Making Dumb Buildings

“Smart”Harry Sim

CEO, Cypress Envirosystems

V4.0 081114

“Smart” Buildings

Typical Existing Buildings Today

Dial Gauges

Standalone Transducers,LED/LCD Displays

Pneumatic Thermostats

Manual Instrumentation, Not Programmable, No Diagnostics…

Equals: Wasted Energy, Higher Downtime, More Labor Required

Steam Traps

-80C FreezersUninterruptiblePower Supplies

Why Still So Many “Pneumatic” Buildings?

• High Cost

– Replace pneumatic piping with electrical wiring

– Replace pneumatic actuators with electric actuators

– Must go behind walls, above ceilings

– Lots of labor

– Market rate of $2500 - $3000 per zone for traditional DDC retrofit

– Payback of 4-7 years typical

• Disruptive to Tenants

– Exposure to Potential hazardous/toxic materials (e.g. Asbestos)

– Retrofits often happen only when there is tenant churn or other major

renovation

Most buildings built before 1995 are still pneumatically controlled,

or up to 70% of the commercial built environment.

What are the Consequences?

• Waste Energy

– No zone control for night setback, occupancy override, optimal

start/stop

– No ability to participate in Auto-Demand response or similar load

management strategies

– Out of calibration stats do not control temperature correctly

• More Labor for Maintenance

– Manual calibration of pneumatics

– Difficult to troubleshoot with no diagnostics, sensors

• Unhappy Tenants

– Building manager does not know of problem until tenant calls

– Many thermostats set at maximum or minimum – do not function

Real Impact to Energy Costs, Maintenance Costs, Tenant Satisfaction

Problem Right Here in Silicon Valley

• County of Santa Clara, Social Services Administration• 2 Buildings, each 5 story, built 2000• Total 300,000 sq-ft• 350 Pneumatic Thermostats, non-communicating• Estimated Demand Response load shed: 200kW• Would like to participate in PG&E Auto-DR program,

but challenging with pneumatic thermostats

But Can’t We do Something?!!

Silicon Valley

High Tech

Silicon Valley

Built Environment

40 Year Gap in Technology Co-Existing in Same Area

• Manual Setpoint Control

• No Remote Readings

• No Diagnostics

• Manual Calibration

Required

• Cannot support Demand

Response strategies

DDC in 20 Minutes!

New Technology to Enable Retrofit

Requires about 20% the cost and 10% of the time

compared to traditional DDC Retrofit

• Remote Wireless Setpoint Control

• Remote Monitoring of Temp & Pressure

• Pager/Cell Notification of Excursions

• Automatic Self-calibration

• Programmable Temperature Setbacks

• Occupancy Override

• Enables Demand Response strategies

• BACnet Interface to BMS

• 2yr+ battery life

Replacement in under 20 minutes

Project Comparison with DDC Retrofit

Santa Clara County Government Project

Tapping Utility Auto-DR Incentives

• Open A-DR communications link developed by Lawrence Berkeley National Labs.

• PG&E Technical Incentive 2009:• $230/kW for equipment and

installation• $20/kW for participant

incentive• $50/kW for Technical

Coordinator

Incentives Can Help Pay for Cost of Retrofit

Automating Gauge Reading

Non-Intrusive Reader Mounts On Top of Existing Gauge in Minutes…

Enables Alarming, Trending, Historization for Process/Asset Monitoring and Troubleshooting

• Thousands of gauges on Air Handlers, Boilers, Chillers, Heat Exchangers…

• Energy Savings Applications e.g.

– Compressed Air – ramp down compressor

– Audits for current, steam/water pressure, temp, flow

• Improved Equipment Uptime via Monitoring

– Filter changeouts (measure delta P)

– Pumps, compressors, fans (measure delta P)

• Reduced troubleshooting cost

– Fast non-invasive data gathering/logging/alarming

• Safety/Compliance

– Avoid difficult to reach or hazardous locations

– Monitor exhaust/venting (e.g. Magnehelic gauge)

• Reduce labor and consumable costs

– Gas Cylinders

Detecting Steam Trap Leaks

• Necessary part of the steam

distribution system, usually hundreds

of units per site

• 15-20% average failure rate;

leaks steam

• Failed traps lose $5-10K per year

• Wireless device clamps on non-

invasively and monitors trap health

for early detection and resolution.

• Typically less than one year payback

on investment.

Typical Steam TrapLeaking Traps Waste Energy

Save Energy and Time Locating Faulty Steam Traps

Connectivity to Existing Automation

Ethernet

BAS Controller

BACnet/IP

PC with Browser PC with Browser

Honeywell Building

Solutions

Honeywell ECC

Wixom, MI

Golden Valley, MNExcel EBI,

Tridium

Important to Work With Existing Automation…

Avoid: New Headend, New Software, Retraining of Staff