What we are hearing more and more about is “benchmarking.” The Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) defines the term as it relates to the built environment:
“Energy benchmarking is a foundational tool for measuring energy use and year-over-year GHG emission reductions in existing buildings.”
A few provinces have now mandated that buildings – and these include hospitals, schools, office buildings, and others – begin the process of benchmarking. The goal is that once a baseline for energy use and GHG emissions is established, improving on the numbers becomes the yearly requirement. The yearly numbers have to be reported, with these used to compare buildings of similar purpose. Recently, water use has become part of the benchmarking requirements.
A facilities manager will therefore be able to compare his or her building to a peer group. The challenge going forward will be to identify and evaluate the elements that will produce the largest return for the investment. For the most part, the “easy stuff” has been taken care of—new energy efficient windows, increased insulation on roofs and in walls, lighting, and automated HVAC controls. Where to look next?
Consider this:
- The Toronto District School Board (TDSB), the largest school board in Canada, has reported a maintenance deficit of $3 billion. Jurisdictions across Canada face the same issues in their respective older primary and middle school building inventories. Old buildings with old HVAC systems are ready-made for upgrades, and those have to include mechanical insulation.
- The US National Institute of Building Science estimates retrofit potential (assuming the Canadian equivalent is 10% of these values) as:
• A US$35.6 billion industry
• Creating 424,000 full-time job years
• Resulting in GHG emission reductions in the order of 87 million metric tons per year. - The Department of National Defense (DND) reports there are 23 central heating plants across Canada with a mean age of 45 years. DND owns 23,000 buildings of various types, some of which date back prior to World War II.
The federal government has earmarked $30 billion over ten years dedicated to both new infrastructure and improvements to existing infrastructure. The funds will be allocated to projects in the following categories:
- Public Transit: In new and existing maintenance facilities and in tunnels for subways
- Social: Housing and community centres
- Green: Everything else.
Keep in mind that each category will require mechanical insulation.
- The idea behind benchmarking water consumption is that it requires energy to move water; therefore, if you waste water you waste energy. When a domestic or service hot water system is not adequately insulated, it takes longer for water to reach a comfortable temperature range at the outlet. Water is wasted when the flow continues for more than 31 seconds (according to the American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE)), and this is because the heat loss along the length of the pipe is too great.
- Companies such as Enbridge, Fortis, Honeywell, and Johnson Controls offer incentives for improved energy efficiency on HVAC systems. These firms offer their clients a “turnkey” proposition that costs nothing because the upgrades are paid for with energy savings. At a point these savings go directly to the client. A contractor could secure a place on an approved contractor list and become involved in a considerable amount of work.
NECB-2015 has been legislated with increased minimum pipe insulation thicknesses. The document also addresses requirements to improve energy efficiency during the application process.
So far, we’ve looked at low-hanging fruit in terms of trees that are already in place and it’s just a matter of time before the fruit is ripe enough to pick.
What about low-hanging fruit that is ripe and ready to pick? The idea is that nourishment is so close. Just reach up or down and it’s right there in your hand. Applying this to mechanical insulation is a baby step mainly because mechanical insulation is so often overlooked. Whether it be uninsulated fittings, pipe runs, ducting, or equipment, the deficiencies are evident. Well, evident if anyone chooses to look up or look down, and this is exactly the area where we must educate facilities managers, consultants, and owners.
Step into the HVAC areas of almost any decades-old building and it becomes obvious where the deficiencies are—missing and damaged insulation and thicknesses that are no longer energy efficient. For the contractors currently working in such a building, why not take a tour and note what you see that requires attention? The deficiencies are there because that’s the nature of how mechanical insulation “matures” over the years—maintenance personnel doesn’t replace insulation, insulation becomes damaged, and insulation thicknesses that were proper at the time are now inadequate.
At a recent CHES trade show in Vancouver, a facilities manager came to our booth and explained his staff identified 200 fittings requiring insulation. Another facilities manager complained his boiler room was so hot, the maintenance staff were limited as to how long they could remain in the area. Yet another talked about how the chilled water lines were constantly dripping. We prepared the TIAC Operations & Maintenance Protocol for exactly this purpose.
The TIAC O&M Protocol details a step-by-step approach for O&M personnel to identify deficiencies and generate the rationale for either affecting repairs on their own or calling a contractor for advice and pricing. But why wait for this option to happen when it’s possible to accelerate the process with a few initiatives?
TIAC can help. If you’re unsure of an approach, we have the resources to help your client understand next steps and the economic and energy savings rationale behind any recommendations we make. Government mandated benchmarking is becoming the driving force encouraging facilities managers and owners to push deeper for continuous improvements in energy and water use.
