Cuyahoga Community College
House Bill 7 Energy Conservation Program – Phase III
The Brewer-Garrett Company assisted the College in instituting changes to make further advances in energy conservation on all their campuses. Major changes included lighting upgrades and demand ventilation changes system-wide.
The Brewer-Garrett Company’s program for lighting changes included lighting upgrades to new second-generation T-8 lamps. Lamp life improves from 20,000 hours to 46,000 hours, and lumen maintenance is in excess of the older lamps.
Demand ventilation upgrades were critical in improving the overall quality of client comfort and health. Part of our strategy was determining the level of fresh, or outdoor, air delivered to the buildings and maintaining levels consistent with occupancy. Included in this process was the addition of CO2 sensors (an excellent indicator of air quality is the level of CO2 in the air), along with appropriate wiring for the Air Handling Units in the buildings.
A boiler plant was upgraded at the East Campus; four Kewanee HW boilers each rated at 2.31 MBH, operating at 73% efficiency, were removed and replaced with new high-efficiency condensing boilers capable of 95% thermal efficiency. The new boiler combustion air intakes were piped directly outside, enabling elimination of the 45,000 BTU/hour combustion air preheater.
The existing chilled water system at the East Campus was upgraded to a variable primary system, eliminating all secondary pumps and converting all Air Handling Unit valves to two-way operation. Also included was measuring and monitoring plant efficiency, making it possible to optimize plant energy consumption. Other specific improvements were HVAC modifications, AHU replacement and boiler pump replacements.
Energy savings for this program have consistently exceeded expectations and are currently 20% above projections. Savings are calculated using whole meter measurement and a small percentage of stipulated operational savings.
Contact details for this case study can be provided upon request.