O&M TrainingOperations & Maintenance (O&M)
‘…even when staff meticulously maintain equipment, operation that
relies on inadequate control strategies or improper scheduling can
result in significant energy waste, higher energy bills, reduction
equipment life, and poor indoor environmental quality.’ –
PECI
O&M is more than maintenance and repair
Analyzing operations for efficiency is a skill
Energy equipment, commissioned, retro-commissioned now what?
NYC is considering making O&M certification mandatory for
operators who manage larger buildings because…
Beyond the O&M Assessment
To achieve savings, we need to go beyond the O&M
assessment:
Challenges going from recommendations to implementation
Persistence of Savings (One-time O&M consultants vs. training
long-term personnel)
Knowledge Diffusion
BPI Multifamily Energy Efficient Building Operator XX Hr
BOC Building Operator Certification 60-90 Hr
BRT Building Re-Tuning 15 Hr
GPRO Green PROfessionals 12 Hr
Topics in O&M Training
BOC Level I BOC Level II
Building Systems Overview Preventative Maintenance &
Operations
Energy Conservation Techniques Advanced Electrical Diagnosis
HVAC Systems and Controls HVAC Troubleshooting &
Maintenance
Efficient Lighting Fundamentals HVAC Controls and
Optimization
Maintenance and Related Codes Advanced Indoor Air Quality
Indoor Air Quality Energy Audit
Facility Electrical Systems Advanced Lighting Applications
O&M Training – Results & Benefits
Familiar with the baseline performance of the building
systems
Track building performance
Specify energy and environmental goals with suppliers and
contractors
Familiarity with local utility energy and water efficiency
programs/requirements
1Adapted from Cynthia Putnam and Stan Price’s The Right Stuff:
Preparing the Facilities Engineering Workforce for the Sustainable
Workplace
Energy and demand Savings Persistence in savings from
commissioning activities Improved Indoor Environmental
Quality (IEQ) Increase equipment life
Performance improvement by: Better scheduling Equipment performance
tracking Diagnosing inefficiencies (ex.
simultaneous heating and cooling)
Facilities Personnel1 Building Performance
O&M Training
All stocked in BPL’s Field Equipment Lending Library!
O&M Training: Energy Efficient Motors
• Even a seemingly modest (small) increase in motor efficiency can
lead to measurable (often large) reductions in energy use and
costs.
• Electrical should be inspected with a thermographic scan to
ensure that connections at the motor and starter are clean and
tight.
• Provide good ventilation to dissipate heat. For every 20°F
increase in motor operating temperature, motor life is estimated to
be halved!
O&M Training: Identifying Equipment Operation Issues
O&M Training: Managing Oversized Equipment
Buildings always designed for peak conditions
(winter/summer).
Equipment operates most efficiently at designed load.
Most of the year the equipment is oversized! (Operates at partial
load.)
O&M can address by: Load Matching – Partial Load
Management
Modulation Control of the capacity of the equipment over a range.
Ex. 25%-100%.
Lead-lag Adjustment Control capacity by controlling the number of
boilers on-line.
Temperature Reset Change the set point of the system’s working
fluid based on outdoor temperature. Applies well to hot water but
not to steam.
Variable Drives Variable speed/frequency drives for pumps and
fans
O&M Training: Addressing Simultaneous Heating/Cooling
Often significant energy savings comes from reducing energy use in
the shoulder months.
Cold mornings + warm afternoons = buildings prone to simultaneous
heating and cooling.
Can be identified with close monitoring and addressed through
operations.
O&M Training: Optimizing Heating and Cooling
Loads are not steady over the course of a day or in all areas of a
building Morning start-up issues
How long does it take the building to come up to temperature?
Demand prices vary by time of day
Thermal momentum The difference of “heavy” vs “light” construction
Dealing with “control overshoot” Identifying opportunities for
early shut-down?
Varying solar gains and activities Heightening awareness and
perception
Data loggers can help identify solutions!
O&M Training: Optimizing Scheduling
Results Optimized for occupancy
Reduced energy demand (kW)
Reduces energy use (kWh)
Estimated Savings, % Date of Study Information Source Notes
5 to 10 1986 Thompson, T. A. “Preventive Maintenance Saves Energy
and Dollars,” Engineered Systems. Well-developed O&M program
savings.
15.4 1992 Herzog, P., and L. LaVine, “Identification and
Quantification of the Impact of Improper Operation…” ACEEE.
3-year study of seven office buildings to quantify improved
operations potential
15 to 30 1992 Piette, M. A. “Diagnostics for Building Commissioning
and Operation.” LBNL.
Savings through improved operations and maintenance.
23 1994 Liu, M., et al., “Identifying and Implementing Improved
Operation and Maintenance Measures…” ACEEE.
35-building and 104- school summary of energy cost savings from
improved O&M.
15 to 25 1994 Szydlowski, R. F., et al., “No Maintenance - No
Energy Efficiency.” PNNL.
Savings identified through O&M measure case studies.
5 to 15 1997 Gregerson, J. “Commissioning Existing Buildings.”
E-Source.
44-building study of whole-building energy savings.
12 1997 Portland Energy Conservation Inc.(PECI). “What Can
Commissioning Do for Your Building.” 175-building study of
savings
12 to 30 1998 Claridge, D., et al., “Implementation of Continuous
Commissioning…” ACEEE. Continuous commissioning savings
range.
Summary of Commercial Building O&M-Related Energy Savings
Studies
Source: Opinion Dynamics
Efficiency Measure Approximate Fuel Savings
Related O&M Behaviors in Building w/o BMS
Keep heating and hot water systems well maintained with regular
boiler tube cleanings and yearly combustion efficiency tests.
Adjust air/fuel ratio for increased efficiency. Maintain
well-functioning steam traps, air valves and shutoff valves on all
radiators [4].
20% or more
• Maintain boiler efficiency.
Install an energy or building management system (EMS/BMS) that
takes indoor air temperature into account for heating control
[4].
15-25%
and stop. • Adjust temperatures and/or flow
resets on hot water systems
Use an EMS/BMS and zoning system to create different heating zones
in a building [4].
20% or more • Identify and reduce unnecessary
heating
Savings Associated with Specific O&M Heating System Efficiency
Measures
Source: Adapted from Urban Green Council & EDF
Savings from BOC
Kansas City 0.02 0.52 - - ? 2
Minnesota
Adapted from RLW Analytics and Opinion Dynamics
Savings Evaluation Factors
Case Studies in O&M | Atlanta Federal Center
1.8 million square feet; 2 city blocks
10 MW feeder to the building
All electric, perimeter box reheat
4 chillers, 3 1500-ton, 1 500-ton
Variable chilled water flow
Mostly glass all sides
Re-commission unoccupied modes.
Before After
Three 150 HP secondary chilled water pumps running 100% 24/7.
One, sometimes two, pumps most days. One pump 50% at night.
Chilled water temperature: 42oF. Reset to 48oF based on humidity
and load at coils .
Two 1,500 ton chillers run all night to cool 2-250 SF server rooms.
This 500 SF space out of 1.8 million SF was driving the cost of the
building.
Forced the engineers to fix the smaller chiller at 500 ton and made
it run all night, to save energy.
Atlanta Federal Center - More Re-Tunes
Installed discharge air temperature resets based on warmest
interior & coolest exterior zones.
Locked out outside air during morning warm-up/cool-down.
Installed discharge air pressure resets based on VAV box damper
positions. Run at 75% open. Now 3 identical floors will run from
0.5” to 1.5” of static pressure.
Changed dead bands on interior and exterior to allow for floating
temperature. Open bays with set points as much as 5 degrees
difference from zone to zone.
Atlanta Federal Center - Impact
AFC 36-month GWh trend
Tenant complaints down 35%.
Date End
Brooks-Range effects are from May-03 to Aug-03, a 3-month
period.
9/25/02
2,941,571
35.20
34.59
10/25/02
2,731,693
35.12
34.63
11/25/02
2,677,018
35.29
34.74
12/25/02
2,553,507
34.96
34.67
1/27/03
4,086,782
36.09
35.07
2/25/03
3,424,718
35.83
35.02
3/26/03
2,670,863
35.02
34.85
4/25/03
2,520,671
34.59
34.89
5/27/03
2,588,062
34.81
34.90
6/25/03
2,430,358
34.37
34.92
7/25/03
2,612,437
34.05
34.95
8/26/03
2,803,353
34.04
34.97
9/25/03
2,553,876
33.65
34.89
10/24/03
2,333,580
33.26
34.84
11/21/03
2,338,388
32.92
34.92
12/23/03
3,659,908
34.02
35.34
1/26/04
3,432,412
33.37
35.20
2/24/04
3,094,591
33.04
34.82
3/24/04
2,297,940
32.67
34.51
4/23/04
2,197,805
32.34
34.16
5/24/04
2,296,700
32.05
33.90
6/23/04
2,333,905
31.95
33.77
7/23/04
2,459,136
31.80
33.61
8/24/04
2,627,773
31.63
33.58
9/23/04
2,419,210
31.49
33.45
10/25/04
2,317,751
31.48
33.28
11/23/04
2,395,822
31.53
33.25
12/26/04
2,679,939
30.55
33.18
1/26/05
3,236,293
30.36
33.27
2/23/05
2,934,525
30.20
33.02
3/25/05
2,854,722
30.75
32.81
4/25/05
2,356,355
30.91
32.61
5/24/05
2,227,810
30.84
32.57
6/24/05
2,376,050
30.89
32.40
7/25/05
2,621,416
31.05
32.30
8/24/05
2,615,999
31.04
32.23
9/23/05
2,456,264
31.07
32.07
10/24/05
2,378,571
31.13
31.95
11/22/05
2,183,652
30.92
31.79
12/23/05
2,706,788
30.95
31.84
1/24/06
2,721,020
30.43
31.39
2/23/06
2,597,191
30.10
31.11
3/23/06
2,306,231
29.55
30.99
4/25/06
2,364,131
29.56
30.94
5/23/06
2,333,900
29.66
30.85
6/23/06
2,336,964
29.62
30.82
7/23/06
2,459,000
29.46
30.77
8/24/06
2,585,406
29.43
30.70
9/23/06
2,356,000
29.33
30.63
10/24/06
2,103,450
29.05
30.55
11/22/06
2427024
29.30
30.58
12/22/06
2,480,509
29.07
30.19
Sheet1
Operations & Maintenance (O&M)
O&M Training Programs in NYC
Topics in O&M Training
O&M Training – Results & Benefits
O&M Training
O&M Training: Energy Efficient Motors
O&M Training: Identifying Equipment Operation Issues
O&M Training: Managing Oversized Equipment
O&M Training: Addressing Simultaneous Heating/Cooling
O&M Training: Optimizing Heating and Cooling
O&M Training: Optimizing Scheduling
Energy Savings from O&M
Energy Savings from O&M
Energy Savings from O&M | Heating
Savings from BOC
Savings Evaluation Factors
Case Studies in O&M | Atlanta Federal Center
Atlanta Federal Center - Before & After BRT
Atlanta Federal Center - More Re-Tunes
Atlanta Federal Center - Impact