EES Blog

Technology refresh is nothing new in the IT (Information Technology) world. In the OT (Operations Technology) world, it is not new either: it just doesn’t happen as often.

Schedules are at the very heart of most modern Building Management Systems (BMS). They tell when a particular tenant space or common space is to be “on” or “off”.   Clearly, tailoring the “on” time to match as closely as possible the actual occupancy is the way to shave off waste.

Save on energy resources by utilizing a heat-recovery chiller or DX compressors

Running an air handler in “dehumidification” mode tends to be a resource hog. First, you are using a lot of chilled water to *squeeze* the ever-living-moisture out of the air, then you have to reheat it to make the air temperature comfortable. A double expenditure of energy: cooling and heating.

Utilizing air-side economizers during the cooler seasons can significantly reduce chilled water costs by leveraging outside air for cooling, offering substantial energy savings for businesses in temperate climates.

As we slip into fall, our thoughts turn to pumpkin spice.  Our air-side economizers – a duct and damper arrangement with a control system that enables the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system – however, think about saving chilled water costs.  If we can lower load for the chiller, we can save money due to less energy being used. If the outside air is cool and dry enough, we can open an economizer and let nature do the job instead of using the chilled water coil.  It also usually has the benefit of changing the air more quickly than during the winter or summer seasons.  

Less chilled water pumping also lowers the energy needed to move the water around. We control the differential pressure of the chilled water by slowing down the chilled water pump via a variable frequency drive (VFD), and less load raises the differential pressure.  The tower also must do less work because there is less heat rejected out to it, so the fans run slower.  This saves tower make-up water as well: less evaporation, less water needed.

How Optimizing Variable Refrigerant Flow Cooling Systems can Save Building Managers on Energy Usage

EES is very active with several Variable Refrigerant Flow, VRF, cooling systems’ manufacturers. In this article the condenser-water optimization on Samsung equipment will be discussed.

Continuing where we left off with optimizing chilled water flow, this article is taking a look at cooling tower control for the same large shopping mall in the DC area. When EES showed up for the first time on site at the chiller/tower plant, the tower control was terrible. The control was “tuned” by the client’s local HVAC tech, and it went from off, to 90%, to off, every few minutes.

As part of an overall optimization and takeback of a commercial mall in Virginia, EES engineers, step by step, enhanced systems to make a chilled-water plant more efficient. This article is about optimizing the chilled water pumping and pressure loops. In future articles, we’ll dig into condenser water loops and the overall plant optimization.

Lighting based on time clocks can sometimes feel like it’s a draining the life out of your wallet. EES tackles this problem with a simple, closed-loop control solution.

Get to Know Vice-President of Engineering Dan Luna and his a passion for animal rescue

It has become common practice to build underground or under-building parking lots for facilities. Each structure requires a CO monitoring system that jumps in to action when the level of CO gas becomes too high. Every one of these systems requires periodic (semi-annual) calibration and testing to protect the patrons and the building owners.