Environmental Efficiency

Most often with beneficial applications for both residential and commercial users, the technology that’s available today has certainly come a long way in the area of promoting environmental efficiency. When it comes to improving a building’s environmental efficiency, whether you’re a homeowner or operating a business, there’s a lot you can do that will have a positive impact on both a personal and global level. Also commonly interchangeable with eco-efficiency, the driving principle is to generate more value through technology and process changes while reducing resource use and environmental impact throughout the product or service’s life. As this is a fairly broad topic to cover, we’ve narrowed it down and highlighted some of the best ways you could currently invest in the improvement of your home or business’s environmental efficiency.

Controlling your home or building’s systems is a key factor that will dramatically improve its overall environmental efficiency.  Today, energy use is becoming an ever-increasing financial concern for commercial building owners and homeowners alike.  Most are now actively seeking reliable, cost-effective solutions to answer these new energy challenges and manage overall energy cost.

“Engineered Controls can play a very big part in assisting new and existing building owners in controlling their building’s energy costs,” advises Pat Killeen, owner of Engineered Controls (www.engineeredcontrols.com) .  “When considering that a building’s lighting and HVAC loads account for nearly 80% of a building’s energy usage, there are plenty of energy strategies that a Building Automation System (BAS) can provide to maximize the options available to building owners.  Engineered Controls can assist in total building control and help provide a healthier and more energy efficient environment for occupants.

Today more than ever, building owners want their facilities to be environmentally responsible and healthy places to live and work.  They also want to optimize the energy usage, without compromising comfort.  Together a tall order to accomplish, but at Engineered Controls that technology is available today.  Furthermore, we partner with Honeywell, a major energy products company that is spending sizable research and development funds on developing new products that will improve our lives and reduce energy.

To help our customers in identifying efficiency areas in their buildings, Engineered Controls, in conjunction with Honeywell Inc., developed an Energy & Environmental Optimization (EEO) program to address these concerns of building owners to improve the environmental efficiency of their facilities. Our EEO (program) is designed to leverage a broad portfolio of energy efficiency products and solutions, as well as offer a high level of energy expertise to commercial buildings in the hands of our skilled, knowledgeable and certified EEO professionals. Our EEO team can help building owners and managers obtain real-world data to help them make fact-based decisions about how to optimize their buildings for occupants comfort and save energy at the same time.

It’s important to consider not only the investment in updated equipment and technology, but also what will need to be done to keep it running as efficiently as possible. Engineered Controls offers our customers Planned Service Agreements (or simply PSA’s) to assist our clients in the daily operation of their facilities. The PSA has two elements: 1. Preventative care and routine maintenance; and 2. System-wide energy analysis.

Our preventative care program focuses on the building hardware and is a standardized preventative maintenance program on a building’s environmental controls system to maximize the system’s reliability and to minimize the operational costs.  In other words, our PSA program offers comprehensive system-wide checkups and testing to ensure that the control system is always functioning at peak operating performance.  Building systems that are properly maintained and controlled will enable you to focus on the core of your business while ensuring that everything is running efficiently.  This also promotes longevity of equipment, protection of employees and equipment due to proper security measures, and energy efficiency which will result in minimizing operating costs and future unplanned capital expenditures.

In the second element of our Planned Service Agreement program, the system-wide energy analysis, our staff of trained experts will assist a building owner in identifying areas where they can reduce cost, identify simple potential energy savings payback opportunities and training.  When our customers are interested in a more aggressive approach to energy reduction, then we move them into our EEO program that was previously mentioned.”

“As far as what’s on the horizon, indoor air quality (IAQ) is a major area that companies like Engineered Controls are looking into,” Killeen further explains.  “A building with poor IAQ can have a very negative adverse effect on employees, customers and tenants because it can impact the health, comfort, well-being, and productivity of the building occupants.  Having suitable indoor air quality in commercial buildings is an important component to the overall health of its occupants.

Today in commercial buildings, building technology companies like Engineered Controls can provide building owners and managers with sophisticated building automation systems that will monitor a building’s indoor environment to look for possible contaminates. The building automation system can also monitor human exposure to pollutants (e.g. carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, radon, VOCs – volatile organic compounds and more) that can have an adverse effect on a worker’s health condition. As example, high levels of carbon Dioxide (CO2) can cause drowsiness and create an inefficient work environment for building occupants, whereas other toxic gases like carbon monoxide (CO) can have a potentially fatal affect for workers if not treated quickly.  Engineered Controls offers a Demand Control Ventilation software program that will automatically adjust an HVAC system to introduce higher levels of outdoor air only when occupancy levels of building contaminants are at a high level.  Equally important is that features like demand control ventilation only induce more outdoor air when required, thus allowing building owners to maintain optimum levels of IAQ and at the same time obtain substantial energy cost savings while increasing the comfort and productivity of employees or tenants.

Killeen adds, “In order to obtain a buildings maximum energy and environmental efficiency, the selection of building control equipment is more important than ever before.  Today this is accomplished by selecting control equipment with open protocol communications capability. This allows intelligent building networks to be connected together in order to monitor and control all aspects of a building’s heating and cooling system and beyond.”

“Our experience at John Henry’s has been most businesses could save a substantial amount of money by having a better understanding of the impact their heating and air conditioning systems have on their bottom line,” agrees John Henry “Jack” Zohner, owner of John Henry’s Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning (www.jhlincoln.com). “Energy efficiency starts with careful planning to get the right HVAC system to precisely match the business’s needs. The right HVAC equipment can have a fairly short payback, while providing comfort and safety.

Moreover, few businesses realize how potentially harmful their buildings are when it comes to indoor air quality. Their offices are filled with Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) that come from off-gassing of chemicals in carpet, paints, and even printers. It’s important to have a good air filtration system and also constant air exchanges to keep the building healthy. Studies indicate employees tend to produce more in a working environment that has good indoor air quality.

John Henrys is proud of the HVAC service we provide to our community. In addition to saving lives from carbon monoxide poisoning, we’ve improved energy efficiency in our community by maintaining or replacing HVAC equipment that would equal the removal of over 300 vehicles from our streets or 1,440 metric tons of CO2. We believe it’s important for businesses to be environmentally responsible.

A very important practice to protect our environment and promote energy efficiency is having a responsible HVAC maintenance plan. John Henry’s has Good, Better, and Best service maintenance agreements that I believe provide the best options and protection for businesses. Energy savings typically has a great payback and improves the life of the equipment. This can reduce the need for capital improvement costs for businesses.

Energy efficiency has never been more important because the world population is growing rapidly and irresponsible impact on our environment is taking a toll. We practice what we preach at John Henrys regarding being environmentally responsible. Our HVAC systems are very efficient and well maintained. We also believe in recycling. Last year we recycled over 300K lbs. of metals, cardboard, concrete, etc.!”

He adds, “As previously mentioned, some of the most impressive HVAC efficiency improvements have been in programmable thermostats. They do so much more today. In addition to controlling the temperature and humidity, it’s possible to schedule systems to adjust to the hours a business is in operation. This feature will reduce energy costs for businesses that are closed on weekends or have reduced hours. Other great features allow thermostat adjustments from my iPhone and texts if temperatures go out of set parameters. Those notifications could prevent frozen pipes while on vacation during a cold Nebraska winter!”

Among the items that have already been covered, indoor air quality is one that often gets overlooked. When it comes to improving indoor air quality, your cleaning company can also play a critical role.

“We offer a certified green cleaning program which significantly reduces or eliminates many harmful or irritating chemicals and VOC’s that can be left behind at a facility after cleaning is done,” further advises Jon Paolini of ServiceMaster Professional Building Maintenance (www.smpbm.com) . “Our system also greatly reduces airborne particulates by using high filtration vacuums for things like dusting and floor sweeping unlike traditional cleaning programs that use things like feather dusters and dust mops that actually increase particles in the air inside the facility.

People also don’t realize the amount of something as precious as water that is saved by using proper micro fiber towels and mops during cleaning. In our business alone thousands of gallons of water waste have been eliminated by incorporating micro fiber materials into our services. It does cost us more to use them but they are also more effective so we recoup some of the added cost right away. If you take this kind of water waste savings and apply it to the amount of properties cleaned every day in our state or country it can be a very large difference water waste over time.

Finally, the good part about green cleaning systems is that over time the green certified products have become much more effective. In fact, they’re now as good or better than their non-green counterparts. So now ‘going green’ truly doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice cleaning quality.”

When considering making environmentally-friendly upgrades, it’s also advantageous to be mindful of the ways that nature can work for us rather than against us. Take the power of the sun for example. Keith May, owner of The Tint Shop (www.facebook.com/tintshop.inc.68504), explains how the suite of 3M Window Film products can assist with your building’s environmental efficiency:

“The Tint Shop offers 3M Solar Control Window Films, which are the perfect retro-fit for any home or commercial building owner or tenant who is looking to decrease solar heat, glare, and UV while increasing the efficiency of the heating and cooling units, all without replacing the original windows. If your property is more than three floors, we can also do an Energy Audit, which gives you a ROI (return on investment) time frame. Even expensive ‘tinted’ or ‘solar’ efficiency windows can’t do what 3M Window Films can do, and when installed by The Tint Shop, you know you are getting the right film for your exact situation and that it will be applied by professionals with over 18 years of experience.

Not only can 3M Window Films help with the efficiency of your building, but it can also help with efficiency of employees.  3M Window Films will ensure that employees are comfortable so that they are able to concentrate on their work instead of complaining about uncomfortable heat in their work space, or even headaches that can occur from squinting to avoid the bright glare coming through the glass. Some 3M Fasara Decorative Films can even brighten up a dark room or work space by reflecting light into the room using the ‘white’ decorative finish.  So now that conference room that always seemed a little dark and gloomy can be brightened up without resorting to expensive fixtures or brighter higher energy bulbs.

Some newer technology that has been released by 3M includes their new Daylight Directing Films, which are literally like tiny ‘prisms’ working to redirect the light entering a window up towards the ceiling and away from employees, desks, screens, etc.  Another new technology introduced by 3M is their Prestige line of window films. Prestige Window Films were developed to absorb a great deal of solar heat into the film and ‘refract’ it between 224 micro-layers in the film itself. All of this is accomplished by a film with little to no darkness or ‘tint’–in other words, a high VLT (visible light transmittance). This film, along with 3M’s Night Vision Series of films, is also made with 3Ms Night Vision Technology, which allows for unobstructed view with little to no interior reflection from the inside of the windows at night. Unlike other films on the market, once a light is turned on inside at night, the film’s reflection switches to the inside rather than the outside. It’s very similar to the mirrored window in a suspect lineup room. The victim is behind the one-way mirror in a dark room, while the suspects are in a very well lit room. If you were to flip the light on the victim’s side of the room on, the suspects would be able to see right through the mirrored ‘privacy’ glass. The same thing happens to window film at night.

With energy costs rising, and climate change becoming a factor, you want to find the most cost effective solution to energy consumption possible. Something as small as using lower wattage bulbs can lower the energy consumption in a large building. But when it comes to climate control in a building or home, the solutions are generally costly.  With new energy efficient windows, heat pumps, new high efficiency heating and cooling systems, there are many options to dealing with energy efficiency that can potentially be quite expensive. But retrofitting 3M Window Films into ANY building is one of the most cost effective improvements available that produces immediate results. As there is no high cost construction, closing down sections of the building, or permits required for the installation, it is also the least intrusive. With an average ROI of three years, you will notice a drop in energy costs as well as a drop in climate in your building or home immediately. 3M Window Films also have advantages in the cooler winter months, as well as the hot summer, spring, fall months. During the winter, the heating system in a building is being used to keep most of the employees warm, while the employees in front of or close to large windows are sweating because they are getting hit with heat from the system, as well as the sun’s heat blasting in through the windows. 3M Window Films even out this heat in balance, keeping it more comfortable in winter as well as the warmer months.

3M Window Films have been recognized by the American Skin Cancer Society, as well as being Energy Star Rated. 3M is also a member of the US Green Building Council, and a part of the Clinton Climate Initiative. There are several different films for every type of situation. Call The Tint Shop today at (402) 466-1355 or email us at tintshop1355@gmail.com, with any questions, or to set up a free estimate on your home or office.”

Each of us has the ability to make a positive impact on our environment and it starts with the commitment to be aware of the part that we play and to make a change wherever and whenever necessary. The best part? You just have to take the first step by reaching out to evaluate your options and the local experts who are on the cutting edge of industry trends and technology advances will follow through with the rest!