Daylight harvesting and Photocell controls have a huge benefit for building and lighting controls, but do you know the difference between these two common energy efficiency terms? While they are very similar and often interchanged, they do have a large difference. Photocells are about keeping outdoor lights off during the day, whereas daylight harvesting is about dimming or turning off internal lights when there is available light from windows.

Both are critical, but the big difference is daylight harvesting requires a more sophisticated LED driver that can dim and smoothly reduce light to match the available light in space.

Photocells

Photocells have been around for a long time. These are light sensors that have an internal circuit break inside – meaning they turn off the flow of electricity when there is enough light detected. These photocells for outdoor lights are fairly inexpensive – often costing less than $20 for a part.

Commonly used in external lights, photocells can save energy by turning off lighting during the day. Photocells can be on each individual light, or have one central photocell to operate all lights. In our energy efficiency work with exterior lights, we are often analyzing what is less expensive, one photocell with more wiring to connect all the lights, or a photocell for each light. It can depend on each building and each project to determine the right number of photocells.

Time Clocks vs Photocells for Exterior Lighting

Time clocks are a similar tool used to keep lights off during the day, but photocells have several advantages. Time clocks control all of the lights on a schedule. The time clock is typically inside the building near the lighting panel, and they work to turn off lights during the daytime, or earlier if lights are not on all night. The biggest disadvantage of timer clocks is that they are typically analog, and have challenges around the time changes, as well as the season changes for dusk and dawn.

Photocells, however, you can often adjust the sensitivity of a photocell and allow exterior LED and standard HID lights to come on during a dark storm. While rare, it often is important to businesses to provide a safe place on a dark day. Many national chains and restaurants prefer this to allow their stores to look like it is open even on the darkest day. However, a timer clock will not allow you to turn on the lights in this situation, unless you do it manually.

Getting the exact time of sunrise and sunset is not hard – but it is rare to see a timer clock synced and operating correctly. More often than not, the lights are coming on an hour early and wasting live on the fixture and energy. Or they are not coming on in time in the morning or or afternoon in the winter, when daylight in Chicago often wanes.

Finally, timer clocks are more expensive to maintain over time. They just take more maintenance and physical cost to maintain, as opposed to photocell controls. But they do allow you to turn lights off at midnight for deeper energy savings.

Daylight Harvesting Controls

Daylight harvesting controls are an entirely different energy efficiency tool, typically used on interior fixtures. These controls are similar to photocells, but instead of simply turning on or off a light, it will dim the fixture when light is available from ambient light.

These controls are an advanced energy efficiency tool, and typically require a higher end driver that can dim on a smooth level of control. We find Signify and Philips Control systems to have the best functionality for this daylight harvesting, but there are many brands.

Daylight harvesting can be on the fixture level of control, or can be grouped together on master interior sensors. Anytime you dim a LED fixture, while the savings is important, the heat taken off the LED driver is even more important and will lengthen the life of the fixture.

How to Pay for Advanced Lighting Controls

Local utility rebate systems, designed to help reduce energy in a state, can help pay for improvements like photocells and advanced daylight harvesting. Check with your local utility, or as Verde if we can help.

2021 will be an exciting year for the overall Comed Energy Efficiency Rebates and Incentives.  While 2020 was rough on the economy as a whole, the incentive program is tax funded through a line item on each utility bill – and money is budgeted and needs to be spent.  

Below is a highlight of the 2021 program, from the perspective of a fast food restaurant chain.  With over 8 years of experience of working with major fast food chain restaurants, Verde has a deep and focused emphasis on this type of building.  Our very first restaurant retrofit was Epic Burger in the South Loop – and I still remember the first months savings was more than if I kept my power off in my home for a year.  With a high energy density, these stores can see major P&L improvements with a sustained commitment to energy efficiency and taking advantage of available utility funding.

Cash Flow of Incentives

As a reminder on the process – all utility incentives are paid to Verde directly, so an owner/operator does not need to wait for the incentive check.  We also take on the risk of the incentive changing, with years of experience behind us.

We provide an estimated savings, return on investment (ROI), payback, as well as cost for improvements after incentives.  We have begun pushing an energy efficiency concept of net present value, to help capture long term savings in a capital improvement.  

Building Size Requirements

One big exciting change is that higher incentives are now available for all  restaurants, including those 100-200kW.  Typically, larger restaurants would need an exception to participate in the Small Business Offering, but the whole program will now serve 0-200kW and make life easier for owner/operators.  

Early Replacement of RTUs

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One of the highest energy users for a restaurants is the Roof Top Units, or RTUs.  Again in 2021, restaurants will be able to combine the advanced rooftop unit measure and the economizer DCV measure for a total incentive of $700 per ton.  For the average 10 ton RTU, this will lead to $7,000 of incentive off a replacement.  We work closely with national accounts for procurement to get the best of both worlds – national account pricing and local incentives. 

Kitchen Lights

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We continue to install about 100 kitchen troffers LED conversions each and every work.  The incentives for T8 fluorescent light conversion to LED increased in 2021 slightly, providing further help to convert those lights to LED.  

One recent owner operator commented that that manager loves the new Philips Evokit because of how easy they are to clean compared to the old plastic cover troffers.  If you have worked with us, you know that our process is down for a crowded restaurant kitchen and we can complete a LED conversion in less than 2 hours from start to finish.  

LED Exterior Sign Conversions

Verde continues to find huge energy savings opportunities in exterior LED signs.  Often filled with high output T12s up to 8 feet in lengths, these signs are some of the largest energy consumers in our area.  LED not only make the sign brighter, but last longer and huge energy reduction.  

This incentive increased slightly in 2021, and we expect this conversion to be strong for clients in the restaurant business, especially as all businesses need clients to know if they are open and available for business.

EC Motors with Evaporative Fan Speed Controls

EV Motors and evaporative fan speed controls are not sexy – but they save a ton of energy.  When combined with the evaporative fan speed control, these variable speed motors can run at high speed only when the compressor is calling for cooling.  Many of our clients love  getting a new motor at a fraction of the cost, especially when combined with our best in class warranty.

The incentive for this is $260 per motor in 2021.  

RTU Tune Up for Restaurants

Comed offers a tune up, to help make sure the root top unit is working as designed for highest efficiency.  This tune-up has been very popular with our restaurant clients, especially when 3 or 4 are located on a single roof.  These tune-ups are paid at $30 per ton, and can be provided by Verde when requested.  We include a chemical cleaning of your coils, to provide higher functionality and less wear and tear on your system. 

Exhaust Fans

All restaurants are required by code to exhaust cooking smoke and chemicals.  While not covered significantly by incentive – exhaust fans can have $250 per HP.  Most exhaust fans are 3/4 or 1/2 HP – but this proactive replacement can save energy and avoid a big service call down the road.  Many clients combine this with the Roof Top replacement for the same upgrade project.

Kitchen Exhaust Fan with DCV

One of the rarely used but most powerful energy savings is the kitchen DCV.  In this savings measure, you combined the exhaust fan to run at the speed aligned with cooking.  By limiting the exhaust fan to the right CFM, you are avoiding wasting heated or cooled air.  In addition, this can create a more balanced and comfortable restaurant for staff and clients alike. No more drive through space heaters or winter coats!

This system typically saves about $2,000 in electricity and $2,000 in heating costs, for a combined $4,000 in annual savings.  This system rebate is $2,500 per exhaust fan, for a total of $7,500 for a restaurant with 3 fans.

Smart Thermostat

Smart Thermostat incentives increased to $250 when replacing a programmable thermostat in 2021.  While not always right for every owner, we install Ecobee, Pelican and Nest Smart Thermostats.  

Most lighting and lamps for commercial and municipal buildings over the past 50 years have been fluorescent lighting.  New construction is entirely made of LED, which lasts longer and is more efficient.

However, converting or retrofitting old fluorescent to LED can be easy, if done correctly.  It can also often be helped financially with a utility rebate system, designed to help save energy and offset the costs for doing so.  Unfortunately, we have also seen many examples of these retrofits done incorrectly, making it more expensive to get it fixed and improved.  Replacing fluorescent light ballasts is important, efficient, and has a very low return on investment, both in terms of cost and time.

How Does a Fluorescent Ballast Work?

Fluorescent lighting uses a ballast, which is a device that limits the current for the lamp to property start and illuminate.  If you hook a fluorescent light up to the normal electricity of a building, the lamps will not work.  A ballast creates the proper current needed to light the fluorescent light.  It typically does this by using

Older T12 fluorescent lamps, usually larger in diameter, typically use a magnetic ballast.  If you hold up a modern smart phone camera, you will see moving yellow lines in the camera to show the visual disturbance created by the magnetic ballast.

More modern ballasts are electronic and can operated a T8 fluorescent lamp.  These systems use less energy than a T12 magnetic lamp and ballast system, but still far more than a LED system. T8 systems are 25-30% more efficient that T12s systems.

A fluorescent ballast plays a crucial role in illuminating your space by managing the power needed for a fluorescent lamp to work. Here’s how it works:

Essential Functions:

• Regulates Voltage and Current: Fluorescent lamps need a surge of high voltage to start, typically around 70-120 volts, followed by a lower voltage to maintain operation. The ballast acts as a transformer, initially providing the high voltage to ignite the lamp and then stabilizing the current to prevent overheating and burnout.
• Preheats the Filament (in older lamps): Some traditional fluorescent lamps, like T12s, utilize filaments similar to incandescent bulbs. The ballast provides a small current to preheat these filaments before ignition, allowing them to emit electrons needed for the gas ionization process.
• Limits Current Flow: Unlike incandescent bulbs, fluorescent lamps have negative resistance, meaning they’d continuously draw more current until the source can’t provide anymore. The ballast acts as a positive resistance, counteracting this and limiting the current to a safe level, ensuring stable operation and longer lamp life.

Traditional Magnetic Ballasts

Magnetic ballasts, the workhorses of older fluorescent lighting, operate through a fascinating interplay of magnetism and electricity. Imagine a coiled wire dance, where one coil (the primary winding) receives incoming electricity and generates a magnetic field. This field, like a magical hand, reaches out and tickles another coil (the secondary winding), inducing a current within it.

This induced current isn’t just any current, though. It’s a high-voltage pulse, perfect for igniting the fluorescent lamp. The reason? The magnetic field changes rapidly, creating a “kick” of electricity in the secondary coil. This pulse slams into the lamp’s electrodes, jolting them into action and releasing electrons that trigger the light show within.

But the magnetic field’s magic doesn’t stop there. Once the lamp is lit, the ballast transforms into a current regulator. It acts like a traffic cop, controlling the flow of electricity so the lamp doesn’t get overwhelmed and burn out. By adjusting the magnetic field’s strength, the ballast ensures a steady stream of current, keeping your fluorescent lamp humming along happily for years to come.

So, the next time you flick on a fluorescent light and hear that familiar hum, remember the silent ballet of magnetism and electricity happening inside, thanks to the trusty magnetic ballast. It’s a testament to the ingenuity of human engineering, even in its older forms.

Traditional Electronic Ballasts

Electronic ballasts ditch the magnetic dance for a high-tech disco of transistors and circuits. Instead of relying on coils and magnetism, they use sophisticated electronics to achieve the same goals as their magnetic counterparts: igniting the lamp and regulating current.

Imagine a tiny orchestra conductor, constantly adjusting the voltage and current to the lamp’s needs. That’s the electronic ballast in action. It works in two stages:

• Ignition: Similar to a DJ dropping a beat, the ballast sends a high-voltage pulse to the lamp electrodes, jolting them awake and releasing electrons. This initial burst gets the party started, but it’s not enough to keep the light going.
• Regulation: Now, the ballast acts like a sound engineer, fine-tuning the current flow. It uses transistors and microchips to constantly adjust the voltage, ensuring the lamp receives just the right amount of energy to stay bright and stable. This not only saves energy but also prevents flickering and extends the lamp’s lifespan.

Electronic ballasts offer several advantages over their magnetic cousins. They’re smaller, lighter, and quieter, and they provide more efficient and flicker-free operation. They can even be programmed to dim the lights or adjust the color temperature, adding versatility to your lighting setup.

So, the next time you see a sleek, modern fluorescent fixture, remember the electronic ballet happening inside. It’s a testament to the power of technology to make even the mundane magical.

The Ignition Process:

• Power On: When you turn on the switch, the ballast provides a high voltage pulse through the lamp electrodes.
• Electrode Emission: This high voltage excites the gas atoms in the lamp, causing them to release electrons.
• Plasma Formation: The free electrons collide with other gas atoms, further ionizing them and creating a conductive plasma inside the tube.
• UV Light Emission: Electrons in the plasma excite the mercury atoms, which emit ultraviolet (UV) light invisible to the eye.
• Visible Light: The UV light strikes the phosphor coating on the inner surface of the tube, causing it to fluoresce and emit visible light.

The ballast continues to monitor and adjust the current to maintain stable operation and ensure your fluorescent lamp illuminates your space efficiently.

How Do Drivers Work with LEDs?

Now that we understand the basics of fluorescent ballasts, we should dive in a bit to LED drivers.  In the world of LEDs, the term “driver” plays a crucial role beyond just being a connection wire. It’s actually a power regulator specifically designed to keep these tiny light-emitting diodes happy and humming! Here’s how it works:

The Magic of Power Conversion:

• AC to DC: Unlike your regular incandescent bulb, LEDs require low-voltage, direct current (DC) to shine. But most household electricity is high-voltage, alternating current (AC). The driver acts as a translator, converting AC to the appropriate DC voltage for the LEDs.
• Current Control: LEDs are sensitive creatures. Their brightness and lifespan depend on a precise amount of current. The driver acts as a babysitter, ensuring a steady current flow even as temperature or other factors try to disrupt it. This prevents them from getting too hot and burning out – a phenomenon known as thermal runaway.

Beyond the Basics:

• Dimming: Some drivers can be hooked up to dimming switches, allowing you to adjust the LED brightness. They achieve this through clever techniques like pulse width modulation (PWM), where the current is briefly switched on and off to control overall brightness.
• Protection: Drivers can act as the bouncers of the LED world, offering surge protection and filtering out electrical noise that can harm the delicate diodes.
• Types of Drivers: There are two main types: constant-current drivers that focus on precise current flow, and constant-voltage drivers that maintain a stable voltage while the current adjusts based on the LED’s needs.

In short, the driver is the unsung hero of the LED world. It ensures the proper power, protects the LEDs, and even lets you control LEDs in a way that was often not possible with fluorescent lamps.

Converting to LED from Fluorescent Lighting

You can fairly easily replace a fluorescent light ballast to a LED system with little cost on materials and some labor.   An LED systems is 70-80% more efficient than a T12 ballast and lamp, and 50-60% more efficient than a T8 fluorescent system.  To boot, the LED system can last 70,000 hours when done correctly, leading to long lasting maintenance savings in both materials and labor.

There are two basic approaches to replacing a fluorescent light, you can retrofit it with a tubular LED, or you can replace it with a new fixture.  New fixtures are often nice because everything is new, and they can typically have an option for a sensor.  However, not everyone has the budget to put in new light fixtures, so tubular LED (TLED) is a great cost effective approach.

Type C Approach for Replacing the Fluorescent Light Ballast

If you identify a T12 and magnetic ballast system, it is best to replace the lamp and ballast system together.  You can do this by converting the older ballast to an external LED driver, and the sockets can be reused to house a LED tube compatible with the LED driver.  This is called a Type C application and all wiring is typically the same and easy to do.  This video shows a few of our Verde electricians replacing an old fluorescent light fixture with type C TLEDs and an external driver.

This keeps the system with two components – a driver and a TLED. This has a longer life expectancy, because the heat from the driver is separated from the LED.  Since drivers fail with heat, this system approach is strongest in our opinion, leading to longer lasting lighting with less maintenance.

Type B Approach for TLEDs

Another option is to rewire the system to the sockets with standard 110V electricity, and then wire in a LED tube than has an internal driver.  This is called a Type B application.  This is fairly inexpensive in terms of material, but does not typically last as long as a Type C system. This is because the driver that regulates the electricity is inside the TLED, with less places for heat dissipation.  This is the most popular approach across the United States at the moment, mostly due to lower cost of materials.  These type B tubes are also fairly inexpensive, and that makes it easy to replace them when they fail.

It is also something really to pay attention to in terms of safety, as the sockets have higher energy draw than a typical fluorescent system.  There has often been concern around this in the industry, since it is different than the traditional history of fluorescent light sockets.  However, this approach is common enough today that this type of retrofit is safe.

We also find Type B retrofits when replacing fluorescent light ballasts leads to a lower incentive from our local utility, so when combined with the lower life expectancy, we have seen very few retrofits of this style with our clients in Illinois.

Reusing the Fluorescent Ballast for LED – Type A

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It is possible with T8 electronic ballasts to work with compatible LED tubes.  This is called a Type A application, and the LED tube is designed to work off the current ballast.  These systems are incredibly easy to do, just as simple as changing a lamp. However, the system will only work as long as the current LED light ballast lasts.  The energy savings is the same – but the maintenance will not be reduced by this approach.  We find many of our clients that are on a budget will consider this, but often regret it because of the ballast failure over time. While ballasts should actually fail less often than before because of the lower draw on the ballast, they were already through most of their useful life unless they were relatively new ballast.

If you have the patience and access to a good distributor for lamps, this process can be smooth and easy.  However, if you purchase a few hundred of these and they are not compatible or fail quickly, it can be a frustrating experience.  We always recommend putting a few lamps in as a sample to start for a few days and nights, making sure it works.  While heavy ballast failure is rare, it does happen and can take a good partner to resolve.

Does Brand Matter with Ballasts and Drivers?

In a word –  yes.  Verde has used a lot of products over the years.  We have mostly used Signify Advance, formerly known as Philips.  Not only are they a world class company with decades of experience in manufacturing, but they really stand behind their products.  We have found less product failures, and when they do rarely occur, Signify stands behind their product and honors their warranty.  You know they will be around in 10 years, unlike a smaller company.

They also build on previous generations of products, so each product is a little better and a little more user friendly.  We find they pay attention to small details, like packaging, warehousing and shipping efficiency.  For a company like ours that buys 10,000 drivers at a time – these little details make a big difference and helps us pass long savings to our customers.

In general, we have also had good experience with GE and other large brands. We also pull a lot of products out that have failed, and often find second and third tier brands that fail at a higher rate.  We have had really mixed luck with Chinese manufactured brands.  While some of them are high quality and we have visited their factories in China to see where the better quality comes from – we have decided for the most part to stay with Signify.

Conclusion

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New fixtures are always a nice option for a conversion to LED, as they improve the space aesthetics.  However, a retrofit can accomplish the same energy savings and maintenance reduction at a fraction of the cost.  Verde can help you analyze, purchase or even install these TLEDs if you reach out to our team for an energy efficiency assessment!

In commercial buildings, there are always repairs and maintenance to be done, from the biggest manufacturer to the smallest retail shop.  Municipal buildings can be very similar in usage, although quite different in how they make decisions on capital improvements.   

Investment in a building is no different than a home, but the scale is much larger and complex, especially in terms of energy efficiency.  This is due to the heavy usage and hours of commercial buildings vs residential.  To put this in perspective, a typical high bay fixture uses more energy than the lighting of an entire home – and the hours are much greater.

For the past 10 years, I have run a business focused on helping businesses reduce their energy usage.  We have several key client segments that are really interesting, since they are typically longer term in thinking and are able to think about longer term investments. These building types include fire stations, libraries, and McDonalds – about as safe as you can have in terms of a future need for that building in the future.  

Our commercial customers typically want to see a “payback” or ROI of 2 years or less.  These terms are used interchangeably, although they have a wildly different meaning in finance.  As of late, I have been exploring the net present value of energy efficiency investment to help our clients look longer term. 

Payback for Energy Savings

Payback can be the easiest to understand, and is simply the energy savings per year divided by the investment.  If the investment is $2,000 and the savings is $1000, the payback on an energy efficiency investment is 2 years.  

Our business is located in Illinois, and we are fortunate to have an incredible utility incentive system.  For that reason, we can often find greater impact projects that normally would have a 8-10 year payback, and bring it back within a clients expectations of within 2 years.  Each client is different – so we always ask what they consider a good investment payback range.

Payback is impacted by the cost of electricity, the hours of usage, and the difference between the wattage usage of the old product compared to the new product, measured in kWh.  

Return on Investment for Energy Savings

This is a different term, but often gets used interchangeably.  Another way to look at energy efficiency investment is to think, “What else would the business or community do with this money?”

In the same $2,000 investment above with $1000 of annual savings, that would be a 50% Return on Investment. I often ask business owners – “What else could you do with your money that would return 50% a year as long as you operate this building?”  I mean seriously – if that is an amazing return in any portfolio and is really right under our noses all the time.  

Sure – you can get too focused on this and find diminishing returns.  But I always feel bad when I return to a business in two years after they passed on a great project, only to later do it with higher costs. They would have already had it paid off, and usually regret it.  

Even a $5,000 investment that returned $1000 of annual savings would bring a 20% return on investment.  An, in fact, the original $5,000 likely improves the value of the building.  And again, I ask owners if you were to invest $5,000 into the stock market and it returned 20% a year for the next 10 years, how would you feel about that?  Why do you evaluate this investment differently than others?

Net Present Value for Energy Savings

When you look at projects that are more complex, like Solar PV, Heating and Ventilation improvements, or advanced sensor and control systems, you likely need to go past 2 years to evaluate a return on investment or ROI.  For example, when moving into a new building for a warehouse, a business often will have a 10 lease.  Investments in HVAC equipment or lighting systems can make sense with a short term return, but they often lead to longer term savings with advanced considerations.  Net present value is a tool that helps people consider this.

Net present value is not just adding up 10 years of savings, as would be the logical way to do it.  And doing that is not necessarily the wrong way to to do it, but it is a stagnant way of looking at savings in the future.  NPV is a way to account for what else you would do with that money, or better said, discounting the future savings to account for inflation.  

The exact formula is as follows, and basically any investment smaller than the net present value of a project checks the box of cost effectiveness.  It is confusing, and there will  not be a test at the end of this.  However, it basically means that if a business is saving $500 per year in an investment, you would discount each additional year a slightly greater amount to reflect the lower value of today.

Fortunately, the formula in excel is much easier.  NPV =(3.75%, savings first year, savings second year, savings third year, and so on) with 3.75 as the discount rate and then the summary of the years of savings. In excel, it calculates the t or time period for you based on the number of years of savings in your list of years.  

Below is an example, where the savings are $1,000 per year on an efficiency project, and the time is a 10 year lease. You can image the investment in a high efficiency water heater, HVAC system, or even advanced lighting control system that monitors and reports your energy usage.

The net present value on System A is $8,212 and the NPV on System B is $10,676.  Let’s imagine a scenario where System A investment cost is $10,000 and System B is $10,500.  Project A is not worth doing if the building will only be occupied for 10 years, as the long term savings are less than the cost today.  However, System B has additional savings – maybe the light have a control system and claim an additional 30% saving each year, and the investment is less than the net present value of the savings.

Discount Rate for Energy Efficiency

Now the devil is in the details of this formula, especially in terms of the interest rate chosen.  I have 3.75% for mine, as that is the current rate loaned by the US government to businesses in the EIDL loan.  It is also the interest rate of our current line of credit with our bank.  The higher the interest rate, the more conservative you will find your net present value – it is counterintuitive but a lower interest rate will make the savings bigger.  

This tool can of course be used to manipulate data to make a project more appealing, like any finance tool.  But it is still worth understanding and using with projects.

Future Energy Cost Inflation

Another thing not considered in this formula is the rising costs of future energy rates.  Often, those increases in energy costs will offset the discounted future savings – so if you assume 4% increase in energy rates each year and a discount rate of 3.75% – you would actually see a higher NPV than the summary of the savings.  However, I tend to leave that off as it can get go down a rabbit hole of making a project fit into your world view.  I have seen many projects fall apart because people cannot agree on an inflation cost of energy.  In my scenario, it is conservative and hard to argue against, as long as you agree on the time period being evaluated and the savings calculated.  

Adding this can help exaggerate energy savings, if not done correctly.   That being said, we have seen energy rates increase significantly the past few years, so any projects that ignored that were not accurately accounted for.   We also highly encourage the total cost of electricity to be included in calculations, including supply, transmission, and all variable taxes and fees.  Set fees, like a $25 fee for a commercial account can be ignored, because they will always be there.  But a fee like a few pennies per kWh is actually quite important to include, as those really can scale with a commercial account that uses a lot of electricity.  

What about peak Kw Charges vs KWh charges?

Peak kW charges are about how much energy your building uses at any one time.  Electricity companies think about this for transmission lines, and your building is designed to use a certain max amount at any one time, typically below 100kW, between 100kW and 400kW, or above 400kW for the large users.  Your service lines, as well as panels and interior wires, are all designed with this thought in mind.  Your fees for electricity in terms of transmission are typically determined by this amount.

However, most of  your charges for electricity are based on the amount of energy you use, which is measured in hours – or kilowatt hours (KWh).  This unit is variable, and is the amount of actual electrons you are using.  This is really impacted by energy efficiency projects and is easier to measure, typically, and calculate. This is how your supply of energy is measured, or often called delivery charges. 

In a commercial energy efficiency project, you will both reduce the kWh and the kW.  It is important to calculate both of these savings, but really kWh is the main driver in the net present value formula.  

What About EV Car Charging Projects?

This same concept can be used to consider an EV Car Charging project. 

First, what is the total cost of the investment to get the project installed, including permitting, engineering, the charger stand, as well as labor and small materials like wires and conduit.  Let’s say this number is $5,000, which may feel high but is fairly standard for a commercial charger installation.  

Next, we need to look at the revenue generated by the charger.  If that is $1,000 per year – we would be looking at a simple 5 year payback, or 20% return on investment.  However, you may want to discount for the future revenue streams, since $1,000 tomorrow is really worth less than $1,000 today. So that is how the Net Present value formula would work, and almost any spreadsheet would help you do this.  

What if I plan to Sell My Building or Move My Business?

If you plan to sell your building, then you should consider anything that might add value to your sale price.  If LED upgrades will add $10,000 to the sales price and cost $5,000 – then that would be a simple calculation for you and any energy savings before you sell would be gravy.  Your realtor can help you navigate this and you should ask it as early as you can, especially if you are considering a few brokers.  This can help you determine who you may want to work with to sell your building.

If you lease your space and are near your lease end, it can be difficult to do any project – even one with a very short ROI.  However, you may want to talk to your landlord and they may be willing to help pay for a project near the end of your lease – to help you stay or even to help attract the next tenant.  And if you are willing to project manage this – even better for the landlord. 

How Do I Get Beyond a Spreadsheet on Net Present Value?

You really need to find a contractor that knows how to get this kind of work done for you to get beyond the spreadsheet.  In fact, there are often rebates available to help drive down the up front cost of a project, which will only improve the payback or ROI for anything related to energy usage.  So finding a contractor that not only can perform the work, but also help you get access to utility rebates, is important.  

Fortunately for you, Verde can help you if your building is in Illinois, Wisconsin or even the Midwest.  Fill out our free energy efficiency assessment form, and help us take your spreadsheet to the real world.  

In the Comed Energy Efficiency Program, one of the more interesting and complex energy savings opportunities is through the Retro-commisioning program.

Buildings that are 10 years or older start to hit the magic age when they require maintenance. Water heaters start to fail, paint jobs are required, and a roof should be inspected. If your building was perfectly designed and constructed with the finest craftsmen and highest quality equipment- the building should get another 10 years before a lot of investment.

However, most buildings are not built with perfect craftsmen or highest quality equipment. And most are not just 10 years old. For those buildings, mechanical systems start to fail to act as originally intended and energy starts to be wasted.

What is Retrocommissioning

Retro-commissioning is bringing back the building to its original design intent.

https://youtu.be/PmmGJsDjM_c

Over time, settings of Building Automation Systems start to get tweaked and changed or reset. Much of the older software systems get outdated and lose support. Comfort settings get changed from the original design, some due to lack of understanding and some just happen.

Engineers can do a site survey and make an analysis of a building, looking a the Building Automation System, the cooling system, the heating system, and the overall lighting control system (if there is one).

What Buildings are Ideal for Retro-Commissioning

Large buildings with lots of occupancy are ideal for retroco-mmisioning. A few examples are;

Mulitfamily Buildings

Large Office Buildings

Large Educational Facilities

These Buildings all have large energy demands, always over 100kW for their rating. The minimum usage over the year is .5 GWh, which is at least $5,000 in energy costs each month for a building.

The savings typically found from an initial study can be 5% – so this means a minimum of $250 per month in savings for a building of $5,000 in monthly energy costs. And remember, energy savings also mean less wear and tear on equipment, leading to additional savings.

Next Steps for Retro-commissioning

Verde has partnered with Priority Energy, who focus on impact through engineering. Together, we walk a client through the process, including a low to no cost initial engineering study to get the client understanding their current systems and opportunities to improve. Small adjustments of set points on the BAS system can lead to huge initial savings, as well as analysis for bigger opportunities for capital improvements.

Initial studies require several months to complete and need good involvement and commitment from a building engineer. However, the product from Comed will provide great insight for the building ownership or board – leading to years of reduced energy costs and building a framework for capital direction.

Commercial HVAC equipment is a huge energy user in Chicago – cooling in the summer and heating in the winter. Sensors, controls, and smart thermostats are essential to optimize equipment usage, and the Pelican smart thermostat is by far the most advanced system for small commercial users. While the platform is not as pretty as the Nest, or as universal in application as the Ecobee EMS Smart Building platform – it outperforms both of them in terms of pure data transparency and is really built to focus on the needs of commercial HVAC equipment.

Our company offers three commercial smart thermostat products to our clients, which include Fire Stations, McDonalds, Libraries, and every kind of public and commercial space in between. For some of the applications, the Pelican system can outperform the other systems and makes a great retrofit of an existing rooftop unit that is 5-10 years old. This article will focus on the site manager, which is the online platform for the Pelican system.

The Pelican site manager can work with either the basic thermostats or the touch advanced thermostats, and works best with the PEARL economizer module included for economizer control and Demand Control Ventilation (CO2 driven fresh air to meet code requirements vs always having outside air entering a building). Like most things, the bigger investment to include the PEARL economizer module has more cost included up front, but deeper savings and therefore, deeper available energy efficiency rebates to help offset the cost.

Traditional TS Pelican Thermostat

The Traditional TS thermostat is very common in the commercial world, and we see these in a lot of our customers locations. A very robust, but simple thermostat, that really focuses on the needs of commercial HVAC systems including multiple states of heating and cooling, complex scheduling, and more. However, this thermostat will no longer be produced after March 2024, so the advanced thermostat will be the main product moving forward, and to our understanding, price will not increase on the new product.

Advanced Pelican TS thermostat

The Pelican TS thermostat is a new product from Pelican Wireless Systems that offers a number of benefits over traditional thermostats and it includes a touch screen. Here are some of the key benefits of the Pelican TS thermostat:

• Wireless Mesh Network: The Pelican TS thermostat uses a wireless mesh network to communicate with other Pelican devices, such as sensors and controllers. This means that you can install the thermostat anywhere in your building without having to run wires.
• Easy Installation: The Pelican TS thermostat is very easy to install. It can be installed in minutes without the need for any special tools or skills. There is a workaround to the common c-wire issue that most smart thermostats with a battery face.
• Flexible Scheduling: The Pelican TS thermostat can be programmed to schedule your heating and cooling system to run at different times of the day. This can help you to save energy and money.
• Remote Access: You can control the Pelican TS thermostat from anywhere using the Pelican Connect app. This means that you can adjust the temperature of your home or office even when you are not there.
• Occupancy Detection: The Pelican TS thermostat can use occupancy detection to turn off the heating or cooling system when no one is present. This can help you to save even more energy especially on holidays that may be outside of a schedule.
• CO2 Monitoring: The Pelican TS thermostat can be equipped with a CO2 sensor to monitor the carbon dioxide levels in your building or office. This can help you to improve indoor air quality as well as save a ton on energy when used to meet code requirements.
• Demand Response: The Pelican TS thermostat can be used to participate in demand response programs. This means that you can help to reduce the electrical load on the grid during peak hours.

In our experience of installing this product and focusing on energy saving for our clients, the CO2 monitoring is the strongest part of this system. Instead of having a duct work installed sensor, the CO2 sensor lives within the thermostat, which is often within the space that people will be occupying. As more people enter a space and CO2 rises, the economizer will let in more fresh air to keep that level below a certain level – as opposed to basic code requirements of always allowing some fresh air in, even on the hottest and coldest days.

Most of the descriptions for the site manager below do focus on the advanced thermostat, but the basic thermostat does access this system and has the same basic features, but lacks the economizer control and temperature sensors for the air temperature on return and supply. But, unlike some of the systems that we support – the login and data is free regardless of which system is used. This can lead to a lot of savings over the next ten years, especially for ownership or managers of multiple properties.

Pelican System Economizer Setting

The pelican system has the most robust amount of information, including how an economizer is functioning. I was once told by our local utility that up to 70% of economizers on the market are not working property – so the pelican has the advantage of showing the economizer and its placement. This is because the thermostat can easily be linked to an economizer Pearl module made by Pelican, which controls the thermostat.

As you can see from the below image, I can see the exact economizer setting for the past day in my building. The economizer is set at 0% throughout the day until around 2pm, when the CO2 sensor is detecting a level higher than our setting. This is what we want (keeping the economizer closed as much as possible) because the outside air is hot and humid.

Intake temperature setting

Another feature that is really impressive on the Pelican is that granular data of supply, return and outside air temperature. This is always something that I have wondered and wanted to know with systems of our commercial clients.

The amount of data this shares with a business owner about how their system is working is incredible. Is the system properly cooling? Is the economizer bringing in too much outside air and making it difficult to keep up? Is the programmed settings right for the space?

Overall Dashboard

I tend to dig right into the most important part of a system, so I skipped past what most people want to see. The general system is easy to access, and does not cost a monthly fee (a huge advantage over the Ecobee SmartBuildings Platform).

You can link tons of thermostats on the same login, making this great for franchise owners with lots of locations, or business owners with lots of buildings and thermostats.

While there is not an app for this, you can access through a desktop or mobile browser very easily. Not the most impressive from a design standpoint, but the data is great.

Economizer Control

I won’t go into every setting on the admin portal, but it is intense. You can control a lot of things from the dashboard, and in fact, it is better than the control form the RTU.

The economizer is what excites me the most from an energy efficiency perspective. The system allows you to set the minimum setting on the economizer (I have ours set at 0%) and the maximum setting. This will allow fresh air to come in at the amount you control and can visualize -vs the factory setting on your equipment.

Humidity Control

When installing this system in our office, we installed the TS250. This includes the CO2 sensor for demand control ventilation. We did not include the humidity sensor, which comes on the TS250H. I will recommend that to our clients in the future, as there is a lot of value know the humidity point in your space.

The amount of money that can be saved from proper scheduling of a smart thermostat in a commercial building can vary depending on a number of factors, including the size of the building, the climate, the type of business, and the current energy usage patterns. However, studies have shown that smart thermostats can save businesses up to 30% on their heating and cooling costs.

Humidity control is critical in the summer, as higher humidity will lead to lower set points to try and meet comfort for folks. You could have a high humidity room at 70 degrees be less comfortable than a 76 degree room at low or moderate humidities. Modern commercial HVAC systems can meet this lower humidity in a variety of ways, but the main one is using a single compressor instead of both to cool a space faster. So as counter intuitive as it is – running your HVAC system all the time on one compressor instead of half the time on both compressors can actually save a lot of energy. And humidity is bad for so many other reasons in a space, including mold prevention.

How Does Proper Scheduling Save Money in Commercial Spaces?

The best part of the Pelican smart thermostat system is that the basic portal meets the need of 95% of customers, therefore, it is likely to be continuously used and serviced with equipment over time. If a system is not used, the maximization of scheduling is not met for energy savings goals like:

• Occupancy detection: Smart thermostats can use occupancy sensors to turn off the heating or cooling system when no one is in a room or office. This can save a significant amount of energy, especially in buildings that have large spaces that are not always occupied, such as conference rooms or training rooms.
• Setback scheduling: Smart thermostats can be programmed to automatically lower the temperature when the building is unoccupied and raise it again before occupants arrive. This is called setback scheduling. For example, a business could set the temperature to 70 degrees Fahrenheit when the building is unoccupied and then raise it to 72 degrees Fahrenheit before employees arrive in the morning. This simple change can save businesses up to 10% on their heating and cooling costs.
• Demand response: Some smart thermostats can be used to participate in demand response programs. Demand response programs are designed to reduce the electrical load on the grid during peak hours. Smart thermostats can help businesses participate in these programs by automatically adjusting the temperature by a few degrees during peak hours. This can help businesses save money on their utility bills and also help to keep the power grid stable.

In addition to saving energy, smart thermostats can also improve occupant comfort and productivity. This is because smart thermostats can learn the temperature preferences of occupants and then automatically adjust the temperature to maintain a comfortable level. This can help to reduce complaints about the temperature and improve overall employee satisfaction. So the free data and access to the Pelican site manager (or Pelican app) is critical to long term savings in commercial spaces. While it is not perfect for every application, it is ideal for most and even the basic package exceed most customer expectations.

Pelican is Built for Commercial

Many of our customers request a smart thermostat that they have in their home, like the Nest or Ecobee smart thermostat products. But, the truth is that commercial HVAC is very different from a residential system and has different needs. We find the Pelican system to be the premier system of controls for commercial systems, and most reputable HVAC companies are comfortable with servicing these systems, whether you have the basic thermostat system or the advanced PEARL economizer module that controls deeper energy savings.

If you are interested in installing a Pelican system for deeper energy for a commercial space and you are located in Illinois or Wisconsin, please fill out our free energy efficiency assessment form to have someone contact you for a better understanding of your needs.

In 2010, Verde Energy Efficiency Experts was established.  This July, Verde celebrates its 10 year anniverary.  Less than 30% of US businesses reach this milestone. 

Since inception, Verde has been able to extend its reach to over 675 businesses, fire stations, libraries and restaurants.  

Those projects have led to over 14,196,600 kWh of energy savings, which is the equivalent to over 11,559,465 pounds of coal being grounded.  In addition, this is the equivalent to over 12,444 acres of US forest absorbing carbon dioxide.  Verde has also recycled over 67,500 mercury laden fluorescent lamps during that time – featuring their new state of the art lamp recycling and job creating machine in their Ravenswood facility.  

Verde is grateful for the opportunity to serve our mission with clients that align in our mission and values – we save energy for businesses to create a more sustainable future for both the environment and our clients.  Now more than ever, we need lower operating costs to survive economic shocks.

ABOUT VERDE

Verde’s team of energy efficiency experts helps your organization find, implement, and maintain energy-efficient solutions that make a measurable impact on the bottom line. Founded by Jamie Johnson in 2010, Verde has been saving Chicagoland companies and organizations thousands of dollars every year by replacing outdated, inefficient methods and hardware with modern, efficient solutions. To learn more, visit www.verde.expert.

ABOUT OUR CLIENTS

 

Our company frequently recommends and installs smart thermostats for our commercial and public sector clients. If you are considering or have a Nest Smart Thermostat, this is a good post for you. Smart thermostats are a key component of the sensors, controls and systems that will optimize our buildings in the future.

Nest is not specifically designed for commercial applications, but there are many times that it will work. However, there are pitfalls so you should be cautious, especially if you have high efficiency unit with internal logic that would be considered advanced rooftop controls. Some of the Nest features may override those savings controls.

The best application for Nest is often a commercial split system, or one where the owner has a Nest at home and wants the same platform for both.

Nest Smart Thermostat Portal

The Nest platform is by far the easiest to access and most integrated. It can be accessed at Nest online, or on the Google Home app. The main portal is clean and easy to read, and can offer humidity and outside temperature data. It shows a color indication when the unit is running, so you know if you are not in the office if it is running.

Scheduling Building Heating and Cooling

This is the most important part of the Nest, in terms of energy savings. This is why most utility incentive programs, including the Comed Energy Efficiency Program, offer money toward this product. It saves energy in the same way a programmable thermostat does – you space is not heated or cooled when not needed.

Heating and Cooling History

Historical usage is not as robust with the Nest, as it only gives you hours of usage each day. However, that can at times be enough for your business. I like to use this to confirm that our weekend usage was turned off, if we are were not using the space. I get a general “warm and fuzzy” feeling that the units are off and not wasting energy if there is no usage on holidays, or minimal usage.

Eco Temperature

The Nest is easy to kick on “eco settings”. Their algorithm, while based on residential usage, is solid and makes it easy to enact these settings. For most businesses, this is worth engaging and will save a ton of energy.

There are a few key features that Nest offers in the settings and are worth evaluating for deeper savings.

First, the sunblock feature will detect direct sunlight that can cause a higher reading than is in the location and adjust. The leaf setting is an indication that the unit is in energy savings mode, like a high AC setting temp of 85 degrees when no one is occupied. The airwave runs to clear the AC compressor after the room has been cooled. This gets more efficiency, but can lead to higher humidity in the space and cause issues. If you have humidity issues, you should be careful on this as it can drive humidity up to spikes in your space at times.

Away Settings

One downside of the Nest is that it does not have geofencing. This is where you hook up you phone so it detects when you are not there, turning down the HVAC. However, this is less important (and harder to execute) for commercial businesses.

It does use occupancy detection inside the unit to complement the schedules, which is more valuable for commercial settings than geofencing.

Nest Cool to Dry and Time to Temp

These settings are the ones that are really advanced. If your unit is a split system, then this is worth using these settings. If it has advanced rooftop controls with an economizer, it is something that could override intelligence in your expensive rooftop unit.

Time-to-Temp will give you some notice on how long it will take to get to temperature. This information can be helpful. Early-On is very important, especially if you have a two stage cooling system. If your system starts earlier in the day to get to your desired cooling temperature – it will use just one stage over a longer time to get to that temperature. This is important as it can decrease the humidity in the space, as well as create less frequent on and off for your compressor and extend their life.

What is Missing on the Nest Portal?

A few things that are missing on this portal that may make another system better for your needs?

Granular data of hour by hour usage – this can be found on the Ecobee SmartBuildings Platform and the Pelican Smart Thermostat system.

Economizer Usage – 70% of economizers are not working, and this is huge as they provide free cooling when available. This feature is hard to find, but is available on the Pelican Smart Thermostat System.

Nest Thermostat For Business

If your main goal for upgrading to a smart thermostat is an easy to use platform, aggressive energy savings in unoccupied spaces, and the ability to see what temperature your building is at when you are not there – Nest will do the trick.

When it comes to energy efficiency in Chicagoland, you can’t have a meaningful conversation without talking about HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Cooling).

While HVAC replacement is an important consideration for commercial spaces and public buildings, how you use that equipment is at times just as important. Sensors, controls, and smart thermostats are essential to optimize equipment usage.

Our company offers three commercial smart thermostat products to our clients, which are typically Fire Stations, McDonalds and Libraries. For most of the applications, the Ecobee EMS Si is the best product for our clients, although there are times that the Nest Thermostat or the Pelican Thermostat is preferred.

Ecobee EMS Si Platform

The Ecobee stands out because the EMS Si has a more robust commercial software than Nest. This article will dig into the software, with screenshots and uses.

Scheduling Building Heating and Cooling

While the scheduling feature is available on all programmable thermostats (and Nest and Pelican), it is worth noting as it is the fastest way to save energy. Ecobee makes this easy, both on the thermostat and on the platform.

High and Low Temperature and Humidity Warnings

I think for buildings in both commercial and public, this is key. As long as you set this higher in cooling than any of your scheduled settings (or lower for heating), you will know when there are issues with your equipment. If your low heat setting for unoccupied spaces is 62 degrees, and you set an alert for 60 – you will know when the heat stops working or is struggling to keep up via a notification. You don’t need to wait until the next time you visit your building to know, or even risk pipes bursting or dealing with emergencies when you arrive after a long weekend.

Historical Usage

Here is the real information gain from this platform, and the reason it outperforms Nest in terms of data. Nest will show how much your equipment is used each day, but not the granular level of data. Each of the above graphs share a story about your equipment – are you having humidity issues, is it running too frequently, is it dropping too much in temperature when cooling and you have oversized equipment?

In fact, much of my research around this topic has been driven by restaurant franchise owners that own many restaurants. They are constantly chasing issues with HVAC – reacting to reports of too hot or too cold stores and areas of the stores. Not only can an owner look at the current and historical data of a store during a complaint, but they could start each day to confirm units are all working. To state that again, as it is really important – they can look to see across all of their buildings and thermostats to confirm they are working.

Proactive Maintenance

They key to energy efficiency is proactive maintenance, instead of reactive. Most owner/operators and facilities directors wait until a unit breaks and needs an expensive repair before replacing it. While that makes sense – it allows you to maximize the most life out of your existing unit – it does not enable you to proactively replace your HVAC equipment with the most efficient unit available as they often have a longer lead time. When your heat is down in the winter – you cannot wait 6 weeks for a CEE Tier 2 unit to be built and shipped to you.

Why is that important? Well, first, you will have the equipment for 15-20 years and the long term energy/operating costs can be quite significant. However, more importantly, Comed Rebates can cover 40-70% of the costs of a high efficiency unit and you will miss those by reacting. Budget ahead and proactive replacement leads to lower energy usage and lower budget in replacement costs.

For this reason, I think that the Ecobee EMS Si, as well as the SmartBuildings Platform are the best smart thermostat for commercial spaces and public buildings.

If you have a residential style HVAC system, we recommend Nest.

If you have 5-10 year old RTUs and are interested in advanced rooftop controls and a state of the art economizer system upgrade, then I would recommend the Pelican System.

What we are doing to keep our employees and partners safe during the COVID-19 pandemic:  

Limited Onsite Exposure

All of our office staff, including our energy efficiency analysts, are taking the necessary measures to limit contact by working remotely. We have adjusted our office workflow to be done online so that we could continue to support our installation team and to provide excellent services to our partners while also practicing self-isolation. 

To limit exposure within our own team members, we have split up our 13 installers into 3 distinct teams that do not overlap. This means that each team of 4 or 5 will not be exposed to other crew members in the situation that there may be an installer who tested positive or had exposure to COVID-19. 

Paid Quarantine for Employees

In the case where a crew member is exposed to COVID-19, we are requiring crew members to remain in self-quarantine for 14 days with pay. Recently, a crew member was exposed to a family member who had tested positively, and we mandated that all team members who were in contact with that member be in self-isolation for 14 days. They received pay during that quarantine time.

Masks, Gloves and Disinfection

To combat exposure to not only our installers but also our partners, our installation crew is practicing safety and precaution by wearing masks and gloves on-site. We also practice social distancing and reduce contact on-site during installation, wherever possible.

Utilizing safe sanitation and disinfecting practices is something that we take very seriously. During installations, our crew members are committed to disinfecting as often as possible. We purchase our disinfectant from Koval – a local distillery around the corner from our offices. This not only helps to keep our installers and partners safe, but we are also supporting local Chicago businesses.

Delayed Queue For Installations

In order to protect the people who have the highest risk, we are not performing installs in facilities such as fire stations, child care centers that are open, and elderly care facilities. 

Pre and Post Inspections

We will continue to complete our pre-inspection process and have added a post-inspection process, as we want to ensure that our services are at the highest possible quality. However, the members who are involved with the pre and post inspection do not overlap with anyone else in our team to avoid points of contamination between installation teams.

Warehouse Activities

In order to limit exposure in our warehouse, only one team is allowed to enter at a time. We also have dedicated “bays” for each team that has all of their products for job sites to further eliminate cross contamination.

Daily Huddles for Improvement

We are continuously striving to improve and offer better solutions that will help keep our employees and partners safe during this time. We are constantly receiving feedback from our clients and installers to see what we can do better to make each installation safer and more efficient. 

Verde is able to remain open and operating because we are considered an essential service as an electrical subcontractor and an electrical contractor. Ethically, we have struggled with how Verde should proceed with installations as we are potentially putting our employees’ and partners’ health at risk. However, with our current COVID-19 guideline to help keep employees and partners safe, we are confident that we will be able to keep our commitment to our clients and complete important work we do which is to provide the best energy efficiency. Verde will continue to stick to its Core Values by remaining gracious, humble, positive, proud, and resilient even during these times.

When it comes to identifying a company’s perfect customer, both profitability and value alignment should be top of mind. Montessori is one of those “blue chip” customers for Verde.

Verde is an L3C, which means our revenue is tied to our mission, lowering energy use in the state of IL. We believe in order to continue our mission, we need to be profitable, and reinvest in our company’s growth.

Sustainability is the heart of our company. Alongside our core values, Verde employees come to work every day, with the intention to make our city a more sustainable place. We believe that our future is bright, and that education is key to building on this concept.

It’s for these very reasons that Montessori schools align with Verde’s mission. 

Sustainability has long been an important element to Montessori education. Verde recently had the privilege of working with Council Oak Montessori, where executive director, Lila, Jokanovik explained that energy efficiency augments their program at the school, because it reflects their philosophy and practice of being stewards of the planet. Additionally, lowering energy bills means that they are able to put more money back into the program instead of lost operational costs.

Montessori School Student Engagement

In addition, middle school students will continue to work with Verde’s team to draw raw data from the school’s usage before and after to do a comparison study of energy saved. 

It’s this type of education and curiosity about new solutions that Verde welcomes in order to shape future ideas of energy conservation, and excite students into going into these types of job roles.

Creating a space of creativity, and focus is also important. Outdating lighting can cause discomfort for students, teachers and administrators. Assuring light temperature and color are consistent and dark spots are eliminated to assure that every space in the school is conducive to learning. 

When we as a company get to help organizations that align with our core values, we feel good about the work we’re doing now and the greater impact of how these ideas are shaping the future.

Illinois electricity markets were deregulated a few years back, and all the rage was saving money by switching to an alternative provider to Comed to save money on the electric bill.  Even large municipalities were switching over their entire residential markets at one time, and contracts were one by a fraction of a penny per kWh. However, after the dust settled, it seems that more folks were hurt by switching away from Comed than by sticking with it. 

Deregulation of Electricity Supply

In 1997, the state passed a law called “The Illinois Electric Service Customer Choice and The Rate Relief Law”.  This law was designed to promote competition, which would open up more companies to sell electricity to consumers throughout the state.  While the two large monopolies would still continue to provide the “pole and wire” or delivery of electricity to all buildings in the state, the supply (or actual electrons used) could be purchased by a number of alternative suppliers.

I am going to use a very rough estimation, but these two components are each about $.06 per kWh for your energy costs, for a total of $.12 per kWh combined.  These two are roughly estimated because they are quite different for residential and commercial, and are wildly different based on your size.  For a complete and current list of rates, and a good thing to help you fall asleep tonight, check out this Comed Rate info page. 

Monetary Saving – or Lack Thereof

There are huge expectations that customers will save significant money in energy deregulation.  In fact, there is a huge risk of adding extra layers of complexity to the market and adding costs as well.  Think of Enron, and ignore the fraud, but the huge amount of employees and infrastructure that was added to hedge, buy and sell electricity.  They can create some efficiencies, but there are also a ton of added people involved in the market – and those people need to get paid.   

Another concern is that the deregulated customers are only saving on half their energy costs, the supply side.  Since that is only half of their bill, if you save 20% on half your bill, you are really only seeing a net savings of 10%. 

Benefits of Buying from Your Utility

One of the benefits of buying electricity from the monopoly provider is that they need to approve all rates from the Illinois Commerce Commission, as well as oversight from the Illinois Power Authority.  Comed and Ameren can’t just jack up rates 50% and let that one sneak by. However, a third party seller can lock you into a competitive one year contract, only to escalate the contract by extravagant amounts in the future.  I am not saying that all players in the market do this – but there is not one that I trust enough to recommend our customers to work with.  We recommend that customers stick with Comed.

In addition, Comed is a huge advocate of the Clean and Equitable Jobs Act, as well as supporting Nuclear Power Generation in Illinois.  Yes, Nuclear Power has huge concerns, but as far as carbon emissions – there are none (or very little).  We have found Comed to be authentically wanting their customers to be more energy efficient and while not perfect, they do strive to provide great customer experience. 

They might be some inefficiencies with one provider, but it is not significant enough to be made up with moving at this time. The only exception is the chance to get great airline miles or other perk when signing up, but you have to ask yourself if that is really worth the risk.  When you deregulate energy, you open up a ton of snake oil salesman to the market, that are not always looking out for the best long term interest.  

It is better to spend your time and energy in reducing your energy, which leads to long term bottom line savings.  And those opportunities are all in unexpected places over your building, you just have to know where to look.  

Demystifying Energy: Understanding the Difference Between kWh and kW

In today’s world, bombarded with technical terms and cryptic units, deciphering electricity bills and making informed energy choices can feel like navigating a labyrinth. Two often-confused terms, kWh and kW, play crucial roles in understanding our energy consumption. While they might sound similar, their meanings are worlds apart. This essay aims to illuminate the distinction between these seemingly interchangeable terms, empowering you to become a more conscious energy consumer.

kWh: The Measure of Energy Consumption

Imagine filling a bucket with water. The amount of water in the bucket, measured in liters, represents the energy you’ve used. Just like liters measure water volume, kilowatt-hours (kWh) quantify electrical energy consumption. One kWh equates to the energy used by a 1 kW appliance running for one hour. Simply put, kWh tells you how much energy you’ve consumed over a specific period, like the month reflected on your electricity bill.

kW: The Gauge of Power Consumption

Now, consider the hose filling the bucket. The wider the hose, the faster the water flows, right? The flow rate, measured in liters per minute, represents power. Similarly, kilowatts (kW) measure the rate at which electrical energy is used at a specific moment. For instance, a 1 kW heater consumes energy one kilowatt per hour faster than a 0.5 kW heater. In simpler terms, kW indicates the instantaneous power draw of an appliance, like the current demand reflected on your smart meter.

The Crucial Distinction: Time Makes All the Difference

The key difference between kWh and kW lies in the inclusion of time. kWh incorporates the duration of energy use, reflecting the total amount consumed. Conversely, kW measures the instantaneous rate of energy use, like a snapshot in time.

Understanding the Impact: Making Informed Choices

Knowing the difference between kWh and kW empowers you to make informed energy decisions. Consider the following:

• Reducing kWh: By using energy-efficient appliances (lower kW) and practicing conservation, you can lower your total energy consumption (kWh) and potentially reduce your bill.
• Understanding Peak kW: During peak demand periods, electricity prices might be higher. Knowing your appliances’ kW ratings helps you avoid using high-power devices simultaneously, potentially lowering peak demand charges.

kWh and kW, though seemingly alike, represent distinct aspects of energy consumption. Recognizing the critical difference between these terms equips you to analyze your energy use, make informed choices, and navigate the sometimes-complex world of electricity bills. Remember, knowledge is power, and in this case, it can also illuminate your path towards a more sustainable and cost-effective energy future.

Potential benefits of Switching to a New Supplier

• Lower prices: Some third-party providers may offer lower electricity supply rates than your local utility, especially if you are a high-energy user or sign up for a fixed-rate plan during a period of low wholesale electricity prices.
• Renewable energy options: Some third-party providers offer plans that source electricity from renewable sources, which may appeal to environmentally conscious consumers.
• Additional features: Some providers offer additional features like bill pay management, home energy audits, or rewards programs.

Potential drawbacks:

• Hidden fees: Some third-party providers may charge hidden fees, such as early termination fees, enrollment fees, or monthly service charges, which can negate any potential savings.
• Variable rates: Many third-party providers offer variable-rate plans, which means your electricity costs can fluctuate with the market price of electricity. This can lead to unpredictable bills and higher costs if the market price rises.
• Deceptive marketing: Some third-party providers have been accused of using deceptive marketing practices to mislead consumers, so it’s important to be cautious and read the fine print carefully before signing up for any plan.

Recent Developments for Third Party Supplier Data

According to the Citizens Utility Board, recent analysis shows that in the current Illinois electricity market, switching to a third-party supplier is unlikely to save you money and may even cost you more. In recent years, Illinois consumers have lost more than $800 million from alternative electric suppliers, according to CUB. So in the current electricity market, it’s likely that the regulated utility is your best option unless you have a very sophisticated and very dedicated procurement team. If you are considering an electricity offer, be careful to ask good questions and read the fine print before signing up.

The Illinois Attorney General has taken action against several third-party providers for deceptive marketing practices. There are many good companies that sell third-party electricity and natural gas, but there are also some terrible companies that have faced criminal prosecution. It can be hard to tell the good from the bad.

Recommendations for Utility Partners

• Do your research: Before switching providers, compare rates and plans carefully, considering both the electricity supply rate and any additional fees. You can use the Illinois Power Agency’s Power Choice website to compare providers.
• Be wary of variable-rate plans: If you are concerned about unpredictable bills, stick with a fixed-rate plan.
• Read the fine print carefully: Make sure you understand all of the terms and conditions of a plan before signing up.
• Consider your energy usage: If you are a low-energy user, the potential savings from switching providers are likely to be small.

Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to switch to a third-party energy provider is a personal one. By carefully considering the potential benefits and drawbacks, you can make an informed decision that is right for you.

Harnessing the Sun Together: How Community Solar Works in Illinois

For many Illinois residents, embracing solar energy seems like a distant dream. Installing panels requires upfront costs, space availability, and technical expertise. But fear not, sun-seekers! Community solar offers a unique solution, allowing you to reap the benefits of solar power without the burden of individual ownership. Let’s delve into the workings of this innovative program and explore how you can become part of the solar revolution.

The Power of Partnership: Community Solar

Community solar involves subscribing to a shared solar array located within your utility’s service territory. Imagine a large field of panels collectively generating clean energy, each section allocated to participating households. As a subscriber, you essentially “rent” a portion of the array, receiving a credit on your electricity bill based on the electricity your share generates. The beauty lies in the shared responsibility. The project developer handles installation, maintenance, and grid connection, eliminating individual burdens. You simply enjoy the environmental and financial rewards.

Participating is surprisingly straightforward. Here’s the basic roadmap.

First, Find a Project: Research community solar projects operating in your area. Resources like Illinois Shines and Citizens Utility Board provide helpful listings. Typically, this is found through a developer that creates a project, and then sells shares to participate in this community solar “farm”. These are typically long term contracts, at least 10 years long.

Then choose your right amount of energy you will need to buy, no more, no less. Select a subscription size based on your estimated energy needs. The larger the share, the greater the bill credit and potential savings.

Finally, sign a contract with the project developer, outlining your subscription details and fees. Sit back and let the sun do the work!

What are the Benefits of Community Solar?

The benefits of community solar are multifaceted:

• Financial Savings: You’ll likely see reduced electricity bills thanks to the bill credits generated by your solar share.
• Environmental Impact: By supporting renewable energy, you contribute to a cleaner planet and reduced reliance on fossil fuels.
• Accessibility: Community solar opens the door to solar power for renters, homeowners with unsuitable roofs, or those hesitant about upfront costs.
• Shared Investment: You join a community invested in clean energy, fostering a sense of collective responsibility and environmental stewardship.

Should I Join the Solar Movement?

Community solar represents a significant step towards a more sustainable future in Illinois. By participating, you contribute to a cleaner environment, enjoy potential cost savings, and join a growing community of forward-thinking solar citizens. So, research available projects, consider your needs, and take the plunge into the sunshine! Remember, even small steps collectively create a brighter future, powered by the sun.

Final Recommendations on Third-Party Energy and Community Solar

We recommend to our clients and customers that they stay with the utility instead of buying third-party providers, as they more often than not lose money in the relationship.

If you are going to consider solar, first consider adding it to your own roof or property. Try to buy it if you can, but even leasing it through a PPA is a great option.

If you can’t do that, then a community solar farm could be a great prospect for you to consider.

Finally, always think first about investing in energy efficiency, as opposed to spending time trying to find the lowest energy rate. A kWh not used is far cheaper than a kWh at a lower price. If you are in Illinois, consider a free energy efficiency audit to help reduce your usage and truly save money on your bill.

Energy savings are a huge benefit of building and lighting controls, but there are 5 other reasons to consider these improvements to your building.

1. Better Space for Employees

Lighting and building controls make spaces more usable and more comfortable for employees. There is a growing literature to support how important lighting is to employee well being and comfort. Lighting controls give employees control over the amount and timing of lighting, which is so important to employee satisfaction.

2. I see Where Employees are Working

This can feel a bit big brother-ish. However, lighting controls can let you know where employees are. There are a variety of reasons a business owner or manager might want to know this (some sinister and some not), but I love coming into our warehouse and seeing the lights on or off. We have high bay fixtures with sensors built in, which are grouped together. If one is brighter than the others, it tells me exactly where the employee is – making us safer as an organization.

We are fortunate that our office overlooks our warehouse, so I can actually save time and quickly get to an employee to touch base with them in the warehouse. Lights indicate a person, and this is an awesome time saver for me.

I also feel safer when I stop in the office on the weekends – lighting controls tell me if someone has been there recently, so I know whether to be on the lookout for someone. This makes me feel safer, and I know also makes employees feel safer.

3. I put my money where my mouth is

We are an energy efficiency company, so investing in controls tells our customers that we practice what we preach.

However, for those that are not in our industry, controls are an investment in your space, which signals to employees that you are committed to investing in the building and business. This is not to be underestimated, especially as the employment rate drops and retaining employees becomes more important to a business success.

Sustainability is a Library Core Value
Beyond day to day operations, libraries see sustainability as the healthy and right thing to do for the community. Protectors of books, and the earth, libraries have been met with political and socio-economic challenges past and present and no longer feel that they can be passive in the fight to protect our world. In order for libraries to continue to exist, they must be stewards of sustainability. In 2015, the ALA made a stand and passed a resolution on the importance of sustainability for libraries, noting that libraries play an integral part of resilience in terms of climate change and creating a sustainable future for the community and that this should be kept in mind when making decisions on every aspect, from facilities to programing.  
Libraries are Blue Chip Clients
We seek to work with clients that culturally align with our own core values. Verde Energy Efficiency is more than a lighting distributor. We’re more than a lighting contractor, we’re more than a for profit business. Verde is an L3C meaning that we are a low profit, limited liability company with its revenue earnings directly tied to solving a social problem. Verde works only within the Chicagoland area, serving communities we ourselves live in. These libraries are our libraries and we understand their importance of being here for years to come. Over the last year, Verde worked with Carver Peterson, a sales consultant group in the business of helping organizations grow, to identify clients that were our “blue chips”. Blue chips were identified after careful analysis of our current and future objectives. Through that work, libraries were noted as being one of the top aligned verticals for us to work in.  Verde works hard to keep our money here in our communities, sourcing as much of our products made in IL as possible, and working with slim margins with the mission to reduce energy here in our home state of Illinois.





                

Did you know there are some amazing champions of the environment in the Chicago Theater Scene? In this episode, we talk to Maggie Fullilove-Nugent, Production Manager at Timeline Theater about what sustainability looks like in this creative industry. Maggie introduces us to The Chicago Green Theatre Alliance – an amazing group of individuals that encourage, educate, and motivate theatres and theatre professionals to work together to adopt more environmentally-friendly practices in all aspects of their work.

In this episode, we shake things up with Beth Holaday from Verde interviewing one of our Non-Profit clients. Beth specializes in the Comed NPO Offering, which helps tax exempt organization achieve energy efficiency in the 0-400kW category. This program has higher incentives, to help budget sensitive groups significantly reduce energy usage.

We have worked hard at Verde Energy Efficiency Experts to make sure we understand and reflect our core values. Believing that these core values be public, so both our clients and partners know what to expect from working with us.

Curiously Exploring New Solutions

At Verde, our core is exploring new solutions. We look for the newest ways to save our clients energy, from the newest LED fixtures to the smartest new smart thermostat on the market. We were the first in our local industry to incorporate advanced lighting controls into our playbook, and we recently completed the very first VHE HVAC retrofit in Oak Park, Illinois. We have installed EV Car Chargers with great software from EV Match that enables different users to access and pay for charging at public facilities like Vernon Area Public Library.

Verde continues to innovate internally as well. We are constantly exploring new processes, such as our inventory system and light meter tools. While it can be tiring to keep on the hunt for new solutions, it is essential to be ahead of our competition and at the forefront of technology. In 2002, we implemented a new system named Netsuite for our inventory. We use Google BARD to help do market research, as well as proofreading our posts and making sure our client communication is strong.

In just a few years, LED lighting will be the standard. If we don’t innovate, we won’t be around to keep serving our customers, so we must keep advancing in our offerings for energy efficiency.

Eloquent Communication

We work to communicate in a way that our clients understand, while making sure we get our point across. Eloquent communication is not technical jargon that confuses a client, nor is it exact grammar.

We were born out of firefighters, and half of our installation team are firefighters. Our goal is to communicate eloquently what matters – why are we here, who we are, with honesty and integrity.

Eloquent communication is important for energy efficiency because it can help us to:

• Clarify our needs and expectations. When we are able to communicate clearly and concisely, we can help others to understand what we need and expect from them. This can lead to more efficient use of energy resources, as we are less likely to waste time and energy on tasks that are not necessary or that are not being done correctly.
• Persuade others to take action. When we are able to communicate eloquently, we can be more persuasive in convincing others to take action to improve energy efficiency. This could include persuading colleagues to adopt more energy-efficient practices at work, persuading customers to switch to energy-efficient products, or persuading policymakers to implement energy efficiency policies.
• Educate others about energy efficiency. When we are able to communicate effectively about energy efficiency, we can help to educate others about the importance of energy conservation and the ways in which they can save energy in their own lives. This can lead to a more energy-efficient society as a whole.

Humble and Gracious

We are grateful to work in the greatest city in the world – Chicago. Additionally, we are grateful that Chicago has a ton of neighborhoods, as well as suburbs and exurbs that are diverse and provide an intense opportunity to reduce energy. The city has old bones, with lots of opportunities to upgrade lighting, upgrade HVAC systems, and to use smart lighting controls and smart thermostat controls.

We are grateful that the Illinois taxpayers have invested in an energy efficiency program – or we wouldn’t have jobs. We are also grateful that it is slightly complicated, creating the role of expertise that we fill.

Finally, we know it takes an ecosystem and that we are a part of a team in Illinois. We need to work closely with our utility, we need to have partners to recommend when we are not the best, and we need to know that the better the competition in our space – the better we will be as well. A rising tide can lift all ships.

Confident and Resilient

Confidence is the belief in our abilities and our ability to achieve your goals in your building. It is our experience that helps us be confident and it gives us the courage to take risks, try new things, and persevere in the face of challenges.

Resilience is our ability to bounce back from setbacks and adversity. It is important to be resilient because life and business is full of ups and downs. Everyone will experience challenges and disappointments at some point in their lives. Resilient people are able to learn from their mistakes, pick themselves up, and keep going. We seek out resilient employees, because we have an important task at hand.

Confidence and resilience are closely related. Confident people are more likely to be resilient because they believe in themselves and their ability to overcome challenges. Resilient people are more likely to become more confident because they have experienced overcoming setbacks and challenges in the past.

We go into all kinds of neighborhoods in all kinds of weather and traffic. We must be resilient to get our jobs done. We make commitments to our customers, and must be confident we can keep our promises.

Taking Pride in Our Work

We partner with brands like Signify (Philips), and we use higher end products than most of our competition. We do this because we want a product that lasts longer than the competition, and both our experience and our customer’s experience shows that Signify products last longer.

Not only are our products high quality, but so are the installers who put them in for us. While most energy efficiency companies use subcontracted labor – we have our own employees that are embedded into our organization. We are proud that six of our electricians have been with us long enough to become licensed in various municipalities in their time at Verde. We are also proud that we have won the “Partner of the Year” award three times since 2015 in the Small Business Offering at Comed.

In fact, our biggest source of clients is through referrals, a testimonial to our work.

Positive Contagious Energy

Form our newest analyst to our longest running installers, you’ll see a positive and contagious energy. Work is a job – and what we do is tough work. However, we believe in taking our day on with a good attitude, and that sharing that attitude with our colleagues makes our day better. It also spills over to our clients – making their experience with us better and stronger.

If you see us at an event or on a job site – we intend to share our positive energy with you. What you do with that is up to you.

I started Verde Energy Efficiency Experts over 9 years ago. This past year, I decided I needed some help and support around leadership. While I was a firefighter for over 10 years and had some great role models for leadership, running a growing company is a different animal altogether.

I enrolled in the Junto Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership in early 2019, with coursework and mentorship around leadership for entrepreneurs. I write this about midway through the program. I have learned a lot to date and have found the experience important. I hope that the team sees the hard work I have put in to change and improve. I have put myself outside of my comfort zone in many ways in order to improve Verde.

While I have been making a lot of changes around feedback to others, a more direct communication style, and sharing my vision more often, this post is about a single experience I had a few months ago.

Dragon Boat Race 2019

Verde participated in the Dragon Boat race fundraiser for Project: Vision – a local nonprofit focused on improving literacy and opportunities in the community. I raced on the team with Jen Panattoni from Verde, along with about 16 other community and board members of Project: Vision.

I have been leading a company so long, that it was quite amazing to sit back and be a member of a team without leadership responsibility. While I do end up in leadership roles often in my life, I love being a member of a team and just contributing. It was refreshing, and reminds me that I need to do this more often. It makes you more powerful to lead, when you are finding ways to be led at times.

Working Together as a Team

The boat has a lot of interesting quirks to it, but the most interesting was that the entire row team had to work together. If just one oar was off, it meant that the person rowing could actually be slowing down the boat. You could feel when someone around you was off, whether by knocking into their oar or the rhythm and movement of the boat feeling off.

In order to achieve this, you would look ahead and watch the person in the front of the boat on the opposite side. There are 9 or so rows of pairs of rowers, each row watching the lead person on the other side. The two leaders looked at each other, so they could stay aligned.

It was this aspect of teamwork that struck me so deeply – I find our own team often struggles with what is the right answer. In fact, I have often been the type of leader that is not around, off selling or engaging with clients. This can mean that my vision can get changed, if there is a domineering person around more often that feels we should do things differently. The boat, and a company, needs to have the vision and directly clear to follow or it will not move in the same direction.

Vision – Implementer

I currently operate my business under the visionary/implementer model. It works for us, especially as it allows me to continue to be out in front of clients and not in the office.

Visionary: This person needs a lot of unstructured time and ability to be off in creative modes. My creative mode is working with clients on their goals for energy efficiency, and I enjoy all the different varieties of clients and programs that we work for. This keeps me on my toes and challenges me.

Implementer: This person does the heavy lifting and execution of the visionary. They often love the consistency and challenge of detailed work, bring a vision to life. At Verde, this is our CFO/COO Tim Smith. What is amazing about Tim is that he will challenge me on ideas, saying when and where he thinks the vision needs adjustments. However, he always supports my vision, even when he doesn’t agree. This is the key to a great implementer – both leaders are aligned.

Back to our boat work – I think our company operates like a Dragon Boat. Tim and I are in the front, each with very different sides of our boat. I lead the sales team, and am the visionary. Tim leads the operations and installation team, which executes on my vision. We row the boat together, looking at each other to stay in lockstep. My hope is that each of the team members has access to look ahead and see us, following our intentions and actions.

Staying on Course

There have been many times in my past 9 years at Verde that it has not felt completely aligned. I felt torn – really wanting everyone to feel their voices heard, and not wanting to be a domineering leader. This can lead to lots of different directions, and not having a unified vision or strategy.

Today, I understand the true importance of going in the same direction. All oars hitting the water at the same time in one direction will get there faster and stronger, than a few out of sync. Our company is no different – we all need to hit our roles and communication with one direction in mind. Even if my vision is not perfect or the direction is not 100% ideal, it is better to have one direction than multiple.

The vision must be clear and communicated. There must be room to discuss and be heard, but that does not require vision changing.