District Energy - 2009 3rd Quarter

Industry
News

water at cooling towers by about 660,000 gal per day in fiscal year 2010. That equals about 9 percent of the overall Chapel Hill-Carrboro community’s drinking water demand and about 30 percent of UNC’s demand. In the future, the university’s reclaimed water use could rise to 1. 5 million to 2 million gal per day or more and supply 10 percent to 15 percent of the community’s total water needs.

The university also plans to extend the reclaimed water system in the near future to serve additional cooling tower, toilet flushing and irrigation needs on the main campus. The new system was paid for by a combination of more than $10 million in university funds, plus state and federal grants.

Survey: Energy Efficiency
Growing Focus for Business

New research commissioned by Johnson Controls Inc. has found that energy efficiency is still important to business leaders, though investment lags. The company’s third annual Energy Efficiency Indictor (EEI) survey, a report targeting more than 1,400 energy management professionals, revealed barriers to investing in energy efficiency include limited funding, uncertainty about future energy prices, government incentives, and energy and climate legislation.

Johnson Controls partnered with the International Facility Management Association to commission the survey. The majority of respondents were chief executive officers, vice presidents, general managers or facility directors.

According to the EEI results, 71 percent of business leaders are paying more attention to energy efficiency than they were one year ago. Fifty-eight percent responded that energy management was extremely or very important. Of the organizations making public carbon commitments, 45 percent identified energy efficiency in buildings as their top carbon reduction strategy. Sustainability continues as a focus for new construction projects as 38 percent are seeking green building certification, while 45 percent plan to incorporate green elements, but not certify their facilities.

The study revealed a likely 10 percent decrease from last year in the use of facility capital budgets to fund energy efficiency projects. It also revealed a 6 percent decrease in the number of respondents planning to make investments using their operational budgets.

When asked about barriers to potential energy savings, limited capital availability for investments ( 42 percent) and unattractive payback ( 21 percent) were cited. Nearly 50 percent of executives who oversee energy efficiency investments expected a payback period of less than three years.

The EEI research indicates that business leaders believe incentives from utilities or government will drive investment. Eighty-five percent stated that legislation mandating energy efficiency and/or carbon reduction is likely within the next two years. This data supports a continual upward trend, increasing from 76 percent in 2008. Forty-four percent report that incentives are very/extremely important as they make decisions on energy efficiency, up from 38 percent in 2008.

For more information on the survey, go to www.johnsoncontrols.com.

TKDA Honored for Steam-
Generating Facility

TKDA of St. Paul, Minn., received a national award for its design of an innovative, environmentally friendly steam-generating facility for window manufacturer Andersen Corp. The award was presented by the American Council of Engineering Companies at an event held April 28 in Washington, D.C.

TKDA planned and engineered the design of the $22 million facility at Andersen’s Bayport, Minn., campus, which enables the company to produce 100 percent of its required steam for process use and heat from renewable energy. The facility also eliminates Andersen’s reliance on coal-based steam and allows the company to control its current and future energy requirements by using new, state-of-the-art equipment.

TKDA worked with Andersen to develop a system of wood-fired boilers that actually consume the facility’s wood waste products and substantially decrease its input to landfills.

The wood-fired boilers are equipped with low-NOx burners. Flue gas also is recirculated to further reduce emissions.

In addition, a warm water recovery system is used to heat outside or fresh air brought into the facility. This system recycles the water discharged from the neighboring power plant for heating purposes. Special low-NOx burners were installed as a backup heat source to the warm water. This was the first time low-NOx burners have been used in this manner outside of California. The design provides reduced energy consumption, improved performance and a longer life for the system.

UK Looks to Expand
District Heating

As reported May 15 by the online news service New Energy Focus, the United Kingdom’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is looking “very closely” at how to encourage broader use of district heating systems. DECC research has identified that one in five households could benefit from joining community heating systems.

Hergen Hay, head of the department’s distributed energy and heat policy, is leading the development of both a renewable energy strategy (RES) for the government and a heat and energy savings strategy. The RES document was slated to be published in summer 2009 as part of the UK’s efforts to meet renewable energy targets for 2020.

Heating is responsible for 47 percent of UK carbon emissions. Hay pointed out that increasing renewable or low-carbon forms of heating energy would be essential if the UK is to meet its goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050. The government is creating a renewable heat incentive that could offer financial support for heating systems that use renewable energy sources.

According to DECC research, even in current market conditions, district heating could displace electric heating on economic grounds – but only enough to see 0.3 percent of national heat demand switching.