INDUSTRY COMMENT
Maximise, minimise, optimise: smart energy management is key to reducing energy costs
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Dr James Crosby, head of sustainability at Advantage Utilities outlines how businesses within the building services industry can maximise energy management, minimise energy costs and optimise energy consumption
t is fair to say that 2022 threw a spanner in the works for the building services industry – to put it mildly. With the Energy Bill Relief Scheme ending on 31 March 2023, its successor – the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) – which runs from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, scales back government support in the face of high energy costs. Energy optimisation and better energy management will therefore remain crucial to lowering energy bills this year. There are steps available to building services and engineering businesses that want to optimise their energy consumption, and renewable technologies can be implemented in order to minimise the impact of rising energy costs.
Maximise on-site generation to minimise energy costs
There is one important fact that building services companies should bear in mind when considering how to best source their energy: the greenest form of energy is now also the most affordable method of consumption. Given the significant advances in renewable technologies, the return on investment for technology such as solar photovoltaic (PV) is typically three-to-five years, a dramatic improvement on past projections, meaning it is an excellent low-cost and green alternative to grid-sourced energy. Increasing the amount of energy that your business produces on-site can not only lower costs, but it also provides more reliable forecasts of future energy costs. Whereas grid-sourced energy remains volatile due to the carbon-intensive bulk origin of its generation, renewable energy offers consistency to building managers looking to prepare for the future. With this in mind, there is no better alternative than renewable technology if the building services industry is to adapt to a Net Zero economy in future – an ambition the UK has mandated for 2050. Construction more generally plays a pivotal role in this. In fact, according to the World Green Buildings Council 39% of global greenhouse gas emissions originate from this industry, hence significant progress must be made within the sector. Net-zero roadmaps setting out how to best achieve decarbonisation are therefore especially popular. The pressure on businesses to go further and move faster around energy commitments will certainly continue this year, so reducing emissions through on-site generation will not only reduce energy costs, but will also give your business a competitive edge when it comes to your green credentials.
Optimising energy consumption will reduce costs further
A striking estimate from the World Green Buildings Council revealed that 28% of global greenhouse gas emissions are produced through operational use within the construction industry such as heating, cooling, and lighting, with an additional 11% produced through embodied emissions, namely the materials and building processes of businesses used on their sites. Therefore, it is no surprise that more businesses than ever are addressing their Scope 1, 2 and Scope 3 emissions through Net Zero roadmaps as a result. A conventional but effective method to increase on-site efficiency can be found in the adoption of more efficient equipment and lighting, such as through investing in LED lighting which is less energy demanding. These types of interventions will certainly help to reduce costs whilst also making progress towards achieving carbon neutrality. However, there is an additional method that businesses in the building services industry can employ to further optimise their energy use, lowering bills in the process. By implementing voltage optimisation, building services and engineering businesses can cut electrical spend between six and twelve percent simply through matching electricity on site to the exact supply voltage required for equipment. Electrical equipment such as motors, HVAC and LED lighting are all far less efficient when exposed to excessive voltage and/or poor power quality. For instance, if a 230V lamp is run at the incorrect voltage of 240V, it will fail after 550 hours instead of 1000 hours, leaving your business with additional and entirely unnecessary costs. It will also draw nine percent more energy in the process which, when applied to every appliance and piece of equipment, will prove costly. With no operational changes required, this provides an excellent efficiency-based opportunity for the building services sector to reduce electrical spend and decrease grid consumption. Furthermore, voltage optimisation not only lowers costs, but it also offers additional security
12 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER MAY 2023
to businesses in the building services industry which often have expensive equipment such as heating and cooling, and other valuable electrical equipment. This kind of equipment can be vulnerable to voltage spikes which often cause significant damage that, at their worst, can even render the equipment useless. Acting on voltage optimisation will also result in significant environmental benefits and help to offset aforementioned greenhouse gas emissions as well as embodied emissions, giving an additional boost to the green credentials of any business working within building services and environmental engineering.
Green gensets offer hope for smarter energy when off-site
In cases where work has to be carried out off-site and away from centralised power, portable gensets may have to be used. The most ubiquitous type of genset is fuelled by highly-pollutive non-renewables such as diesel. Whilst this technology remains cost effective for businesses working away from established power sources, the transition towards greener alternatives is a necessary one, hence battery energy storage systems (BESS) being integrated with renewable power generators. Going forwards, green gensets will become especially important for energy managers looking to not only decrease energy costs, but also to enable work towards carbon neutrality.
It is clear that 2023 will continue to challenge the way in which businesses within the building services industry manage their energy needs and expenditures. By maximising the use of on-site energy such as solar PV and through optimising energy consumption, businesses can be optimistic that there is still room to minimise energy costs. Through implementing the methods above, progress towards net-zero can still be made and the green credentials of the building services and environmental engineering sector can be maximised further, meaning hopeful prospects remain during the year ahead.
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