Growing evidence shows that companies with robust environmental and sustainability programs are also gaining a competitive edge in attracting the best and brightest employees, which has tremendous business benefits to the companies.

According to Fortune Magazine, “Millennials” want to work for companies that demonstrate values similar to their own, which for many means having a meaningful environmental and sustainability record. Not that young workers will accept a low paying job with few benefits over a better one because of a “green” program, but according to a recent survey, workers under the age of 25 ranked a company’s social reputation as the 4th most important draw for a job, just under pay, potential for career advancement, and a flexible work schedule. And many point specifically to corporate sustainability programs as evidence of social reputation. Almost half (49%) of the companies surveyed in 2011 said that their HR staff openly promote their green agenda to young perspective employees to attract people they want to hire.

Net Impact, a nonprofit organization for young professionals who care about social and environmental sustainability, says that its membership has doubled since 2006.
Why are young people so interested in sustainability? HR professionals cite a number of factors, such as the fact that with information available 24/7, they are more informed about environmental issues than any previous generation. Some cite that environmental issues are not being addressed currently and that their generation will need to solve them. Also, some cite that sustainability can affect a company’s financials, and that unsustainable business practices may have adverse effects on the company’s reputation and bottom line. Millennials are perhaps more image conscious and remember more incidents like the BP disaster compared to other age groups, and do not want their company to be swept up in a similar situation.

Finally, many Millennials appear to believe that a company with a strong sustainability record is likely progressive and innovative, which will help their careers in the long term.

This is just another reason that a credible and well-communicated sustainability program contributes to a company being able to bring in the best young applicants, which has many positive business values.

CCES can help your company develop or enhance your sustainability or “green” program to have real results and business benefits. And we can help promote it to your stakeholders, including job applicants. Not only this, but direct financial benefits, too. See our website: www.CCESworld.com. Contact me today at karell@CCESworld.com.

This summer, the USEPA released its final standards for implementing the “Tailoring Rule” to tailor existing Clean Air Act rules to cover greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from new and modified stationary sources, which is now in effect. In the final rule (see: http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/6A1F6DDB99FEB65785257A300055E955, the USEPA kept unchanged the earlier permitting thresholds for GHGs and, in addition, authorized two new strategies to reduce the regulatory load on applicable sources.

The current applicability thresholds that went into effect last year will not change. There was concern that the USEPA would lower the thresholds, causing many more facilities to be regulated under New Source Review and Title V Permitting for GHGs that had not been subject to these rules before. States complained that they did not have the resources to administer the additional permits. So the current thresholds hold: new and existing facilities with potential GHG emissions with weighted average of global warming potential taken into consideration, aka, carbon dioxide equivalent (“CO2e”) emissions ≥100,000 (short) tons per year (tpy) must obtain Title V operating permits. New facilities with potential CO2e emissions of ≥100,000 tpy and existing facilities with potential CO2e emissions of ≥100,000 tpy making modifications that increase potential CO2e emissions by ≥75,000 tpy must obtain a Prevention of Significant Deterioration (“PSD”, 40CFR Part 52.21) Permit, requiring implementation of Best Available Control Technology for GHG emissions. Any facility triggering PSD due to emissions of other regulated pollutants must also address CO2e emissions for increases of ≥75,000 tpy.

In addition, the final rule streamlines the permitting process by allowing the use of plantwide applicability limits (“PALs”) in place of limits based on individual equipment or processes. Permitting authorities may issue GHG PALs on either a mass basis or a CO2e basis to determine whether a project should be deemed a major modification that subjects the facility’s GHG emissions to regulation. Facilities can “move GHG emissions around” the plant without having to inform the agency and without triggering PSD permitting requirements as long as overall emissions do not exceed the PAL limit. This provides facilities more operating flexibility to changing conditions.

The other new approach would allow the permitting authority to create a synthetic minor permit system for GHGs. The agency can easily issue an enforceable GHG emissions limit below the threshold for major source applicability and/or to trigger PSD permitting. As long as the facility keeps below the limit, then additional actions are unneeded.

Please note that this document does not constitute legal advice of the USEPA release; discuss this with your environmental attorney. CCES can help you with the technical details of determining your GHG and other emission rates to determine whether your facility is subject to Title V and/or PSD, and help you navigate through the processes.

Summer Peak Electricity Load Reduction

As I wrote last month, summer is not too far away. One of the big electricity “killers” that hurts building owners and tenants in the summer is the extra fees you must pay for high peak load. Utilities encourage facilities to reduce their peak demand and punish those which are high in order to be able to continue to provide electricity reliably to all facilities without having to expand their infrastructure, obtain more electricity, etc. These can be big costs, so the financial incentives and “punishments” can be severe. Now is the time to plan a “Demand Response” program to reduce your peak summer electricity demand, saving you both the kwh and that extra peak charge.

Here are some low cost and even no cost Demand Response strategies that have been successfully used by commercial buildings during the peak summer season:

• Shut off non-emergency lights during the day, such as exterior, garages, lobbies.

• Electricity coasting. Turn off the building’s or a section’s AC system, say, 30 minutes before the close of business for a couple of days in a row. Make sure that the office and return air’s temperature and humidity are recorded and ensure that workers are still comfortable. Then try 45 minutes before close, then 60, etc., until the longest time that the conditions are found to be acceptable is found. Tenant and landlord can work together for mutual savings benefit. Can the AC be turned on or the setpoint adjusted later every morning?

• Shut off or adjust setpoints of electric hot water heaters.

• Raise chilled water and/or return air setpoints on AC systems. Replace a chiller’s constant speed compressor with a variable speed compressor and control speed.

• Replace the constant speed drive on the supply and return fans with a variable speed drive (VFD). Consider shutting off exhaust fans to areas not used regularly (i.e., storage space, garage).

These strategies not only have been shown to work in actual commercial buildings in reducing peak load and peak load charges, but these are also no or low cost to utilize and maintain. Therefore, April and May are the times to work with your tenants and landlord and establish acceptable parameters that can save everybody money and energy during the peak hot summer season.

CCES has the expertise and experience to help you in your energy optimization endeavors, whether cooling or heating. We can perform an entire review of your buildings’ energy systems to save you energy costs. Give us a call today.

Install or Upgrade Combustion Monitoring Systems for Proper Energy Utilization

So you have invested in new or upgraded boilers to provide heat and hot water and generators for electricity. How are they performing? Are they wasting (expensive) fuel? An indicator of how well your burners are performing is the concentration of oxygen and carbon monoxide in the exhaust. While such monitoring is often required in Title V air permits, even if you are not required to monitor, it is in your self-interest to do so.

A monitoring system to measure the temperature inside the burner and O2 and CO off the burner can reveal much about your unit’s efficiency, as well as environmental performance. O2 is required to combust fuel. Too little means not all of the fuel can combust and you are not producing the most heat out of your system; too much O2 means it is not burning efficiently. Like low O2, high CO also indicates that the fuel is not adequately combusted to release its heat. Levels of either outside the manufacturer’s recommended range indicate that fuel-saving adjustments may be needed (change in excess air or fuel injection rate) to be more efficient. Burner temperature is also important. Too low a temperature means combustion is incomplete; too high a temperature indicates potential excess NOx emissions. Therefore, there is an optimal range of temperature, O2, and CO to operate your equipment efficiently, saving you fuel. Without monitoring, the need for such cost-saving adjustments would not be known.

Burner efficiency can be optimized through a monitoring system which analyzes the flue gas and either automatically makes the proper system changes that are programmed in to its software or (more often) alerts the operator to potential (out of range) problems who can assess and make adjustments.

Perhaps a key word in all of this is “system.” When buying such equipment, you are not just buying an instrument to measure temperature and O2/CO levels, but also the proper software to store and display data and to highlight results outside of proper operational ranges. Another important feature is training. Make sure your entire staff understands how to use and maintain the monitoring equipment (like your boilers, monitoring equipment needs maintenance, too) and what adjustments need be made for out-of-range determinations. Skimping on these features may result in wasted opportunities to keep your combustion equipment operating optimally and, therefore, in excess fuel combustion and/or sub-optimal heating performance of your equipment.

CCES engineers can help your company assess your combustion equipment and recommend measures to improve its combustion efficiency, likely to pay back that investment in energy cost savings. We can also work with you to recommend the right monitoring equipment and manage installation and training. And, of course, we can help assess any environmental/air emission compliance concern, too. Give us a call today.

Using Emergency Generators Safely and To Your Advantage

Nothing is scarier for a business or a residence than losing power and no longer being able to conduct the most basic of functions (operating lights, production, copying, a kitchen, etc.). This was particularly brought to our attention by SuperStorm Sandy, which caused so many buildings to lose power over such a large geographical area. For this reason, more businesses and residences than ever are buying and installing emergency generators to produce electricity on a short-term basis.

While generators are more affordable than ever, there are real risks to address, such as poisoning by carbon monoxide (CO), an odorless, colorless gas that gets into the blood-stream and “locks up” red blood cells blocking spots for oxygen. According to the Center for Disease Control, over 400 Americans die from accidental CO poisoning yearly. See: http://emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/cofacts.asp?s_cid=tw_DrCP165. A town official told me that they had received many times more calls for potential CO poisoning in the week after Sandy hit than in an entire year because of emergency generators.

Here are some safety and operational tips for procuring or using emergency generators:

1. Plan. Determine ahead of time how big a unit you need to operate in an emergency. Remember that in an emergency, you should not be operating at full capacity or all of your devices. It’s an emergency. What are the minimum items that need to function in case of a power loss? From that, you can properly size the generator. How much fuel oil (generally, diesel) will you need to store?

2. Placement. Where will you place the generator so that it can be brought into use efficiently and not be “in the way” in normal times? Where will you store the necessary fuel oil? Make sure the generator is professionally installed and the fuel and exhaust lines are not blocked or damaged. If the unit is placed outdoors, make sure it is not near an open window through which dirty exhaust may flow.

3. Safety. There are signs in people before CO poisoning gets deadly, including nausea, dizziness, and headaches. If you are operating or near an emergency generator, keep an eye on signs like this for you and others and act early.

4. Testing. Test the generator per manufacturer’s recommendations, usually multiple times per year. Make sure it is combusting fuel properly and producing the electricity as needed in an emergency. Note and address any problems.

CCES technical experts can help you plan to use generators in case of an emergency and can recommend workable strategies to save you money. See our website: www.CCESworld.com for more information or contact me at karell@CCESworld.com.

Reduce Your Transportation Fuel Usage To Save Money

Sometimes forgotten in an entity’s energy footprint is fuel usage for transportation needs, fleet cars, trucks, etc. Fuel is procured and stored, then quickly dispensed and used. But cars and trucks are not to be kept parked, but used on the road. While at this writing gasoline/diesel prices have been recently dropped, they have over the last five years kept steady at or near $4.00/gallon, so we have gotten used to this. In addition, with competitive growth in other countries and oil being a finite resource, prices will have to increase in the long term. Since many companies rely on fleets of cars or trucks to move employees, resources, and goods, transportation represents a significant percentage of many company’s energy usage and cost and greenhouse gas emissions.

Therefore, it is worth your while to study ways to reduce your transportation needs. You should start by understanding how much your company is really dependent on different modes of transportation (fleets of cars, trucks, etc.). How much gasoline or diesel does your company use annually? You can get information from purchasing records. Even look at indirect gasoline usage which you may compensate for in expense reports (for example, asking employees to travel somewhere to attend a meeting).

Then you can begin to look for solutions to reduce usage, save costs, and be more independent. For example, more meetings or webinars can be held via the Internet to reduce travel to meetings at destinations. Not only will this save your company money, but it will also allow your staff less time out of the office and be more productive.

Another strategy is to change the composition of your fleet to more fuel efficient automobiles over time. There have been successful programs to encourage such a transition, which allows cost savings while sales or other employees still do travel.

The good news is that nationwide gasoline usage has dropped about 5% in the last 4 years due to many reasons, including more companies and people implementing the tips above, as well as other tips and other factors.

Finally, as you implement some of these and other suggestions, continue to keep records of gasoline and diesel usage to track the ultimate success of reducing your fuel usage and the resulting monetary and greenhouse gas emission reductions.

CCES technical experts can help you evaluate your fuel usage in the transportation and heating realms and can recommend and manage workable strategies and implement proven ways to reduce fuel usage and save you money. See our website: www.CCESworld.com for more information or contact me at karell@CCESworld.com.

Certainly, “SuperStorm” Sandy has made us look at energy and other utilities in a new light. The 12-foot storm surge certainly overwhelmed many people and businesses who are long-time shore dwellers and thought they had “seen it all”. There is no question in my mind that climate change at least contributed to the severity of the storm from the fact that the base height of all oceans (not just those on the East Coast) has been growing by over an inch per decade and its rate of rise is itself rising to the intense energy the storm had, certainly contributed to by the extra energy captured in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases beyond their historic concentrations. So in this writeup, I’ll try to focus on suggestions to improve your energy security and diversity.

Energy and Operation Planning

Your company needs to begin to plan for extreme weather events. What type of events may your facilities be vulnerable to? Extreme heat? Storm surge? Flooding? Wind? What areas of your business may be affected? The buildings themselves? The roads leading to and from them on which trucks or ships bring in raw materials and out your goods? Critical waterways? How were your facilities, procedures, and routes planned? They were probably not planned based on worst case storms hitting your facilities or routes periodically. Or if they were, the definition of a worst-case storm – as Sandy has demonstrated – has now changed. Take some time to determine where your vulnerable points that you can control are throughout the lifecycle of your products. Where are you vulnerable and what can be done to maintain integrity? A small, but smart, investment in that now can save you a lot of money, risk, and aggravation later.

What are some easy things to do? First, look at the physical. As a result of Sandy, there is already talk in New York City of requiring all future buildings to house their electrical relay and HVAC systems above ground, not in basements that could get flooded. Perhaps moving the systems that you depend on for basic functions to less vulnerable locations is worth considering. Think of these as not “backoffice”, but critical centers. How about energy, the lifeline of any operation (manufacturing, office, etc.)? Consider backup power, whether that be a simple backup generator, solar panels, or a cogen, in case a power line outside your facility goes down. Also, consider modifying your boiler system to be able to combust more than one type of fuel, in case certain fuels become scarcer (see the gasoline lines!), even temporarily. Burners can be so modified. Installing the appropriate storage, piping, meters, and controls can give you greater assurance that you can continue operating if a catastrophe occurs, saving much money.

CCES technical experts can help you perform such site-specific evaluations of your energy security and diversity, which can reduce your risk of failure. See our website: www.CCESworld.com for more information or contact me at karell@CCESworld.com.

Heating is an important part of your energy portfolio. This is part of a continuing series on simple, inexpensive energy saving tips to do that will produce real energy cost savings and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. Suggestions that will not “put out” your staff, and make you look like a hero.

Insulation

Heat loss through un- or poorly insulated pipes or roofs represents a true waste of heat. Pipes carrying steam or hot water (for space heating or for domestic hot water) often must travel hundreds of feet through piping to get from its place of creation (a boiler) to its use (radiator or heat exchanger near key offices or for process purposes). Given the temperature differential between the water and the space outside the pipes or roof, heat can be lost. Installing the right insulation can be a cheap way to keep the heat – created by the combustion of ever expensive fuel – to the intended use and location.

So the first and easiest strategy is to perform a visual inspection. Are all pipes insulated that are handling steam or hot water coming from your equipment going to your building zones? Some unoccupied areas may naturally be ignored in terms of insulation. But heat loss is heat loss. Make sure that all appropriate piping is insulated. Is the insulation actually on the piping? Are there tears or gaps? If you building is old and has not been renovated in a long time, may there be asbestos, which has a major health risk when friable? See next week’s blog with more about the critical managing of asbestos!

If you see deficiencies, you can still remedy them before the heating season begins. Insulation, which is easy to procure, is measured based on resistance to heat transfer, or R value. Some are graded by its heat conductivity, the inverse of resistance. So, it is preferable to get a high R (or low C) value insulation. But procuring the highest R value insulation by itself is not necessarily the best strategy. Other factors affecting the right insulation to use include flexibility around different areas, ability to foster mold, sound attenuation, and (water) vapor permeability. Thus, insulation of below grade pipes should use vapor impermeable insulation material, such as polystyrene.

Typically, insulation is purchased in packages; but can also be sprayed into place. Some insulation is natural; others manmade. Some insulation comes from recycled sources, such as cellulose (recycled newspapers). There are lots of available choices to install the most effective insulation on your pipes, ceilings, and roofs as winter approaches.

CCES has experience in performing site-specific energy audits and recommending proven strategies and technologies to reduce your facility’s energy usage, such as insulation, in a cost-effective way without inconveniencing your staff. See our website: www.CCESworld.com for more information or contact me at karell@CCESworld.com.

This is part of a continuing series on simple, inexpensive energy saving tips to do now that will produce real energy cost savings and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. Suggestions that will not “put out” your staff, and make you look like a hero.

Windows

Windows represent one of the easiest modes of outside air infiltration into a building, causing a building to burn more fuel to heat or to use the AC to cool more than normal. However, window replacement is not a cheap energy saving strategy. Studies have shown that the cost of procuring and installing state-of-the-art windows (double pane, with a solid frame and overall high resistance) is high given the direct potential energy savings. But windows are important. Little affects worker productivity more than working next to single pane windows with a noticeable “draft” or workers being excessively cold or warm.

There are window strategies you can implement to reduce your energy costs. Work with your Maintenance staff to begin regular window inspections and a caulking program. Make sure the windows are completely shut on hot or cold days and that there is no infiltration of outside air, each defeating the efforts of your AC and boiler systems.

Replacing windows can be problematic given the hesitancy of a tenant to upgrade a building it does not own or an owner to invest in something that may have little impact on building value. It is a great expense relative to energy cost savings. But if you are an owner needing to upgrade windows, there are ways to prioritize to save money. It may make sense to initially replace only those windows near where the most people work. Or perhaps replace only those windows that are north facing. One (glass) office building that I performed an energy audit for had both – nearly all of their office workers worked in perimeter offices in one row next to north-facing single-pane windows. The economics of replacing those windows only with double-pane, high R windows was reasonable. Another energy saving potential opportunity in parts of your building where no or few people work is to remove windows altogether and fill in with insulated wall material.

Additional Tip – for you!

Finally, if you are responsible for buying replacement windows for your company or for your home, be careful to buy the right ones that will perform properly to save you heating and AC costs. The FTC recently warned 14 window manufacturers about making false energy-saving claims, such as not backing up savings claims with scientific data and using misleading (“apples to oranges”) case studies. Here are two articles summarizing the issues: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/08/windows.shtm and http://business.ftc.gov/blog/2012/08/make-your-claims-crystal-clear. Do your research to get the best replacement windows for your personal and company’s benefit.

CCES has experience in performing site-specific energy audits and recommending proven strategies and technologies to reduce your facility’s energy usage (fuel and electricity), saving you money with a good ROI and without inconveniencing your staff. See our website: www.CCESworld.com for more information or e-mail me at karell@CCESworld.com.

This is part of a continuing series on simple, inexpensive energy saving tips to do now that will produce real energy cost savings and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. Suggestions that will not “put out” your staff, and make you look like a hero.

Electronics

Part 1 discussed the very simple concept of personal computers. Either make sure they are turned off when not in use (nights, weekends) or invest in a system that will automatically keep them in sleep mode. This leads to the broader point that there are improved technologies in many electronic areas (mainly in keeping equipment in “sleep” mode to be “revived” in a matter of seconds) that can reduce energy usage and costs.

McKinsey & Company developed and updated a graph showing the most cost effective GHG emission reduction strategies – which ones will bring the highest dollar return over its lifetime. The latest published version, Exhibit 7 of “Energy Efficiency: A Compelling Global Resource” (downloadable from its website) shows that the most cost effective strategy is replacing electronics with less energy intensive models. An easy reference is available: the Energy Star program labels equipment that generally exhibit electricity savings of at least 10% compared to standard brands often as high as about 40%). The cost of such equipment is often only slightly higher than non-Energy Star models. Thus, not only is the ROI usually less than one year from reduced electric bills, but given product lifetime, savings can be enormous. Energy Star recommends a wide range of equipment found in an office or elsewhere, such as PCs, refrigerators, printers, etc.

Perhaps what is easiest about this energy tip is that it does not have to be done by you, the EHS or Sustainability professional, but by another group: Purchasing. Inform them of this and request a policy to consider the Energy Star label for all future purchases. Then your company will lock into real energy cost savings without a big effort.

Additional Tip – for you!

Exhibit 4 of the same McKinsey document contains a graph listing equipment and their average cost per end-use energy savings: which equipment will give you the biggest energy savings for the initial outlay. The best are two items you use at home: your water heater and your freezer. So take extra care to purchase Energy Star equipment, to maintain them, and insulate piping well to get your best home energy savings!

CCES has experience in performing site-specific energy audits and recommend proven strategies and technologies used by others to reduce your facility’s energy usage, saving you money with a good ROI and without inconveniencing your staff.