Over the past decade the move towards energy efficiency and sustainability has grown immensely. It used to be an issue only appreciated by green-lovers and flower-children, but today businesses, homeowners, and organizations across the country are consistently trying to improve and build upon these efforts.
Governments are another entity concerned with this and one county in Alabama is in the process of overhauling their systems. The Colbert County Commissioners learned the specifics of the plan earlier this week, according to Northwest Alabama news source TimesDaily.com.
Norman Schramm, a senior account executive with Siemens’ Energy and Environmental Solutions Division, gave the presentation. While the cost of the project initially could be steep, it is projected to save them money in the long run. In addition to replacing heating and cooling systems and ventilation air blowers they plan to replace the commercial roof exhaust fans they have with ones that can be more easily programmable and monitored.
Installing efficient fan motors that use “electronically commutated” (ECM) have been shown to help units save money. Also, doing something as little as backing off on central cooling by 3 degrees Fahrenheit can reduce air conditioning costs by up to 15%. Having efficient fans is a great way to keep people cool in the meantime.
Another way to make industrial exhaust fans more energy efficient is through the use of demand ventilation controls. Typically, these can reduce the cost to operate an exhaust system between 30 and 50% and can be installed on new installations or retrofitted onto existing hoods.
Another area the county plans to spend a lot of money on is in their bathrooms. In total, 270 urinals, toilets, sinks, and other fixtures will be completely replaced. In order for them to calculate the size of exhaust fan they’ll need for these rooms they’ll have to take the volume of the bathroom and divide by five.
Other counties, cities, and municipalities across the country should take a lesson from this aggressive Alabama plan and start thinking about ways to update their own facilities.