Digital Thermostats
Environmental Issue: Wasting Gas and electricity when employees aren’t at work
Homes, shopping malls, warehouses and offices account for 38 percent of the energy use in the United States making buildings the largest producer of CO2 (National Geographic – March 2009). The amount of energy is so large it is hard to wrap your head around it. In 2003 (the last survey completed), the US Energy Information Administration reported 6,523 trillion BTUs of energy consumption. The survey included 71,000,000,000 square feet of space. Our office is only 10,000 square feet and given what we pay for electricity and gas the total paid over one year for all of the commercial space would be in the range of tens of billions of dollars.
There are many reasons buildings consume massive amounts of energy: their size, poor construction, cheap windows, poor lighting, etc. Unfortunately many of the inefficiencies that exist in buildings can only be corrected though a major remodel. Installing a digital thermostat is simple, inexpensive, doesn’t require major construction and will yield savings immediately.
Environmental benefit: Heating and cooling accounts for 39 percent of all energy use in an office (Portland Office of Sustainable Development). Reducing unnecessary heating and cooling will directly reduce the amount of energy required. Any energy that doesn’t have to be transported and combusted has a multiplicative savings because of the conversion loss and transmission loss. For every 1 KW of electricity 2.2 KW of electricity is lost in transmission (National Geographic – March 2009).
Other Benefits: Continuous use of heaters, air conditioners and other equipment reduces their lifespan. By reducing hours of use heavy equipment will last longer and therefore reduce the amount of repairs and repair costs. Heating and cooling costs can be significantly reduced.
Cost and complexities: If your office space is small a single thermostat can be used (just like your house) with very low cost. If your office space is large multiple units will be required which will add to the cost. Since landlords are off the hook for the bill there isn’t much incentive to replace equipment that is working. After the digital thermostats are installed the entire heating and cooling system may have to be balanced or recalibrated.
Implementation Plan:
- Convert existing thermostats to digital thermostats
- Program thermostats based on time of day and day of the week
- Determine what to do if employees or customers are present during off hours
Where to purchase:
Commercial systems may require special equipment so it is best to purchase digital thermostats from the same company that maintains your heating and cooling system.