iCast Providing Much Needed Help to the Multifamily Industry

iCast has begun providing a win-win for apartments.   Most multifamily buildings are good candidates for money-saving energy efficiency measures.   Unfortunately, building owners often don't have a good way to find out the most cost effective upgrades, nor the money to implement them.

Here's a press release about the iCast program:

"iCAST, a Colorado based not-for-profit was recently awarded a 30 month cooperative agreement with HUD to establish an innovative program that provides new ways of making cost-effective investments in Energy Efficiency (EE) for the low-income multifamily housing community. iCAST is tasked with providing a simple, yet comprehensive program that achieves cost savings for owner/managers while creating a more comfortable and healthier environment for residents via an integrated suite of improvements, including energy conservation measures, behavior change measures, demand side management measures that reduce peak/demand charges, water conservation, indoor air quality, etc. The HUD award also offers a unique combination of incentives, rebates, and financing programs to owners and managers. iCAST designs solutions so that your investment pays for itself. You start saving money from Day 1! iCAST projects have reduced the energy bills of over 1,000 multifamily units by an average of 30%, while helping owner/managers hedge against rising energy costs, improve the value of their properties, and enhance the quality of life for residents."


Please note "behavior change measures".   That is an interesting topic unto itself.   Here's an example:
When you have "free heat" in your apartment, you might abuse it without even knowing it.   You might keep your thermostat at 74F all the time, and open a bedroom window for "fresh air".  Behavior like this can easily double the amount of heat that you use, causing your "affordable apartment" to be less affordable for the building owner.
"Behavior change", in this case, is training the residents to keep the windows closed in the winter to save energy.


Another example might be to train tenants to program and use a setback thermostat.  Many  tenants (usually the younger ones) are highly concerned about the environment will use them if given the chance.

Multifamily Energy Savings: The Conflict of Interest

There are thousands of multifamily buildings in the Denver area that need some energy efficiency improvements.   The most cost effective of these improvements are usually simple control upgrades.

One example of the "lowest hanging fruit of energy efficiency":

Steam boiler systems cannot be zoned with individual 24V thermostats in each apartment.   Therefore, one thermostat controls the whole building, and the location of that thermostat is critical.  In a 20 unit building on 19th Avenue, I found it in the main hallway.   Unfortunately, the main doors were always cracked open a little, and so the hallway was always cold.   Over the years the heat emitters (radiators) had been removed from the hallways.

Therefore, that thermostat location caused the boiler to be on all the time, and all the tenants were roasting and opening their windows all winter to shed enough heat to be comfortable.   This is known as the "double hung thermostat method".

So, for $600, I purchased a steam-compatible thermostat and installed it in a more appropriate location.  The savings are more than $3000/year and will increase as the cost of gas increases.

The average energy auditor doesn't know this stuff.

It can only be learned through field experience as a heating technician, but books from HeatingHelp.com can get you half the way there.   They can be read and understood by almost anyone.

A typical building owner might have a building that seems to have a higher utility bill than his other similar buildings, but since he doesn't know heating controls, he is forced to call a contractor.  Here's the inherent conflict of interest.  Even if the owner tells the contractor "please try to reduce the gas usage of this boiler" the contractor is loath to do anything that might cause a comfort problem and a callback.   The contractor  isn't responsible for the heat bill, but if he touches or upgrades the control system, he is suddenly responsible for having enough heat for every apartment.  So that contractor is more likely to make every apartment 74F instead of the 68F that the owner would prefer.

A Quick Look at the Near Future of Renewable Energy

 Solar Thermal may be dead: http: //www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/solar-thermal-dead

But PV will reach grid parity soon: http://climatecrocks.com/2012/05/30/solar-grid-parity-inevitable-wholl-be-the-leader-in-this-disruptive-technology/

Even though right now it's in the midst of a "correction": http://www.greenworldinvestor.com/2012/05/31/6-reasons-why-the-time-for-buying-solar-stocks-has-arrived/

Cheap gas is delaying renewable uptake, but using gas for making electricity inherently has a VERY low overall system efficiency, and seems a waste of a non-renewable energy source.

Conclusion: Inevitable but rocky growth for PV, with a Darwinian edge.


By the way, Jay Burch et. al. at NREL are trying to save solar thermal by finding a technology that provides a "disruptive cost reduction". Here's an abstract of a forthcoming report:

"Executive Summary

The objectives of this report are to:


(1) Identify the target market for solar hot water heaters that will provide the largest U.S. energy savings potential relative to other advanced hot water heating technologies, and, (2) Identify potential technology pathways and cost/performance targets that must be met to enable solar hot water heating systems to achieve large energy savings.  The market environment for solar water heating technology has changed substantially with the successful introduction of heat pump water heaters (HPWHs). The addition of this energy-efficient technology to the market increases direct competition with solar water heaters (SWHs) for available energy savings. It is therefore essential to understand which segment of the market is best suited for HPWHs and focus the development of innovative, low-cost SWHs in the market segment where the largest opportunities exist."

Don't Worry About Swamp Cooler Water Consumption

People sometimes worry about the water consumption of an evaporative cooler.   I found this information in an NREL report:

"on a Btu-of-cooling-per-kWh-of-electricity basis, the best evaporative cooling systems are on the order of five times more efficient than SEER 13 central air conditioning (CAC) systems and demand is less by a factor of four or more. Further, additional water use at the site (home) amounts to only about 3 percent of the water use of an average residential customer."

So don't let water costs drive you away from swamp coolers in Denver.

However, if you are building a new, smallish, superinsulated low energy home, you are better off going with a mini-PTHP for heating and cooling.  A swamp cooler requires more maintenance and seasonal mode changeover, which is awkward due to seasonal overlaps like "Indian Summer".

Reports From the Field - Part I - Zone Valves in Apartment Buildings

EASY SOLUTION FOR ENERGY HOG APARTMENTS


Recently I have been performing energy audits of mid-size multifamily buildings, focusing on control problems, the true "low hanging fruit" of energy efficiency for these apartment buildings.


The most common problem we are seeing is zone valves that fail "open".   Tenants will not report this or complain about too much heat until summer.   In summer, no one is looking for boiler problems, and oftentimes the boiler is off for the summer, problem solved unknowingly.


This is not a trivial problem.   Just one zone valve that is fully open all the time in a building with constant circulation will waste at least $30/month.   We've seen 20 unit buildings using $100-$300 /month too much gas when this condition is present.


Landlords are cheap, but here's a situation where you have to spend a  little to save a lot.  The payback period will usually be under two years.   And don't forget:   Every $1000/yr saved in expenses makes your building worth $14,000 more in today's market.


Your average contractor isn't on the lookout for leaky zone valves.   He just wants heat in the apartments and no complaints.   And I can't tell you the reason, but Xcel Energy's energy auditors aren't trained to find problems like this.   


So that means you have to call me.  (720 435-5909)   Another guy in Denver who is great at this type of detective work is Mark Eatherton at 720 375-3107.


Here are my general recommendations:   

1. If you think that your zone valves are more than 20 years old, replace them ALL.   Seriously.
2. If they are more than 12 years old have someone check them out to see if any are leaking through.
3. If you have the 3-wire style zone valves "White-Rogers" more than 12 years old, replace them ALL with Honeywell or Erie valves.   It's not that they are  unreliable, they are just harder to work with.   The average maintenance technician has no idea how they work, so he can't troubleshoot them, and thus you will have to call a more experienced (read expensive) heating tech.
4. If you suspect your building is using too much gas or electricity, request a usage report from Xcel.  Contact the Building Solutions Center at  BSC@xcelenergy.com  or call  1-800-481-4700  .   Then email it to me at kevdickson@gmail.com and I will compare it to similar buildings and let you know if I think you have any problems.
5. Don't stop there.   Have your consultant look for other energy wasting issues - more on them later.

Denver's Street Grid is Efficient, Charming and Shouldn't Have Been Abandoned

A Rectilinear street grid is usually the most efficient layout for a city.

However, my observations of cities haven't convinced me that the grid is always the best form.  If you have lots of mixed use and high density, a grid makes destinations easier to find, and its porosity makes the perfect pressure relief valve for those peak traffic times.

Paris, Rome, and Sydney don't have grids.
They are interesting and walkable.  Historically, they were a bit hard to navigate for the newcomer.  GPS has fixed that, even for pedestrians.  Their streets grew organically around the topography and without much planning.  A grid for them would increase utility at the expense of charm.

There's an old neighborhood in Denver called Bonnie Brae that was planned in about 1910 and built out over the next three decades.  It has curvilinear streets, a diagonal collector road, but no cul-de-sacs.  It was designed this way because the private developer thought it would be more interesting, charming, and exclusive than the surrounding grid neighborhoods.  He was right, even though many backyards were reduced to skimpy triangles.

In the 50's & 60's this charm was noticed by the suburban developers, and they replicated the style in their new automobile suburbs, added gates, cul-de-sacs, and high speed perimeter thoroughfares.  The charm and walkabilty were utterly destroyed by the car-centric design.

So the grid makes city planning and development easier and more predictable, but folks will eventually get a little bored with it, and it doesn't make a better city by itself.

PS.  Don't ever make Denver's mistake of putting in one-way streets to expedite traffic.  Most of them have been put back to the way they originally were, two way.  Also never give in to the folks who live close to the thoroughfares and want traffic on their streets to be limited some way.  The extra traffic they suffer with a couple hours per day causes greater benefit of reduced congestion for the city as a whole.

LED Bulbs Now Available and Affordable

Spotted today at Home Depot, Dimmable!