Energy Efficiency Retrofitting

Overview Of Energy Efficiency Retrofitting.

It is well known among industry leaders that?the role that energy efficiency can play in reducing operating costs and increasing asset value in industry sector. Opportunities for improved energy performance exist in almost all manufacturing plant and these opportunities come in many forms, including improved operational and maintenance practices, equipment retrofits and occupant behavioral changes.

Throughout the?life cycle of the plant, different opportunities will be available at different times, depending on the changing usage of the plant, remaining life of the equipment and availability of improved technologies in the market.

While the opportunities for energy efficiency improvements in existing plants are significant, the process of identifying, analyzing, and implementing those improvements is not always straightforward. ?Therefore, the?proper approach?and necessary?steps must be taken to identify energy efficiency improvement opportunities and later plan their implementation.

A good approach and plan will addresses about plotting an energy efficiency roadmap, available financing sources and mechanisms for the implementation, performance assessment through benchmarking, and identifying cost-effective measures through energy auditing.

Implementing an energy efficiency retrofitting projects can?make a very good business sense. However,?business decision makers and operators are missing out on these opportunities to cut expenses and strengthen revenues. In many organizations, this barrier exists because internal infrastructure operations are not linked to business strategy discussions. Therefore, there is a need?to create the linkage is through a high-level commitment at the top management to reducing energy use.?

Benefits of Energy Efficiency Retrofitting Projects

The comprehensive energy efficiency retrofitting projects can reduce energy costs by 20 to 30%??with proven solutions?such as air conditioning system upgrades, lighting upgrades, motors, boilers and steam system. With?improved energy efficiency, we?burn less natural gas and use less electricity.?

Other savings can be enjoyed from retrofitting projects are reduced maintenance and equipment replacement costs. The same goes for the proactive and planned replacement of other aging equipment such as boilers and chillers.

Energy retrofits reduce maintenance costs and staff time managing repairs, while also significantly reducing the likelihood and cost of inconvenient emergency replacements. Some of the financial impacts of energy retrofits are hard to quantify but should be considered as well.

A well-designed comprehensive energy retrofit, is a good financial investment for the company in long term for energy and non-energy costs savings. At the same time, it?contributes to the reduction of the GHG emission to mitigate the climate change impacts as well.

Key consideration in energy efficiency retrofitting planning

The staged approach to energy efficiency project planning entails sequentially completing projects on the plant energy using system and equipment. Systems or equipment that have a large potential to reduce load requirements of other systems should be implemented first. The approach in stages will?allows the savings of each completed project to support the business case of the next project implementation.

With a careful planning, annual energy savings achieved ?may reach the same level as in an integrated approach, but cumulative savings will always be less due to the delay in implementing some upgrades. The integrated approach focuses on retrofitting of multiple plant systems in the same time, with measures of varying complexity and financial benefits being installed at the same time. With many ?energy saving measures involved, it will result in more cost-effectiveness and energy savings of the measures to be evaluated as a bundle, rather than individually.

The integrated approach will require significant upfront project costs, but has the benefit of significant reducing energy use over a short period of time, with corresponding benefits for the project’s lifecycle cost savings. At the same time,it?utilizes an integrated design process, where the design team optimizes the energy performance of the plant?as a whole rather than just the energy performance of individual systems or equipment.

A carefully planned approach will capture opportunities to resize systems to meet the demand of an optimized plant since the energy efficient?systems often cost less and perform more efficiently