Justifying the Business Case for Sustainability Improvements Through Economic Evaluations of Energy, Maintenance, and Operational Savings
Gary Shamshoian, P.E., LEED AP®, Integrated Building Design Engineering
Peter Pollard, P.E., kW Engineering
Many facility owners are motivated to save energy if the proper economic justification can be demonstrated. However, the benefits are limited by the ability to find and evaluate opportunities. Improving net present value through facility upgrades involves finding and evaluating multiple options, yet many valuable opportunities are often overlooked. Significant savings achieved through maintenance, reliability, and operational upgrades may be possible, but only if they are found and evaluated properly. Case studies will be presented to demonstrate techniques of calculating overall total life cycle cost savings, covering various project types to help engineers improve their ability to capture these lucrative opportunities.
Effective engineers should be skilled at finding and evaluating these value-adding opportunities to build the case for capital projects. On most projects, energy efficiency upgrades are evaluated using engineering equations or energy models. Economic calculations for maintenance and operational cost savings are more challenging, and as a result are pursued less often. Past project summaries will highlight the identification and evaluation of energy, maintenance, and operational improvements. Examples include reduced-maintenance equipment and system design, high-performance air filters, adding variable frequency drives to existing systems, laboratory exhaust upgrades, and aligning utility system layouts with facility operational strategies. The speakers will use field-verified maintenance and operating cost information to estimate the value of these upgrade projects to promote the implementation of sustainable engineering practices.
Biographies:
Gary Shamshoian has more than 30 years in technical facility design and construction management experience, delivering sustainable mechanical facility design, installation, commissioning, and operational improvements. Mr. Shamshoian is experienced in mechanical engineering for pharmaceutical manufacturers with saved facility capital costs and reduced building system sizes through well integrated designs focusing on energy efficiency. Applying integrated design strategies has provided more than six megawatts of savings from laboratory and cleanroom facility upgrades and sustainable engineering on new projects. Mr. Shamshoian's maintenance and reliability improvements generated major savings on many projects, and standardization and knowledge management encouraged innovation in engineering.
Peter Pollard is a principal at kW Engineering, an energy efficiency and renewables consulting engineering firm with offices in Oakland and Long Beach, California. He is a mechanical engineer with 25 years of experience completing projects in industrial, commercial, and institutional facilities, including seven years focused on energy efficiency. Mr. Pollard has led and performed energy audits and commissioning work at more than 100 sites. He also leads kW Engineering services in energy-related third-party evaluations, strategic planning, owner's representation, and construction management. Peter holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Calgary and a Masters of Business Administration degree from York University's Schulich School of Business.