Energy Management Strategies for Commercial Buildings
Energy management is a crucial aspect of maintaining the sustainability and efficiency of commercial buildings. By implementing effective energy management strategies, building owners and managers can significantly reduce energy consumption, lower operating costs, and improve the overall performance of their buildings.
Understanding Energy Consumption in Commercial Buildings
Commercial buildings consume a significant amount of energy, accounting for nearly 20% of total energy consumption in the United States. The primary sources of energy consumption in commercial buildings include lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), and building automation systems.
To effectively manage energy consumption in commercial buildings, it is essential to have a thorough understanding of the building’s energy usage patterns. This can be achieved by conducting an energy audit, which involves analyzing the building’s energy consumption data to identify areas of inefficiency and opportunities for improvement.
Implementing Energy-Efficient Technologies
One of the most effective ways to reduce energy consumption in commercial buildings is by implementing energy-efficient technologies. This can include:
- LED lighting systems, which consume less energy and have a longer lifespan than traditional incandescent bulbs
- Smart HVAC systems, which use advanced control algorithms to optimize temperature and ventilation settings
- Building automation systems, which allow for remote monitoring and control of building systems
- On-site renewable energy systems, such as solar panels or wind turbines, which can offset a portion of the building’s energy consumption
Developing an Energy Management Plan
An energy management plan is a comprehensive strategy that outlines the steps that a building owner or manager will take to reduce energy consumption and improve overall building performance. The plan should include specific goals, actionable steps, and a timeline for implementation.
Some key elements of an effective energy management plan include:
- Setting energy consumption targets and regularly monitoring progress towards achieving them
- Regularly conducting energy audits to identify areas for improvement
- Implementing energy-efficient technologies and retrofitting existing systems
- Providing training and education for building staff and occupants on energy-efficient practices
- Regularly reviewing and updating the energy management plan to ensure continued progress
Conclusion
Effective energy management is essential for maintaining the sustainability and efficiency of commercial buildings. By implementing energy-efficient technologies, developing an energy management plan, and regularly monitoring progress, building owners and managers can significantly reduce energy consumption and operating costs while improving the overall performance of their buildings. With right energy management strategies, commercial buildings can significantly lower their environmental footprint and improve the bottom line of their operations.
Energy development is the effort to provide sufficient primary energy sources and secondary energy forms for supply,
 cost, impact on air pollution and water pollution, mitigation of climate change with renewable energy.
Technologically advanced societies have become increasingly dependent on external energy sources for transportation, the production of many manufactured goods, and the delivery of energy services.
This energy allows people who can afford the cost to live under otherwise unfavorable climatic conditions through the use of heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning. Level of use of external energy sources differs across societies, as do the climate, convenience, levels of traffic congestion, pollution and availability of domestic energy sources.
All terrestrial energy sources except nuclear, geothermal and tidal are from current solar insolation or from fossil remains of plant and animal life that relied directly and indirectly upon sunlight, respectively.
Ultimately, solar energy itself is the result of the Sun’s nuclear fusion.
Geothermal power from hot, hardened rock above the magma of the Earth’s core is the result of the decay of radioactive materials present beneath the Earth’s crust, and nuclear fission relies on man-made fission of heavy radioactive elements in the Earth’s crust; in both cases these elements were produced in supernova explosions before the formation of the solar system.
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable (naturally replenished).
In 2008, about 19% of global final energy consumption came from renewable, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.2% from hydroelectricity.
New renewable (small hydro, modern biomass, wind, solar, geothermal, and biofuel) accounted for another 2.7% and are growing very rapidly.
The share of renewable in electricity generation is around 18%, with 15% of global electricity coming from hydroelectricity and 3% from new renewable. Wind power is growing at the rate of 30% annually, with a worldwide installed capacity of 158 (GW) in 2009, and is widely used in Europe, Asia, and the United States.
At the end of 2009, cumulative global photovoltaic (PV) installations surpassed 21 GW and PV power stations are popular in Germany and Spain.
Solar thermal power stations operate in the USA and Spain, and the largest of these is the 354 megawatt (MW) SEGS power plant in the Mojave Desert. The world’s largest geothermal power installation is The Geysers in California, with a rated capacity of 750 MW. Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane, and ethanol now provides 18% of the country’s automotive fuel.
Ethanol fuel is also widely available in the USA, the world’s largest producer in absolute terms, although not as a percentage of its total motor fuel use.
While many renewable energy projects are large-scale, renewable technologies are also suited to rural and remote areas, where energy is often crucial in human development. Globally, an estimated 3 million households get power from small solar PV systems. Micro-hydro systems configured into village-scale or county-scale mini-grids serve many areas.
More than 30 million rural households get lighting and cooking from biogas made in household-scale digesters. Biomass cook stoves are used by 160 million households.
Climate change concerns, coupled with high oil prices, peak oil, and increasing government support, are driving increasing renewable energy legislation, incentives and commercialization.
New government spending, regulation and policies helped the industry weather the 2009 economic crisis better than many other sectors.
