Did you know HVAC usage accounts for 60% of your monthly energy bill? For institutional building owners looking to save money, investing in energy-efficient HVAC practices can significantly reduce your operating costs. Read on to learn how efficient HVAC systems optimize your facility.
The Value of HVAC Energy Conservation
Keeping your facility comfortable is imperative to creating a productive workshop. While the logistics behind a comfortable building can be overshadowed by day-to-day operations—before you know it, you’re at the end of the month, looking at an expensive electric bill.
Your institutional building requires a large amount of electricity to operate, and finding avenues to reduce these costs sets your business up for success.
Investing in energy-efficient HVAC systems and improvements can keep your energy bill lower, and give you more capital for financial operations, facility upgrades, and employee bonuses.
Tips To Achieve Energy-Efficient HVAC in Institutional Buildings
For institutional spaces looking to reduce operating costs, use the following strategies to maximize your energy conservation:
Preventative Precautions
Making sure your heating and cooling systems operate efficiently helps control energy costs, and investing in annual tune-up services is an effective way to keep your system running smoothly.
The cost of a preventative maintenance agreement is relatively low, especially considering the energy saving it delivers. When you schedule regular maintenance, your heating and cooling provider replaces parts to mitigate wear and tear on your systems. These improvements make it easier for your unit to operate because it uses less energy to maintain the current climate.
Energy Audits
When taking steps to reduce energy usage, understanding your facility’s needs is crucial to implementing the proper upgrades.
Finding an efficient HVAC system isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Look at your energy bills over the last 2-3 months and see if there are any spikes in energy consumption.
If you notice a pattern of increased energy usage, reach out to a local HVAC provider and schedule a free energy audit. They inspect your systems to see where it’s falling short and give you advice on what upgrades would work best for your facility.
The Best Technology for High-Efficiency HVAC Systems
If your provider identifies where your units are falling short, see what kind of technology they recommend to increase the efficiency of your HVAC systems.
Reducing your energy consumption largely depends on finding the right technology for your business. Some common solutions for institutional spaces are:
Programmable Thermostats
Institutional buildings can waste energy by not keeping their workspace at a reasonable temperature after operating hours. Smart thermostats are an easy fix for this issue. You can customize your operating hours and desired building climate into the system. Programmable thermostats integrate this information within the controls, maintaining your ideal temperature during business hours. Once the time strikes and employees leave, it automatically makes minor adjustments to reduce output and energy consumption while not losing control of the conditions. The key is not to over compensate because recovering the temperature in a space is far more expensive than simply maintaining it.
Duct Sealant
Duct leakage happens when the connection points between your ductwork degrade over time and let air seep through cracks in the structure. It’s a big source of energy waste in institutional facilities.
The easiest way to eliminate duct leakage is by investing in a duct sealing service, where your HVAC provider patches up any avenues where air escapes. Sealed ductwork makes sure that the conditioned air travels to its destination point, reducing the amount lost during the transportation process. Optimizing your airflow increases the efficiency of your HVAC systems because it requires less energy to effectively cool your space.
Heat Pumps
Heat pump technology is an efficient way to control the temperature of your facility. Unlike traditional HVAC systems that use electricity to create heat, pump technology uses your water pipe systems to move heat. Heat pumps extract thermal energy from your water loop, compression units, and refrigerant circuits to regulate your desired temperature.
By capturing heat from alternative energy sources, heat pumps deliver four to six units of heating for every unit of energy consumed, making them one of the most efficient HVAC systems on the market.
Energy Recovery Ventilation
Energy recovery ventilation systems (ERV), are connected to the vents in your HVAC system. ERV systems draw fresh air into your workspace and remove stale air while simultaneously facilitating heat transfer between air streams.
Your #1 Choice for Institutional Heating and Air Conditioning
Since 1962, Service Unlimited has delivered high-quality HVAC solutions that facilitate energy conservation. If you need preventative maintenance, energy assessments, or resources to upgrade your systems—we’re here to help. Start your next project with us and discover the SUI difference.
