Energy efficiency is a low-cost way to save money. National Lab scientists are building special sensors to see and hear inside turbine engines. While this report was sponsored by the Building Technologies Program within the U.S. Department of Energy’s. EPA’s ENERGY STAR program has been America. Improving your home's energy efficiency with ENERGY STAR can help. The ENERGY STAR National Building. Energy efficiency in British housing. Housing in the United Kingdom; Category:Low-energy building in the United Kingdom; Code for Sustainable Homes; Energy Saving. Energy Efficiency in Buildings . For current information, please visit eco. ENERGY or contact us. Table of Contents. Section 1. The Benefits of Good Energy Management. Section 2. Managing Energy in Schools. Section 3. Improving Energy Efficiency. By improving the energy efficiency of buildings. Community Energy Efficiency Program. Grant Recipients; Energy Efficiency. What is energy efficiency? Energy efficiency is 'using less energy to provide the same service'. There are other definitions, but this is a good operational one. Section 4. Renewable Energy Sources. Section 5. Energy Efficiency Programs and Other Resources. Best Practices Guide for School Facility Managers is part of a pilot energy benchmarking and best practices program for the school sector. This Guide, which should be used in conjunction with Benchmarking Guide for School Facility Managers, was developed to help facility managers in the school sector to plan an energy management campaign. It includes tips on opportunities for energy savings and their potential economic returns. Best practices often result in benchmarks. Schools can emulate other organizations that incorporate best practices in an effort to lower their own costs. Benchmarking Guide for School Facility Managers states that energy performance at or below the average (either below the regression line or the average equation, i. Wh/m. 2) may be showing . Best and good practices may be obtained using the information provided in this Guide. Therefore, by benchmarking energy performances, you can determine where there are opportunities for cost savings. If such opportunities exist, this Guide will provide you with ideas on how to best maximize savings or increase already existing savings. The Benefits of Good Energy Management. Good energy management avoids unnecessary costs. This Guide will help facility managers avoid overspending by identifying waste and provide tips on the following: reducing consumption through good management practices; reducing the unit price of energy; achieving better value for money; and comparing consumption and cost with similar schools. Good energy management also improves the local and national environment by reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions that result from energy use. Benefits to Schools. Energy costs are, to a large extent, manageable. Prudent schools are saving significant financial resources by avoiding energy costs. Practising good energy management also has the following benefits: avoids energy costs to help provide more funds for books and equipment; provides valuable curriculum opportunities; strengthens quality management; and increases physical comfort levels. By managing energy more effectively, many schools can reduce their energy costs by 1. Building Energy Codes Program. BUILDING ENERGY CODES. Progress on commercial building energy efficiency has been good. The Southwest Energy Efficiency Project. Utah Program; Energy Efficiency Opportunities. Improving Building Energy Codes Throughout the Southwest. The Building Technologies Office. Efficiency & Renewable Energy Forrestal Building.Energy waste results from inefficient plant operations, poor controls, poor energy awareness and poor or outdated practices. Canadian schools spend about $5. The Environmental Picture. In 1. 99. 2, at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, the nations of the world signed up for Agenda 2. In Chapter 2. 8 of the Agenda, local communities are encouraged to adopt the principles of sustainable development. Each school should do its part to help achieve these goals. At the Kyoto Climate Summit in 1. Based on its 1. 99. Canada set a target of a 6 percent reduction, representing 3. M tonnes of CO2emissions. Managing Energy in Schools. Good energy management ensures that energy use and energy costs are as low as possible and that standards of comfort and service are maintained or improved. A combined approach generates commitment at all levels to reduce costs and pollution. Figure 1 outlines a strategic approach to involve the whole school in energy management. A workshop offered by Natural Resources Canada's (NRCan's) Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE), . A comprehensive policy should include the following: a statement of commitment; an outline of objectives; an energy management action plan or master plan; agreed- upon targets for energy consumption and costs; a policy review process; and the responsibilities and resources necessary to make the action plan happen. An effective energy management program should involve the entire school population. However, someone must coordinate central activities such as data collection and communications. This role may fall to the premises manager or physical plant manager. During initial development, teaching and non- teaching staff should be consulted in order to obtain commitment. In addition, ideas from pupils could be useful, and their involvement should be encouraged. An initial one- year plan for resource management should outline objectives, identify responsibilities and resources available and highlight the review process. Publicity and promotion of the policy throughout the school should ensure wide commitment. In the planning framework, set preliminary goals, collect base data, design a tracking system, spot low- cost opportunities and plan project implementation. Then take action and start working on a longer- term plan. Remember to publicize and promote the policy throughout the school. Getting started also involves seeing how the school is presently performing. Benchmarking Guide for School Facility Managers will help identify current performance, and how it compares with other similar schools. It also indicates what energy costs could be avoided by adopting . The Energy Management Matrix. An energy management matrix is a tool to establish your current situation. The matrix (see Table 1) will provide you with the overall position of energy management within your school. It comprises six columns, each of which covers a key area in management, and five rows that represent increasing levels of achievement to identify where your school stands. Complete the matrix by making a cross in each of the columns at the point where you feel present practices at the school best fits on each issue. Join the crosses to form your profile, which will highlight areas that need the most attention. Aim to climb the matrix in a balanced fashion, i. Ask others within the school to complete the matrix from their perspectives - this may ensure a wider view. Developing the Energy Master Plan (or Energy Management Action Plan)A master plan helps focus activities and gain commitment. Guidelines and templates are available from the OEE to help schools complete action plans. An officer from the OEE's Energy Innovators Initiative can also help schools develop their plans. Here are some tips to start the campaign once the energy coordinator has been appointed. Make sure that energy data are collected regularly - weekly or monthly - to correspond with utility meter readings and/or fuel deliveries. Update records and profile the school energy performance over 1. Compare these figures with benchmark values. Check energy bills for the last year. Are the correct rates being charged? Set up a winning team to oversee the campaign, encourage motivation and maintain progress. Choose members from all areas - teaching and non- teaching staff and students. Start regular walk- through tours (see Section 2. Agree upon good housekeeping measures room by room, and explain them to teaching and administrative/support staff and students. Update lists of items that need maintenance, servicing, repair or replacement. Set priorities for investment. Where there are plans for building retrofits, incorporate energy- saving measures at little extra cost. Have teaching staff and students nominate energy monitors to switch off lights, etc. Talk to teaching staff about direct involvement of older students through curriculum projects. Keep people informed on progress. Give staff and students regular feedback through newsletters, posters and other communications items. Set targets for energy cost savings and/or CO2 savings. Compare overall performance with best practice benchmarks. Set up regular and continuous staff training. Rocky View School Division No. Calgary, Alberta, has attained VCR Inc.'s Gold Level Champion status in the school sector. The board has embarked on an aggressive energy efficiency program that incorporates leading- edge technologies with reduced energy consumption. The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions figures are a key component of the board's energy management action plan. It was estimated that by 2. CO2emissions will be reduced from 1. Energy Monitoring and Tracking. An effective monitoring and tracking system can help to achieve the following: collect data from meters and utility bills; continually analyse energy and water consumption; include observations from students' surveys or walk- through tours; help identify problems; detect discrepancies in billing; analyse energy performance from indices; and set targets for the following year. Outputs from the system can demonstrate specific successes to encourage building users and provide evidence for decision making and future planning for the school. The OEE's . Adapt a checklist, similar to the list in Table 2, to make an organized and thorough inspection of each room and circulation area. Note the following: where energy is being wasted (i. When Should You Do a Walk- Through Energy Audit? Aim to audit your school at least twice a year - before the start of the heating season and at the end. If possible, tour more often, e. Stagger the times of inspections - at lunchtime, at the close of the school day, during cleaning periods or evening use, on the weekend and even during holidays. What Should You Look For? First, draw a simple block plan of your school. Mark how the school is divided up in zones for heating and lighting. As you make your tour, identify the position of the following: the school's boiler room; all gas, electricity and water meters, on/off valves and stop controls; fuel storage tanks and their contents gauges; any zone controls or switches for heating and lighting; and all boiler controls, time clocks and thermostats. Use this plan to familiarize members of your team on how the school is heated, lighted and ventilated, and the location of any major items of equipment that consume energy. This is useful because it will allow staff to have a better knowledge of the school. Have members of the team read each type of meter you have. Read these regularly (once a week). The slow recovery after the economic downturn of 2. In this climate, building executives’ attention to energy efficiency remained steady in 2. Institute for Building Efficiency’s 2. Energy Efficiency Indicator (EEI) survey (Figure 1). Figure 1: Attention to Energy Efficiency: 2. Source: Institute for Building Efficiency (click image to zoom)With stable energy prices and relatively little government incentive, building owners did not pursue energy efficiency as aggressively as in the past. However, innovations like PACE financing options may remove the barrier to capital for energy efficiency investment that has slowed North American investment in recent years. Building executives in the EEI survey expect advanced lighting and smart building technologies to achieve the greatest increase in market adoption in the next 1. United Kingdom. Electricity prices today are higher in the UK than in the United States (Figure 2), although the nation’s Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) forecasts prices to fall modestly in the coming years. Reasons include policies to increase supply- side competition and reduced wholesale energy costs, and European Union (EU) minimum energy efficiency standards expected to reduce demand. However, electricity prices could increase if the EU Emissions Trading Scheme allows the price of coal to rise. The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme required large energy users to develop carbon reduction plans by March 2. An added efficiency incentive is a building labelling program that requires public disclosure of whole- building energy performance. Figure 2: Electricity Prices (2. Source: NUS Consulting Group- Electricity Trends, Shenzen Government Online , EIA, Ofgem (click image to zoom)The 2. EEI survey showed attention to energy efficiency declining: 4. UK executives were paying “a lot more attention” to energy efficiency, versus 4. Large- scale efficiency retrofits are hindered by legal and regulatory barriers, lack of capital amid challenges facing Europe’s economy, and uncertainty about whether such projects can yield the energy savings promised. As a result, building executives are focused on quick- payback technologies with low capital needs. For example, 4. 0 percent of UK executives in the EEI survey expect advanced lighting technologies to have the greatest increase in adoption in the next 1. China. Steadily increasing demand for electricity continues to push electricity prices slowly upward. The national government’s 1. Five Year Plan, launched in 2. GDP by 1. 6 percent. As a result, building owners’ attention to energy efficiency more than doubled: 6. EEI respondents said they were paying “a lot more attention” to energy efficiency, versus 2. Energy efficiency is also being driven by concern for public health related to air pollution from coal- fired power plants. Accordingly, the focus is on energy efficient components that can be deployed in buildings regardless of size. In the EEI survey, technologies expected to see the greatest increase in adoption were smart building technologies such as sensors and smart meters, and solar thermal and photovoltaic systems. China leads the world in expectations around the market penetration of solar energy. Australia. Australia forecasts the largest increase in electricity prices among the four countries, mainly because of a transition from coal- based generation to cleaner natural gas, now being piped from remote parts of the country. The economic downturn affected Australia less than most developed nations, and meanwhile the country has installed innovative energy efficiency regulations, including a progressive PACE financing program. The government also established a $9 billion Clean Fund to support a range of clean energy and energy efficiency programs. Private- and public- sector energy retrofits are being embraced, and utilities sponsor various demand response programs. Technologies expected to see the greatest market adoption include high- efficiency lighting, advanced building materials, and solar energy. Conclusion. Building executives need to understand global energy efficiency trends but must also consider what energy improvements make sense for them in light of local energy prices, government policies, and economic conditions. Resources and motivations differ greatly. In Australia and China, the central governments are aggressively driving efficiency into the building stock; the U. S. Chinese companies can access subsidies to help pay for efficiency components; U. S. Irrespective of energy prices and regulatory schemes, the basic fact remains that energy efficiency is the highest returning investment for buildings globally – and it can be adapted to meet each building’s local needs.
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