Steve Hennessy, director at Steensen Varming (Aust), will chair a panel discussion at the Air-conditioning, Refrigeration and Building Services exhibition (ARBS 2010).
Low Hanging Fruit for Energy Savings will be a round table discussion, with panellists including Dr John Ward, Shaun Condon and Bryon Price, and will discuss simple, effective ways that facility managers, service and maintenance engineers and mechanics can save energy and money in new and recommissioned buildings.
"The easiest way to get some quick wins is to start simple," says Hennessy. "Do a basic building audit of things like the hours that the building is occupied and compare it with the hours that air-conditioning and lighting systems are running."
People tend to overlook the fact that absolutely fundamental, common sense changes like only heating/cooling and lighting buildings when necessary can deliver significant energy and cost savings.
"Then you can move on to ensuring that everyone involved in facilities management has had the training they need to run the control systems effectively," he says. This is the case in buildings where ownership and occupancy have changed — often there is a failure to pass on education about the way systems were designed to run, and which settings are going to deliver the best compromise between occupant comfort and energy efficiency.
The time at which equipment needs replacement is another time to perform some intelligent analysis of building performance. Hennesey cautions not to be tempted to simply replace a failed system with its current equivalent. His advice is to instead take the time to survey the market to find the best performing option.
Building use and occupancy changes over time, so Hennessy says it is important to periodically review the status quo.
"A tenant that had a huge amount of computer equipment located in one area will have different cooling needs from a tenant with more open plan fitout and less equipment running. Taking the time to understand these changes and reset control systems appropriately can offer savings without incurring any costs other than the facility manager’s time," Hennessy says.
Periodic maintenance of control systems is another often overlooked feature. Like a car, a system that is not service regularly will likely not perform at optimal efficiency.
ARBS 2010 will showcase the latest innovations in building, heating, cooling, air-conditioning, ventilation and refrigeration products and services. It will also feature a comprehensive seminar program. ARBS is being held April 12-14, 2010, at the Sydney Exhibition and Convention Centre.
