Innovative Energy Savings Solutions in Small Commercial Buildings

Innovative Energy Savings Solutions

Small and Medium-sized Commercial Buildings account for 95 percent of building stock and consume half the energy in a sector of the economy responsible for 20 percent of the total energy consumption.

Owners of smaller buildings are often unaware of the amount of energy wasted and the opportunity for savings that building automation systems provide. This sector hasn’t BAS for the following reasons:

1. the high cost of tailoring software and acquiring hardware components is beyond the reach of most small- and medium-sized properties;
2. the owner is not always the tenant that pays the utility bill, hence limited incentive to invest in the building’s energy efficiency.

Cost and Interoperability wide scale adoption of BAS requires interoperability, scalability and ease of deployment that are achievable with plug-and-play open architectures capable of local or remote monitoring.

Most BAS currently Use Proprietary Architectures

Controls Designers purchase all devices and controllers from single vendors instead of being able to choose optimal products, controls and services from different vendors to achieve widespread turnkey solutions that reduce installation and maintenance costs with seamless integration of HVAC, lighting, and plug load equipment as well as controllers from different manufacturers that offer plug-and-play functionality for the many system configurations found in smaller commercial architectures.

Benefits include streamlined building operations, optimized energy usage, greater interconnection between building systems and a centralized control structure that facilitates demand response, savings and better integration with the electric power grid, energy savings of 10 percent for HVAC systems and 15 percent for lighting, increased participation in demand response programs, a cost-effective, open-source, plug-and-play building automation platform that is secure, scalable, and broadly interoperable, and support for the most prevalent communication technologies and protocols, including Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Smart Energy Profile.

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Energy Audits Conservation Design and LEED Neighborhood Development

Energy Audits inspect and analyze energy usage and flows in a building to reduce the amount of energy input into the system without negatively affecting output. Building technologies and advanced real-time energy smart meters allow business and residential energy users to verify consumption in workplaces and homes. Passive Solar Buildings take advantage of the local climate with window placement and glazing, thermal mass, insulation and shading. Walls, floors and windows are designed and located to collect, store and distribute energy without the use of mechanical and electric devices.

Conservation and efficiency are energy reduction techniques; conservation implies sufficiency and is the key to sustainability as it lowers energy costs by reducing resource depletion.

Smart Location Encourages Transport Alternatives Historic Preservation while Discouraging Sprawl

Urban and Suburban Transport developed with inexpensive fossil fuels. Recent zoning practices range from greater urban density to incorporation of walking and bicycling designs that, coupled with lifestyle changes like telecommuting, help reduce transport energy consumption.

Sustainable Architecture is the Environmental Impact of Buildings and Materials Energy and Space Usage

Environmental Design refers to the applied arts and sciences that deal with the human environment in the fields of architecture, geography, interior design, landscape architecture and urban planning. It also includes interdisciplinary subjects like lighting design and historical preservation.

A Design Construction Operation and Maintenance Rating System

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design LEED is a green building certification program developed by the US Green Building Council to assist building owners and managers to use resources efficiently.

LEED for Neighborhood Development is a rating system that certifies local development green buildings and integrates a project’s green building and infrastructure practices. The credits relate to energy efficiency, reduced water use, building reuse, recycled materials, and heat island reduction.

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Green Leases for Properties and Communities

Green leases also known as aligned, high performance, or energy efficient leases align the financial and energy incentives of building owners and tenants so they can work together to save money, conserve resources, and ensure the efficient operation of buildings. A green lease is a lease of space in a green building that is designed, constructed and operated to achieve sustainability, water efficiency, energy savings and indoor environment quality.
Building Leases spell out how energy costs are divided between tenants and owners. Often, these leases are not structured in a way that promotes energy savings. Tenants have no incentive to save energy in their leased premises because energy costs are based on tenant square footage. Building owners have no incentive to invest in energy efficiency because the operating expenses are passed onto tenants.
Green Leases promote energy efficiency by creating lease structures which equitably align the costs and benefits of efficiency investments between building owners and tenants.

​​ A Landlord Tenant Energy Partnership

The Landlord Tenant Energy Partnership is led by the Institute for Market Transformation with the Retails Industry Leaders Association and the International Council of Shopping Centers. Participants have access to guidance in implementing energy efficiency steps, lease negotiations and property operations.

An Energy Savings Checklist replace inefficient incandescent bulbs with CFL bulbs; install and correctly set a programmable thermostat; switch out your showerhead for an efficient WaterSense model; use a power strip for electronics and appliances; set the refrigerator to 36°F - 40°F and the freezer to 0°F - 5°F. use shades and insulated drapes to block out the sun in the summer and reduce heat loss in winter.

Energy Management nearly all renters pay their own energy bills but have little say over the efficiency and quality of the appliances and windows in their home. 

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