Thursday, August 27, 2009

Information - Air Conditioning in State Buildings

BUILDING AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEMS
Cooling: Take heat out of the air
Heating: Add heat to the air
Buildings are supplied by both outside air & return air/recycled air
40% of energy usage in buildings is air conditioning

OCCUPIED SPACE TEMERATURES IN BUILDINGS
Heating: 68 - 72 degrees
Deadband: 72 - 75 degrees
Cooling: 75 - 78 degrees
Core working hours: Monday - Thursday (7AM to 6PM)
Goal is to have buildings within occupied temperatures range during core hours
1 degree change can save 3% in energy usage

UNOCCUPIED SPACE TEMPERATURES IN BUILDINGS
Heating: 55 - 65 degrees
Cooling: 80 - 90 degrees
Nights, Weekends, Holidays, Fridays if on 4/10 schedule
Protect building equipment from freezing & heat

SPACE HEATERS
Safety issues
Vary in size: 1500 watts to 100 watts
Cost to operate: 7 cents per 1000 watts which is 1 kWh, could be as high as $1 day
Impact building air conditioning systems

HOW CAN YOU HELP? Assess:
Is there an ongoing problem in section of building or is it just the individual?
Are legs and feet cold or whole body as well?
What is the temperature in space when space heaters are on?
What is the wattage of the space heater?
Does heater have timer, overheat protection, thermostat?
Consider the cost impact.
Can you reduce the amount of time you use a space heater?
Can you move to a lower wattage space heater?
Can you turn off heater when not in use?
Call DFCM if there is a building problem.

No comments:

Post a Comment