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The Institute's newly renovated Sculpture Court. Robert Kerr Photography
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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
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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%.
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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
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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.
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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.
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Sensors now monitor occupancy to adjust the environment.
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“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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