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Saving Energy

Businesses are finding ways to cut their bills.
September 2006

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Saving Energy

words by > Pam George

Innovative JOITS

Businesses seek quick fixes for energy bills.

As far as Robert Proie is concerned, a utility bill payment is money best spent elsewhere. “You can give it to the utility company, or you can conserve energy and use the savings for other purposes,” he says.

It is easy to see how Proie came by that philosophy. He is the senior facilities director of operations an d maintenance for the Orange County School District, Florida’s second-largest employer. With more than 200 loc ations, including schools in Orlando, the district has an annual energy bill that tops $30 million. In January, after the worst hurricane season on record, the district faced a 20-percent energy hike.

For a quick fix with a fast payback, the district looked no further than its 1,000 cold-drink vending machines. P rofits from the machines help pay fo r special events and programs, but the machines consume $360,000 worth of electricity a year. No longer.

In spring, the district installed the VendingMiser, a plug-and-play device, on each machine. The device’s sensor scans the area for activity. If there is no movement near the machine, it reduces the power. When it senses activity, it powers the machine back up. VendingMiser also monitors the room temperature to periodically re-power the cooling system. The district estimates that the devices can save about $180,000 a year, with a payback on the investment in just eight months.

“I walk up to machines I k now have been off a while and hear them kick on,” Proie reveals. “I put my money in and I’m ready to say, ‘This soda is warm.’ You know what? It is cold every time.”

Fueled by price hikes and deregulation, specialty products like the VendingMiser are gaining in popularity. “I’m meeting with businesses that don’t have the time or capital to buy new air co nditioning,” says Brian Frost, owner of Energy Reapers in Thonotosassa, Florida. “They want quick stuff that will have an impact on their bills.”

That’s good news for companies like USA Technologies, whose EnergyMi ser line includes the VendingMiser, the CoolerMiser for glass-front coolers, the SnackM iser for non-refrigerated food-vending machines, and the PlugMiser, an occupancy-based device that controls appliances.

The line has taken off . “We never dreamed it would become as big as fast as it has,” says Stephen B. Herbert, president and chief operating officer of USA Technologies, located outside Philadelphia. Th is year, the company sold 20,000 VendingMiser devices to PepsiCo to install on vending machines in a Fortune 500 company.

Brian Frost has carved a niche with such specialty energy-conservation products. “These aren’t run-of-the-mill things, like changing from incandescent to fl uorescent light bulbs,” he says. “That’s generic vanilla stuff .”

Along with VendingMiser, Frost is a rep for Maximicer, which affixes to ice machines. “It’s a few hundred bucks and easy to install,” says J.L. Love, president of Maximicer, based near Austin, Texas.

Ice machines regularly purge unused water. Instead of letting the cold water just slide down the drain, the Maximicer first uses it to cool the fresh water fl owing into the machine. Once cooled, the fresh water freezes much faster. The device off ers a 10- to 30-percent savings, depending on the size and location of the ice machine.

Frost also suggests occupancy-controlled lighting for stairwells, which shuts off when the stairwell is vacant. USA Technologies’ PlugMiser works along similar lines and can off er big savings. Consider a retail giant with aisles of whirring electrical appliances that suck up energy, even when customers are nowhere near them. Th e PlugMiser shuts them down when aisles are empty.

To cut costs further, many firms are using energy-efficient lighting. LED lights are better than fl uorescents, Frost says. “It saves energy as soon as you screw in the new bulb.” LED lights last about 80,000 hours, versus incandescent lights (1,500 to 3,000 hours) or compact fl uorescent lamps (5,000 to 8,000 hours).

Florida State University in Tallahassee replaced 90-watt high-pressure sodium lights in its emergency call stations with two-watt blue LEDs. Along with boosting savings, the LED lights are easier to see than the sodium lights, which had washed out the blue lens.

Computer programs off er another way to reduce energy costs. London-based 1E’s SMS Patch Management Pack allows an IT department to wake up computers to receive vital updates and security patches. Th e program then shuts the computers down. And it is all done remotely.

The niche energy-management strategies have a major advantage for companies with tight resources. “Since the ideas have quick paybacks, they should never increase the budget. Th ey should reduce it,” Proie says.

For a company, that could mean improved profits. For Orange County, it means putting money back into school programs.

“We want to return as much money as we can to their pockets,” Proie concludes.

Incentives and Rewards

High-tech gizmos and gadgets can help reduce energy bills, but companies shouldn’t overlook staff education, notes Brian Frost, owner of Energy Reapers. “We believe that an investment in training and education would have a very quick payback in un der a year,” says Frost, who helps companies s ave energy. For instance, if the
cleaning crew cranks down the air co nditioner during
off hours, make sure they realize the importance of turning it up when they leave.

The Orange County School District in Florida rewards schools that practice good energy conservation, says Robert Proie, the district’s senior facilities director of operations and maint enance. Proie’s team compares the schools’ annual consumption to a three-year average and multiplies the difference by the curren t rate per
kilowatt. Schools with savings re ceive 50 percent of that sum. Last year, the district gave out more than $500,000 in incentive checks.

Companies should have reasonable expectations. Rewarding staff who jack the thermost at to 82 degrees in summer is more Scrooge than Mother Jones. Proie, however, doesn’t see that happening. When it comes to thermostats, the district standard is between 73 and 77 degrees—and lower if they can finagle it. “Nobody ever has a s andwich spoil on a desk top in an Orange County school,” he jokes. “They’re not real happy to hear me say that, but if we do n’t say it, nobody else will. You have to put gentle pressure on them.”

Intelligent Solution

A new appliance promises both to cut energy bills and avoid the high costs associated with power outages. GridPoint, a Washington, DC, startup, recently unveiled a “smart box” with recyclable batteries and an onboard computer. The device, the size of a small refrigerator, requires no fuel and no annual maintenance.

The plug-and-play appliance connects to the main circuit breaker and the internet. Users create a personal-energy profile on the web portal, GridPoint Central. Th e site off ers utility rate schedules, weather updates, total energy-consumption data and energy-use patterns. It also provides information on the device’s available backup battery power.

When a power outage occurs, the backup batteries take less than 18 milliseconds to kick on. Computers retain data and clocks keep ticking. Users have eight to 10 hours of backup power to run telephones, computers, security systems and other mission-critical electronics.

Providing backup is only one aspect, according to Peter Corsell, CEO of GridPoint. “The box will make intelligent decisions to conserve energy,” he says. For instance, the computer buys energy when prices are low and keeps it for later use. As a result, you can run your business during the day on electricity purchased overnight, when rates are more aff ordable. Since it monitors the weather, the device will not sell electricity utility company if thunderstorms are expected. Instead, it will store it.

The technology is suitable for homes and small businesses, such as a coffee shop or gas station. It is not appropriate for large enterprises, such as a hospital or school. For more information, visit www.gridpoint.com.

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