Energy Efficiency

The information on this web page forms part of the 1999 'County Durham Sustainable Communities Initiative'. The campaign is currently being reviewed and developed as a region wide project.

The information on this web page has been adapted from a factsheet kindly provided by the Tees and Durham Energy Advice Centre.

Become More Energy Efficient

Top Ten Tips for Saving Energy in Community Buildings

It pays to be energy friendly - here is a summary of the main key points:

Save Energy - Save Money - Protect the Environment

Check the room temperatures and thermostat settings regularly.
Report areas that persistently suffer from overheating. A 1 degree Celcius rise in temperature increases the heating bill by 6 - 8 %.
Ensure that all the timeclocks and controls you have are working and are correctly set.
Check that the water heating does not come on all weekend. Turn water heaters off at weekends and during the holidays.
Do not leave outside doors and windows open when the heating is on.
Attend to water leaks and dripping taps promptly.
Avoid high Maximum Demand charges from use of heavy electrical equipment in the winter months.
Switch off lights when rooms are unoccupied (for example during break times).
Switch off lights when daylight is adequate.
Ask cleaning staff to switch off lights as they leave each room.

Energy and the Environment - the Facts

Every Ł80 of electricity (at 6.75p/kWh), or Ł77 of gas (at 1.512p/KWh), or Ł54 of heating oil (at 14p/litre), or Ł40 of solid fuel (at Ł115/tonne), each produces 1 tonne of CO₂!

Carbon dioxide is the gas mainly responsible for the greenhouse effect.

Using energy more efficiently is one of the most cost-effective means of reducing emissions of Carbon Dioxide and also helps to conserve finite reserves of fossil fuels.

Conversion Factors

1 therm of gas = 29.3 kWh.
1 litre of heating oil = 10.8 kWh.
1 tonne of coal = 8250 kWh approx.

A 70m square office contains about 6kg of CO2 naturally in the air. The energy used to provide heating, lighting and power to that office for one year would produce about 4000kg (4 tonnes) of CO2.

Good Housekeeping Guide

Space Heating - the Facts

The greatest level of operational savings will arise from reductions in building temperature.
Thermal comfort defines the human reaction to internal conditions and in an effort to satisfy this elusive condition and minimise complaints many centres are operated well in excess of statutory levels.
A 1 degree Celsius increase in temperature leads to a 6 - 8% increase in energy consumption.
External influences affect comfort conditions e.g. clothing, metabolic rate, solar gain, draughts, adentitious heat gain (for example from Personal Computers). Achieving the optimum condition to satisfy all occupants is quite difficult.
Careful matching of periods of occupancy with occupancy temperatures can save 20% of your energy bill.
Controls wired out due to an emergency and left in this condition can result in increased fuel costs of 12% or more.

Temperature checklist - type of room air temperature.

General Education

Location	Temperature
Assembly / multi purpose halls	4 -18 degrees C
Gymnasium and sports hall	14 degrees C
Changing rooms and showers	18 - 21 degrees C
Secretarial, admin and staff rooms	18 degrees C
Corridors / circulation	15 -18 degrees C
Toilet areas and cloakrooms	15 degrees C

Notes

Temperatures taken from DES Design Note 17, "Guidelines for environmental design and fuel conservation in education buildings".

Heating plant

Where you can help?

Always insist that your heating plant and fan convectors are regularly serviced.
Always ensure that emergency breakdown repairs are later completed.
Try and match the number of boilers in operation with the heating load so that there is a minimum of part load boilers.
Isolate where possible inoperative boilers to avoid water circulation losses.
Minimise the periods of operation.
Do not run the system when the building is unoccupied except for pre-heating to raise the rooms to the required temperature. If your plant is centrally controlled liaise periodically with your Energy Management unit especially when usage patterns alter.
If the thermal capacity of the building allows, it may be possible for the heating system to be switched off automatically before the end of the day by adjustment of the controls. If in doubt seek advice.
If pre-heat times are inappropriate in milder conditions, contact your Energy Management Unit.
When zone controls are fitted, only heat appropriate zones during periods of part-occupancy.
Avoid overheating.
Ensure that frost protection thermostats are correctly set and sealed if possible.
Adhere to maximum recommended temperature settings and check room thermostats and in-built fan convector thermostats for compliance.
Do not obstruct heaters or radiators. This reduces their effectiveness and efficiency.
Report areas that persistently suffer from overheating (and underheating).

Ventilation

Excessive and uncontrolled ventilation is often the largest source of avoidable wasted heat in a building. It can account for 60% of total heat loss.

Where you can Help

Ventilation - reduce air infiltration.

Do not leave outside doors and windows open when the heating is on.
Use inner and outer doors in draught lobbies as a 'heat lock' when going in and out.
The buildings should not be cooled by opening windows or doors with the heating on. Note: If the open door or window is near a thermostat, the boiler will attempt to heat the surrounding district.
Do not block up any openings which are sources of combustion air for boilers or heating appliances.
Minimise operating time.
Make sure that extractor fans are switched off when they are not required. Remember extractor fans extract heat as well as air.

Hot Water Services - the Facts

The generation of hot water can account for 8% of your energy costs.
A trickle of hot water from a fault tap could waste Ł400 each year.

Where you can Help

When hot water is generated by central plant, ensure that the hours of operation match the requirements.
When centrally controlled, regularly liaise with your Energy Management Unit.
If heating boilers are used to supply summer hot water, one boiler could probably cope with the demand. Ask for assistance if required.
Check that the storage cylinders and associated pipework are well insulated and in a good state of repair.
If hot water is supplied by point of use electric heaters, either control by timeswitch, run back timer, or control manually on/off.
Check tap and storage temperatures regularly.
Discourage wasteful washing under running taps.

Lighting and Power - the Facts

It is a complete myth that fluorescent lights should not be switched off when rooms are vacated for short periods of time.
The energy use by lighting and power storage in buildings could represent 35% of the total costs.
Lighting consumes the most expensive fuel - electricity. When lighting is off the cost is zero.

Where you can help?

Minimise operation time.

Ensure the principal lights are off when the building is unoccupied.
Switch off the lights when the area becomes unoccupied. Savings of 3% of your centre's energy bill can result if someone is made responsible to do a 'lighting' round at breaks, lunchtime and at the end of normal office hours.
Lighting should not be used if there is sufficient daylight.
Lights in perimeter areas may often be switched off and the lights within the room left on.
Do not block out windows with posters or drawings to such an extent that artificial lighting is necessary.
Ensure security lighting is adequately controlled.

Maintenance

Dirty reflectors and diffusers can reduce output by 35% - establish a cleaning programme.
Tubes with blackened ends are past their economic life and should be replaced as they use the same amount of electricity but give reduced light output.

Cleaning

Cleaning staff should be asked to limit their use of electricity by switching lights on and off as they move from room to room.

Power

Minimise Use

Discourage the use of direct electric space heating by independent fires.
Do not leave electrical machines idling when not in use.
Switch off PCs and photocopiers when they are not required.
Switch off mechanical extract fans when they are not required.
Switch off electrical water storage heaters when they are not required.

Site Meter Reads

Lord Kelvin is reported to have said "Until we can measure we do not know".

Where you can help?

Site Meter Reading

An essential pre-requisite of any energy conservation scheme is the availability of consumption data. Whilst invoice data is always available, the plethora of estimated readings, caused in part by the de-regulation of the gas industry, makes this information unreliable.

In addition, the often quarterly billing cycle is too long for meaningful monitoring. It is suggested that at the very minimum, monthly site reading of meters is carried out.

These readings can be monitored on site. This will enable:

Accounts to be verified.
Leaks to be detected.
Effects of improvement campaigns to be assessed.
Assist in the preparation of regular site reports.
Trends to be analysed.
High consumption to be 'flagged' for investigation.

The absence of site meter readings makes it particularly difficult to dispute accounts which are obviously over-estimated. Energy saving measures worth considering.

Measures Requiring Investment

How can we help you?

These measures are usually identified by an energy survey which will assess the viability of recommended schemes to reduce energy costs and advise on funding.

Area	Measure	Aim
Windows and doors	Draughtproof windows and doors.	Reduce air infiltration.
	Fit automatic door closing devices.
	Install draught lobbies.
	Fit weather-stripped double glazing during refurbishment.	Reduce air infiltration and rate of heat loss.
	Reduce excessive glazing area by fitting insulated infill panels.	Reduce the rate of heat loss.
Walls and roofs	Insulate roof voids.	Reduce the rate of heat loss.
	Insulate cavity walls.
	Insulate flat roofs (during refurbishment).
	Add internal insulation to walls.
Boilers	Improve insulation to boilers and pipework.	Reduce heat loss and improve operating efficiency
	Replace old inefficient boilers.	Improve operating efficiency.
Controls	Install zone controls, especially for areas with extended hours of use.	Reduce overheating demand and/or avoid overheating.
	Install weather-compensating controls
	Install tamperproof thermostats.
	Install optimum start control to reduce pre-heating times.	Reduce operating periods.
	Fit time controls to eliminate out of hours heating.	Reduce operating periods.
	Fit time controls to kitchen and toilet extraction fans.	Reduce electricity demands.
	Consider installing a simple Building Energy Management System for larger premises.	Improve comfort, reduce heating demand, avoid overheating and reduce operating periods.
Water	Insulate hot water storage tank and pipework.	Reduce heat losses.
	Install spray taps.	Reduce hot water demand.
Lighting	Install more efficient lighting or improved switching arrangements.	Reduce electricity demand.
	Install automatic lighting controls (time, daylight, occupant detection).	Reduce electricity demand.

County Durham 'Energy Efficiency Action Planner'

The following information is taken from the presentation given at the May 1999 County Durham Community Action Forum by Jim Fawcett of National Energy Action. The 'Energy Action Planner' is not just for people who manage community buildings, but also for all groups who use the building.

Benefits:

Better working environment for staff, volunteers and users.
Easier to let, particularly during Winter - increased income.
Reduced fuel bills.
Increased awareness of energy efficiency - savings at home.
Environmental benefits - less pollution from power stations.

Objectives:

Improving insulation standards to walls, floors and roof spaces.
Reducing unwanted ventilation by draughtproofing external doors and windows.
Improving operating efficiency of heating systems by installing additional controls and optimisers.
Reducing the cost and quantity of hot and cold water used by occupants by fitting water managers, flow controls, time switches and point-of-use heaters.
Reducing consumption of electricity used to provide lighting by fitting low energy lighting and time controls.
Raising the awareness of building users of domestic energy efficiency.

Energy Efficiency Action Planner:

Task	Notes
Identify proportion of fuel costs for heating/ hot water/ appliances to see where the greatest potential savings can be made.	No cost
Make sure you are on the right tariff - for example, on-peak electric costs more than Economy 7.	No cost for changing tariff
Switch to a cheaper supplier or negotiate a cheaper deal with your existing supplier.	Remember to look at standing charge as well as unit cost. Consider services offered by supplier as well as cost. Savings on bills of up to 10%. No cost.
Nominate an 'Energy Manager' to: Monitor usage and identify unexpected changes in consumption. Identify avoidable waste (such as badly set controls, dripping taps, lights left left on). Set targets for reduction in energy use. Educate users and encourage them to take part.	Savings of up to 10-15% No cost
Adopt no-cost energy saving measures: Reduce room temperature Reduce water temperature (60 C max) Close doors Switch off appliances at night Move furniture from in front of radiators Switch off unused lights	Notices will remind users to take part No cost
Carry out an Energy Audit on your building: Use NEA pack to do your own survey or seek expert help. Consider fundraising if you are going to call in experts.	Help available from: NEA (Tel: 0191 261 5677) - Help and advice on energy efficiency, self-audit pack available, professional Energy Audit service. Energy Efficiency Advice Line (Tel: 0800 512012) - Free advice on energy efficiency, contact details of local suppliers and installers, details of grants or assistance schemes. Durham Rural Community Council (Tel: 01207 529 621) - Information on many recent energy audits carried out in village halls and community centres. If the building is owned by Durham County Council, energy saving advice can be obtained from the Energy Management Unit at County Hall (Tel: 0191 383 3749). Obtaining plans of the building will help. No cost/fee for expert audit.
Identify the most cost effective improvements, consider: Heating and hot water systems Heating controls Lighting Insulation Draughtproofing Water conservation	Improvements should be customised to reflect the use of the building. Local qualified firms can offer advice and cost estimates. Usually part of a professional Energy Audit report.
Seek financial support to carry out improvements.	Grants (advice available from Durham Rural Community Council, County Durham Local Agenda 21 Team, District Councils). If vulnerable groups (for example, older people/young children) use the building, grants may be available for 'health & safety' improvements such as low surface temperature radiators, and thermostatic mixing taps. Look into obtaining materials free of charge, or at a discount, from local firms.
Re-invest fuel cost savings in further energy efficiency improvements.