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Next Century-Based Energy Saving Technology Slashes Office Electric Bill By 80% Although free, unlimited electricity for your business is not on the horizon, Fotis Boliakis may have discovered the next best thing. To dramatize the $25,000 that RVI Services, a 32 employee company will save this year on energy costs for their 17,600 square foot Stamford office, he holds up his company's $410 May 1995 Connecticut Light & Power electric bill. RVI, located in Stamford, Conn., specializes in residual insurance. Its boldly designed office offers dramatic upper floor views of the New England countryside and Long Island Sound. The atmosphere is relaxed but strictly business. Nothing about the office environment suggests that at its core is a super-efficient infrastructure that might well be an energy conservation model of the future. Back in the fall of 1994 Mr. Boliakis, RVI's senior asset advisor, called on CPG Architects & Planners (also of Stamford) to design RVI's new headquarters on a full floor of a new office building at 177 Broad Street. Because Mr. Boliakis has a degree in mechanical engineering to go with his MBA from Pace University, he has an in-depth understanding of the effects modern office equipment can have on the immediate environment and the costs in terms of wasted energy. He wanted RVI's new offices to be state-of-the-art energy efficient. CPG Architects and Planners had worked with clients such as Citibank, ITT, AmeriTech and Bank of New York. A few years ago they redesigned the interior of what was then called the Pan Am Building. Recent assignments have included such diverse projects as the design of several stock exchange trading floors and dozens of Boston Chicken restaurants. But what Mr. Boliakis had in mind was so close to the cutting edge that CPG president Gary Unger agreed that Global Energy Systems (GES), a specialist in conservation design, should be consulted. The result of their collaboration is a virtually "smart" office that, among other features, senses the presence or absence of people, sunlight, and subtle electrical power demand shifts, and reacts accordingly by dimming or shutting down lights, computer monitors, printers and other devices. But apart from the convenience afforded by the 21st century technology, the real benefit for RVI has been dramatic savings in the cost of electricity. In the terms of their ten year lease, RVI's landlord offered them the option of either paying an annual fee of $1.75 per square foot for electricity or installing their own meter and paying Connecticut Power & Light directly. Boliakis was confident that their CPG and GES- designed office would deliver as promised and chose the latter. Several Stamford-based commercial real estate brokers confirmed that owners of the city's Class A office buildings routinely ask from $1.50 to $1.75 per square foot annually for electricity. In nearby New York City the cost can zoom upwards to nearly $3.00 per square foot. The additional installation cost of the energy conserving equipment, according to Boliakis, was approximately $3.00 per square foot. This meant construction cost about $50,000 above what RVI normally would have paid. Who cares? To date, based on their actual electric bills, the per square foot cost of RVI's electricity is thirty-four cents. Projected over twelve months the cost would be just under $6,000, a savings of $25,000 a year. This amounts to about $1.40 a year for every square foot of leased space. Applied over 17,600 square feet the savings enjoyed by RVI demonstrate that energy conservation, even over the short term, can be a veritable profit center. CPG Architects & Planners and Global Energy Systems employed a variety of innovative devices and applications to eliminate wasted energy. "It became apparent to me over the years," Mr. Boliakis explained, "that you cannot rely on people to shut off lights and computers. They mean to, but get busy and forget." One solution was the utilization of several kinds of occupancy sensors that can, for example, turn on a light when a person enters a room and turn it off when they leave. Some are even more sophisticated. RVI has installed dozens of Daylight Trackers, a sensor manufactured by Universal Energy Control. These devices employ both photoelectric cells and infrared motion detectors, not only to determine the presence of occupants but also to measure ambient light levels. This allows them to dim or brighten the lights they control in relation to the intensity of available sunlight -- but only when the room is occupied. Other sensors located along corridors and in utility closets use motion detectors to turn on lights as people pass by or enter. Most lights at RVI are set to remain on for just five to ten minutes. The 26 watt fluorescent lamps are custom-manufactured for GES by Simkar. They contain a very high grade of phosphorus and emit what Mr. Boliakis calls "true light that portrays true color." They use much less energy than standard 80 watt lamps and radiate almost no ambient heat, an important factor in reducing air conditioning costs. Their low wattage can mislead designers accustomed to plotting lamp distribution by calculating watts per square feet. Special lenses utilizing a grid of tiny pyramids and reflectors further increase the intensity of light and enhance its distribution. Even the lighting ballasts contribute to the reduction of energy costs. RVI used electronic ballasts instead of commonly used magnetic ones. These have silicon chips that control overall operation and protect circuitry. Unlike magnetic ballasts, they use no current when the lamps are switched off. Though Advanced Transformer which manufactures the ballasts specifies four lamps for every ballast, RVI utilizes only two, insuring 100% backup in the event of failure. No detail seemed too small for this engineering project. Mr. Boliakis points out that his LED-based Exit signs use just 1.8 watts as opposed to the 40 watts consumed by standard signs. The signs, a product of Cooper Lighting, emit an exceptionally bright and evenly distributed light. "Considering that there are 40 of them and they're burning 24 hours a day 365 days a year, that's a considerable saving of electricity." Many of the electrical outlets around the office are outfitted with an attachment called the Power Planner, manufactured by Power Smart. The device uses a computer chip to sense load shifts in electric motors and increases or decreases electric current accordingly. RVI uses the Power Planner with refrigerators, microwave ovens, coffee makers and other appliances. The manufacturer claims energy savings of up to 50%. When not used for ten to fifteen minutes, RVI's laser printers and monitors are programmed to shut down until needed. "The manufacturer says that heat emanation will decrease by 28% when the printer is idling," Boliakis says. "But with our system it decreases by 100%. Programming the monitors was problematic because special code had to be written in the same language used by the LAN system. The shutdown is not merely that of a screen saver which saves no energy at all; the monitor is actually turned completely off but can be reactivated by moving the mouse. Because reducing superfluous heat in the office is a major part of any energy saving strategy, sunlight may pose a larger problem than all the office equipment combined. To this end RVI had special reflective film applied to the inside of windows to supplement the external protection the building came with. This has reduced solar radiation by 66%, an effectiveness demonstrated by the lack of motion of a child's heliotoy. "Although this energy saving technology has been portrayed as a 21st century advancement, it is readily available today. This isn't simply a matter of being ecologically-correct," says Gary Unger, CPG founder and president. "From my point of view it's absolutely senseless for a company not to take advantage of technology that will save it a great deal of money while making the world a cleaner place. It's common sense, that's all. A chance to do the right thing while increasing the bottom line." |