Challenges and opportunities in saving energy

In these times of austerity, everyone is finding that money has to stretch further and that savings have to be made wherever possible. And energy is one of the first places to look for those savings.

Many health service properties are relatively small: surgeries, minor injury units, dental practices, etc. These do not have the ‘big ticket’ energy‑using systems and equipment of the large hospitals, and so will not be looking to invest in sophisticated Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) or complex control strategies. Yet proportionately these smaller units can probably make as much of an impact on their energy expenditure (and perhaps more) than the larger ones.

Many of the larger Hospital Trusts, though, will also have smaller satellite units that – if not integrated into a remote, multi-site energy management system – will face similar challenges to their smaller, independent colleagues.

Aside from staff costs and those associated with maintaining the building and its equipment, energy is likely to be the largest overhead that can be actively managed. Consumers may not be able to do much about the unit price of their energy but they can influence how much is used and when.

The European Commission and the UK Government regularly quote a figure of 20% for the average proportion of energy use that could be saved through the implementation of a range of existing, available now, cost‑effective measures. Now it might be assumed that the potential savings would be higher amongst larger energy users, but that is not necessarily the case.

How much and when
It can be very instructive to take a closer look at energy consumption – not just how much is used but when. The first place to look is the bill. Quarterly bills do not give a great deal of information but if the summer quarter and the winter quarter look much the same, then it is a fairly safe bet that there is a problem. Why? Well, heating and lighting should be significantly lower in summer so unless there are special circumstances, then a closer inspection is called for. But how to find out where the wastage is occurring and what to do about it?

Monitoring and Targeting
Monitoring & Targeting (M&T) underpins much of energy management. Regular data capture and analysis of the resulting information can identify patterns and trends. There are a wide range of systems on the market to suit all budgets. They vary from the simple, spreadsheet-based packages that work on any PC and require manual data input right up to automatic systems (aM&T)
which collect data from meters and produce customised analyses that can point up whatever aspects of your energy profile you want. They can also check the bills for you! And while aM&T may not be applicable for the smallest premises, reducing component costs and economies of scale from increasing sales volumes mean that today, relatively small sites can cost-effectively fit these systems. 

Over the coming years, all premises will benefit from smart meters.  However, right now it is possible to install either wireless energy usage displays or preferably a sub‑meter with an in-built energy management capability that is web enabled (that allows the outputs to be viewed in standard web browsers).  We believe that this is economic for sites spending over £5,000 pa on electricity now and this threshold will reduce during the coming years.

Identifying areas for savings
Knowing when energy is being used and how much is being consumed can help the user to identify where likely savings can be made. Of course, the more data you feed in, the more fine-grained the analysis. But even electricity meter readings taken twice a day will tell you whether you are using too much power at night or at weekends. If so, is that because equipment is being left on when it is not required? Has a piece of equipment developed a fault with the result it is running when it should not?

The fault may not even be visible: there are plenty of stories of store cupboards being kept at near tropical heat because the thermostat has jammed.

Power for lighting, for IT equipment, for drills or even for refrigerators – these account for a significant proportion of overall demand for a surgery/practice. But it is possible to do something about this. For a start, computer equipment should drop to energy-saving mode when not being used. Both the EU and USA insist that computers are fitted with EnergyStar conservation technology, although you may need to check with your supplier/engineer that it is actually enabled.

Lighting: Turning off?
It is an oft-repeated fallacy that fluorescent lamps should be left on all the time because switching on and off takes a great deal of energy. Modern low-energy fluorescents and LED lamps are highly efficient and the switchgear does not require large amounts of energy. But once low-energy lamps have been fitted throughout, there are still other things that can be done. After all, even the most efficient lamp will waste energy if left on when not required. It is possible to set an automatic switch-off for all the lighting systems at some point in the evening – with a manual override in case anyone is working late. Also, if the lighting is on automatic start/stop, the settings should be checked regularly and particularly when the clocks change in spring and autumn to ensure that the adjustment has been made.

It may be sensible to vary the level of illumination in different areas of a building – areas where fine work if needed will require higher levels of lighting than passageways or some communal areas, although if a significant number of elderly or visually‑impaired patients are using the premises this will have to be taken into account.

Keeping warm – or cool
Heating for waiting areas and examination/treatment rooms probably needs to be higher than in other areas of a building. The simplest way to control this where conventional ‘wet’ central heating systems are in use would be by using individual radiator thermostats set for different outputs. Even these ‘simple’ devices have been developed and improved and can, for example, be set remotely or in groups for time and temperature. That makes them eminently suitable for easy installation in small premises.

For larger buildings, separate ‘zone controls’ may be called for (and in some cases are required by the building regulations). Stairwells, for example, do not need the same degree of heating. And areas close to windows are likely to have different temperature conditions – and heating requirements – than those in the core of a building. These outer zones are likely to be colder in winter, even with the best double glazing and hotter in summer due to solar gain on south and west facing sides.
In buildings where there are both heating and air conditioning (cooling) systems it is important to ensure a ‘dead zone’ on the settings. There should a gap of at least a couple of degrees between the different set points. Otherwise, there is a risk of both systems being in operation at the same time, each fighting the other and wasting energy.

A fresh look
It can be very useful to get an independent, expert view of the energy performance of your premises. A walk-through energy audit by an external consultant can identify areas that need attention. These can be prioritised in terms of projected savings and the level of expenditure needed to achieve them. In many cases, the necessary investment is small and payback can be a matter of months. Energy may not seem to be a large item on the balance sheet but it is controllable. In addition, the savings made can go straight into added service provision. From a wider perspective, reducing energy consumption will (unless you buy renewable electricity) reduce carbon emissions. Climate change is expected to have a major impact on health service demand and provision over the coming decades.

Small reductions can help mitigate the total impact, especially if enough people make an effort. But perhaps the key point is that there are opportunities to lower energy consumption and so save money, without reducing the levels of comfort or service your patients expect.

About ESTA
The Energy Services and Technology Association (ESTA) represents over 100 major providers of energy management equipment and services across the UK. For more details visit the website at www.esta.org.uk