1. Story of No-Cost Energy Savings at Ohio Union
Jeffrey Roe, Senior Energy Engineer
Office of Student Life

2. Office of Student Life

3. Completed in 2010 338,407 square feet 15 Air Handlers
Office of Student Life
Completed in 2010
338,407 square feet
15 Air Handlers
3 Makeup Air Units
3 Restaurants + Catering Kitchen
~300 separate thermal zones

4. Office of Student Life

5. Learning Objectives 1. How to set up an effective team
Office of Student Life
Learning Objectives
1. How to set up an effective team
2. What buildings are good candidates
3. What changes were actually made

6. Effective Teams Have authority to make changes
Office of Student Life
Effective Teams
Have authority to make changes
Are willing to take the heat if problems arise
Have measureable results

7. Effective Teams Getting buy in Must have directors on board
Office of Student Life
Effective Teams
Getting buy in
Must have directors on board

8. Effective Teams Include a member from each of: Energy management
Office of Student Life
Effective Teams
Include a member from each of:
Energy management
Building Mechanical Services (Maintenance)
Building Automation Services
Director of events
Building coordinator
Audio visual
Housekeeping
If possible - coach/guru from local utility

9. What makes a good building candidate?
Student Life
What makes a good building candidate?
Complexity
Energy Utilization Index
HVAC Complaints
Staff Availability
Metering

10. Ranking of utility costs
Student Life
Ranking of utility costs
FY14 $/SF (FY15 rates)
Ohio Union $
Morrill $
Lincoln $
Hall Complex $
Lawrence Tower $
North Block $
South Block $
Mansfield Apartments $
Hanley $
Residence on Tenth $

11. Student Life

12. Student Life

13. Student Life

14. Student Life

15. But what did we actually do?
Student Life
But what did we actually do?

16. What did we actually do? Set up a team meet weekly for 1 hour meetings
Student Life
What did we actually do?
Set up a team meet weekly for 1 hour meetings
Try to get a little better each week

17. Problems found Student Life
Offline chiller’s pumps run, mixing warm return back into supply
Excessive summertime heating demand
Humidistats out of calibration
CO2 sensors out of calibration
Temperature sensors out of calibration
Thermostats out of calibration
Damper positions out of calibration
Unoccupied mode did not reset supply air temperature
Housekeepers leaving lights on
Too much minimum air forcing VAVs into heating mode
Dampers broken on VAVs
Schedule mysteriously changes for one air handler
Humidity in basement is so high that condensation forms on HVAC ducts
Steam heat exchange air trap blows steam by
Supervisory automation head end communication drops out
Supervisory automation head end stopped allowing additional trends or trend studies
Outsider air minimums set unreasonably high
VAV setback temperatures unreasonably widely set
Method of triggering unoccupied system to run was not logical
Ventilation mode did not kick in until air quality already suffering
Lighting control system not programmed
Automation system set to run 24 hours a day
Mixed air chamber pressure sensors set too sensitive
Lag chiller short cycles
Air handler discharge air temperature varies more than 4 degrees
Boilers do not have reset schedule as per sequence of operations
Thermostats ineffective in small rooms when doors are open

18. Control as best as possible
Student Life
Control as best as possible
Control the lighting
Control the chillers
Control the air handlers
Control the VAV boxes

19. Student Life
Control the lighting
Primarily this building has a stand alone lighting scheduling system
This was too inflexible / hard to reprogram
Similar systems in other buildings would “lose” the program
Result – manual solution using overnight students with other primary job, sub-par efficacy
New buildings have system tied to the building automation system. No standalone lighting systems.

20. Student Life
Control the chillers
Biggest problem: when a chiller fails, the primary pump keeps running
Next biggest problem: staged chiller short cycling

21. Student Life

22. Control the air handlers
Student Life
Control the air handlers
Schedule
Hardware adjustments
Outside air
Discharge air temperature

23. Student Life

24. Student Life

25. Control the VAV boxes Cooling flow setpoints Heating flow setpoint(s)
Student Life
Control the VAV boxes
Cooling flow setpoints
Heating flow setpoint(s)
Auto zeroing
Locking temperature setpoint
Humidity

26. Student Life

27. Ideal
Student Life

28. Ideal
Student Life

29. Too much minimum cooling
Student Life

30. Too much minimum cooling
Student Life
Plus, heating valve doesn’t do anything

31. Too much minimum cooling
Student Life

32. Too much minimum cooling problem
Student Life
Too much minimum cooling problem
Too hot at beginning of occupied period
Cools down below setpoint
Switches to heating mode
Dumps even more hot air in, also adding heat
Return air to air handler is hotter than need be
Air handler opens valve to 100%
DAT and discharge enthalpy increase
Fans speed increase to 100%
More zones become starved and warm up
Work requests or general complaining begins

33. Bad Thermostat Location
Student Life

34. Bad Thermostat Location
Student Life

35. Student Life
Thank You
Jeff Roe