July 22, 2010

Energy saving ideas

From ISU Facilities Planning and Management

Lights, appliances, office equipment, computers, personal items

  • Initiate a last out, lights out mentality.
  • Add occupancy sensors for lights -- particularly in low-use public areas like restrooms, break rooms, vending rooms.
  • Reduce light fixtures or de-lamp.
  • Consider re-circuiting and adding more switches in conference rooms and hallways to allow for variable light levels based upon occupant activities.
  • Use task lighting.
  • Initiate sleep mode for computers, printers, copiers, fax, etc.
  • Turn off computers, monitors, printers, copiers, fax, etc, at end of day.
  • Reduce personal equipment or turn off at end of day (refrigerators, coffee makers, fans, etc).
  • Add photocells to shut off lights near windows when natural light is adequate.
  • Use common plug strip for a single shut off of equipment.

Facility awareness

  • Survey your plug loads.
  • Become aware of what switches control what loads and use them.
  • Survey your building for lights left on, equipment left running, or water running.
  • Become aware of your thermostat locations and the area(s) they control.
  • Don't place furniture in front of fan coil units.
  • Don't place heat generating equipment adjacent to or below thermostats.
  • Become aware of how open or closed doors affect air flow and room temperatures.
  • Become familiar with the fans that supply/evacuate your fume hoods. Consolidate materials and isolate hoods that are not required. Operate sash at minimum levels.
  • Shut off lab equipment that is not in use.

Heating and cooling equipment

  • Raise and lower temperature set points, particularly for units with local control.
  • Turn off equipment at the end of day, particularly for units with local control.
  • Adjust on-off scheduling hours for centrally controlled equipment.
  • Do not operate process closed cooling water equipment 24/7.