Planning for Electrification
and Decarbonization
There is a true art form to capital planning. Aligning financial, labor, materials, and operations with a schedule for implementation can be a constant for facility planners. Overlay that with codes, protocols, and legislative mandates, the scheduling factor is elevated. We have developed strategic approaches to help clients capture and data-true their building portfolio to align with access to resources.
CREATE A FRAMEWORK
We employ a robust suite of applications that enable us to identify and convey EEMs in a visualized manner to support a diverse stakeholder group. When coupled with our analysts’ ability to translate the data into opportunities for further investigation, we are able to provide a surgical approach to isolating EEMs in short-, mid-, and long-term payback schedules. For one client, this represented over $240 million in energy savings in less than three years.
CREATE A FRAMEWORK
We employ a robust suite of applications that enable us to identify and convey EEMs in a visualized manner to support a diverse stakeholder group. When coupled with our analysts’ ability to translate the data into opportunities for further investigation, we are able to provide a surgical approach to isolating EEMs in short-, mid-, and long-term payback schedules. For one client, this represented over $240 million in energy savings in less than three years.
Hargis groups EEMs into three buckets:
Conservation – EEMs referred to as “low-hanging fruit” or “no cost / low cost”
Optimization – EEMs improving efficiency and/or replacing end-of-life systems
Generation – EEMs targeting energy generation
Utilizing these reports as part of our approach, we have proven methods for capturing building performance information and creating feasible strategies to improve energy efficiency at an operational and systems level. Our efforts have resulted in a number of system improvements and modifications, some of which have received over $40+ million in energy grants and rebates. These grants and rebates are a reflection of the team’s knowledge of the various utility and governing agencies offering such incentives. Securing the funds has maximized owners’ capital and maintenance budgets.
IDENTIFY THE RISKS
We overlay what is known about the building with what will influence the scope of work and its sequence to develop a pathway forward. In terms of electrification/ decarbonization, this means applying our knowledge of the technology to develop a strategy that works for the client’s capital program.
HEAT PUMPS & THE SCIENCE OF REFRIGERANT
Regardless of whether a climate requires cooling, by going all-electric the reliance on heat pump heating will drive the increased use of refrigerants in all locales to cool the compressors critical to the heat pump’s operation. Which refrigerant to use will continue to be under evaluation.
Any man-made chemical has the potential to damage the environment in a new way, and so has the potential to be phased out in the future. Newer synthetic refrigerants (HFOs) have a GWP much lower than previous HFC refrigerants. They have performance characteristics that closely match the refrigerants they were designed to replace which fosters a level of comfort (or consistency?) for manufacturers and engineers. However, many of them are also flammable or contain chemicals known as PFAS compounds that have been shown to remain in the environment forever (i.e. these are the ‘forever chemicals’), and are less efficient than the synthetic counterparts. As a result, design teams have other considerations to account for location, increased space requirements, and serviceability clearances.
