New High Efficiency HVAC Systems and Controls
Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning systems represent a significant portion of the average buildings utility costs each year. The following breakdown provides the average cost related to a facility's annual electrical consumption.
Hospitals:
45% of electrical costs are associated
with HVAC systems
Commercial Office Space:
42% of electrical costs are associated
with HVAC systems
Educational Facilities (k-12)
24% of electrical costs are associated
with HVAC systems
Warehouse/Industrial:
21% of electrical costs are associated
with HVAC systems
Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning systems represent a significant portion of the average buildings utility costs each year. The following breakdown provides the average cost related to a facility's annual electrical consumption.
Hospitals:
45% of electrical costs are associated
with HVAC systems
Commercial Office Space:
42% of electrical costs are associated
with HVAC systems
Educational Facilities (k-12)
24% of electrical costs are associated
with HVAC systems
Warehouse/Industrial:
21% of electrical costs are associated
with HVAC systems
Primary methods for reducing the cost of operating HVAC equipment:
A) Upgrade Existing HVAC Equipment: The long-term solution is to upgrade old equipment with new energy star rated equipment that is designed to meet today's 'green' standards. Many buildings are still operating with equipment that is 20, 30 or ever 40 years old - and in some cases, HVAC equipment that has exceeded its useful life cycle. Upgrading HVAC equipment is expensive, unless you know the potential cost savings, utility incentives and tax benefits.
B) Monitor and Control HVAC Equipment: To really maximize your utility expenditures, technology has advanced to the point where old manual or programmable thermostats have been replaced by state-of-the-art control software or Energy Management Software (EMS). By utilizing EMS to schedule, manage and monitor your HVAC usage, you can deploy an energy efficient strategy that is designed to cut back your utility expenses 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Once installed and commissioned, an EMS is simple to use and can even be accessed via the web for remote users.
C) Utility Incentives
Many states have adopted energy efficiency incentive funds to help promote both of these measures. For example, in Massachusetts, the MassSave program offers incentives for qualifying equipment and EMS systems. T.E.M. Energy Management Solutions works with you to determine which measure makes the most sense, and we help provide the documentation required to obtain the very best incentives. The following is a Return on Investment example when installing an Energy Management Software to control a HVAC system.
Our HVAC Savings Example:
Building Type: Office Space
Building Size: 130,000 sq. ft
Energy Efficiency Measure: EMS installed
Annual kWh Usage before: 997,200 kWh
Annual kWh Usage after:- 620,536 kWh
Annual kWh Savings: 376,664
Project Cost: $135,000
Utility Incentive: $22,500
Customer Cost: $112,500
Simple Payback: 25 months
Annual Savings in Dollars: $52,732
10 Year Savings: $527,320
Another area for consideration when calculating return on investment is related to federal tax credits for energy efficiency improvements to a commercial building. The Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings Tax Deduction (CBTD) is a special financial incentive created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and designed to reduce the initial cost of investing in energy-efficient lighting and other building systems via an accelerated tax deduction.
This special tax deduction allows building owners (or tenants) to write off the complete cost of upgrading a building's indoor lighting, HVAC/hot water and building envelope in the year the new equipment is placed in service, capped at $1.80/sq.ft. The owner (or tenant) could upgrade one of these three systems to earn the CBTD capped at $0.60/sq.ft. With the CBTD, the cost of new lighting or other building systems can be claimed in a single tax year instead of amortized over a period of years. The CBTD expiration date has been extended twice, most recently by the Energy Independence Act of 2007 (EISA). With this extension, the CBTD can be claimed for qualifying projects completed before January 1, 2014.
Our goal is to obtain the best utility incentives that you may be eligible for, and provide a solution that will maximize the reduction of your utility expenditures. This means a reduction in operating costs that will put cash back into your annual budget.
For more information, please contact us today.
This special tax deduction allows building owners (or tenants) to write off the complete cost of upgrading a building's indoor lighting, HVAC/hot water and building envelope in the year the new equipment is placed in service, capped at $1.80/sq.ft. The owner (or tenant) could upgrade one of these three systems to earn the CBTD capped at $0.60/sq.ft. With the CBTD, the cost of new lighting or other building systems can be claimed in a single tax year instead of amortized over a period of years. The CBTD expiration date has been extended twice, most recently by the Energy Independence Act of 2007 (EISA). With this extension, the CBTD can be claimed for qualifying projects completed before January 1, 2014.
Our goal is to obtain the best utility incentives that you may be eligible for, and provide a solution that will maximize the reduction of your utility expenditures. This means a reduction in operating costs that will put cash back into your annual budget.
For more information, please contact us today.