Smart use of energy

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The Institute's newly renovated Sculpture Court. Robert Kerr Photography

Helping Albany Institute save energy & reduce operating costs

The smart use of energy has saved money for this past year for the Albany Institute of History& Art.

The Institute worked with Trudeau Architects for 18 months in 2011 and 2012 to review overall facilities, energy performance, and capital project planning. The Trudeau team identified areas for saving energy, improving program development, and budgeting long-term for facility upgrades.

“We’ve seen a decrease in kilowatt use and end-of-the-month billing totals,” said Joseph Benassi, the Institute’s director of facilities operations. “This past June, for example, we saved 22,000 kilowatt hours, compared to that same time last year. In July, we saved 51,000 kilowatt hours. These savings are impressive, considering how hot it was that summer. The changes have really made a difference and have helped our overall budget considerably.”

Reducing energy use



Climate control system. This diagram shows  the basic mechanical systems

controlling the indoor environment for the galleries and storage areas. Initial

energy initiatives included slowing the base fan speeds and fresh air intake by 50%.

The Trudeau team started by examining the facility, preparing budgets for the work, and assisting with securing the outside funding needed to carry it out.

The popular Albany landmark, one of the nation’s oldest museums, has high visitor traffic, so the Trudeau team made it a priority to minimize the construction related activities. The first phase of work was completed quietly without any noticeable change by the occupants, visitors, or sensitive collection artifacts – some of which can have a much narrower “comfort” range than the occupants.
First, the engineering team slowed the fan motors that circulate air throughout the facility. Museum mechanical systems often operate at full speeds, as though rooms are fully occupied. But all this circulation isn’t needed. Slowing air flow by 50% to spaces that are not fully occupied can reduce net power consumption by 88%, a significant cost savings.

Additional carbon dioxide sensors, which detect occupancy volume, were installed to assure the system motors would accelerate should environmental conditions warrant it. The team also reduced the volume of fresh air that came into the system from outdoors by half. This system, too, was working at rates required for peak design loads.

“Functionally reducing the fresh air intake reduces the amount of outside air that has to be conditioned to meet the very specific climate needs of the museum’s collections and occupant comfort,” said Bart Trudeau, the firm’s principal architect and chair of the Institute’s Facilities Committee. “Now the system takes in air only when required. And this doesn’t impact interior air quality during typical daily operations.”

Saving money through efficiency



Savings in Monthly kWh. This column chart shows the relative amount of power,
measured in kWh, from late Summer through Fall of 2012 compared with the prior
year. The initial measures of the energy initiative were implemented at the start of
August 2012. Heating and Cooling Degree Days were slightly greater in 2012
than 2011.

Improvements were also made to the software program that controls the Institute’s operating systems. Benassi and Michael Richards, a programmer from the Siemens, USA, office in Latham made adjustments to the software over the course of several days, monitoring the equipment via radio to verify that each speed drive/air unit did indeed slow or increase to the changed rate.

These changes allowed the water supply, which is chilled by the heating, ventilating and cooling system, to change temperature more efficiently in response to building’s load conditions. For example, if the building has a “low load,” the temperature can increase by a few degrees to save energy. With work completed in the summer of 2012, the projected savings in energy cost already began to accrue at the projected rates

The team projected, based on four months of actual data, that the estimated annual electrical savings of would be 30%. The greatest energy savings occurred in the moderate temperature months of spring and fall. Additional savings came from prolonging the life of its carbon and potassium filters, varying speed drives, and reducing wear of other mechanical system components.

For the next phase, the Institute is continuing to work with Siemens to study the set points, or drift boundaries, of the fresh air and main air handlers. They are working to determine the most cost-effective “space” between set points in the systems that can permit the mechanical systems to “coast” between upper and lower limits.

Sensors now monitor occupancy to adjust the environment.

“Once the data is programmed, we monitor the system approximately three times a day, keeping tabs on the temperature and humidity ranges,” Benassi said. “The system is self-sufficient, but will make adjustments if necessary here and there, which can include chill-water temperature. The chillers use the most electric, so monitoring them and streamlining the entire system regularly can really save money.”

Further work is being studied to improve the efficiency of the lighting systems without impacting the quality of the lighting required for displays.

“Collections and exhibits should be the priority of a museum’s operating budget,” Trudeau said, “not directing such funding toward facility improvements. With the changes we’ve helped introduce, the Institute can remain a vital cultural force in our community.”

Trudeau Architects, PLLC, is a facility master planning and architecture firm based in Latham, NY. This project was collaboration with the Exergen Corporation of Watertown, MA; Odyssey Energy Solutions of Delmar, NY; Siemens; and the Sano-Rubin Construction Company of Albany, NY.

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