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This month’s ES2 energy manager webinar is titled “Introduction
to Utility Incentives—PSO.”
While the focus of the 20x2020 program is behavioral energy
conservation, a number of participating organizations continue to upgrade building
systems equipment as needed. Luckily, many of Oklahoma’s utility companies
provide rebates and other incentives to help make those projects more cost
effective.
The first half of the webinar will discuss utility
incentives and explain the rationale behind the funding source. In the second
half, a PSO representative will introduce the incentives available for
commercial buildings in PSO’s territory and how to apply for a rebate. ES2 will
host sessions with Oklahoma’s other major utility companies in the coming
weeks.
Organizations that have issued a purchase order to ES2 in order to
enroll in the behavioral program are invited to register for June's
energy manager webinar. Please register at least one hour in advance of the
webinar.
Logistics:
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The July ES2 energy manager webinar is titled
“Introduction to Utility Incentives—OG&E.”
After
June’s webinar introducing utility incentives, ES2 will be offering sessions
that cover the available incentives for customers of other utility companies.
An OG&E representative will introduce the incentives
available for commercial buildings in OG&E’s territory and how to apply for
a rebate.
Organizations that have
issued a purchase order to ES2 in order to enroll in the behavioral program are
invited to register for this month's energy manager webinar. Please register at
least one hour in advance of the webinar.
Logistics:
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With so many organizations implementing successful
programs, it can be a challenge to pick one out of the crowd. When it comes to
Oklahoma’s Department of Environmental Quality, however, it is clear that they
are establishing themselves as a leader. Karl Heinzig, Heather Lerch and Phill
Sanger have been crafting a program that makes use of their employees’ existing
support for energy conservation and sustainability. After adapting their Energy
Conservation Guidelines and distributing them to employees via the electronic
employee bulletin board, they have begun building on that foundation by
selecting areas of focus. One area of particular interest to Heather was
measuring how much energy typical pieces of equipment consume when turned off (phantom draw). She used a Kill-a-Watt meter to measure phantom draw
within her home and, surprisingly, found that an electric pencil sharpener had
a substantially higher draw than most other devices. In addition to this, they
have issued a Plug Load Inventory to help increase awareness of energy
consumption among their occupants. Coupling the results of the Plug Load
Inventory with Heather’s measurements will help prioritize which devices might
need to be addressed.
It would be a mistake to think DEQ is stopping at
raising awareness, though. Karl, Heather and Phill have made sure to enable
their employees to do well by making it easier to conserve. They have purchased
small batches of power strips and distributed them to the employees who would like
to use them to conveniently cut power to multiple devices, such as pencil
sharpeners. This is very much in line with Community Based Social Marketing,
which stresses the importance of making the desired behaviors easier as a way
to increase adoption. DEQ has also realized the importance of measuring what
they want to change. The three energy managers have developed a set of internal
spreadsheets that complement their monthly reports and have completed Major
Equipment Inventory by assisting in the monitoring of usage trends. As one of
the first organizations to utilize their data so thoroughly, they are
establishing methods that allow for the tracking and targeting of areas that
have the highest potential for savings.
By mainstreaming their program, they are also finding ways to show participants how they fit into the story. This is being done not only by having
one energy champion per floor performing regular walkthroughs, but also by
inviting their energy champions to a webinar training which will address how to
communicate information about energy programs to building occupants. DEQ has
found having a network of informed energy champions to be of vital importance, as energy champions engage their own local team members. “People are funny. It's the little things that bring out the good or bad
in them,” says Phill Sanger. With all that DEQ is introducing to support their occupants in
pursuing the 20 percent reduction goal, it is not hard to see that they are
certainly trying to bring out the best in their people as well.
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Each
individual has the opportunity to contribute to our goal of reducing energy
consumption 20 percent by proactively finding small ways to help.
Did you know that building industry experts have defined
six different factors that impact human comfort? Some of them include what we
normally think about: air temperature and humidity. However, it is also
important to know that the air speed, insulation from your clothing and heat
that is given off from appliances all contribute to how comfortable your space
is. As summer arrives, try experimenting with these factors in your own space to
see how you can be comfortable while using the least amount of energy:
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Wear clothing that is made of lighter weight
fabrics that will allow air to move more freely.
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Use ceiling fans when you are in the room
instead of turning the thermostat down. When the air is moving it feels cooler
and does not require the HVAC system to come online, allowing you to avoid
consuming large amounts of energy.
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Utilize natural lighting in the mornings, but
shut your blinds during the heat of the day. By also turning off appliances
such as coffee makers and mini-fridges when not in use, you will reduce both the
amount of heat radiated throughout your space and the need for the A/C to turn
on.
If
you have any questions or ideas on tips to share, please contact Morgan Miller
of ES2 at mmiller@es2ok.com or 405-528-4500.
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