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The following case studies and technical papers will help you understand how others have put energy management techniques into practice.
The case studies show how leading organisations have slashed energy costs through technology upgrades, building corporate support,
education and other innovative energy management strategies.
New South Wales Case Studies, click here.
Western Australian Case Studies:
Commercial Building Case Studies, click here.
Technology Profiles:
Industrial Lighting: Fairfield City Council Car Park Lighting Upgrade
The Nelson Street carpark at Fairfield has been an area that has had security issues. The Council decided to improve the safety in the carpark
by improving the lighting levels.
What did they do?
The initial idea was to increase the power of the lights from 104 x 125 Watt Mercury Vapour (MV) lamps to 114 x 250 Watt MV lamps. To save future
running and maintenance costs, the Council decided to install 114 x 175W Metal Halide lamps that are a more energy efficient and more reliable
light source.
Lighting levels have been significantly increased. For example, in one area they have gone from 16 lux to 60 lux.
- Annual $ Savings = $8,538
- Cost of Investment = $32,934
- Rate of Return = 25%
- Energy Savings = 79,000 kWh
- Annual greenhouse gas savings = 73 tonnes CO2
After the lighting improvements were realised, the Council painted the carpark beams and columns white to make it brighter and improve the
carpark's appearance. As a result, lighting levels have been further increased and occupancy levels (i.e. paying customers) have increased by 30%.
Building Management Systems: South Tweed Bowls Club
South Tweed Bowls Club installed a Building Management System (BMS) to control the Club’s airconditioning.
Since the system was commissioned, the Club has reduced its energy consumption by 25%. This translates to $4,500 savings per month.
The Club is now utilising the time scheduling capability of the BMS to coordinate the provision of the air-conditioning with Club activities.
This has allowed the Club to schedule a reduction in air-conditioning running time by more than 250 hours per week (total of hours saved in nine sections of the Club).
- Annual $ Savings = $27,000
- Cost of Investment = $41,000
- Rate Of Return = 65%
- Energy Savings = 512,000 kWh
- Annual greenhouse gas savings = 492 tonnes CO2
HVAC: Collegians Rugby League Football Club
When the Club extended its facilities, it decided to install a new air-cooled central system with electronic
expansion valves instead of increasing the number of separate packaged
units to provide air-conditioning for the Club. The Club also modified its air-handling units to introduce
economy cycles. 18 months after the original installation, the entire Club is now running off the central
system and energy costs have been reduced from 572 kWh per m2 to 428 kWh per m2 as a result. The central plant
combined with a new digital Building Management System has allowed the Club to gain tighter control over areas in
the Club and has improved conditions for its patrons.
- Annual $ Savings = $32,767
- Cost of investment = $70,000
- Rate of Return = 40%
- Energy Savings = 387,000 kWh
- Annual greenhouse gas savings = 375 tonnes CO2
Hot Water Systems: Marrickville Council
Work was carried out on all taps in the Council’s administration building. This included replacement and regrease of the “O”
rings and replacement of tap washers with water flow restrictors. Also, the hot water thermostat setting was changed from
60 degrees to 55 degrees. In addition, toilet cisterns were adjusted to minimise water used in flushing.
- Annual $ savings = Up to $4,674
- Cost of Investment $1,862
- Rate of Return 251%
- Energy Savings 138GJ
- Annual greenhouse gas savings 8.2 tonnes CO2
Added benefits
- Water savers were easy to install
- Reduced water consumption by up to 35%
- Reduction in temperature fluctuations
- Reduction in pressure fluctuations
Motor Systems: Canterbury Bankstown League Club
Fans in the Club’s enclosed carpark operated at full speed 24 hours a day regardless of the traffic flow to remove car exhaust fumes.
To save energy and money during the times when the fumes were at a low level, the Club installed sensors to monitor the levels of
carbon monoxide from cars. These sensors are linked to Variable Speed Drives which control the fans so that they operate only
when required to exhaust a specified level of fumes.
“Now, the fans operate depending upon the volume of cars entering and leaving the car park. That means that the fans run at
100 per cent for the busiest times of the day, at 50 per cent when it’s quieter and for about seven hours a day, they don’t
run at all,” explains Mike Coventon, the Club’s Administration Manager.
- Annual savings = $8,910
- Cost of Investment = $27,000
- Rate of Return = 33%
- Energy Savings = 112,000 kWh
- Annual greenhouse gas savings = 102 tonnes CO2
Steam Distribution Systems: Cerebos Foods
Cerebos Foods established a steam maintenance program and discovered that 14% of the 64 steam traps they had were leaking.
Repairing the leaks has resulted in a lower required volume of steam. Energy and CO2 savings accumulate due to the reduced
gas needed to produce steam (which costs about $20/tonne). Also, when steam has been used in a process, some of it
will condense back to hot water.
Cerebos found that, in a number of areas in the plant, this hot water was literally being wasted ‘down the drain.’
Now this water is piped back to the feed water tank to be re-heated to create steam. This saves energy because
this hot condensate water needs only a small amount of energy to convert to steam when compared to incoming cold water.
- Annual savings = $10829
- Cost of Investment = $8479
- Rate of Return = 88%
- Energy Savings = 1435 GJ
- Annual greenhouse gas savings = 75 tonnes CO2
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