Note: * = Multiplication ^ = power
When most are presented with the rudiments of power monitoring and smart management solutions many think of large manufacturing concerns and because of the prodigious power requirements of these endeavors concede that monitoring and power management are fully justified. But what about the office?

Office Temperature for Productivity

Office appliances consume electrical power, but the running of office equipment also contributes heat to the environment. A positive in the winter, but a negative in the summer as HVAC systems need to work harder to maintain comfortable temperatures. Another aspect is that as building technology improves efficiency, the higher the percentage of the power consumed is by electronic equipment. Upper floors in multistory buildings collect heat from lower floor as heat rises, adding HVAC demands that are more costly to run the higher you go.

Office Electrical Wall Outlets

Tech advances in computers has made them more efficient, but work practices are demanding more and more from our electronic devices. Outlets in a building consume up to 50% of the power. Detailed estimates of small office power consumption are seldom undertaken. Most designers rely on published data, that represents basically a ‘best guess’ scenario.

Office Environmental Equipment Systems

As the controversy over climate change are haggled out, it is obvious regardless of the cause being ‘man made’ or natural progression or a combination, it is known that average temperatures have risen worldwide. As this trend progresses it is imperative that the most efficient and cost-effective environmental systems are installed, and empirical evidence in circuit monitoring records the actual power usage for a building. With ‘best guess’ methods and nameplate specs significantly overestimating internal heat gains, leading to unneeded higher capacity equipment like chillers. Environmental equipment is a primary power consumer for any building.

Typical Power Consumption Load for Office Building

Studies have shown that loading for the typical office building is about 25 Watts per meter^2 or 3.32 Watts per foot^2. During a study of 470 outlet dependent devices in California, load data collected at 1-minute intervals with the use of outlet monitors and on an inventory of about 7000 devices. Computers and monitors accounted for nearly 66% of small power consumption in offices. New energy star standards have lowered computer idle power consumption, but the new more powerful units use more power when in operation. The methodology for estimating building energy consumption is:
Estimation of energy consumption
→ Energy demand distribution (heat, cooling, electricity) → On-site generation technologies → Demand coverage → Calculation of energy supply costs

How to Monitor Electricity Usage in the Workplace

Energy consumption can be estimated for engineering of a new building, but in an existing building the only accurate way is by monitoring the power usage for 180 days and then analyzing the data. Anything else is strictly ‘best guess’. If the building is rented power consumption can be done by tenant. An architectural firm will run high powered workstations for drawings, a CPA firm will be using computers at each desk to crunch numbers. Even manufacturing runs CAD (computer aided design) CNC (Computer Numerical Control) programs to operate their machinery. A law office runs work machines for word processing of legal documents, but they have high demand internet search engines for research. Demands will vary. Energy consumption will vary from floor to floor and from section to section if a floor is sharing tenants.

Shared Energy Consumption Breakdown

Then there is the shared building power consumption, like HVAC, hot water systems, energy sources such a gas for environmental and water heating, and electrical power consumption. Energy demand distribution is a study of where the power is going. The only empirical metric is obtained by monitoring. Electrical and HVAC requirements will vary from floor to floor, again depending on the primary endeavors of the client tenants.

On Site Renewable Electricity Generation Technologies

If the building is green it may have solar panels and use solar for water heating. These offset the costs of power usage. Certain operations are set up to provide auxiliary power during high usage periods when the electrical charges per kilowatt/hour is higher. Where permitted this is accomplished by a diesel-powered generator and the fuel-maintenance cost must be taken into consideration as these are added to the cost of electrical power.

Energy Monitoring, Power Management & More in Arvada, Aurora, Black Hawk, Boulder, Broomfield, Centennial, Cherry Hills, Commerce City, Englewood, Golden, Greenwood Village, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Parker, Thornton, Westminster, Wheat Ridge & Greater Denver, CO | Jefferson & Gilpin County, Colorado

It is only by monitoring that reliable consumption usage is arrived at. The monitoring should cover the hottest and coldest times, say from late July to March for meaningful electrical power usage, and not only floor to floor but tenant to tenant usage, as this will vary. This will satisfy the demand coverage. From all this meaningful power management can be initiated and cost savings estimated. Call Advanced Electric Solutions Corp to start saving today!