by Jbs022810 h3 — March 3, 2010—The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance’s (NEEA) BetterBricks Initiative and the IFMA (International Facility Management Association) Foundation have joined forces to produce a practical, real-world guide for facilities managers. This guide provides FMs with a roadmap of how to initiate no-cost or low-cost energy efficiency strategies at their facility sites to reap immediate savings.
The No-Cost/Low-Cost Energy Savings Guide is the fifth in the Sustainability Guides series produced by the IFMA Foundation. The manual provides facilities personnel with the tools to get started identifying problem areas and implement no/low-cost solutions to see immediate benefits.
The guide offers several checklists that can be translated into spreadsheet templates to be used by FMs when assessing their facilities. These are easily tailored to reflect various facility types, allowing for customization for a manager’s specific building.
The top four energy-saving opportunities include:
- Equipment Scheduling: The first step of a no/low-cost strategy is to determine where energy is being wasted, such as chillers and coolers running in unoccupied areas.
- Sensor Error: Since sensor settings are often out of sync, the guide demonstrates what to look for, how to make changes, and how to regularly schedule updates to monitor settings.
- Simultaneous Heating and Cooling: Excessive reheating uses unnecessary energy and if an HVAC system’s settings are out of sync, it forces the air handler to work harder, notes the guide, which explains how to tune up these systems.
- Outside Air Usage: Optimum indoor air quality requires efficient ventilation, which includes dampers that function properly and are calibrated correctly. The guide explains ways to cut energy costs just by maintaining this system.
The tools found in the manual were drawn from the article “Common Opportunities: The Top Four,” found on the BetterBricks Web site. The site also offers other no-cost/low-cost strategies to help achieve significant operational savings.
