I already have high efficiency HVAC units, VFD’s, computer controls, and T8 lighting. Is there anything else I can do to be energy efficient?

Yes, there are often many things that can be done to further reduce the energy usage of a building. The common misconception is that commercial energy management is all about technology. Sure new advancements in technology will help a building have the potential to be energy efficient, but the mere fact that your building has VFD’s which are variable frequency drives, or high SEER HVAC units, or computer controls or even efficient T8 lighting DOES NOT assure you that the building is efficient or not.

The only way to really know if your building is energy efficient is to benchmark the consumption of kilowatt hours and therms per square feet per year. As an example I performed and energy audit on a number of high tech companies that had all of the technologies you mentioned plus they even had a full solar panel array yet I saved over 50% of the electricity and almost 80% of the gas usage. You may ask how I did that.

Well, in commercial buildings bolting on a technology or just having the latest technology means very little as what is crucial is how those technologies were engineered and set up. What I often find is for example yes a building may have a fancy energy management computer control system with graphics, etc. but the building was never audited in a detailed manner and the system is still fighting itself by heating and cooling at the same time, etc. There are literally thousands of ways an energy management computer control system can be programmed and designed; if you have no idea how the building truly operates installing one may not improve the energy usage at all. The same goes for all of the other technologies like a VFD; many times a VFD is not controlled or engineered correctly so that it is not able to reduce the output of the fan or motor as much as it can. Lighting has advanced even further by often using Scotopic lighting meaning lights with more day light properties. If that is engineered correctly you can often reduce the amount of T8 lighting further from say 3 lamp to one lamp applications and in some cases still needing a dimmer to achieve the light output the end user wants.

There are literally hundreds of different technologies available and each must be properly engineered, designed, installed, and tuned in order for them to accomplish any improvements at all. My recommendation is first benchmark your consumption. As an example if you are located in the West Coast and it is an office building your consumption should be no higher than 16 kilowatt hours per square feet per year. If you are say more than 10% higher than that the next step should be a detailed investment grade energy audit. Try to look for vendors that will give you some type of performance guarantee. If you are less than 10% higher either consult with an energy savings vendor or your local utility company and they can often identify minor items that can be adjusted or upgraded to further reduce your energy usage.

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