A middle school in northwestern Alberta is expected to save $40,000 a year after a scheduling error was identified and resolved. With only adjustments to the building automation system, the costs to find and fix the problem were paid off in a few months from electricity and fuel savings.

Spirit of the North Community School has around 40 staff and 250 students from Grade 4 to Grade 6. The school is located in the northwestern corner of Alberta in the town of High Level.

The first clues to an issue was a large utility bill from the facility given its size. Rede visited the site and identified a 60-kW load at the electrical panel after occupancy – a significant load considering the facility was empty.

This large electrical consumption was attributed to three ventilation systems – totaling 50 HP in fan power – operating constantly. Rede analyzed the building automation code and found that a one-line programming error caused the schedule to not be followed.

After the scheduling was enabled in October 2017, the electricity consumption was reduced by 37% and natural gas consumption by 16% compared to the previous year. Spirit of the North Community School saved $41,500 in utility costs over the first year.

The situation was exasperated by unnecessary ventilation of air during cold months, where additional fan power and natural gas was required to heat up cold air. The simple change to the facility’s schedule contributed to more energy savings.

Spirit of the North Community School experiences a significant temperature range throughout the year. With a subarctic climate, High Level experiences a significant range of temperatures throughout the year. Winters tend to bring significant periods of cold weather, and cold air tends to collect in the region due to its relatively low altitude. Summers are warm, with the average temperature rising to above 20˚C. Every building can benefit from a thoughtful and custom schedule, but the benefits are more defined for facilities in climates with wide temperature ranges.

Given the work involved and the magnitude of savings, the investment was recovered in a few months and “banked savings” are earmarked for future improvements. Collecting and analyzing data from building automation systems is a cost-effective and streamlined approach to ongoing optimization and opening up funds for future projects.

Project Cost = $10,500
Estimated Annual Cost Savings = $41,500
Target Payback = 0.25 years

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The five principles for building automation systems were created by David Sellers, senior engineer with Facility Dynamics Engineering. Sellers writes about commissioning, control systems and mechanical engineering on his blog, A Field Perspective on Engineering.

Control systems are the essential element for ongoing optimization of a facility’s energy consumption. Through effective design and implementation of a building automation system, operators can get an inside peek into their buildings and improve comfort while reducing energy use. In practice, however, not all control systems are designed, implemented or maintained to be effective in optimizing a facility’s systems. Defining a set of principles for control systems improves communication and understanding between all stakeholders – from contractors to administration.

Grande Prairie School Division is located in Grande Prairie, Alberta, 450 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

Scott Campbell is the mechanical lead hand for the facilities department at Grande Prairie Public School District (GPPSD), an Alberta school district that has over 8,000 students in 18 schools. A challenge Campbell has witnessed in his district and beyond is a lack of understanding of the potential for control systems.

“They think it is all smoke and mirrors when you talk to some guys about controls. They think it is voodoo,” says Campbell, a plumber and gasfitter by trade who has worked at GPPSD for six years.

The lack of understanding can stem from a multiple of reasons, explains Campbell. Building operators may not have the resources or information about their building’s controls to know how to make effective changes. They may not have a sequence of operations or may be using general resources that are not specific to their facilities. Or there may have been a bad experience with controls contractors (whom may themselves not have enough information to make proper decisions).

Overall, a lack of information makes it difficult to run systems – never mind optimize them.

An Oregon-based engineer has outlined five principles that every building owner or operator should consider when designing or implementing control systems. David Sellers, who writes about building commissioning and control system design in his blog, created the following principles.

Principle 1

Control system must first and foremost provide effective and reliable control, commensurate with the systems it is controlling

Obviously, the types, complexities and the criticalities of the systems being controlled will dictate the quality/power of the control system that should be applied to them. The ultimate quality of the control system is primarily dictated by the components that sense, execute logic for, actuate, and document the systems they are controlling.

 

Principle 2

The manufacturer and installer must be highly qualified with extensive experience and must be committed and bound to thorough Commissioning (Cx)

While the control system power/quality is very important, equally or more important is the expertise and commitment of the installing contractor and their collaboration with the overall commissioning team. Qualifications should insure that a quality contractor with an extensive proven track record is specified; and that effective, thorough commissioning of the control systems by that contractor – whether or not a formal commissioning process is employed – is essential. Given this, there lies a challenge to the designer to fairly restrict installers to those that can deliver effectively within the context of both the construction and the service/support arenas.

 

Principle 3

Control installation must be fully documented as consistently as practical with nothing required to fully operate and maintain the system withheld

Point naming conventions, programming logic, network configuration requirements, security information, etc. must be strictly adhered to and totally documented. No element for the continued operation and maintenance of the control system may be withheld in any way. No part of the installation may be considered confidential or proprietary information. This specification requires applicable documentation throughout. These requirements are not optional; however, certain documents are only applicable for certain approaches.

 

Principle 4

Specify sequence of operations logic

The designer must specify the logic of equipment sequences of operations. Often sequences of operations are specified only in general, and often ambiguous, terms, with much of the sequence left to the contractor’s programmer. The programmers should not be put in the position of having to complete the engineer’s sequence, and often resort to sequences which are not optimal for the particular building. Therefore, logic diagrams must be included in design documents. If the project is being done using a design-build methodology, then the design-builder must submit logic diagrams as a design submittal in advance of programming.

 

Principle 5

Require sufficient instrumentation

The designer must require instrumentation to support both the sequence of operations, and the data acquisition capability to support equipment performance monitoring and building diagnostics analysis. A listing generally establishing minimum instrumentation requirements is included with the specifications. This identifies minimum instrumentation for common types of system. The designer is responsible for requiring additional instrumentation as necessary to support the sequence of operations, or to supplement data acquisition capabilities when the nature of the equipment or systems to be installed makes this sensible. Additional higher end devices shall be specified for control of critical systems or areas in the facility.

Sellers’ principles create a framework for engineers, contractors, maintenance staff and administration to understand what is expected for controls systems.

For major projects, the principles can also be used to formally outline expectations for the design and implementation of controls. Campbell intends to have the five principles included in an upcoming tender for a new facility.

The principles contribute to improving the understanding and appreciation for proper automation systems from staff beyond the maintenance department.

“School divisions maybe aren’t investing the amount of time or don’t have the right management who understands it,” says Campbell.

Campbell intends to continue to reduce barriers between tradesmen, control operators and administrative staff to reduce energy consumption and save money in his facilities. A major part of this is educating their electricians, plumbers and maintenance workers in operating and analyzing control systems. GPPSD doesn’t segregate control operations to a distinct role or department, but the district directly involves the workers who work on the devices every day.

A comprehensive understanding of the systems and data is a powerful tool.

“The hands-on guys like the plumbers and the electricians should be more involved in the controls and on the computer,” he says.

“Trend logs don’t lie.”

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Unlike workplaces or homes, K-12 schools have unique routines that change with the seasons, semesters and even periodically for short breaks. Inconsistent occupancy is a challenge when preparing the schedules for building automation systems. But it can also be an opportunity to seek significant savings in energy usage and utility costs by adjusting schedules for short-term breaks.

School District 27 in British Columbia saved over $4,500 by adjusting the scheduling for its school facilities for the 2018 spring break. In 15 elementary schools and eight secondary schools, the schedules were set to accommodate reduced occupancy from March 19 to 22.

The schedules for the building automation systems were not adjusted for the 2017 spring break. Comparing the electricity usage between March 2017 and March 2018 showcases the savings of a scheduling adjustment.

Total kWh Savings = 43,188
Total Cost Savings (at $0.105/kWh) = $4,534.77

Scheduling HVAC systems is a common area of improvement for energy management in K-12 schools. Read about other opportunities for ongoing recommissioning of K-12 school facilities.

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Here are the main lessons for school energy managers that we took away from BuildPulse’s latest article series.

Comfort

Schools are large facilities with teachers, students, staff, parents and guests coming and going throughout the day. For staff and students that are around most days, a survey about their comfort in the facility can offer insight into ideal temperature, humidity and airflow levels. BuildPulse outlines the first steps to improve occupant’s comfort through temperature monitoring and analysis.

To reduce energy costs, facility managers can improve insulation and install occupancy sensors.

The next step is to make use of a facility’s Building Automation System. Collect as much data as possible on a building’s indoor temperature and humidity. Compare the data for each room or zone with the other rooms or zones to isolate problem areas. For any anomalous regions, look into how occupants are using the space. Disparities in temperature may arise from difference in behaviors, such as running space heaters or closing the blinds.

Next, compare temperature data with the outdoor temperature. If they follow a similar pattern, that is an indicator of not enough airflow to that zone.

Check also for rapid changes in temperature, and be sure to replace or calibrate any sensors that do not report temperature changes.

Indoor Air Quality

Occupancy complaints offer the best insight into issues with indoor air quality. Combined with data for temperature, humidity, CO2 levels and HVAC operations, facility managers can isolate and investigate issues to improve air quality. The complete article covers improvements for air quality through data monitoring, analysis and feedback from occupants.

The first step for improved air quality is regular cleaning and preventative maintenance. A clean air duct means clean air.

Although excellent ventilation is a key to good air quality, excessive ventilation can be costly. Sealing ducts is a simple approach to reduce energy costs from ventilation, and more complex approaches (such as demand controlled ventilation) balance the need for ventilation with energy costs.

In the end, indoor air quality depends on air temperature, humidity and CO2 levels. Monitor and analyze these indices to better understand your facility’s air quality.

Laboratories

For secondary schools, proper ventilation in laboratories goes beyond occupant comfort. It is vital for the safety of students and teachers, in the laboratory and throughout the school. Read the entire article on Safety in Laboratory Spaces.

The main potential for energy waste in laboratories are chemical hoods. Occupancy sensors can control the operation of fume hoods to ensure they are on only when needed. Educating teachers and students on efficient use of chemical hoods also contribute to reduced energy consumption inside laboratories.

To monitor negative pressure in a laboratory, BuildPulse recommends air flow sensors for the fume hood exhaust, room exhaust and incoming air supply. Proper laboratory pressurization can be monitored to find potential cases of too much or not enough negative pressure.

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Recommissioning is the process of optimizing the systems in your facilities. Like a tune-up for your car, recommissioning extends the life and improves the performance of your school’s systems.

As a continuous process, recommissioning is centred around monitoring, analyzing and refining the operations and systems. It does not mean big capital upgrades – by definition, recommissioning typically has less than a two-year payback.

All schools can benefit from recommissioning, and the small changes can add up to both energy and cost savings. Also, you don’t need to be an HVAC expert or an energy manager to begin recommissioning. Following a few best practices will improve the performance of your systems.

Common areas of improvement

The first step to recommissioning is understanding the specific systems in your facilities. When I go to a school for the first time, I talk to whoever oversees the facility and get a tour of the school. These are some areas of improvement I often see:

Schedule of HVAC systems

The people who control the scheduling have a lot of power at their fingertips. No matter who does the scheduling, there are many benefits to customizing and regularly adjusting the school’s schedule.

I often see schedules that are made to meet the demands of generic extremes in weather, such as a schedule that is set for hot summer days when it is not hot outside. Most often, schedules are set at the beginning of a season and then forgotten about a few months later. Regularly adjusting the schedule for weather, occupancy or demand is great, but be sure to keep up with the regular changes.

Just like weather has seasons, schools also have regular changes and patterns. I sometime observe schools that do not refine their schedule for the breaks, whether summer, winter or other periods when most people are away from the building.

Integrating upgrades into existing systems

New technology doesn’t necessarily mean a building is being as energy efficient as possible. Installations focus on introducing new equipment and not on optimizing it for its location. Overall, this means the entire system got more complex and there is often room to optimize sequencing, scheduling or the equipment’s operation.

I find this often with new VFDs or mechanical upgrades. When I see a VFD, I take a close look to make sure it is modulating correctly. On more than one occasion, I have seen new VFDs that have been installed, set at one speed and just left.

Opposing operations

I have witnessed moments when two opposing operations are running at the same time. For example, both heating and cooling systems running in tandem. The first step to catch these obvious faults is to begin a recommissioning cycle and monitor the systems in detail.

Let us help!

Rede understands that facilities staff have long to-do lists. We can help with all parts of a recommissioning cycle and work alongside your staff to find solutions that meet your budget and unique demands of your buildings.

An outside pair of eyes and ears can be advantageous in finding areas for improvement in your buildings. As the saying goes, it is difficult to see the forest for the trees. I went into one school and noticed an mistake with the schedule – the air handler was on even though it was scheduled to be off. Their staff were accustomed to the building’s noises so they did not notice the change (or lack of change) in sound. It turned out there was an error in communication between the schedule and equipment.

Recommissioning starts with temperatures, setpoints and scheduling, but it can quickly get more complex. We can go beyond the basics and get into the details of your HVAC systems. And through the entire process, Rede will work within and improve your school’s existing conservation strategies.

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