities built to LEED certification standards, Pizza Fusion is leading the charge in the organic and environmental restaurant movement. Countertops are made from recycled glass bottles, ceiling grids are made from 75 percent recycled aluminum and 25 percent post industrial metals,

and the insulation is made from re-cycled blue jeans.

Whereas restaurants are the larg-est consumer of electricity among retail businesses, responsible for one-third of the total energy consumption, Pizza Fusion’s restaurants cut electricity con-sumption by 20 percent each year.

Even the uniforms are made of or-ganic cotton, and the restaurants are painted with low VOC paints. Each res-taurant in the chain also offers in-store recycling and composting programs, and the delivery vehicles include Smart cars, hybrid and electric vehicles and scooters.

Although existing restaurants rarely have the luxury and resources to be-come completely green, Cubellis says each business can find ways to cut energy usage and increase efficiency. He advises replacing worn-out or aging equipment with new, higher efficiency units, and utilizing the opportunity to ac-cess rebates or incentives.

“Even in my old building, there are certain things I would have done like change a light fixture and put an energy efficient bulb in there,” he says.

“And I have a white roof – it cost me extra, but it reflects the sun and doesn’t absorb it like a black roof does. My building runs cool and you can feel it.”

He advises other businesses to look for the upfront incentives and seek out ways to become more efficient, even if it is nothing more than changing the light bulbs they use. In addition to cost savings, he says, he has found another unexpected perk:

“People respect you for doing it.”

The management team poses in front of Mezza Luna, which was rebuilt as an environmentally friendly restaurant following a fire.

Mezza Luna’s kitchen helped the restaurant earn nearly $13,000 in rebates and incentives.

ENERGY SOLUTIONS CENTER

8

Ever since the days of an-cient Egypt, when clay jars of water were strategically placed so their contents

could evaporate into the breezes waft-ing through open passageways, people have combined moisture control and ventilation to manage indoor air quality.

Today, makers of rooftop heating cooling and ventilation units have re-fined moisture control and manipulation to meet another imperative – energy and cost savings.

For some manufacturers, the most successful approach is to embed some sort of water-absorption materials di-rectly into the hardware through which outdoor and indoor air passes. One solution uses wheels to capture and re-cycle moisture as well as heat.

At the heart of SEMCO’s innovation is a dual-wheeled system. A moisture-collecting or desiccant wheel employs a honeycomb-like system with a desiccant coating on an aluminum substrate, while an energy recovery wheel recovers heat, or sensible energy, and moisture, or la-tent energy.

The all-in-one system captures and transfers moisture and thermal energy to heat or cool incoming air while provid-ing adjustable levels of ventilation.

When packaged with cooling func-tions of an HVAC system, SEMCO’s Pinnacle unit supplies a lower dew point to reduce the amount of primary air needed for cooling, says Doug Haas, SEMCO’s director of sales for desiccant wheel products. Because lower-humidity air feels cooler, less energy is needed to achieve comfortable indoor air condi-tions. “You can have pretty substantial energy savings by running the thermo-

stat two or three degrees higher,” Haas says.

When the dual-wheeled unit is used for heating, the process reverses. Cold, dry air is sent through a heating coil and humidifier powered, in part, by thermal energy collected by the energy recov-ery wheel as indoor air is transferred through the system to outside vents. This exchange has proven successful in extremely cold climates such as a hos-pital in Fairbanks, AK, and an industrial structure in Yellowknife, Canada.

While buildings cooled in hot cli-mates typically remove indoor humidi-fication, those heated in cold climates often need to add moisture to indoor air. An ideal wintertime indoor humidity is 40 to 50 percent. Below that level, the possibility exists for health problems

and electrical shocks. But the ideal “is very hard to achieve in cold climates unless you capture part of the humidity you are throwing away. You can capture this moisture with an energy recovery wheel,” Haas says.

Serving high ventilation needsThe system is particularly useful in cases of high ventilation needs, he said. In contrast to a typical HVAC sys-tem, which brings in only the minimum amount of outdoor air required by local ventilation standards, the Pinnacle system takes in enough outdoor air to account for 100 percent of the cubic feet per minute required per occupant, Haas says. The system treats part of the outdoor air through the wheeled energy-recovery cycle, but can pump up to

ENERGY SOLUTIONS FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS

Less Power, Better Air QualityRooftop-unit technology can enhance efforts to economically meet site requirements.

At the Chicago Museum of Science & Technology, SEMCO’s energy-recovering Pinnacle unit was installed in 2003 to provide the precise indoor air quality needed to preserve this German U-505 submarine and other artifacts. Photo by Scott Brownell, Musuem of Science & Technology

Please recycle this magazine after you read it.9

100 percent outdoor air – the treated blended with the untreated – into the in-door space. Sites needing high rates of ventilation include laboratories, medical facilities and other specialized buildings.

For example, the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago installed a system. To preserve the artifacts — including a German submarine captured in World War II — the museum needed ventilation at the rate of 20,000 cubic feet per min-ute, a near-constant 40 percent humid-ity and stable indoor temperatures of 72 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit year-round, — a definite challenge in a climate famous for its hot, muggy summers and bitterly cold winters.

The Pinnacle system was chosen not only for its ability to handle the weather conditions and deliver the needed air quality, but also for its compact space and its quiet operation, which would not disrupt multimedia exhibits.

The Greenheck Fan Corp. of Scho-field, Wis., also integrates desiccants into its energy-recovery wheels. The Greenheck system combines recovery of sensible heat and moisture in a single enthalpy wheel constructed of light-weight polymer with imbedded silica gel desiccant. The polymer transfers the sensible heat, while the silica gel trans-fers the moisture.

Financial benefits vary according to geography, climate and energy-cost conditions, says Andy Wilcox, vice president and general manager of Greenheck. For example, the northeast – where both energy needs and prices

are high – is a region where energy-recovery systems are a particularly good fit, he said.

A rotating wheel between incom-ing and outgoing airflow can save 60 percent or more of the energy used by a system with no such wheel, Wilcox said.

Recognizing the BenefitsIn general, energy recovery systems offer numerous benefits. Aside from the direct savings from conservation, the sophisticated recovery systems more easily meet certain regulatory impera-tives. The ventilation requirements of ASHRAE 62, a standard set by the American Society of Heating, Refriger-ating and Air-Conditioning Engineers in areas where they have been adopted into building codes, could be achieved with the help of energy recovery.

Customized rooftop systems are vital to meeting codes in areas that adhere to ASHRAE 90.1, the standard that mandates varying rates of energy recovery.

Financial incentives also make energy-recovery systems attractive. Under current law, the Internal Revenue Service allows a tax deduction of up to $1.80 per square foot to owners or designers of new or existing commercial buildings that save at least 50 percent of the heating and cooling energy of a building that meets ASHRAE Standard 90.1. (Partial deductions of up to 60 cents per square foot are available for those who take certain measures for savings below that 50 percent thresh-old.) Many regional and local utilities, meanwhile, offer rebates for energy load reductions achieved through energy recovery systems, and property-tax exemptions or reductions are offered in certain locales for owners of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified buildings.

Building owners who purchase roof-top systems understand the need for moisture control, Wilcox says. “High humidity leads to mold, and mold leads to health problems and code violations,”

not to mention costly repairs.However, energy-recovery technol-

ogy is sometimes underestimated, ignored or treated with suspicion. Build-ers who construct commercial sites for quick sale sometimes have little or no interest in long-term energy savings – unless they can find a way to market that, Wilcox says.

He adds that codes and regulations will ultimately drive demand for energy-recovery systems. LEED certification, with its financial benefits, is “starting to catch on, which is good.” Another inducement for energy-recovery sys-tems will come from the new ASHRAE Standard 189, currently being devel-oped in conjunction with the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), to address overall sustainable building design.

Aside from SEMCO and Greenheck, other manufacturers have their own energy recovery or efficiency systems, says Don Prather, manager of techni-cal services for the Air Conditioning Contractors of America, a trade group based in Arlington, Va. Several prod-ucts offer a wide range of flexibility and capacity to pull in large amounts of outdoor air in accordance with ventila-tion requirements and humidity-control needs, he says.

For general information on humidity control:www.gasairconditioning.com

SEMCO Inc. site:www.semcoinc.com

Greenheck Fan Corp.’s energy recovery products:www.greenheck.com/products/energy

For information on federal tax credits for energy efficiency:

www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_tax_credits

For information on EPA studies of energy use and indoor air quality of various ventilation systems

used in large buildings:www.epa.gov/iaq/largbldgs/energy_cost_

and_iaq/index.html

For the Air Conditioning Contractors of America technical services:

www.acca.org/tech

Recovery systems help achieve strict air-quality needs economically

Recovered moisture holds useful latent thermal energy

Desiccant wheels represent im-proved technology

Energy recovery works for both cool-ing and heating

Variable settings, integrated design and maintenance ensure that sys-tems work less to operate.

A T A G L A N C E

FOR MORE INFORMATION

ENERGY SOLUTIONS CENTER

10

Going green benefits both the planet and corporate cash flows. “Many com-panies are conscious of

being green, but they also appreciate the energy savings that help their bot-tom lines,” says John Gordon, general energy consultant at National Fuel Gas.

Reducing energy costs by installing modernized equipment, such as high efficiency boilers (HEBs), and qualify-ing for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification are two smart moves that help ensure sus-tainable savings.

“HEBs are actually an outgrowth of European technologies where energy supply and price pressures have existed for decades,” says Woodie van Why, senior manager of energy services at National Fuel Gas Company. “America’s energy crisis in the ‘70s and ‘80s made it apparent that we needed to become more efficient. HEBs have become a lot more accepted in the U.S. as gas prices get higher.”

The Tom Ridge Environmental Center (TREC), on the environmentally unique Presque Isle Peninsula at the southern shore of Lake Erie, offers one example of HEBs in action. The multi-use facility serves as the visitor’s center at the state park and houses interactive exhibits and laboratories for a variety of Great Lakes research initiatives.

TREC opened in 2002 with a LEED Silver rating using several natural gas technologies, including three 5 MMBtuh 93.5 percent highly efficient condensing boilers. The HEBs incorporate energy recovery wheels that remove condensa-tion and recover heat lost to increase

the units’ BTUs. The energy recovery wheels were installed in the air handling system, to mix high temperature, high humidity exhaust air with incoming cold, dry air in the winter, and inject cold, dry air into the incoming warm, moist makeup air to reduce the air condition-ing load in the summer. An underfloor air distribution system delivers the con-ditioned air to human occupied space only, focusing the air toward the lower six feet of the area rather than through-out the enormous space topped by ultra-high ceilings.

A high-efficiency or “condensing” boiler operates with lower temperatures and emissions and reduces fuel con-sumption by recovering heat that would otherwise be lost up the exhaust stack. This is why HEBs operate at efficiencies on average 10 to 15 percent better than traditional boilers.

Typically, HEBs heat water to a tem-perature range of 120 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit (49 to 60 degrees Celsius). They’re called “condensing” boilers be-cause during the process of recovering heat from the burned fuel, water vapor — also known as condensation — is con-densed and removed from the system while recovering heat from the process. “HEBs are very long-lived and reliable,” says van Why.

The front-end costs of HEBs are typ-ically higher than traditional boilers, due to the materials needed to construct the boilers and the special venting required. However, the payback is generally fast, particularly for industrial and commercial users. Simply put, the higher a com-pany’s normal fuel costs, the faster the company recoups its costs for HEBs.

Indeed, the full costs and above can be re-couped in as little as a single heat-ing season.

In TREC’s case, the energy sav-ings certainly help the center operate more efficiently and spend its cash more judiciously, but the HEBs also intricately fit into the center’s core mission. The educational center, which teaches visitors about the Presque Isle, the site of Pennsylvania’s only seashore, and its native wildlife, also conducts research and contributes to conservation and environmental awareness efforts. A huge carbon footprint would stamp out everything the center strives to achieve.

www.cleanboiler.org

HEB Manufacturers Burnham Boiler www.burnham.com Crown Boiler www.crownboiler.com Cleaver Brooks www.cleaver-brooks.com GasMaster www.gasmaster-ind.com Laars Heating Systems www.laars.com Lochinvar www.lochinvar.com Johnston Boiler www.johnstonboiler.com Weil McLain www.weil-mclain.com

ENERGY SOLUTIONS FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS

Higher Efficiency, Lower CostsHE boilers can reduce C02,

earn LEED points – and save you money.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Lochinvar’s In-telli-FIn is one example of a high efficiency boiler.

Please recycle this magazine after you read it.

Get ready to pull the plug on your stan-dard electric water heater. As of this year, natural gas water heaters — a less expensive, more efficient solution to hot water needs — have received the En-ergy Star label, while standard electric tank heaters have not. According to a statement from the U.S. Department of Energy, this new criteria will save Ameri-cans approximately $780 million in util-ity costs over the next five years.

In addition to offering an Energy Star label, gas water heaters have many benefits. For starters, they heat water faster and recover nearly three times as quickly as their electric counterparts, and a gas water heater can help de-crease your carbon footprint by emitting less than half the carbon dioxide of electric heaters.

Gas water heaters are also less ex-pensive to run, since fossil fuel prices are significantly lower than electricity

prices — an important distinction con-sidering water heaters typically account for about 11 percent of a building’s total energy use.

Pulling the Plug

LEEDing Your Building to CertificationNatural gas can help your building stay green.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) of-fers varying levels of Leadership in Energy and Envi-ronmental Design (LEED) certifica-tion to buildings that are both sustainable and energy efficient. To determine LEED eligibility, the USGBC evaluates buildings on

five environmental cat-egories: Sustainable

Sites, Water Ef-ficiency, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environ-ment Quality, and Energy and Atmosphere. Of

these categories, the latter offers the

greatest number of possible points, which

means that using high-

efficiency natural gas technology — from boilers and furnaces to water heaters and cooking equipment — can boost your building’s chances of receiving LEED certification.

Farther North, the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) offers LEED certification based on the same criteria, with the Energy and At-mosphere category accounting for a possible 35 points of the 40 needed for the lowest level of LEED certifica-tion. (Silver, gold and platinum ratings require higher point totals.)

11

Gas water heaters earn Energy Star label.

ENERGY SOLUTIONS CENTER ENERGY SOLUTIONS FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS

12

Keeping a business run-ning – even when there’s no electricity available – is crucial to small and large

business owners alike. Buying a backup generator powered by natural gas not only ensures that operations continue, but it also provides a clean alternative to diesel and assurance that you’ll never run out if fuel.

Natural gas generators offer a num-ber of advantages, which, according to Diane Engelkes of CenterPoint Energy, include cost-effectiveness, safety and an unlimited source of fuel that’s piped directly to the generator.

“Commercial natural gas genera-tors have become a ‘must have’ in many businesses in order to secure the many facets of their operations that require power during power outages,” she says. “Important store data, emergency equip-ment and other equipment that is vital to businesses need to be up and running – even during power outages.”

She says that commercial natural gas power generators make it possible for businesses to continue thriving, even

if a power outage lasts for days. Tom Withem, information resources manager for E-Z Mart Stores, Inc., based in Texar-kana, Texas, says his company recently began using a natural gas generator as backup power for its store support cen-ter. The company purchased a Kohler 49kw V8-powered gasoline generator, but had the generator converted to use natural gas.

“Before [we bought the gas genera-tor] we used a portable diesel-powered generator,” he says. But when a large ice storm left them without power for several days, they found that the diesel generator presented many problems.

“Keeping fuel in the generator was a challenge due to the refilling frequency, and consumer demand during a crisis affected the availability of fuel and con-ditions of the road.”

Call in a BackupNatural gas generators can keep business going strong – even during power outages.

Natural gas generators offer a number of advan-tages, including safety and cost savings.

E-Z Mart relies upon a gas generator at its store support center in Texarakana, Texas.

www.briggsandstratton.comwww.cummins.comwww.gererac.comwww.kohler.comwww.onan.com

For additional information on power generation or co-generation:

www.poweronsite.org

Since purchasing the gas generator in January, the E-Z Mart has experi-enced one power outage, which lasted only a few hours, and was able to con-tinue business as usual. The generator costs about $56 a month to operate, Withem says.

“It’s one of those things you hope you never need, but there’s a chance that at some time you will wish you have,” he says. “A generator can maintain that continuity and, relatively speaking is af-fordable to most – as compared to pos-sibly going out of business.”

Anyone considering buying a genera-tor should ask themselves one question, Withem suggests: “If you turned your main electrical breaker off, how many days would it be before you are out of business?”

He recommends working closely with a qualified firm to get a proper size gen-erator and ensure professional installa-tion and maintenance.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

How often does your business experience power failures?

How much money has it cost your com-pany to be without power?

How many customer complaints did you receive because of it? Or how many cus-tomers did you lose?

Have power failures damaged any of your equipment?

What to Consider When Buying a Generator