10B — February 26 - March 10, 2016 — Green Buildings — M id A tlantic
Real Estate Journal
www.marejournal.com
G reen B uildings & E nvironmental S ervices By Eric Oliver, Lilker EMO Energy Solutions Continuous auditing – Taking energy auditing to the next level
I
ice on it and take two aspirin.” Or you’re sitting at work, feel- ing a little light headed, and the phone rings. It’s your doc- tor, “You have a temperature of 100.5 – go home and take some fever reducer and get some rest.” With this kind of attention, you’d be healthier than you’ve ever been. Now imagine how energy efficient your buildings would be if you had experts con- stantly monitoring every area of energy consumption—in real time. When an energy spike hits your building, the energy expert knows exactly where it’s coming from and calls your en-
gineer to fix a damper, or turn off a bank of lights, or reset a thermostat. That building would be running at peak effi- ciency, all of the time, reducing operation costs by 15% to 30% over a 12 month period. A once-off comprehensive energy audit is very effective at determining the most cost effective strategies for saving energy in a building, but it has limitations. For one, the walk-through audit gives the auditor an excellent snapshot of the building’s operations at that time, but not the full picture of seasonal changes in operations. Another drawback
is that savings calculations for energy conservation measures (ECMs) are based on assump- tions for inputs such as run- times, temperature setpoints, and use of override sched- ules. If these assumptions are not accurate, the savings may be under-predicted or over-predicted. To achieve the maximum amount of energy savings with the most accurate calculations, it is essential to survey the building through- out the year, with accurate before- and-after data for all energy consuming systems. The first step in Continuous Auditing: an auditor performs
an initial building assessment and gathers data relating to all energy consuming systems. Next, the building owner in- stalls real-time monitoring (RTM) equipment, ideally on all end-use circuits. Data is fed to a dashboard in real time, where the auditor can analyze trends and look for spikes and anomalies indicating energy waste. Over the course of 12- 24 months, the auditor moni- tors the building in real time, identifying ECMs and areas of waste based on new data. Once ECMs are implemented, the building will operate at its peak efficiency, in all seasons. The initial investment of a continuous auditing pro- gram—Installing real-time monitoring equipment and conducting an initial energy baseline assessment—is typi- cally offset by resultant sav- ings within two to three years. The process results in more efficient operating equipment, identification of system mal- functions before they become real problems and a better understanding of how a build- ing operates. Like a healthy body, your buildings will last longer and cost less to run. Eric Oliver, PE, CEM, LEED AP is managing di- rector of Lilker EMO En- ergy Solutions in Falls Church, VA, a whol ly owned subsidiary of Lilker Associates Consulting En- gineers, New York, NY. n a section of the MARE Journal P.O. Box 26, Accord, MA 02018 781-871-5298 • 800-584-1062 fax 781-871-5299 www.marejournal.com Section Publisher Steve Kelley skelley@marejournal.com Section Editor Julie King jking@marejournal.com Owners, Developers & Managers
magine how healthy you would be with a team of expert physicians moni-
t o r i ng ev - e r y j o i n t , muscle, and t e nd o n i n y our body at all times. You could be playing pick- up basket- ball, shuffle
Eric Oliver
right to guard a player and feel a twinge in your knee. You keep playing, but when you get to the bench, there’s a text message from your doctor: “You sprained your knee. Put
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