This article is a continuation of my series on best green operation and maintenance practices.  In this article and next, I am going to cover best energy efficiency practices:

Start by Defining Energy Savings Goals – Clearly defining energy goals will help you achieve the most from energy and efficiency measures.  The more clearly defined and specific the goal, the more likely it is that it will be achieved.  For example, “Reduce energy consumption for heating, cooling, and hot water by 10% through implementation of best operation and maintenance practices and conservation measures”.

Track Performance –After setting your energy savings goals, you should track utility usage to evaluate the success of energy efficiency improvements and monitor progress towards the goals.  The  EPA offers a free benchmarking tool, Portfolio Manager, to help track utility usage within a property or between properties:  www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=evaluate_performance.bus_portfoliomanager.

Besides tracking performance, you can use the data to encourage properties to compete with for the largest energy savings.

Change Air Filters – Inspect, clean, or change air filters every month.   A dirty filter wastes energy by slowing air flow and making the system work harder.  Keeping filters clean can help avoid expensive maintenance costs and early system failure by preventing dust and dirt from building up in the system.  You should be familiar with the location, sizes, and types of air filter required for your system.  Air filter maintenance should be part of the operating budget and the preventative maintenance program.

Programmable Thermostats –Installing a programmable thermostat is one of the easiest ways to save energy and efficiently building manage cooling and heating.  It is estimate that each degree cooler or warmer that a thermostat is set can increase energy usage from 6% to 8%.  Programmable thermostats can be adjusted to regulate temperatures during daytime hours, nights and weekends.   Select thermostats with thermostat locking and setpoint range control.  Thermostat locking prevents non-authorized individuals from adjusting temperatures and setpoint range control allows you to set a maximum and minimum temperature range for heating and cooling.

Use Equipment Automatic Controls – Even if a piece of equipment or a system is well maintained, it can waste energy if operated using inadequate control strategies or improper scheduling.  Review and adjust any on-off controls such as programmable and mechanical time clock settings, setpoints, lighting photocells, and sweeps and occupancy sensors