Energy targets needs strong hearts and minds
July 18th 2006

Energy, most would argue is high on everybody's agenda, but recent figures ongreenhouse gas emissions from the EU belie this idea. Richard Hipkiss ofSchneider Electric's Building Systems and Solutions refuses to believe wecannot make energy saving work

Figures from theEuropean Unionsuggest that thebattle to reduceharmful greenhouse gasemissions in line withagreed targets set at theKyoto Earth Summit isbeing lost. Far fromshowing a reduction, the EUcountries subscribing to Kyotosaw emissions of the mostdamaging, CO2, rise by 1.1% to theend of 2004. Moreover, while the UKGovernment has been one of themost vociferous in supportingclimate change countermeasures,Britain's CO2 emissions rose by 1.3%in the same measured period.

It is also clear from the available figuresthat while the Climate Change Levy(CCL) taxation on energy used bybusinesses has raised revenues, little hasbeen done by industry and commercein relation to energy consumption tooffset the tax rise. At the time the CCLwas introduced, it was countered by anInland Revenue tax rebate scheme that gives anEnhanced Capital Allowance (ECA). This allows the fullcost of purchase and installation of energy savingdevices to be reclaimed against income tax in the firstyear of the installation. Comparatively few businesseshave made claims for equipment under the ECA.

Manufacturers of energy consuming equipment haveinvested heavily in developing improved products thatcan help conserve energy. Hence, it is not for the wantof available equipment that designers, specifiers andend users have failed to grasp the Government's mantleon energy. Neither can business really attest toignorance of the energy issue. Whatever imperative oneapplies, the simple fact is that the energy issue will notgo away. Not only is there the obvious environmentalimpact, that most developed countries were in fullagreement about at Kyoto, but there is also the questionover the long term viability of power generation particularly using coal fired generators.

Price versus cost

There are a few possible explanations as to whyindividual businesses are not addressing energyconservation. The first of these relates inevitably to price,but even here there are misunderstandings. Thearguments of price measured against cost (ofownership) have been voiced convincingly enough. Butin industry and commerce it is not so much the logic ofthe argument that must be accepted, rather it is theownership of the decision that is where the energyagenda fails.

Consider a simple example from industry. Let us look ata paint plant. There are countless AC motors in use and remember 66% of all the energy consumed byindustry is used driving electric motors powering fans,pumps and compressors. The installation of variablespeed controls to those motors would not only savehuge amounts of energy, but their purchase price andinstallation costs could be recovered in the first yearagainst income tax. So why have manufacturers failedto make such installations? The answer lies in thestructure of the cost centres and in the accountingprocesses.

The plant engineer, who is able to understand theenergy saving principles and the technology, is chargedfirst and foremost in using his or her capital budget inimproving productivity. The operations director may beacutely aware that energy saving is a possibility, but hasless understanding of how and in all likelihood, nobudget. The accountant, who wants to cut costs atevery turn, has no knowledge of what's involved in thepaint shop, not the energy saving possibilities within.He or she is likely to simply play hard ball with theelectricity companies to try and negotiate a biggerdiscount because so much energy is being used and thecompany is therefore a good customer!

In commerce, better lighting control can go a very longway to reducing energy consumption, as can moreintelligent heating and ventilation regimes it is stillvery common to find at certain times of the year, bothheating and cooling taking place in a building at thesame time!

Here, it is often assumed that nothing can be donewithout a major refurbishment, but modern controlscan be retrofitted relatively easily and can makeimmediate impact.

New buildings highlight worst culprits

It is in new buildings that the greatest energy scandalsoccur. There is no longer any excuse for energyinefficient buildings. The equipment and systems areproven and available. Yet, the specification of electricalsystems still tends to take place piece meal and withouta single coherent policy. The integration of heating,ventilation, lighting control and for that matter access,safety and security control as well, can be easily effected.

Consider a new commercial building that is owned, forargument's sake, by a business that does not propose totake occupancy, but is building to let under tenancies.There is no financial imperative on the owner other thanto have a building that is easy to let and can return profitas quickly as possible in other words built to the lowestpractical budget.

The architects have no remit other than to create auseful and eye catching building that meets theobjectives of the commissioning owner. The buildingservices engineers have to meet the specifications fromthe owner and the architects within a budget.

The end users are tenants and it is they that ultimatelypick up the bill for the energy consumed. It is alsocommonly their perception that there is nothing theycan do about the energy saving countermeasures, sincethey, in all likelihood, have had no say in the equipmentinstalled. Moreover, since many tenants have relativelyshort term leases, they have no compulsion to invest inthe building fabric beyond what makes their premisesconvenient for their usage.

In short, nobody owns the energy responsibility.

Consider energy early

What needs to happen in these cases is for energy to beconsidered earlier in the decision making process. Ifcommissioning building owners, architects, buildingservices engineers and, where appropriate, the end useremploy "joined up thinking" at the top table, simpledecisions on energy could be taken from stage one.

If we are to succeed in meeting Kyoto targets, theGovernment must win the hearts and minds of allempowered to actually do something about energyconsumption.

The 1.3% increase in CO2 emissions from the UK last yearamounts to over 6 million tonnes of carbon. Put anotherway, we exceeded the previous emissions by theequivalent of about the entire emission impact of afurther 1 million domestic households. Persuadingdomestic energy users to switch off lamps is laudable,but if everybody did all they could last year in this regard,it would probably have failed to dent the increasesignificantly.

It is clear that hitting users in the pocket by taxation suchas the Climate Change Levy simply does not work.Neither it seems does an appeal to business' sense ofcorporate responsibility.

No doubt the various changes to building regulations,such as the impending Part L2, and other legislation willeventually impact, but such moves take time toimplement.

What is probably most likely to make a difference is abetter understanding of the commercial advantages ofjudicious building management. In other words to getthe message across that by taking energy decisionsearly, capital building costs can actually be reduced(everybody assumes the reverse to be true) and hencethere is an instant payback there. The benefits of anintegrated approach to energy and buildingmanagement can also create, at no cost, a much morecompelling offer to prospective tenants. The lifetimerunning costs of such a building are reduced, since itsintegrated approach enables easy repurposing shouldfuture needs arise.

Practice makes perfect

One prestige car maker has addressed its energymanagement quest by installing PowerLogic, a brandof Schneider Electric. This system of metering devicesand software was installed across the entire site, so thatthe whole plant could be monitored. The equipmentnetworked using the car manufacturer's existingcorporate network, so that all data can be assimilatedon the main server. The openness of the PowerLogicsystem, which uses web-based technology, allows it tobe used by everyone via the company's intranet.

With energy savings in excess of 150,000 a year, aninvestment in Schneider Electric's equipment provedan intelligent investment for the car manufacturingplant in the West Midlands. The simple expedient ofturning off lighting and equipment that was notrequired led to remarkable results for the state of the artengine manufacturing plant.

With 400 energy-consuming devices, this plant is asignificant energy user besides salaries, energy is itsbiggest expenditure. The supply to the site is 27MVA viathree 10MVA ring systems and the plant uses 2MVAsubstations to step the voltage down to 400V.Schneider Electric already supplied all the HV and LVelectrical network and power factor correctionequipment.

In order to investigate its energy usage more fully andhelp justify its electrical costs, the car manufacturer setup an energy reduction team. To help it do this, theteam turned to Schneider Electric's T-BIS offer, whichwas able to provide them with a system and service toaccomplish this.

Unique to the building automation industry, T-BISbrings together a group of experts capable ofdeveloping and supporting intelligent buildingsolutions. It comprises the product sets of SchneiderElectric brands, Telemecanique, Merlin Gerin and ClipsalIntegrated Systems. Complementing these productranges are robust and flexible networking capabilitiesand advanced software.

The energy monitoring project at the car enginemanufacturing plant began by monitoring incomingsupplies. Initially, all the information was controlled by asingle PC and, though this system proved useful, thecompany required more information relating to theoperation of the plant. It also required the informationto be accessible by multiple users in various locations.

To meet these requirements, the plant's energyreduction team and T-BIS embarked on a majorinstallation program using a Merlin Gerin brandedPowerLogic system, which provides a full scope ofenergy metering and analysis. The T-BIS technicalsupport team managed all installation andcommissioning works to ensure that displays andreports were produced in the way that the carmanufacturer required. Once up and running, thePowerLogic system was able to maintain itself.

PowerLogic metering devices and software wereinstalled across the entire site, so that all items of plant,such as air conditioning and compressors could bemonitored. The equipment is connected togetherusing the car manufacturer's corporate network so alldata collection can be brought back to the main server.

The openness of the PowerLogic system, which usesweb-based technology, allows it to be used by allnecessary entities of the plant via the company'sintranet. This has proved particularly beneficial forfacilities management, machine operators and eventhe finance department.

PowerLogic afforded the plant real time monitoring forits power equipment. It enabled the car manufacturerto find out the quantity of energy being used, whereand at what time each day. The company usesPowerLogic to monitor the entire HV electrical networkand most of the LV network. The easy to use system hasenabled accurate capacity planning, individual systemmonitoring and individual area analysis. Reports havealso been set up within the system, so that those whoneed to, can monitor usage, make trends and pinpointexactly where reductions can be made.

As one example, PowerLogic identified that onweekends more energy was consumed than wasnecessary. Car park lighting was also identified as anarea where substantial savings could be made. As aresult, the plant manually operated the car park lightingand energy usage reduced by a third.

From a maintenance perspective, PowerLogic has beenused to pinpoint where a problem has occurred. Forexample, if a loading rises above a certain level, analarm is signalled. An e-mail is then sent automaticallyto maintenance staff alerting them to the alarm, so theproblem can be dealt with immediately.

PowerLogic is also used by the finance department forcapacity planning and as a forecasting tool for thecoming year. The car manufacturer is, therefore, able todetermine what its electricity bills will be. The systemconsistently proves to be within 1% accuracy, allowingthe plant to estimate its electricity bill, even before itsarrival.

Thanks to the T-BIS offering, this prestigious carmanufacturer has been able to save 10% of its energycosts year on year. "Dramatic increases in energy coststogether with Government pressure to reduceconsumption means achieving these savings is vital,"commented Richard Hipkiss, marketing manager of TBIS."This company proactively sought to save energyand we were pleased to be able to help with this."This scaleable and flexible T-BIS installation, which hascoped with the demands of the automotive industryand adapted to the constant changes that take place inthis environment, has enabled the energy reductionteam to justify investing in new plant and equipment.

T-BIS continues to work with this prestigious carmanufacturer and a current project for a billing moduleapplication will allow energy consumption to be linkedwith energy tariffs.

In conclusion

In conclusion, adopting a responsible approach toenergy can not only show a healthy and rapid paybackto all concerned, but we might help save the planet inthe process.

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