No-Cost Energy-Savings Strategies

by John Klein, Sharon Levin, and Deborah Cloutier

The following excerpts are from IREM's Key Report, A Practical Guide to Energy Management (IREM Copyright 2005):

There are a number of no-cost strategies that building managers can implement to lower energy consumption. Among them are turning off lights when they are not needed (i.e., when space is unoccupied), performing cleaning activities during daytime hours, and setting back the thermostat.

Turning Off Lights. Historically, there has been a disconnect between building managers, occupants, and cleaning staff. Many times occupants believe they must leave their lights on to have their space cleaned. The cleaning staff, finding the lights on, oftentimes believe the lights should be left on even when they complete their cleaning tasks. More conscientious occupants who turn off their lights often find that their offices were not cleaned because the cleaning staff thought their dark office was a sign to "stay out." Unfortunately, these myths and others are pervasive in the built environment.

This deserves further explanation: An abundance of anecdotal data suggests that the average number of operating hours in office space is 65 hours per week. On average, janitorial services are using lighting for an additional 20 hours per week (4 hours per day) above and beyond what is needed to do their work. Typically, when buildings are cleaned, all the lights are turned on during the entire cleaning process. Hopefully, all the lighting is turned off when the cleaning staff leaves. However, there are many reports of lights remaining on, not only overnight, but also through entire weekends.

These numbers can be used to demonstrate lighting costs and savings. Suppose that a 200,000-square-foot office building is lighted approximately 85 hours per week (65 standard operating hours plus 20 hours during janitorial cleaning). Suppose further that the 20 janitorial hours of lighting are unnecessary. The extra hours equate to 24% of total lighting consumption in the building (20 / 85 = 0.24). Because lighting represents, on average, 30% of total building energy consumption, the excess lighting hours in our example equate to 7.2% of total building energy consumption (0.24 x 0.30 = 0.072). Assuming that energy costs, on average, $2 per square foot per year, in a 200,000-square-foot building there is the potential for saving 14.4�per square foot or $28,800 per year simply by having the cleaning staff turn lights on when they need them and off when they are finished.

Evidence suggests that an additional 2-4% of total building energy can be saved as a result of the cleaning staff turning off this equipment. As a fail-safe procedure, security personnel can be trained to follow up after the cleaning staff and catch whatever was missed.

Another benefit from training janitorial and security personnel is having more eyes and ears looking and listening for maintenance problems. Some examples of this would be leaky faucets, running toilets, burned-out lights, and faulty switches, to mention just a few. By creating a system for communicating with engineering/maintenance staff, many hours (and dollars) can be saved through empowering all concerned personnel with basic concepts of preventive maintenance.

Day Cleaning. Day cleaning is just that - cleaning offices during the day. This is not a new concept, but getting it accepted and implemented is a challenge. Also, day cleaning may not be suitable for every building.

In single-tenant buildings, and in buildings where there are single tenants occupying entire floors, implementation of day cleaning may be much easier. We highly recommend giving day cleaning a chance.

Having better relationships with your cleaning and security personnel will always benefit building managers and owners. Cleaning staff and security personnel are in the buildings for substantial numbers of hours each week and yet why should they care? They do not pay any of the energy bills. Also, cleaning and security personnel are typically among the lowest paid workers in buildings. Providing them with basic education and training about energy savings increases their value as workers, and they become more competitive in the work force.

Dialing the Thermostat Up or Down. If you were to ask most people what they believe is a comfortable temperature in air-conditioned space, their answers would likely be somewhere between 72 degrees Farenheit to 74 degrees Farenheit. In fact, in most office settings the temperatures are set to these degree points. However, it is interesting to observe the people occupying this space. Men may be wearing suits and ties, most with their jackets off, and women may be in skirts or dresses - some wearing sweaters, others in short sleeves. Oftentimes, when asked about their comfort level, surveys suggest that most of those queried would state that they are too cold.

From an energy consumption perspective, the savings achieved by raising a thermostat 1 degree Farenheit is arguably between 3% and 5% of the total energy bill for the building. For example, if the initial temperature setting when using air conditioning was 72 degrees Farenheit and the temperature setting is increased to 77 degrees Farenheit, the total building energy savings would be anywhere from 15% to 25%. Even if the increase is only from 72 degrees Farenheit to 74 degrees Farenheit, the total building energy savings would still be 6% to 10%. With an average energy cost of approximately $2.00 per square foot, this represents a savings of between 12 cents and 20 cents per square foot. In a 200,000-square-foot office building, this means savings between $24,000 and $40,000 per year.

If we can change our perception of what we think should be comfortable and come to accept what, in fact, is comfortable, the potential savings can be huge.