Sustainable Insights          

New Podcast -Listen as Matt Malinosky of Questions and Solutions Engineering explains how HOBO data loggers can be used for building commissioning.

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BY JENNIFER AMATO

NORTH BRUNSWICK — Students at John Adams Elementary School were “energized” last week even though they had to stay after school.

Members of the fourth-grade gifted and talented program listened to a presentation Jan. 6 by Ray Kuehner, an energy specialist for the North Brunswick school district.

Within the district, Kuehner said heating, cooling, electric and gas costs total about $3 million a year.

“It’s a lot of money. A lot of money,” he said.

However, he said the district is taking measures to save energy and money. By doing “simple things,” he said, about $500,000 has already been saved.

“We are able to put it back into our education budget to buy books and other things you guys need to learn,” he said.

One important change within the district has been shutting off lights when a room is empty. Another is opening shades to let in light and warmth when the weather is cold, and shutting them to block out the cold or extreme summer heat.

In addition, the lights have been disconnected on the 20 vending machines at Linwood Middle School and North Brunswick Township High School, saving about $100 per machine per year, or about $2,000 total.

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Energy Empowers | Idaho schools saving energy, educating students.

When Idaho officials decided to spend Recovery Act money to make their school buildings more energy efficient, it set off a chain reaction. Now, the project is creating more comfortable and safe learning environments for its students and providing them with examples of how to save energy. At the same time, it’s saving taxpayers some dough.

The Idaho K-12 School Efficiency Project increases energy efficiency while saving precious education dollars, says schools superintendant Tom Luna. “It also provides a great opportunity for schools to incorporate lessons about energy education in the classroom,” he says.

Read full story here.

Click here to listen as Ryan Blair and Ken Rackowsky of Bluestone Energy explain how they used HOBO data loggers as part of a comprehensive energy efficiency strategy at the EF Education Center in Cambridge, MA and helped the company qualify for substantial utility rebates.
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When Governor Schwarzenegger signed the landmark Solar Water Heating and Efficiency Act of 2007, he launched the largest solar water heating program in our nation’s history. The new legislation calls for a 10-year program aimed at installing approximately 200,000 solar water heaters in homes and businesses throughout California. By creating this program, lawmakers hope to see a reduction of harmful emissions, increased energy efficiency and lower utility bills.

A recent study shows that families below the poverty line spend 19% of their income on utility bills. To alleviate this burden and ensure that energy conservation is widely accessible to California residents, the California Department of Community Services and Development and the Southern California Forum for Energy Efficiency, Environmental, and Human Services Providers (SCF) initiated a renewable energy pilot program. As part of the program, solar hot water heating systems have been installed in four of the 22 low-income, single family homes across the state.

Funded by the State Petroleum Violation Escrow Account (PVEA), this program, in particular, will monitor each of the study homes’ energy and gas consumption to determine the efficiency of the solar hot water heating systems.

Arleen Novotney, Executive Director of SCF, is leading the project.

“Our goal is to provide low-income homeowners with access to renewable energy solutions designed to decrease energy consumption and reduce energy bills,” explains Novotney. “For this program, we installed solar hot water systems in various climate zones across the state and will monitor the efficiency of the solar hot water heating systems.”

To monitor systems performance, Novotney chose web-based HOBO® U30 Remote Monitoring Systems manufactured by Massachusetts-based Onset Computer Corporation. The monitoring system consists of a GSM cellular-based data logging unit and sensors that monitor gas usage, cold and hot water supply temperature, solar collector water temperature, and hot water flow.

The HOBO U30 collects data at one minute intervals, 24/7 and the information is accessible via the web.

Novotney and her team can access the data from Onset’s HOBOlink™ website. “With HOBOlink, we can view the data anytime, anywhere we have access to the Internet.” says Novotney. “The ability to view data remotely allows us to see how the hot water heating units are performing without having to go back into the field to manually collect the data.”

According to Novotney, many factors are being considered for this study. The evaluation of these systems will include a snapshot of the costs associated with the homeowners’ gas and electrical usage, as well as the energy costs following the installations. The energy savings will be reflected by the climate zone, the household size, and fuel type.

“Since no one in our state has ever monitored the natural gas usage associated with a solar water heating unit, we wanted to track the consumption of gas when the solar power was on versus when the solar power was turned off,” explains Novotney.

So far, the collected data indicates that the solar hot water heating systems are helping. During daylight hours the system turns off and only turns back on at night. “This is the kind of data we needed to see,” explains Novotney. “We wanted to determine whether or not the systems were performing the way we hoped they would. The data showed us that during the day there is no need for the system’s gas or the electric power to turn on, and this will ultimately save homeowners money.”

According to Novotney, the HOBO U30 systems will continue monitoring the current test homes until October and then she and her team plan to change the location of the loggers to include additional test homes.

“We plan on using the HOBO U30 systems on each of the 22-test homes for the pilot study”, concludes Novotney. “We hope to have comparison data on all of the solar hot water hearing systems by next year.”

Onset recently assembled a roundtable to discuss the current role data loggers play in energy and retro-commissioning applications. Roundtable participants included: Adam Knickelbein, Summit Blue Consulting, Don Gray, US Innovative Green Technologies, and Stephen Pfeiffer, Energy Plus.

How do data loggers play into your overall performance monitoring strategy?

Don: Data loggers allow us to do full baseline testing on a facility before we do any upgrades, changes or modifications. We work with utilities to get Customer Directed Rebates (CDR) for energy-efficient projects that decrease electrical usage at our clients’ facilities – putting money back in their pockets. With the data loggers, we get extremely high quality data.

Adam: We do a lot of evaluation work for gas and electric utilities that implement energy efficiency programs. An important part of doing that is to measure the energy savings that they get from various projects. For example, when we are monitoring lighting runtimes, we often use light on/off loggers or current-activated switches. When we measure motor runtime we use 4-channel loggers with current transducers to monitor the energy usage and estimate energy savings

There is an increased need for precise and reliable data because we need to verify whether the energy savings is really there.

Stephen: Data loggers play a very big role in my job. I use the loggers mainly for retro-commissioning to measure how efficiently an existing HVAC system and other building systems work. I also use the devices to verify whether or not a system is working properly after a retrofit.

What particular challenges do you face with respect to data collection?

Adam: We have a lot of different monitoring projects going on simultaneously and have to go to a number of different sites to download the data. I know that there are a number of web-based loggers that allow you to get real-time data, but right now, we only use stand-alone loggers that don’t have web access.

Don: One of the main challenges we have faced in the past is sending a tech out to a site to collect the data. Historically we collect high-volume samples. Collecting data with a web-based system, like the HOBO U30, saves us time and money. It gives us the ability to access the data anytime without having to go out in the field.

Stephen: I find that at times it’s difficult to put the loggers on older systems. Another challenge I face is bringing a laptop into the field to activate the loggers.

How do you work with the data?

Adam: We usually export the data into a statistics software program. For example, if we are measuring lighting we will often look at a population of retail stores or office buildings to get a snapshot of the energy usage other buildings are using and then we are able to get an average based on the data.

Don: I export the data files into Excel. Our customers want to see a graphical interface of what’s happening with their data. When I prepare a report, I put the data into graphs to show everything that has happened during the entire lifespan of the project.

Stephen: I always export the data into Excel because it helps me get a clear picture about how a system is working and easily helps me identify problems.

Do your monitoring projects typically require trend logging, real-time data, or both?

Don: We need both. I need real-world data for a lot of our projects. However, in general, trending data is more important to us.

Adam: We are looking at trend logging mostly.

Stephen: I only need to look at trend data.

What are the most important product features you look for in a data logger?

Stephen: The most important feature for me is memory since I need to log a lot of data using short- time sampling rates. I also look for a logger that can withstand harsh environmental conditions. They have to be able to take a beating.

Don: For us, its ease- of-use. The more complicated the test equipment, the longer I have to train our techs to go out and collect the data. Data loggers have been historically created for scientific types, and I think that more work-a-day people are going to be looking for products that are easy to use for their monitoring projects.

Adam: Cost is a big one for us as well as ease-of-use.

The word geothermal literally means “earth heat.” We can capture the heat that is stored in the earth and use it to heat our buildings. The top 500 feet of the earth stores heat from solar radiation. Although the top 30 feet of the earth changes temperature with the seasons, below 30 feet, the ground stays fairly stable at the average yearly temperature of the air.

In Maine, for example, the ground remains at nearly-constant 50 degrees Fahrenheit. As the earth absorbs the heat from the sun, that heat is transmitted downward to a depth of approximately 500 feet.

The Chewonki Foundation, a Wiscasset, ME-based nonprofit educational institution and winner of the 2009 GreatNonprofits Green Choice Award, is leveraging the natural phenomenon to lower energy costs and reduce its carbon footprint. The Foundation recently installed a geothermal heating unit that will help heat its largest building on campus – the Center for Environmental Education. The geothermal unit will use heat collected from a deepwater well to warm the building’s radiant floors.

“The geothermal system we installed is expected to be energy efficient,” said Tom Twist, sustainability educator for Chewonki. “In fact, we’ve projected the system will function at one-third the cost of a traditional oil-heat system, and can be expected to pay for itself in 3-5 years.”

To help verify these claims, and determine if geothermal is a viable energy source option to fossil fuels, the Foundation installed a web-based energy logging system from Massachusetts-based Onset to measure the heating system’s performance.

The system, a HOBO U30-ETH, was funded through a grant from the Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC), which is interested in verifying that our geothermal system will be a more economical energy source over the traditional oil heat source we used previously. If the results look promising, the MPUC may consider incorporating geothermal systems into public housing projects.

The data logging unit, which measures, records and transmits system performance data to the web, is configured with a number of sensors. Two flow meters are connected to the well pump, which measure BTUs the system is producing and flow rates. A kilowatt sensor measures the electric draw of all the system pumps, including a number of tiny circulating pump and the larger heat pump itself. Temperature probes measure air temperatures inside and outside of the building, and well temperatures coming in and going out.

A real-time display of the data is transmitted via Ethernet to the web over HOBOlink®, an Onset-hosted server. Twist configured the webpage with a “public access” feature so faculty and students can log on to see the latest measurements, as well as measurements taken over past week and month.

“The web display of the data is a benefit to us for a number of reasons,” explains Twist. “First, I am not a programmer, and it’s unlikely that I could develop any kind of interesting way to view the data online. Having it published by Onset using their secure and dedicated server makes it easy for us to see what we need to see. Second, it makes the data widely accessible, which is great for our students who can log in and see firsthand how the system is performing.”

The Foundation will be collecting data on the geothermal heating system through the fall and winter seasons, and aims to have cumulative data to present to the MPUC in the spring of 2010.

“We should, however, know fairly quickly this fall if the system seems to be reducing energy costs and shrinking our carbon footprint,” said Twist.

By Elisa Wood

July 9, 2009

When it comes to energy efficiency, it used to be the big guys that mattered. Policymakers and market leaders focused on manufacturers, refiners and others that gobbled up lots of kilowatt hours.

It’s not surprising. Manufacturers create bang for the buck. Better motors, refrigeration or combined heat and power can lead to six-digit dollar savings — far more impressive than the $10 per month an aggressive household effort might generate.

An energy attorney once told me an interesting story in this regard. He asked his family to turn down the thermostat to save money; they said they would rather just skip ordering pizza once a month.

Household efficiency often doesn’t seem worth the effort. But a shift is occurring; efficiency efforts are increasingly focused on the residential sector.

In fact, a study released this week by the Electric Power Research Institute shows that homes, in aggregate, offer greater technical potential for energy savings and reductions in carbon dioxide emissions than stores or factories. And it does not require use of refrigerators that talk to the grid, glowing energy orbs, or other cutting edge technologies to significantly reduce emissions. Instead the report finds carbon reductions in switching out common home devices that use fossil fuels with those that use electricity.

EPRI looked at household activities that use energy: clothes drying, heating, cooling, cooking, warming pools. It then found electric technologies that allow us to perform these activities with less fossil fuel use; a heat pump for example might replace a natural gas furnace.

What electric devices did the best job replacing fossil fuel? EPRI’s short list for households includes heat pump clothes dryers, heat pump pool heaters, air source heat pumps for heating and cooling, ground source heat pumps for heating and cooling, heat pump water heaters and in the Northeast, electric instantaneous water heaters.

The report also cites what regions offer the most potential for energy savings. Not surprising (See my July 2 blog, “Energy bill could open Southeast’s EE market” www.realenergywriters.com), the South offers the most potential, followed by the Midwest, Northeast, and the West, when residential, commercial and industrial energy use is considered. For reductions in CO2 emissions, the potential is greatest in the Northeast, followed by the South, the Midwest, and then the West.

Of course, savings achieved by switching from fossil fuels to electricity will be even greater as the nation introduces more renewable energy into its power generation fleet. EPRI says a good next step might be study how great those savings could be.

For years the electric power industry has taken heat for being a polluter. Odd to think it could also be what saves the planet.

For more details see: “The Potential to Reduce CO2 Emissions by Expanding End-Use Applications of Electricity,” www.epri.com.

A vintage home gets a 21st-century energy overhaul

What started out as a relatively straightforward re-siding project on this 80-year-old duplex in Arlington, Mass., ultimately evolved into part of an ambitious superinsulation pilot program for the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) and the regional utility company, NSTAR.

Upon contacting the state for technical advice, homeowner Alex Cheimets learned that the DOER was in the middle of developing standards for net-zero-energy buildings and agreed to include his home in the research. The state brought NSTAR into the project. NSTAR brought in Building Science Corp. to conduct a study of the building and make recommendations on the overall design and details of the insulation retrofit. As the project grew in scale and importance, Alex was able to secure several product sponsors who provided many of the core materials. Read full story.

The following post in an excerpt from CSE live.
By David Sellers

Ask yourself if there is any problem with your home that has bothered you. For instance, is there a room that is uncomfortable relative to the others? Is the HVAC system noisy when it runs? Do you wish that your utility bills were lower and is that a realistic wish? As a side note, I suspect that everyone wishes that their utility bills were lower, But, for instance, my worst case heating bill is about $50 for gas. That’s probably because Kathy (my bride) and I have a small house, reasonably tight and well insulated in a mild climate with a high efficiency gas furnace; probably not much that I can do to meaningfully reduce the bill. That doesn’t mean there aren’t meaningful things I can do to improve the way I use gas, which is a non-renewable resource that generates atmospheric carbon when I burn it. But, given the modest cost (currently) to heat my home, the perspective driving the desire to improve things will need to be more holistic rather than economic – a lesson I think for our current bottom line driven society. Anyway, the point of these questions is to find out if there is something you want to target a test at. Probably 50% or more of the tests performed by commissioning providers in the field are targeted at solving a specific problem or verifying a specific level of performance. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t learn something if you don’t have a problem to target with your test. You can do an information gathering test and find out exactly how your house performs. Here are some ideas that come to mind.

Deploy a data logger outside that tracks relative humidity (RH) and temperature and then deploy several loggers inside tracking the same thing along with maybe some indication of occupancy like light level or the operation of an electric light, and maybe one that tracks furnace operation. Then plot concurrent data to see how the environment inside your house responds to changes in the ambient environment and the use patterns. For instance, what happens to the RH inside when you take a shower? At night, if your furnace has night set-back, how fast does the temperature in the house drop off relative to how fast the temperature outside drops off. How about RH? How does RH compare to specific humidity or dew point which is a more absolute indication of moisture level? (Some data loggers will calculate dewpoint an specific humidity basedo on the parameters they measure.  But if not, you can figure it out from a psych chart). How does absolute humidity inside and outside compare and track?

Deploy a current or kW logger on your power panel and on some critical (large) loads like the your dishwasher or your washer and dryer or your water heater (if it’s electric) and plot concurrent data to see how much of an impact on total load each appliance has. Add more loggers to other circuits serving light loads and plug loads to see how you use energy in your house. Only do this if you feel comfortable putting CTs on your circuits or if you know someone who is an electrician or who is comfortable doling that for you if you aren’t.  (Electricity, even at the voltages we use in our homes can be dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing or aren’t comfortable working around it.  Never do anything with electrical wiring that you are not comfortable doing and/or have not been properly trained to do.)

Put a logger on your furnace to measure differential temperature and pick up fan operation. Or deploy or add another one to monitor filter pressure drop. Deploy another outside to track ambient conditions or download the data from the web using one of the techniques/sites discussed in the Functional Testing Guide.  Use a rotating vane anemometer to traverse your return grilles and get an idea of air flow. Then, simply log the operating of the system and see what it tells you. For instance, how does the actual capacity of the furnace compare to the rated capacity? How does the cycling time vary with changes in outdoor temperature? If you have a night set back thermostat, how does that impact the operation of the system vs. the way it operates once the house is warmed up or, at night once the house has cooled off to the set-back temperature? How long does it take your filter to load up? (Generally, filters should be changed on pressure drop, not appearance or time ).

Use the rotating vane anemometer to traverse your return grills and get a feel for total system flow. Then traverse your supply grills and see how the flow is distributed. Is it fairly uniform on a cfm per square foot basis, or are their areas with a lot of air and areas with less? If the distribution is not uniform, is that because of the loads in the areas served? Or does your system need balanced? (Maybe there is a reason that one area is always hot or cold!)

If you have an electric water heater log its power consumption and then use that data to compare what would happen if you heated your water using one of the heat pump based technologies that’s out there or using a conventional gas water heater or using one of the high efficiencyinstantaneous type heaters. Look at both the source and site energy implications and the atmospheric carbon implications.

Some of you may be thinking “that’s all well and good, but what if I don’t have a data logger?” If you live in California in one of the public utility service districts, you are in luck. You can borrow a logger from the Pacific Energy Center’s tool lending library . This is (as us 60’s generation folks would say) a “free to the people” resource that is available to you as a utility customer. Many of the private utilities in California and other states offer a similar service. Another option is to simply buy a logger. For under $100, you can be off and running. For about $300, you can be logging just about anything.