We’ve all heard the old cliché about energy efficiency being low-hanging fruit. Steven Chu, the Secretary of Energy in the US has a better way of explaining it: “Energy efficiency is not just low-hanging fruit; it is fruit that is lying on the ground.”
Productivity Alberta recently carried out four very well attended industrial energy efficiency workshops across Alberta. Attended by a cross-section of home builders, engineers, consultants, manufacturers, operations and management staff and others these workshops focused on industrial energy efficiency.
It started with a matrix. No, not the choice between a red or blue pill but a simple piece of paper asking the attendees to look at how their company deals with energy management and rate themselves accordingly. Is energy management done on an ad-hoc basis? Is it planned out? Is a portion of staff and financing devoted to energy management?
According to the program facilitator Brian O’Donnell, responses to these self-assessment questions are usually quite weak.
“I think the matrix is useful because [energy management is] an area that’s somewhat unexplored by many companies and so it’s somewhat daunting to come into a situation and say ‘Well, where do I start, what do I do?” says O’Donnell.
Making this topic approachable and easy to understand is critical. In many cases the fixes are often extremely simple but when energy management is dealt with on a haphazard, case-by-case basis the results can be far from expected, or even possible.
“When we look at the key performance indicators for either technology or management we’re seeing that only a fraction of the potential is being realized with an ad-hoc approach,” says O’Donnell. “If we use a more structured approach we can realize a lot more efficiencies. By using this matrix structure it sets up a methodology for things to get done that also involves all the different levels of the organization. If the boss has to focus on energy use then everyone has to pay attention to it.”
However, having operations and plant management staff pitch management on the benefits of energy management can be a challenge. There is often a language barrier between staff and management, and O’Donnell recommends focusing discussions on the financial savings. Energy efficiency projects typically have a very high internal rate of return and are low risk propositions.
Dave Johnston is a mechanical engineer with Hemisphere Engineering and attended the workshop. In his work he’s found that implementing energy efficiency measures can be extremely simple.
“I was looking at a local Kal Tire franchisee’s building and they would leave their air compressors running all the time,” says Johnston. By shutting those compressors off at night the business owner started saving $300 a month.
These simple fixes can be applied to larger projects as well. Johnston is currently working on the air handling systems at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton.
“They have some older fans with 250-horsepower motors. We go and do an evaluation of these things and lo and behold, with the changes in their occupancy and some of the technology upgrades in place we can run a 150 horsepower motor,” says Johnston.
When you start learning the energy efficiency methodology you begin to see the power of small changes, how they can add up, and how they can quickly make a positive difference to your bottom line. Waste is waste, no matter if it’s energy waste or waste from a production process.
Dave Johnston of Hemisphere sees a huge opportunity in this space.
“I think that a lot of industry needs to send more people here and just start listening and take those ideas back to their organizations but it doesn’t get high enough priority. They’re so focused on the process that they’re not looking at the potential opportunities,” says Johnston.
“There are huge, huge savings but you have to get the people to get out of the box a little bit. It doesn’t cost a lot of money to pick up the phone and talk to an expert.”
