 |
The Warren Centre Engineering Building J13 Sydney University NSW 2006 T: (02) 9351 3752 F: (02) 9351 2012 E: warrenc@eng.usyd.edu.au |
|---|
|
The Warren Centre Engineering Building J13 Sydney University NSW 2006 T: (02) 9351 3752 F: (02) 9351 2012 E: warrenc@eng.usyd.edu.au |
|---|
| ISSUE 37, March 2004 |
Leading the way in energy efficiency in buildings Letting your motors run, only as much as necessary to exactly meet demand, can drive significant energy savings. Australian engineered solutions for saving energy in buildings are proving that operating costs can be reduced drastically without affecting service quality. Tests in a car park, residential complex and a hotel prove that. CBD Energy Limited specialises in designing and supplying engineering solutions for energy savings on lighting, pumps and motors, air conditioning, and power factor correction. David Hood, Chairman of CBD Energy Limited and Champion of The Warren Centre’s Energy Efficient High Rise Building project, said: “Installations of the Ventronics system in Hong Kong have shown that building managers are able to cut their ventilation-related energy bills by up to 80 per cent”. For example, the system has reduced energy costs for ventilation by 75 per cent in a shopping center car park of 150 bays. The car park which is open 16 hours a day seven days a week is ventilated by 20, 4.4 kW axial supply and exhaust fans. Rather than operating continually, the motors are controlled by the Ventronics system to keep carbon monoxide levels below 35 parts per million. “The client was so delighted with the system that further energy saving initiatives are being undertaken in other areas of the car park’s mechanical services and lighting,” he said. In a residential complex the control system has reduced by 37 per cent the cost of a seawater pump for the air conditioning of a ground level retail arcade and 600-room hotel in a residential complex of 12 blocks. The 250 kW pump supplies sea water to two sets of heat exchangers, providing condenser water to two circuits 24 hours a day seven days a week. As demand for the seawater varied significantly during a 24-hour period, the control system varies the pump speed proportional to the system demand. “As a result, the cost of the pump which was $355,203 a year dropped to $228,538. This represents a payback on the investment of less than 15 months,” he said. At the InterContinental Hotel Kowloon, an energy saving system was tested on the supply air fan for a single guestroom corridor. The fan motor is rated 11 kW and operates 18 hours a day seven days a week. A carbon dioxide (CO2) sensor, mounted in the return air plenum, was used to control the fan speed. The system was set to maintain the actual CO2 level below 1,000 ppm and was tuned to operate so the existing temperature control was not compromised. The result of this trial was a 67.5 per cent reduction in the electricity consumption of the supply fan, representing an annual reduction in electricity consumption for the 14 fans of 146,051 kWh. This equates to a reduction in electricity costs of $18,280 a year. “As well as this cost saving, the environmental impact of reducing energy use brings a reduction in CO2 emissions of 350 tonnes a year,” David said. Hotel management was so impressed they decided to install the equipment on the ballroom air conditioning as well. Why aren’t energy efficiency systems included in all high-rise building projects as these case studies show they do not lower service quality, and that they do bring savings, improve building amenity, and increase occupant productivity? The Warren Centre asked this question at a workshop that revealed confusion in the industry about the ‘tools’ currently available for rating the design and operation of buildings against green objectives. Based on the workshop outcomes, The Warren Centre concluded it can best serve industry by basing a project on why energy saving technologies specifically and Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) principles generally are not universally adopted by the building and construction industry. David is scoping the project, identifying key industry people to contribute, and developing an initial project framework. He predicts that the really hard task for the project will be to identify: “What industry can do differently so energy saving technologies and ESD are adopted universally by the building and construction industry. “Probably the biggest current failing of the industry is its inability to factor ‘whole of life’ considerations into the front end economics of a project. If mechanisms for overcoming this issue could be found and implemented, The Warren Centre will have achieved a significant outcome for industry.” Already with little promotion, industry practitioners are informing The Warren Centre about difficulties in incorporating ‘green’ technologies and practices into their projects. If you are interested in assisting in the identification of barriers and ways of overcoming them, please contact David on 02 6258 7161, 0408 487 498, or email davidahood@mac.com |
|
DIARY DATES
11 May 2004 –
Melbourne Forthcoming Warren Centre events
Successful
Innovation Workshop
– commercialisation for new researchers
Powerhouse Museum, 500 Harris St, ULTIMO NSW
For more information
contact Rob Renew
|
 |
