Seven Habits of Highly Effective Energy Managers

Energy Check Up: Real Time Survey

& 7 Habits of Highly Effective Energy

Managers

Dr. Ken Currie, Director, Center for Manufacturing

Research – Tennessee Tech University

Associate Director of Industrial Assessment Center

Identify the sector that best represents your organization.

A. Commercial

B. Large Industrial

C. Small/Medium Industrial

D. Public

E. Other

• Fans & Pumps are usually oversized to consider worse case scenarios. Variable speed drives allow for a throttled output with a corresponding variable electrical load to reduce flow.

• Furnaces are designed for peak product flow but typical flow may only require a subset of the burners to be in service.

Habit #1: Engineers Design for “Just-In-Case” NOT Energy Efficiency

Does your organization have a formal written energy management plan or

energy policy?

A. Yes

B. No

C. Don’t know

• Compared to electric motors, the work that is conducted by compressed air is 7 times more expensive.

• Inappropriate uses and leaks are common losses in a compressed air system resulting in significant wasted energy – i.e. In a system that is running a 200 hp compressor, 30% represented by inappropriate uses and leaks can cost approximately $4,500/yr in a single shift operation.

• Poor management of air supply can yield inefficiencies for costs and also in meeting demand events.

Habit #2: Air is Free, but Compressed Air is Very Expensive

Does your organization have a procedure for employees to suggest energy savings

opportunities?

A. Yes

B. No

C. Don’t know

• Changing bulbs is a good first step, but all light is not created equal and replacing one fixture for another fixture may yield more lumens than what is needed. Consider reducing the number of bulbs to reduce lighting levels as appropriate for the task.

• Sensors and controls allow for occupancy sensors, daylighting, and timers.

Habit #3: Motel 6 Got it All Wrong – They Should Not Have Left the Lights On

Do you use occupancy sensors? (warehouses, manufacturing areas, conference

rooms, copy rooms, etc.)

A. Yes

B. No

C. Don’t know

Has your organization established required payback periods for energy projects?

A. Yes

B. No

C. Don’t Know

• Few industrial operations are truly 24/7 and as result large motors such as compressors can be turned off for significant savings. One company assumed that these compressors were being turned off when in fact there was a perceived production requirement that they be left on – reality was quite different.

• Compressor sequencing and controls can adversely affect energy efficiency and the operational understanding (or lack thereof) of these controls can better align reality with optimal operation.

Habit #4: Reality is Usually Somewhere Between our Expectations and Total

Chaos.

Are fixtures or equipment turned off during extended unoccupied periods?

(Ex: evenings, weekends, plant shut-downs)

A. Yes

B. No

C. Some, but not all

D. Don’t know

• Air & steam leaks, HVAC efficiency losses, results of poor maintenance, equipment degradation all result in the need for a continual management process.

Habit #5: Low Hanging Fruit Always Seem to Grow Back

Has your organization had energy assessments done at its facilities

in the past?

A. Yes

B. No

C. Don’t know

• Perceived needs for quality, production throughput, and refusing to change anything that may cause a production perturbation often conflict with changes to reduce energy.

• Energy Management Systems create a cross-functional energy management team working to analyze and improve processes at the lowest possible energy consumption.

Habit #6: Production Needs vs. Energy Reduction – Can’t We Just All Get Along!

Does your organization have an energy management team?

A. Yes

B. No

C. Don’t know

Are departments in your organization required to track energy usage?

A. Yes

B. No

C. Some, but not all

D. Don’t know

• Sub-metering helps to align energy consumption with significant energy uses allowing for concentration of effort.

• Measuring energy performance should be calculated as a basis of production (energy intensity) without consideration for rate changes – MMBtu/unit production

Habit #7: You Can’t Reduce What You Don’t Measure, and You Can’t Measure

What You Don’t Meter

Has your organization established energy-per-unit metrics?

(Ex: energy cost per pound of product)

A. Yes

B. No

C. Don’t Know

Thank you for participating in our survey!

This project is funded under an agreement with the State of Tennessee. This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy under Award Number DE-EE0000160. CFDA 81.041.