DASNY Building Exercises Efficiencies to Beat the Heat

On Monday, July 25, Governor Andrew Cuomo directed the New York State Department of Public Service, the state agency that regulates energy utilities, to take immediate steps to lower statewide energy usage due to weather predictions of high temperatures and humidity across New York State.

DASNY supports Governor Cuomo’s directive, as it has been supportive of similar issuances for years. Fifteen years ago, Executive Order 111 was issued directing state agencies to reduce energy consumption by 25 percent. Since then, DASNY has participated in a voluntary emergency load reduction program coordinated by the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), which controls New York’s power grid.

For the past two years, DASNY has participated in two additional programs which provide compensation based on our performance related to reduction goals.

It all starts with DASNY’s building at 515 Broadway, which received a rating of LEED Gold under the guidelines established by the U.S. Green Building Council. Built by DASNY, the Authority’s 515 Broadway headquarters is one of nearly three dozen LEED-rated buildings DASNY has constructed.

DASNY’s Building Controls Technician, Robert McRae has programmed into DASNY’s building management system an algorithm that looks at outside air temperature, time of day, and electrical demand level. It then automatically sheds loads to keep the DASNY building within pre-set parameters.

Those parameters have adjusted downward in recent years, as the authority completed energy saving projects like the installation of LED lighting and variable frequency devices (VFD’s) to regulate the motors of air conditioners.

The first full year DASNY occupied 515 Broadway in 1998, our building’s peak electrical demand was near 900kw.Today our controlled peak is about 530kw. Our goal next year is to reduce that to 500kw.

When the automatic load-shedding begins, most of the overhead lighting in the building gets turned off. That allows “set-points” in temperature zones to float up one degree, immediately reducing energy usage by 100kw.

As the heat dissipates from the lighting no longer operating, and the zones reduce their cooling airflow, the cooling load within the building decreases, further reducing our electrical demand. 

Eleven central station air handlers reduce their air delivery, and their electrical consumption in response to the throttling back of all the zones they serve. If the outside temperature continues to remain high, eventually the cooling load begins increasing again, at which point we allow the zone set-points to float up another degree. This usually takes us to the end of the workday. Later in the evening, when everything is shut down, all the set-points that were modified are automatically restored to a normal condition for the next day.

Years ago, DASNY instituted a “5-up, 5-down” policy. That means those zone temperatures are allowed to float up or down 5 degrees from a base set-point of 73 degrees. That avoids immediately adding more heat or cooling to keep the zones at a steady 73. 

Additional tips on how to conserve energy can be found on the Department’s and NYSERDA’s websites at www.DPS.state.ny.gov and http://www.nyserda.ny.gov/Residents-and-Homeowners/Sustainable-Living/Energy-Saving-Tips.