This list of energy efficiency measures and projects is a great place to start in determining which activity will have the greatest impact on your building, with your tenants and on your operational cash flow:

• Building envelope improvement
  • Weather/infiltration sealing
  • Increased insulation
  • High performance window replacement
  • Low emissivity reflective window film (to reduce unwanted solar gain in the summer and increase the R-value of windows in the winter)
• Lighting
  • “Delamping,” i.e. permanently turning off/disconnecting unneeded light fixtures
  • “Relamping,” i.e. replacing inefficient light fixtures or lamps with high efficiency fixtures/lamps
    • Convert T-12 fixtures/lamps to T-8 or T-5
    • Relamp 32 watt T-8 lamps with 28 watt T-8
    • Eliminate incandescent bulbs
    • Convert all exit lighting to LEDs or switch to photoluminescent signs that require no electricity
    • Beware of retrofitting with indirect lighting – while classy looking it may require more fixtures and more wattage
  • Increase reliance on task lighting in order to decrease general illumination without adversely affecting productivity
  • Improve lighting controls
    • Occupancy sensors
    • Timers (stand alone or energy management system or EMS-interfaced)
    • Daylight harvesting sensors and controls including simple photocells
  • Convert outdoor lighting to high pressure sodium
  • Eliminate/reduce outdoor decorative lighting
  • Consider LEDs for general indoor and outdoor illumination (the technology is almost there)
  • Consider outdoor solar powered-LED light fixtures (this technology is also almost there)
  • Require white or off-white wall paints for maximum light reflectivity so adequate lighting levels can be achieved with minimum lighting wattage
  • When renovating spaces, design new lighting for less than 1.0 watts per square foot
• Boilers
  • Replace old boilers with new high efficiency boilers
  • Do not oversize replacement boilers
  • Retrofit boilers with variable flame burners
  • Consider multiple high efficiency modular boilers to improve efficiency by better matching hot water heating loads
  • Consider replacing boilers with cogenerators (which also produce electricity)
  • Control boiler output water temperature with outside air temp reset so boiler does not need to heat water hotter than necessary
  • Retrofit boilers with flue gas/stack heat recovery
• Chillers
  • Replace old chillers with new high efficiency chillers whose efficiency curve best matches your load profile
  • Do not oversize replacement chillers
  • Operate at peak efficiency (by adjusting water flow, load, condenser/evaporator water temps, etc.)
  • Replace old cooling towers with new high efficiency towers
• Air conditioning
  • Replace older AC equipment with maximum efficiency models
  • Discontinue use of inefficient window units
  • Reduce AC operating hours
  • Turn off reheats and stop controlling humidity levels during the cooling season
  • Clean cooling coils on a regular basis
  • Maximize use of “free cooling” with economizer cycle
  • Use open windows and passive cooling when mechanical air conditioning is not needed
  • Close windows when air conditioning is in operation
  • In dry climates consider evaporative cooling
  • In humid areas consider desiccant cooling
• Temperature control
  • Reduce temperature settings in winter
  • Increase temperature settings in summer
  • Maximize night, weekend and holiday temperature setbacks
  • Install tamper proof or remote thermostats
  • Control space temp remotely by EMS
  • If occupant controlled thermostats are required, then limit range of adjustment to ensure campus temperature policy compliance
• Motors, fans and pumps
  • Adjust operating schedule to minimize run hours (review and update periodically)
  • Replace old motors, pumps, and air handling units with high efficiency
  • Control motors serving fans and pumps with variable speed drives (VSDs)
  • Operate VSDs at maximum acceptable turn-down; vary by time of day and occupancy; also vary by season
  • Convert constant volume fan system to variable air volume
  • Reduce outside air volume during morning warm-up cycle and where/whenever possible through damper settings and demand control ventilation
  • Reduce needless pumping by eliminating three-way by-pass valves
• Laboratory Ventilation and Fume Hoods
  • Switch to a “green chemistry” teaching program that doesn’t require fume hoods
  • Turn off 100% outside air ventilating systems whenever possible, e.g. in teaching labs whenever classes are not in session; shut down or slow down related supply fans
  • Decommission/remove unneeded fume hoods and reduce fan system outside air volume
  • Eliminate unneeded fume hoods by using ventilated storage cabinets instead of hoods for chemical storage
  • Retrofit constant volume fume hood ventilation systems to variable air volume
  • Retrofit conventional fume hoods with low-flow hoods and reduce outside air volumes
  • Retrofit these systems with heat recovery
• Heat recovery
  • Run around loops
  • Heat wheels
  • Heat pipes
  • Desiccant wheels
  • Air-to-air heat exchangers
  • Install heat recovery
• Energy Management Systems (EMS)
  • Switch to direct digital control (DDC) systems
  • Purchase EMS systems which are easy to program (so programming capabilities will be fully utilized by facilities staff)
  • Utilize and optimize use of EMS energy conservation programs, e.g.
    • Optimal start/stop
    • Night setback
    • Demand shedding
    • Remote programmed lighting control
• Fuel Switching
  • Consider converting electric space and water heating to natural gas
• Energy Intelligence & feedback systems
  • Accessible display units that show energy use and savings can have dramatic results in energy use behaviors