When Urban Renaissance Group purchased Tower 333, a 20-story office building in Bellevue, Wash., they knew the aging and inefficient water-booster system needed to be replaced. The original system consisted of three 20-horsepower constant-speed booster pumps operated in a staged sequence, bringing on successive pumps as demand changed. With a commitment to occupant comfort and maintaining the building's energy-efficiency certifications, the company knew they had to find a replacement for the aging water-booster system that would save energy and improve performance.
Learn how the Oregon Department of Transportation upgraded a 66-year-old office building with a combination of mini-split heat pumps and, later, a high efficiency energy-recovery ventilator to improve the building’s comfort, efficiency and indoor air quality.
Originally built as a warehouse in 1943, the 11 Main Building in Portland, Oregon, was converted into an office space in 2014. Though its existing HVAC system was functional, its deficiencies created an uncomfortable indoor environment with occasionally poor indoor air quality. Learn how Energy 350 upgraded their HVAC using the very high efficiency DOAS approach to improve their comfort and air quality while saving energy and money.
In commercial buildings across the U.S., outdated or inefficient HVAC systems waste a staggering amount of energy and money, while also creating unhealthy and uncomfortable indoor environments. However, research and field studies have proven there’s an optimal approach to HVAC design that can significantly improve indoor air quality and occupant health, comfort and productivity, while maximizing energy-cost savings. Learn how this optimized, high-performance approach to HVAC combines high-efficiency equipment with design best practices to make widespread commercial HVAC deficiencies a thing of the past.
Recent advancements in motor controls have had huge impacts on the circulator pump market. Specifically, circulator pumps with what are known as Electronically Commutated Motors, or ECMs, trigger an intelligent speed control system that provides substantial energy savings. This is because speed-controlled pumps automatically adjust their output to changing demand, whether it's because of outside temperature, amount of sunlight, overall activity, or other heating sources.
Although the full impact of pumps in our society sometimes falls under the radar, what hasn’t gone unnoticed is energy efficiency and sustainability. When it comes to whole-building energy efficiency and sustainability, pumps are front and center and play a critical role in helping facilities reach these goals.
While utilities often provide incentives for selecting efficient large motors, NEEA's Extended Motor Products (XMP) program take this one step further: It focuses on pumps and circulators under 50 horsepower used in many commercial and industrial applications. Hydraulic Institute talked to Warren Fish, the XMP program manager, about NEEA's focus on smaller pumps and how the program works.
The Hydraulic Institute (HI) has announced the development and implementation of a certification program for Pump Systems Assessment Professionals (PSAP). This program sets the standard for the discipline of pump systems assessment and the use of pump system optimization techniques. Certification will provide a high level of confidence to end-users and other stakeholders that pump system assessors have the experience and expertise to perform high quality assessments which will lead to more energy efficient and reliable pumping systems.
Commercial secondary windows can solve a host of building energy and comfort issues, including thermal discomfort, exterior noise disruption, sun glare, draftiness, high utility bills, high peak load and HVAC system stress caused by extreme temperatures. However, studies show that secondary windows will provide the most benefit for existing buildings and windows with certain characteristics. Find out whether your building might be a good fit for secondary windows.
Built in 1975, Hurley Development’s 915 Broadway office building in downtown Vancouver, Wash., features floor-to-ceiling windows in every perimeter office—6,000 sq. ft. of windows in total. While all of these single-pane windows let in a vast amount of natural light, they also brought in far too much heat in summer, and too much cold air in winter. This thermal leakage not only led to tenant comfort complaints, it also inflated energy costs by forcing the aging HVAC equipment to strain to maintain indoor temperatures.
Peer into the ‘Eyes’ of the Building: When it comes to energy efficiency, your building envelope will have the greatest impact due to it having the longest live components and a greater impact on heating and cooling loads. Watch as Mike Hatten, P.E. and Owner of Solarc Energy Group explains how your biggest problem and also your solution, is windows. The why of energy efficiency is easy, we’ll show you how.
400 Market Street is a 12-story, 200,000-square-foot office building owned by Kaiserman Company. The building, built in 1972, had already undergone several building energy performance upgrades, but its poor performing single-pane windows were a weak point. The property manager wanted to improve tenant comfort, reduce operating expenses, and improve the building’s ENERGY STAR® rating, while avoiding the costly and lengthy process of full window replacements.
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