advancing the last frontier: reduction of commercial plug loads
TRANSCRIPT
ADVANCING THE LAST FRONTIER- REDUCTION OF COMMERCIAL
PLUG LOADS
Scott Hackel, SeventhwaveChris Plum, Center for Energy and the Environment
Rick Carter, LHB, Inc.
2016 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings
REDUCTION OF COMMERCIAL PLUG LOADS
OUR PROJECT APPROACH
Characterize: 35 officesIndividually measure: 8 offices, 700+ pointsTest strategies: 5 strategiesGauge satisfaction: 290+ users
REDUCTION OF COMMERCIAL PLUG LOADS
WORKSTATION MONITORING
Workstation logger
CPU logger
REDUCTION OF COMMERCIAL PLUG LOADS
PLUG LOAD INVENTORIES
Self-reported(N=34 offices)
Field observations(N=8)
Average Range Average Range
Area per person (ft2) 280 170 - 600 230 198 - 273
Desktop/workstation 0.65 0 - 1.4 0.49 0 - 1.20
Laptop/workstation 0.43 0 - 1 0.56 0 - 1.00
Monitor/workstation 1.32 0.2 - 2.4 1.58 1 - 2.60
Task Light/workstation 0.80 0 - 2.6 0.68 0 - 1.40
All other 1.40 0 - 4.8 0.97 0 - 4.00
Total Plug Devices 4.6 1-10.4 4.3 1-11Phone/workstation 1.00 0.6 - 1.8 0.98 0.80 - 1.03
5
OFFICE INVENTORY (COMMON SPACES)Equipment Type Total Number
ObservedSites with 1 or more
(out of 8)Desktop Printer 27 6Multi-functional Device/copier 22 8Microwave 21 7Flatscreen tv/digital display 18 6Coffeemaker 16 7Refrigerator 14 7Voice conferencing equipment 10 4Mini-fridge 7 4Electric stapler 7 4Floor based printer 6 3Toaster 6 5Shredder 6 3Projector 6 3
REDUCTION OF COMMERCIAL PLUG LOADS
PLUG LOAD REDUCTION STRATEGIES
CRED
IT: T
rickl
esta
r
APS – Occupancy sensorAPS – Foot pedalBasic timerComputer power managementBehavior campaign
REDUCTION OF COMMERCIAL PLUG LOADS
BEHAVIOR CHANGE CAMPAIGN
CREDIT: LHB Architects
REDUCTION OF COMMERCIAL PLUG LOADS
ENERGY IMPACTS
REDUCTION OF COMMERCIAL PLUG LOADS
ENERGY IMPACTS
Annual energy savings
kWh per station
% (with 95% conf. int.) N
Occupancy sensor 67 21.7% ± 14% 95Computer power management 106 29.1% ± 18% 116Foot pedal 42 19.0% ± 13% 74Foot pedal + behavior campaign 70 22.4% ± 13% 48
REDUCTION OF COMMERCIAL PLUG LOADS
ENERGY IMPACTS
Telev
isions
Desktop prin
ters
Medium-siz
ed M
FDs
Coffeemak
ers
Water c
oolers
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140An
nual
Sav
ings
(kW
h)
REDUCTION OF COMMERCIAL PLUG LOADS
IMPACT OF BEHAVIORAL ELEMENTS
City public works APS savings alone:
…. with behavior campaign:
Engineering APS savings alone:
… with behavior campaign:34 kWh
49 kWh 57 kWh
84 kWh
REDUCTION OF COMMERCIAL PLUG LOADS
PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK
REDUCTION OF COMMERCIAL PLUG LOADS
PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK
Advanced power strips, by site• No major productivity issues• Lowest “acceptance” rate 69%
Computer power mgmt., by site• Technology disrupted
productivity for some specific user types
• Sites without technical issues had high acceptance rates: >77%
REDUCTION OF COMMERCIAL PLUG LOADS
LESSONS FROM THE FIELDComputer power management was initially resisted at most sites.
• Upside: an energy champion• Downside: incompatible software
Even “foolproof” equipment can be misused• Upside: 90% of users had no issues• Downside: some users inadvertently caused
malfunction
Users don’t always plug equipment back in the same outlet• Upside: majority of plugs were never touched• Downside: issue primarily occurred with laptops
REDUCTION OF COMMERCIAL PLUG LOADS
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• We see evidence of loads moving away from the workstation, but significant load remains.
• Tier 2 APS work well.
• Computer power management works even better, but…
• There’s value in discussing behavior.
REDUCTION OF COMMERCIAL PLUG LOADS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This project was supported in part by a grant from the Minnesota Department of Commerce through the Conservation Applied Research and Development (CARD) program.
