University of Southern California and Pennsylvania State University are in the process of implementing Events2HVAC on their campuses. They recently shared the following energy-savings results.
University of Southern California
Craig Shultenburg, Building Controls Systems Manager at USC, said they are achieving twice as much energy savings as they projected in their original business case for Events2HVAC.
USC has 242 classrooms controlled by Events2HVAC, out of their 501-room license. There are 29 air handlers (AHUs) serving those 242 rooms, and Events2HVAC returns them to unoccupied settings between scheduled events. Shultenburg used the horsepower ratings of the AHUs converted to KW and accumulated runtime hours to determine energy use. Results were then compared to baseline numbers to determine dollar savings.
Shultenburg said the combined 29 AHUs are averaging about $1,700/week in energy savings, which would be more than $80,000/year if the savings proves steady through the seasons. USC had originally projected $20,000 in energy savings in fiscal year 2019 and $40,000 in energy savings each year thereafter.
But this is only part of the total energy savings because there will be savings related to boilers and chillers too. And they still only have about half of their licensed rooms implemented.
Pennsylvania State University
Kevin Lynch, Direct Digital Controls Specialist at Penn State University, provided two examples of Events2HVAC energy-savings results.
The first analysis is based on a single air handler (AHU) serving 40 VAV boxes. When nothing is scheduled in the rooms the AHU serves, Events2HVAC automatically returns it to unoccupied settings. Since Events2HVAC implementation, the fan power for the AHU has been reduced an average of 22.5 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per day. Lynch expects annual savings for the fan to be roughly 8,200 kWh or more, with most of the savings occurring in the summer.
The second analysis is based on comparing chilled water use in a classroom building during August 2018 to chilled water use in the same building during August 2017. Lynch explained that the average temperature in August 2018 was higher than in August 2017, and other buildings on campus used more chilled water this year than last year for the month of August. But the classroom building where Events2HVAC was implemented to return HVAC equipment to unoccupied settings between events used 10,000 ton-hours less chilled water, a savings of about $2,300 for the month of August. Fall classes began on the 20th of August. The building was not heavily used until then.
In September 2018, Lynch said the same classroom building used 1,000 ton-hours less chilled water than the previous year, and the average temperature was higher than in September 2017.