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Companies today must consider not only

how to operate their businesses more

efficiently but also how to optimize their

facilities to reduce long-term operating costs.

MASTER PLANNING

FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Rising energy costs, looming greenhouse gas emission regulations and lean budgets contribute to this conundrum. Energy master planning provides the road map that will guide companies in making the right decisions about maintaining their facility infrastructure.

that considers the performance of existing equipment, alternative energy sources, energy and water conservation, demand-side management, and infrastructure optimization to reduce environmental impact and operating costs while maintaining high-quality, safe and reliable energy delivery.

Implementing a solid energy master plan ensures environmental compliance, energy efficiency, adequate capacity for growth, reliability, redundancy, flexibility, sustainable infrastructure and lowest life cycle utility cost. Outlining utility needs over the next 15 to 30 years, an energy master plan involves conducting a cost-benefit analysis

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Through a two-pronged approach, Burns & McDonnell first identifies operational and functional issues within the existing utility infrastructure, taking into account projected load changes and conditions. Burns & McDonnell then develops custom energy models to account for the interdependence of systems and the effect on overall life cycle cost. Through this analysis Burns & McDonnell recommends utility infrastructure upgrades or expansions needed based on priority.

When it comes time to implement the master plan, Burns & McDonnell can execute its recommendations and also assist in project financing. Burns & McDonnell has helped its clients secure $160 million in government incentives since 2000, $50 million of which were American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants in 2009 and 2010. The firm also arranges partnerships to finance renewable energy projects.

HIGHER EDUCATION Colleges and universities recognize the importance of such planning. As of November 2010, more than 675 higher education institution presidents nationwide signed the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment to develop a climate neutrality action plan, take immediate measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and publish periodic sustainability reports to track progress. As a result, more colleges and universities are exploring renewable energy sources and seeking sustainability measures that will reduce energy consumption and environmental impact. The higher education industry’s constituents, college students, also value the green movement and now consider colleges based on their sustainability.

Accomplishing these environmentally friendly goals can be challenging for the many higher education institutions with historic, aging buildings that have become characteristic of university campuses. However, energy master planning can help colleges and universities develop a customized action plan that optimizes energy use across the campus. This plan contributes to an ideally sized and

configured central utility plant (CUP) that is neither too large nor too small to serve a particular campus. An appropriately sized and configured CUP saves operating costs and eliminates unnecessary capital expenditures.

“When you take the steps to prepare an energy master plan and follow through, you’ll end up with more capacity in your existing plant and won’t have to expand,” Karen Stelling, associate vice president in the Burns & McDonnell Aviation & Facilities Group, says. “Reducing demand on equipment helps the central plant operate more efficiently to meet the actual demands of the building or campus. This way we’re not just adding to demand; we’re scaling it back.”

Case Study: University of Missouri-Kansas City Energy master plans often include recommendations of when and how to modify utility systems for maximum efficiency. Recommendations can include energy audits and performance contracts — improvements to existing systems paid for by the resulting energy savings. Burns & McDonnell conducted an investment-grade energy audit of 27 buildings, totaling more than 2 million square feet, on the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) campus to help UMKC realize enough energy savings to cover the capital costs of replacing its chilled water plant.

“The right combination of retrofits and energy savings with quicker payback periods will help you to afford to implement your energy master plan,” says Matt VanDeCreek, energy services project manager at Burns & McDonnell.

Through high-efficiency lighting modifications, pressure-independent valves in the chilled water system, low-flow plumbing fixtures, an improved energy management system, variable air flow units and other energy efficiency measures, Burns & McDonnell is helping UMKC realize a projected $1.6 million in annual energy savings through a 15-year guaranteed energy savings program. With a 20 percent reduction in British thermal units consumed per square foot of the campus, these sustainable upgrades also reduce UMKC’s carbon footprint by nearly 12,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions — the equivalent of offsetting the emissions of 1,352 single-family homes or removing 1,344 mid-sized sedans from the road. Burns & McDonnell’s energy-saving upgrades also allowed UMKC to eliminate 14 building pumps and the cost of associated operations and maintenance in addition to increasing chilled water capacity in a new CUP.

As part of UMKC’s comprehensive performance contract, VanDeCreek conducts a measurement and verification analysis of UMKC’s utility bills each month and initiates troubleshooting if the data suggests that a utility system isn’t operating as expected.

“Looking for deviations helps us find new opportunities for energy savings,” VanDeCreek says. “If you stay aware of your building utility

Energy-efficiency measures on the UMKC campus will save a projected $1.6 million annually and significantly reduce the university’s carbon footprint.

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systems and keep them operating as designed, the more likely you are to catch any issues and reduce future operating costs.”

Case Study: Texas A&M University It’s important to revisit energy master plans every five years, as projected utility demands may change over time. Texas A&M University selected Burns & McDonnell to validate its existing energy master plan and provide updated recommendations. Texas A&M’s energy master plan contains detailed plans for campus utilities needs over the next five years, with a more flexible outlook for future years. Since its 2005 master plan — which Burns & McDonnell OnSite Energy & Power Group engineers led while at another firm — Texas A&M implemented $175 million in utility infrastructure upgrades to modernize the campus utility systems. Ongoing projects include a $70 million combined heat and power (CHP) plant, which is partially funded by a $10 million U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant for which Burns & McDonnell helped Texas A&M apply. When completed in mid-2011, the increased energy savings from the CHP plant will result in more than enough monthly savings to recover the monthly financing costs of the project.

The next phase of master planning will optimize Texas A&M’s power generation, steam and chilled water systems for maximum energy efficiency and emissions reductions. The master plan will also include Texas A&M design standards updates to extend these efforts beyond the utility infrastructure and into individual buildings. The resulting energy master plan not only helps the university save operating costs and become more environmentally friendly, but it also aids management in securing funding and approval for necessary utility upgrades over the next two decades.

AVIATION With heightened security measures costing airports most of their capital expenditures since 9/11, many airports are facing aging infrastructure and obsolete equipment that costs increasingly more to operate. Greater operating expenses are passed onto

airlines and eventually the traveling public, motivating airports to become more energy efficient to save operating expenses. Energy master planning helps airports assess how best to optimize their utility systems, delay unnecessary capital costs and plan for future expansions.

Case Study: Denver International Airport As part of the Regional Transportation District’s FasTracks commuter rail program, the Denver International Airport is building a train station to connect the airport with downtown and a 500-room hotel and conference center. In order to prepare for these projects, the airport hired Burns & McDonnell to evaluate whether its existing CUP could handle the planned additional heating and cooling loads associated with the South Terminal Redevelopment Program.

“This study gives us the knowledge we needed about our CUP to make the right budgetary decisions regarding our utilities,” Lee Walinchus, senior engineer at Denver International Airport, says.

Burns & McDonnell analyzed the capacity of the airport’s CUP, equipment performance parameters and plant expansion limitations. The ultimate capacity of the plant was then compared to the existing loads, the anticipated future loads of both the currently planned expansions and the ultimate build-out of the airport. Burns & McDonnell then developed a CUP master plan to identify if the CUP could be expanded, when new equipment would be needed and if additional square footage or a satellite plant would be necessary. Burns & McDonnell determined that due to several site restrictions, the plant footprint

could not be expanded, but with equipment additions the existing CUP could handle the planned South Terminal Redevelopment Program and existing concourse additions. However, the plant would need a satellite addition if a new concourse were added.

Currently, Burns & McDonnell is designing valve and air handling unit modifications it recommended in the airport’s energy study. These modifications allow for the elimination of 125 pumps, resulting in an estimated annual energy savings of more than $400,000 for the airport and better access to the plant’s full chilled water cooling capacity.

“Optimization of our hydronic system to the way we do business leads to substantial energy reduction, which contributes to our ISO 1400-certification status and effort to be a good stewards of our environment,” Walinchus says.

MANUFACTURING Energy master planning for manufacturers, as for most businesses, primarily focuses on the length of project payback. There are always many projects competing for capital investment funds, but it’s important to understand that there’s a cost to doing nothing.

“With internal rates of return (IRR) exceeding 25 percent, in most cases, we see a high

The DOE offers grants for implementing emerging, clean energy technologies like combined heat and power — ideal for mission-critical facilities. An energy master plan helps decide if this technology is the right investment for your company or organization.

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cost of doing nothing,” Scott Clark, leader of the OnSite Energy & Power Group at Burns & McDonnell, says. “We see many manufacturers with rental and inefficient, retrofitted equipment because they can’t compete for capital on an IRR basis. These inefficient systems cost hundreds of thousands of dollars more to operate than optimized utility systems.”

Burns & McDonnell helps manufacturers avoid this problem by creatively looking at interdependencies, capital avoidance, and maintenance and energy savings; replacing inefficient equipment; and developing infrastructure projects that meet IRR requirements.

For manufacturers in the government supply chain, there are additional sustainability mandates, concerning factors such as greenhouse gas emissions, that don’t apply to private industry. These manufacturers need to be forward-looking, so that they can continue work for the government by complying with existing and upcoming sustainability requirements.

HEALTHCARE The healthcare sector has grown increasingly more dependent upon electricity with digital medical records and equipment essential to patient care. With hospitals and research facilities operating 24/7, energy becomes the second largest expense behind staff compensation. Coupled with the requirement for hospitals to keep all utilities running up to 96 hours in an emergency, energy reliability and security drives many healthcare facilities to consider energy master planning.

Case Study: Parkland Hospital For its new 17-story, approximately 2.5 million-square-foot hospital in Dallas,

Parkland Health & Hospital System selected Burns & McDonnell to perform an energy analysis, conceptual design, and final design for its CUP. Early CUP planning allows Burns & McDonnell to coordinate its recommendations, such as optimized controls and utility management software, with the hospital’s design team for maximum CUP efficiency.

Anticipated to reduce energy costs by 25 percent, this CUP will feature 16,500 tons of cooling, 230,000 pounds-per-hour of steam and 20 MW of emergency power to support 2.5 million-square-feet of hospital and medical office buildings.

“We selected Burns & McDonnell because of its energy efficiency strategies and cost-saving techniques,” says Kurt Dierking, vice president of facilities support services at Parkland. “The CUP’s energy efficiency will help us obtain LEED® Silver certification for the new healthcare campus, which optimizes our resources, saving money both for the hospital and taxpayers.”

Energy-efficient measures, such as heat pump chillers, variable-speed pumping and chilled water plant optimization, will conserve energy and provide redundant, reliable and efficient utilities to the new Parkland campus.

For more information, contact Scott Clark, 817-840-1233.

Parkland Health & Hospital System engaged Burns & McDonnell to conduct an energy master plan early in the design of its new 17-story, approximately 2.5 million-square-foot hospital in Dallas to maximize utility system efficiency for LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification.

Read two additional energy master planning case studies at www.burnsmcd.com/emp:

•ThermalEnergyCorp.’s(TECO)masterplanishelpingthedistrictenergyproviderkeepupwiththerapidgrowthattheTexasMedicalCenter,theworld’slargestmedicalcenter.TECOreceiveda$10millionDOEgrantforits45-MW,on-siteCHPplant,whichisexpandableto100MW.

•Theaward-winningGainesvilleRegionalUtilitiesSouthEnergyCenterattheUniversityofFloridaShandsCancerHospitalfeaturesahurricane-resistantdesignthatprotectsitsCHPsystem.

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Manufacturers must also consider the cost of not conducting an energy master plan when competing for capital.

2011 No. 1