Canadian Retailer - Store 2014 - 54

2014 ERA AWARDS ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

AWARD WINNER

MAJOR RETROFITS FOR MAJOR
SAVINGS AT STAPLES

Controlling building air-flow positively impacts energy use and
the bottom line
MOST commercial buildings today are over-ventilated, and left
uncorrected, energy costs increase needlessly. Legacy building
codes are the primary reason which explains the over-ventilation of buildings in Canada and the United States. In most
cases, the codes that were in place at the time of original construction required a constant volume of fresh air be provided
in proportion to the maximum design occupancy of the building. In reality, the actual occupancy rarely approaches the maximum design occupancy.
Buildings do not require the induction of 100 per cent fresh
air all of the time. As the number of people in a building varies
at different times, so too should the demand for fresh air. The
requirement for fresh air can be lower at the times of the day
when fewer people are in a building.
This is why over-ventilation is one of the
largest indirect contributors to a building's
energy use. The fact that most Canadian and
U.S. buildings deliver fresh air to the building's
occupants at a fixed or constant volume represents the heart of the business case for Demand Controlled Ventilation (DCV) as a retrofit measure in Staples stores and buildings.

exceeding 100 per cent; to save 10 to 12 per
cent on natural gas and energy; and to gain financial incentives from the utility companies.
During the project execution, the retailer
conducted several conference calls with all
groups involved to ensure that the project
stayed on track with timelines. The retailer
also released two store communications outlining the process and details of how much
time would be spent in-store during the installation. And finally, with its utility data partner,
Staples built a group within its database to
track DCV stores as a group and validate if the
program generated results.

Economical energy use

Demand Controlled Ventilation is the HVAC
practice of controlling the airflow rate at which
fresh air is inducted into a building. By ventilating to actual demand rather than maximum
design demand, the building's ratepayer can
enjoy substantially lower heating and cooling
costs. In many commercial buildings, the simplest way to respond to the demand for fresh
air is to measure the amount of CO2 in the air,
provide that CO2 data to the building's makeup air control system, and then let the system
automatically regulate the amount of fresh air needed.
Staples set out to maximize energy efficiency while maintaining appropriate levels of fresh air. This project required
that the retailer determine how to increase energy efficiency
without impacting comfort, create measurable results and a
measurable return on investment and deliver a quick project
turnaround with no impact on store operations.
The retailer also established other goals for the project: to
generate payback for the project in eight to 12 months, with ROI

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Saving energy while staying cool at Staples.
Cool Results

The stores did generate results. By the end
of the project timeline, Staples installed DCV
in 117 locations. In total, the project generated
an estimated electrical savings of 1,300,000
kWh and an estimated average electrical savings per location of 11,800 kWh. In addition,
the retailer received $320,000 in incentives to
complete the work.

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Canadian Retailer - Store 2014

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