Energy Transformed: Sustainable Energy Solutions for Climate Change Mitigation

Module A

Understanding, Identifying and Implementing Energy Efficiency Opportunities for Industrial/Commercial Users – by Technology

This online textbook provides free access to a comprehensive education and training package that brings together the knowledge of how countries, specifically Australia, can achieve at least 60 percent cuts to greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This resource has been developed in line with the activities of the CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship research program, which is focused on research that will assist Australia to achieve this target. This training package provides industry, governments, business and households with the knowledge they need to realise at least 30 percent energy efficiency savings in the short term while providing a strong basis for further improvement. It also provides an updated overview of advances in low carbon technologies, renewable energy and sustainable transport to help achieve a sustainable energy future. While this education and training package has an Australian focus, it outlines sustainable energy strategies and provides links to numerous online reports which will assist climate change mitigation efforts globally.

Chapter 2: Energy Efficiency Opportunities for Commercial Users

Lecture 2.3: Opportunities for Improving the Efficiency of HVAC Systems

© 2007 CSIRO and GriffithUniversity

Copyright in this material (Work) is owned by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and GriffithUniversity. The Natural Edge Project and The Australian National University have been formally granted the right to use, reproduce, adapt, communicate, publish and modify the Project IP for the purposes of: (a) internal research and development; and (b) teaching, publication and other academic purposes.

A grant of licence ‘to the world’ has been formally agreed and the material can be accessed on-line as an open-source resource at Users of the material are permitted to use this Work in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 (Commonwealth)[ref s40(1A) and (1B) of the Copyright Act]. In addition, further consent is provided to:reproduce the Work; communicate the Work to the public; and use the Work for lecturing, or teaching in, or in connection with an approved course of study or research by an enrolled external student of an educational institution. Use under this grant of licence is subject to the following terms: the user does not change any of the material or remove any part of any copyright notice; the user will not use the names or logos of CSIRO or Griffith University without prior written consent except to reproduce any copyright notice; the user acknowledge that information contained in the workis subject to the usual uncertainties of advanced scientific and technical research; that it may not be accurate, current or complete; that it should never be relied on as the basis for doing or failing to do something; andthat in using the Work for any business or scientific purpose you agree to accept all risks and responsibility for losses, damages, costs and other consequences resulting directly or indirectly from so using.To the maximum extent permitted by law, CSIRO and GriffithUniversity exclude all liability to any person arising directly or indirectly from using the Work or any other information from this website.

The work is to be attributed as: Smith, M., Hargroves, K., Stasinopoulos, P., Stephens, R., Desha, C., and Hargroves, S. (2007) Engineering Sustainable Solutions Program: Sustainable Energy Solutions Portfolio, The Natural Edge Project.

Acknowledgements

The Work was produced by The Natural Edge Project using funds provided by CSIRO and the National Framework for Energy Efficiency. The development of this publication has been supported by the contribution of non-staff related on-costs and administrative support by theCentre for Environment and Systems Research (CESR) at Griffith University, under the supervision of Professor Bofu Yu, and both the Fenner School of Environment and Society and Engineering Department at the Australian National University, under the supervision of Professor Stephen Dovers. The lead expert reviewers for the overall Work were: Adjunct Professor Alan Pears, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology; Geoff Andrews, Director, GenesisAuto; and Dr Mike Dennis, AustralianNationalUniversity.

Project Leader: Mr Karlson ‘Charlie’ Hargroves, TNEP Director

Principle Researcher: Mr Michael Smith, TNEP Research Director, ANU Research Fellow

TNEP Researchers: Mr Peter Stasinopoulos, Mrs Renee Stephens and Ms Cheryl Desha.

Copy Editor: Mrs Stacey Hargroves, TNEP Professional Editor

Peer Review

Principal reviewers for the overall work were Adjunct Professor Alan Pears – RMIT,Geoff Andrews – Director, Genesis Now Pty Ltd,Dr Mike Dennis – ANU, Engineering Department,Victoria Hart – Basset Engineering Consultants,Molly Olsen and Phillip Toyne - EcoFutures Pty Ltd, Glenn Platt – CSIRO, Energy Transformed Flagship, and Francis Barram – Bond University. The following persons provided peer review for specific lectures; Dr Barry Newell – Australian national University,Dr Chris Dunstan - Clean Energy Council,D van den Dool - Manager, Jamieson Foley Traffic & Transport Pty Ltd,Daniel Veryard - Sustainable Transport Expert, Dr David Lindley – Academic Principal, ACS Education,Frank Hubbard – International Hotels Group, Gavin Gilchrist – Director, BigSwitch Projects, Ian Dunlop - President, Australian Association for the Study of Peak Oil, Dr James McGregor – CSIRO, Energy Transformed Flagship, Jill Grant – Department of Industry Training and Resources, Commonwealth Government, Leonardo Ribon– RMIT Global Sustainability, Professor Mark Diesendorf – University of New South Wales,Melinda Watt - CRC for Sustainable Tourism,Dr Paul Compston - ANU AutoCRC,Dr Dominique Hes - University of Melbourne,Penny Prasad - Project Officer, UNEP Working Group for Cleaner Production, University of Queensland, Rob Gell – President, Greening Australia, Dr Tom Worthington -Director of the Professional Development Board, Australian Computer Society .

Enquires should be directed to:

Mr Karlson ‘Charlie’ Hargroves

Co-Founder and Director

The Natural Edge Project

The International Energy Agency forecasts that if policies remain unchanged, world energy demand is set to increase by over 50 percent between now and 2030.[1] In Australia, CSIRO has projected that demand for electricity will double by 2020.[2] At the same time, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned since 1988 that nations need to stabilise their concentrations of CO2 equivalent emissions, requiring significant reductions in the order of 60 percent or more by 2050[3]. This portfolio has been developed in line with the activities of the CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship research program;‘the goal of Energy Transformed is to facilitate the development and implementation of stationary and transport technologies so as to halve greenhouse gas emissions, double the efficiency of the nation’s new energy generation, supply and end use, and to position Australia for a future hydrogen economy’.[4]There is now unprecedented global interest in energy efficiency and low carbon technology approaches to achieve rapid reductions to greenhouse gas emissions while providing better energy services to meet industry and society’s needs.More and more companies and governments around the world are seeing the need to play their part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and are now committing to progressive targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.This portfolio, The Sustainable Energy Solutions Portfolio, provides a base capacity-building training program that is supported by various findings from a number of leading publications and reports to prepare engineers/designers/technicians/facilities managers/architects etc.to assist industry and society rapidly mitigate climate change.

The Portfolio is developed in three modules;

Module A: Understanding, Identifying and Implementing Energy Efficiency Opportunities for Industrial/Commercial Users – By Technology

Chapter 1: Climate Change Mitigation in Australia’s Energy Sector

Lecture 1.1: Achieving a 60 percent Reduction in Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050

Lecture 1.2: Carbon Down, Profits Up – Multiple Benefits for Australia of Energy Efficiency

Lecture 1.3:Integrated Approaches to Energy Efficiency and Low Carbon Technologies

Lecture 1.4: A Whole Systems Approach to Energy Efficiency in New and Existing Systems

Chapter 2: Energy Efficiency Opportunities for Commercial Users

Lecture 2.1: The Importance and Benefits of a Front-Loaded Design Process

Lecture 2.2: Opportunities for Energy Efficiency in Commercial Buildings

Lecture 2.3: Opportunities for Improving the Efficiency of HVAC Systems

Chapter 3: Energy Efficiency Opportunities for Industrial Users

Lecture 3.1: Opportunities for Improving the Efficiency of Motor Systems

Lecture 3.2: Opportunities for Improving the Efficiency of Boiler and Steam Distribution Systems

Lecture 3.3: Energy Efficiency Improvements available through Co-Generation

Module B: Understanding, Identifying and Implementing Energy Efficiency Opportunities for Industrial/Commercial Users – By Sector

Chapter 4: Responding to Increasing Demand for Electricity

Lecture 4.1: What Factors are CausingRisingPeak and Base Load Electricity Demand in Australia?

Lecture 4.2: Demand Management Approaches to Reduce Rising ‘Peak Load’ Electricity Demand

Lecture 4.3: Demand Management Approaches to Reduce Rising ‘Base Load’ Electricity Demand

Lecture 4.4: Making Energy Efficiency Opportunities a Win-Win for Customers and the Utility:Decoupling Energy Utility Profits from Electricity Sales

Chapter 5: Energy Efficiency Opportunities in Large Energy Using Industry Sectors

Lecture 5.1: Opportunities for Energy Efficiency in the Aluminium, Steel and Cement Sectors

Lecture 5.2: Opportunities for Energy Efficiency in Manufacturing Industries

Lecture 5.3: Opportunities for Energy Efficiency in the IT Industry and Services Sector

Chapter 6: Energy Efficiency Opportunities in Light Industry/Commercial Sectors

Lecture 6.1: Opportunities for Energy Efficiency in the Tourism and Hospitality Sectors

Lecture 6.2: Opportunities for Energy Efficiency in the Food Processing and Retail Sector

Lecture 6.3: Opportunities for Energy Efficiency in the Fast Food Industry

Module C: Integrated Approaches to Energy Efficiency and Low Emissions Electricity, Transport and Distributed Energy

Chapter 7: Integrated Approaches to Energy Efficiency and Low Emissions Electricity

Lecture 7.1:Opportunities and Technologies to Produce Low Emission Electricity from Fossil Fuels

Lecture 7.2:Can Renewable EnergySupplyPeak Electricity Demand?

Lecture 7.3:Can Renewable Energy Supply Base Electricity Demand?

Lecture 7.4:Hidden Benefits of Distributed Generation to Supply Base Electricity Demand

Chapter 8: Integrated Approaches to Energy Efficiency and Transport

Lecture 8.1: Designing a Sustainable Transport Future

Lecture 8.2: Integrated Approaches to Energy Efficiency and Alternative Transport Fuels – Passenger Vehicles

Lecture 8.3: Integrated Approaches to Energy Efficiency and Alternative Transport Fuels - Trucking

Chapter 9: Integrated Approaches to Energy Efficiency and Distributed Energy

Lecture 9.1: Residential Building Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Opportunities: Towards a Climate-Neutral Home

Lecture 9.2: CommercialBuilding Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Opportunities: Towards Climate-Neutral Commercial Buildings

Lecture 9.3: Beyond Energy Efficiency and Distributed Energy: Options to Offset Emissions

Energy Efficiency Opportunities for

Commercial Users

Lecture 2.3: Opportunities for Improving the Efficiency of HVAC Systems[5]

Educational Aims

The Australian Greenhouse Office states that ‘Air-conditioning accounts for around half the total energy use of your buildings.’[6]While it is possible to design commercial buildings that reduce or eliminate the need for traditional mechanical HVAC systems (as shown in Lecture 2.1), most commercial buildings in Australia have mechanical HVAC systems. Hence this lecture reviews the energy efficiency opportunities in HVAC systems. In addition, many engineers and architects are expected to design HVAC systems into new buildings to meet specified requirements. This lecture addresses the question of how can more efficient HVAC systems be designed? This lecture also looks at seven ways to reduce the overall load required from HVAC systems. A clear understanding of energy efficiency opportunities will assist engineers and other students of these modules to realise potential energy efficiency improvements in HVAC systems. Since the study of HVAC systems is a large field, this lecture builds on and refers to significant existing online training resources (see Essential Reading).

EssentialReading

Reference / Page
  1. Carbon Trust (2006) Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC): Saving Energy without Compromising Comfort, Queen’s Printer and Controller of HMSO. Available at 13 October 2012.
/ pp 1-20
  1. Lecamwasam, L., Wilson, J. and Chokolich, D. (2012) Guide to Best Practice Maintenance & Operation of HVAC Systems for Energy Efficiency, Commonwealth of Australia. Available at Accessed 16 October 2012.

  1. Architectural Energy Corporation (n.d.) Design Brief: Integrated Design for Small Commercial HVAC, Energy Design Resources. Available at Accessed 13 October 2012.
/ pp 1-2, 6-22
  1. DRET (2012) ‘DRET Energy Efficiency Exchange Technology page – Heating, ventilation and air conditioning’ developed by Dr Michael Smith (ANU) and Geoff Andrews.DRET EEX.Available at

Learning Points

Heating, ventilation and air conditioning can account for the majority of money spent by an organisation on energy. Making even small adjustments to systems can significantly improve the working environment and at the same time, save money.

UK Carbon Trust, 2006[7]

  1. While it is possible to design commercial buildings that do not need traditional mechanical Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) systems, as shown in Lecture 2.1, most new commercial office buildings being built in Australia are built with new mechanical HVAC systems. In addition, most existing commercial buildings in Australia have mechanical HVAC systems. The shape and use of modern office buildings tends to dictate the need for air-conditioning for a number of reasons:

Risk management in case of failure of passive systems.

Urban noise and pollution may dictate the need for sealed buildings.

The buildings are deep-plan, with substantial internal partitioning, meaning that the centre zone of the building has to be supplied with fresh air mechanically in order to meet Australian Standards.

The buildings traditionally resemble glass boxes, which maximises external heat loads on facades.

High internal heat gains due to lighting, office equipment and people produces a lot of heat, which needs to be offset in order to maintain comfortable temperature conditions.

  1. Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) is commonly used to provide climate control services for interior building spaces. There are many types of HVAC systems. An introduction to each of these types of HVAC systems and their components is provided online in the listed references. These types of HVAC systems can be classified into broadly three main types of HVAC systems:

a)Centralised Ducted Air Systems,[8] which include Dual Duct systems, Constant or Variable Air Volume Systems.

b)Centralised Fluid Based Systems,[9] which include Fan-coil systems, Hydronic systems, Variable Refrigerant Volume systems (VRV).

c)Decentralised Systems,[10] which include split systems and evaporative coolers.

  1. HVAC systems vary widely in terms of the individual components that make them up and how they are set up within a building. According to the UK Carbon Trust, ‘Most systems contain some common basic components [see Figure 2.3.1]Boilers[11] (1) produce hot water (or sometimes steam) to distribute to the working space. This is done either by heating coils (2) which heat air as part of the ventilation system, or through hot water pipes to radiators. (3)Cooling equipment (4) chills water for pumping to cooling coils. (5) Treated air is then blown over the chilled water coils into the space to be cooled (6) through the ventilation system. As part of the refrigeration cycle in the chiller, heat must also be rejected from the system via a cooling tower or condenser. (7) Pumps are used throughout the system to circulate the chilled and hot water to the required areas throughout the building. Stale air is extracted, usually using a fan, via separate ducts and expelled outside. (8) Controls are used to make components work together efficiently. They turn equipment on or off and adjust chillers and boilers, air and water flow rates, temperatures and pressures…’
  2. Step 1: Load Management: The first step in identifying energy efficiency opportunities, whether it is a new or existing building, is to ask how much heating and cooling load is needed from the HVAC system? There are seven factors that affect the load of an HVAC system, all of which can usually be reduced yielding big savings:

a)The design, layout and operation of the building affect how the external environment impacts on internal temperatures. (See Lecture 2.1)

b)The heat generated internally by lighting, equipment and people — all of these have an impact on how warm or cool your building is. (See Lecture 2.2)

c)The required indoor air temperature and air quality —it is possible to save as much as 10 percent a year on heating and cooling costs by simply turning the thermostat back 10-15 percent.

d)Natural ventilation reduces energy consumption by utilising passive cooling and/or using high efficiency fans and motors only when required.[12]

e)Distribution systems -clean fans, filters and air ducts to improve efficiency by up to 60 percent.[13] Blockages in distribution systems are common and increase load requirements.

f)The location[14] and efficiency of the HVAC plant (using separate units for different parts of the building[15]that have different occupancy, operational hours, or temperature requirements) –provides heat, cooling and humidity control exactly when and where it is needed in the building.

g)The operating times of the HVAC equipment and ability of the controls – these limit operation to exactly when it is needed. Control systems that are adequately commissioned and programmed reduce HVAC energy consumption by ensuring that the right amount of air-conditioning is provided when it is required.

  1. Step 2: New HVAC unit selection: If upgrading the HVAC system, or needing to choose a new HVAC system as part of the design of a new building, the next step is to select the right type and size of HVAC system. The Australian Greenhouse Office[16] provides a succinct online training program outlining the different options for off-the-shelf HVAC systems and where they generally work best. Selecting the right type and design for a HVAC system depends on the size and design of the building, the interior heating and cooling requirements, and the exterior climate. These factors determine the calculated sensible and latent HVAC loads and supply air flow-rate. It is vital then to do all that is possible first to reduce the load requirement for the HVAC system as outlined in Step 1.
  2. When selecting the HVAC systems it is important to choose the most energy efficient type within budgetary constraints. Energy efficient HVAC units are up to 30 percent more efficient than standard efficiency units and are available in most size ranges.[17] Energy efficient units differ from standard efficiency units in several ways: they typically incorporate larger condenser and evaporator coils, efficient compressors, and enhanced insulation.[18] Thermostatic expansion valves make units more tolerant to variations in refrigerant charge.[19] Some units also use electronic ignition devices rather than gas-burning pilot equipment.[20] Amory Lovins[21] has outlined a range of new insights that, when brought together, can transform HVAC design, leading to significant energy efficiency savings for the HVAC system itself based on insights from Professor Luxton and Eng Lock Lee.
  3. Step 3: Commissioning: Commissioning and adequate staff training are vital to ensure that building services and fabric operate as intended by the design team. Commissioning is a quality assurance process that ensures HVAC systems operate as energy efficiently as intended. Commissioning is integrated into the entire development process – design, construction, testing, post-occupancy and handover.[22] The post-occupancy commissioning phase provides an opportunity to test and adjust the HVAC system over a range of operating loads, especially the most common load for the building.
  4. Step 4: Maintenance: Once the building has been built and the HVAC system has been installed and properly commissioned, ongoing monitoring and maintenance are key steps to further fine turning energy savings and ensuring that the system is running as well as possible. Thorough maintenance procedures assist in maintaining HVAC system energy efficiency, maintaining occupant comfort, maximising equipment life and minimising component failure.

Brief Background Information