You can improve your business’ bottom line by taking the following steps to make your office more energy-efficient.
Lighting
• Turn off lights when not needed. For example, turning off fluorescent lights saves energy, extends overall lamp life and reduces replacement costs. Myth: Turning lights on and off uses more electricity than leaving the lights on.
• Reduce or replace inefficient, outdated or excessive lighting within your building.
• When replacing old lighting equipment, evaluate new technologies that may need fewer fixtures and/or few lamps within existing fixtures.
• Ensure that light levels will remain at adequate levels before changing out technologies and/or reducing number of lamps.
• Where practical, replace incandescent lamps with compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). Ensure you install compatible dimming technology if CFLs are used along with a dimming system.
• When fluorescent T-12 lamps burn out, consider retrofitting fixtures with T-8 lamps and changing from magnetic ballast to electronic.
• Replace incandescent “EXIT” signs with LED signs. LEDs use about one-tenth the wattage and last 50 times longer than incandescent-lamp sings.
• Install lighting occupancy sensors that automatically turn lights on or off, depending on occupancy. These sensors work well in areas such as conference rooms, break rooms, or individual offices that are not occupied continuously.
• Take advantage of natural daylight: turn off or dim electric lighting when adequate sunlight is available to illuminate interior space.
• Ensure outdoor lighting is off during daytime.
Heating and Cooling
• Establish a preventative maintenance program for your heating, venting and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment and systems. Ensure that you regularly:
- Change or clean all air filters, preferably every month
- Clean all heat exchanger surfaces, water and refrigerant coils, condensers and evaporators
- Repair leaks in piping, air ducts, coil, fittings and at the unit(s)
- Replace defective equipment insulation, ducting and piping
• When replacing air conditioning units of five tons or greater, purchase units with a high energy efficiency ratio (EER) of 10.5 or more to reduce operating costs for the life of the unit. Ensure that your contractor performs a “Manual N” calculation to select a properly sized system based on your building load characteristics and specific occupancy needs.
• When old motors fail, replace them with premium efficiency motors that operate at a lower annual cost. Ensure you specify the proper size motor for the application.
• Install variable speed drives (VSDs) on large motor loads, where appropriate, to further reduce energy usage.
• Use outside air and water side-economizers for “free cooling” when outside air temperatures and conditions permit – during the spring and fall.
• In facilities with older chillers, consider replacing them with new, energy-efficient units that operate at or below .60 kilowatts per ton. View a chilled water system analysis tool to improve efficiency. |
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