New Products and Ideas in Energy Management
By Mark Olshaker
8 min read
Toilets, boilers and benchmarks
“Conservation only really works when it doesn’t affect or impact the end-user’s way of life.”
This pointed observation by Matt Voorhees gets to the heart of the latest approaches to energy conservation and management, both in residential and commercial, new construction and rehab. Voorhees is National Accounts Manager of the Wholesale Division of Niagara Conservation Corporation, headquartered in Flower Mound, Texas, with satellite offices in the United States and in various regions of the world. Making conservation both “painless” and transparent to the consumer – in other words not having to change conscious behavior – is affording the most notable results.
Waterworld
These days, any serious discussion of energy conservation generally begins with water – our most common commodity, and yet the most precious. As oil and natural gas prices have flattened over the past several years, water costs are going up, and usable water is becoming a scarcer and scarcer resource in many areas. The internationally renowned epidemiologist, Dr. Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota, echoed this fact when he predicted, “Water will be the oil of the 21st century.”
It also happens to represent the lowest-hanging fruit in building management costs with the quickest payback, generally less than two years. “Gas and electric utilities have been coming to us interested in plumbing,” Voorhees states, “because they’ve become cognizant of the power needs associated with pumping water.”
While it may seem that the basic toilet concept has not changed in more than a century, the science and technology have actually seen substantial progress. When the traditional 3.5 to 5-gallon flush standard was lowered to 1.6 gallons, the water savings were dramatic. Now, the .8-gallon-per-flush toilet is making significant inroads. Voorhees reports that more than a half-million ultra-high-efficiency (UHE) Stealth toilets have been installed nationwide, with an impressive performance record – meaning they do what they’re supposed to do with no problems.
“It’s hard to bring to market a first-adopter product like this,” Voorhees comments, “But the .8-gallon is gaining momentum. It is our largest seller, with the biggest push behind it. We can now make an argument to replace 1.6-gallon units, particularly in areas like Boston with water charges in excess of $12 to $14 per thousand gallons. A number of utility companies around the country are giving greater rebates for retrofitting with UHE toilets, including Los Angeles, Seattle, Atlanta.” Niagara’s typical contracts range anywhere from about 80 to 1,400 installed units.
Now to the science: Voorhees points out that the newest generation of toilets create an instantaneous syphon effect, whereas in older models, all of the flush water flow before the formation of the syphon doesn’t actually do anything.
Some of the wariness over new toilets relates to pipe size, or what is known in the industry as “line carry.” The Universal Plumbing Code requires a system to be able to push solid waste at least 40 feet through a three-inch pipe with a two-degree pitch so that no stagnant sewage remains in the line. In practical terms, this suggests that new toilets are ideally suited for residential building use, where there are multiple sources of water – kitchen and bathroom sinks, toilets and showers – so there is never more than a 40-foot run in the water disposal line – even more than in commercial buildings where there will be fewer sinks and no showers.
Water flow limiters in sinks and showerheads can also be strong savings contributors. While there have been fewer developments as significant as with toilets, aerators that allow a one-gallon flow in bathroom sinks and 1.5 in kitchen sinks are becoming an accepted standard.
One of the biggest challenges in water management for residential buildings is people turning on the shower and, while waiting for it to heat up, go off to do something else, often returning many minutes later. The latest innovation to deal with this is the hot start showerhead. Once it is turned on, it continues flowing only until water temperature reaches 95 degrees, at which point it slows to a trickle. When the resident returns, pressing a button resumes the flow at the proper temperature. Manufacturers estimate the water saving at ten to 20 gallons per unit per day.
But again, all of these devices have to be easy and convenient to use. As Voorhees points out, “It doesn’t do a lick of good to install a 1.5 to two-gallon showerhead that the tenant will break or replace in a week.”
Boiling It Down
The same principle of end-user ease and transparency applies to the big-ticket items, even if one defines end-user in a somewhat different context. What is becoming easier and more efficient with the newest generation of boilers is the task of the building engineers and maintenance staff that have to monitor and adjust them. Boilers can now be monitored remotely via Wi-Fi, a substantial enhancement over the previous system that required a dedicated IP address and an average of about $100 per month for Internet service. Matthew Holden, President and CEO of Sparkhawk Group says, “Think of it as a Nest learning thermostat on steroids.”
Leading the new approach to boiler management is one from Lochinvar of Lebanon, Tennessee, a producer of high-efficiency boilers and water heaters. It has developed a system it calls the CON-X-US remote connectivity platform. It is a module that easily installs inside the boiler’s front access panel and affords two-way communication and monitoring of all systems and values from any location via a computer or smart pad screen. Each boiler is logged with its own serial number for engineers dealing with more than one unit.
The home screen offers a snapshot of vital information, such as inlet and outlet water temperature, outdoor temperature, domestic hot water tank status, etc. There is easy access to more detailed information, such as history and service notes. All adjustable set points can be changed with virtual finger slides to take advantage of real-time weather and building conditions. In-depth programming can also be accomplished remotely. And if there is any trouble in the system, the engineer will know right away and avoid any service delays.
In addition to Lochinvar, Mestek is newly out in the marketplace with a comprehensive remote monitoring system, and HTP recently introduced one for the residential market and will soon come out with one for large commercial boilers.
Bench Strength
Energy benchmarking is unquestionably the wave of the future, but that wave has not yet crested and still has a way to go to reach shore. For buildings with individually metered apartments, privacy issues have made gathering and compiling full data problematic. One solution is having utilities supply blind data without resident names or unit numbers attached. HUD is expecting to use benchmarking data to drive policy and incentive decisions in future years. But as Matt Holden notes, “There is a big policy push for this, so the market for benchmarking buildings is becoming much more competitive and transparent. But it is not easy and we’re not there yet.”
The highest level is complete or total benchmarking; that is, comparing one’s own building portfolio against the entire market to see where best practices and efficiencies can be instituted. This is where the privacy issues come up most often, but the U.S. Department of Energy and state governments are trying to make the necessary data more available. As with much else in housing, Massachusetts is taking a lead on this.
The next level comprises simply monitoring a portfolio, or even a single building, without trying to compare to others in a similar market or situation. This can also yield benefits, though again Holden warns, “It’s more of a science project than you might think,” so he recommends an application and/or company that specializes in extracting and presenting this type of information. Most such services will also take over the utility bill-paying, as well as providing the data analysis and making sure they comply with local disclosure laws and regulations.
Aside from simply seeing whether an energy efficiency investment is paying off, such as by analyzing dollars spent and consumption per square foot, say, benchmarking can save money for those building owners dealing with utility allowances. If a given building has a certain utility allowance based on a past record of measured cost per unit and new equipment is put in to bring down the cost, accurate benchmarking can get the allowance lowered and a higher proportion of the rent going to the landlord.
Another dimension is service companies that will benchmark an owners’ energy use, analyze, then install and oversee the entire system going forward. Integral with this, they may finance the appropriate energy efficiency retrofits in exchange for a proportion of the realized conservation costs. Depending on the situation, the service company may be able to use Solar Investment and New Markets Tax Credits, HUD energy fund grants, state and local utility incentives and traditional loans.
The point of all of this is that whether mandatory or voluntary – with more mandatory compliance expected as time goes on and data is easier to obtain – energy benchmarking is expected to become standard practice, as well as a triple-win situation – for owners, tenants and an increasingly conservationist-minded society at large.
