Building Management Hawaii February/March - (Page 16)

Top 3 Energy Incentives Minimize your operating budget variances with energy efficiency measures. By Michael Chang Energy T here are many reasons to decrease electricity consumption beyond reducing the state’s dependence on imported oil. An often-overlooked reason is that lower usage minimizes monthly operating budget variances. If you have not already performed the following three energy efficiency and conservation measures, then you are at the mercy of your budget variances being driven by unpredictable and uncontrollable world energy price changes: can place AOAOs and other buildings in various levels of financial hardship. This can range from realignments of monthly expenditures to match cash flows to full-blown budget fire drills as a result of rapid and frequent electricity cost fluctuations. In these instances, AOAOs may have to resort to balancing budgets by taking measures such as: 1) Submetering – drives behavior and fairness to all • ipping into reserves d 2) omestic water pump retrofit – D often overlooked • eferring discretionary services d such as grounds and equipment maintenance • eviewing special assessments to r make up the difference 3) ighting retrofit – always your L first action! To encourage adoption, Hawaii Energy, the ratepayerfunded conservation and efficiency program, offers substantial financial incentives for these measures and more. Craigside, AOAO Just months after installation, Craigside in Nuuanu is already achieving significant energy reduction. In March 2012, submetering was installed for 242 units. From March to September, actual usage was down from its predicted usage by about 20 percent (approximately 1,000 kWh reduction per day, which is equal to about $9,120 in electricity cost savings per month, based on 30 cents per kWh and adjusted for weatherrelated changes). Installing a submetering system can greatly minimize these scenarios. Moreover, in 2012, the legislature adopted and the governor signed into law Act 18, which enables boards to authorize the installation of submetering, provided that AOAOs pay for the installation cost. Top 3 Energy Incentives CASE STUDY Available Incentive 1) Electrical Submetering Condominiums and commercial buildings with electrical “master meters” can minimize operating costs by submetering common areas, owners’ units and mixed-use vendors, as well as parking structures and retail spaces. A master meter consists of a single utility meter to monitor the electrical service to the entire building. Master meters are problematic since payment for electricity is a fixed amount based on percentage ownership within the property instead of correlating to a unit’s electricity usage. It was often selected and installed for two reasons: • owest initial construction costs l • owest “bulk rate” dollars per l kilowatt hours (kWh) operating costs over the life of the building The removal of personal responsibility driven by master meters 16 February–March 2013 BMH Hawaii Energy offers a substantial incentive of $150 per unit (up to 50 percent of the total project cost) for submeters used for billing. The cost of submetering ranges from $350 to $550 per unit, with monthly billing service fees from $1.50 to $5 per bill. Submetering not only fairly allocates the cost of electricity; it encourages residents in each unit to conserve energy. Depending on the property and the occupants’ willingness to change their behavior, electricity reduction can range from 10 to 25 percent. As with any purchase and installation, Hawaii Energy strongly recommends that associations do their due diligence to find a qualified contractor. Over the last 18 months, eight properties have installed submetering. Fifteen more properties are underway or will start soon. Contact Hawaii Energy for recommended best practices to replicate successful projects. 2) omestic Water Pump D Retrofit Does electricity come to mind when you turn on the faucet in a high-rise building? Probably not, since water and electricity do not normally mix. What many residents don’t realize, however, is that it takes a lot of electricity to pump up the water they use every day. Retrofit domestic water pumps (also known as “booster pumps”) are a great hidden source of energy savings. The pumps take potable city water from the street and pump it up to high-rise buildings (generally, those that are six floors or higher) or across campuses of buildings. New pump packages use high efficiency motors, pumps, variable frequency drives (VFDs) and controls www.buildingmanagementhawaii.com http://www.buildingmanagementhawaii.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Building Management Hawaii February/March

Top 3 Energy Incentives
On The Grid
Solar: Not A Singular Solution
Saving Money & Art
Payback Projects
Top 10: Turn Energy Into Value
AC: Light-Zapping Clean
Does Your HVAC Talk BACnet?
Editorial: Industry Insights
Association Updates & Industry News
Ask An Expert: No One Likes To Sag

Building Management Hawaii February/March