New research has found that commercial building owners can chop their heating and cooling costs nearly in half by implementing a few energy efficient controls.
Those big rooftop heating and cooling systems you see on top of supermarkets and strip malls could produce big savings for building owners. Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., studied buildings across the country. They used computer simulations to find an average savings of 25 to 35 percent after retrofitting existing systems. Srinivas Katipamula led the study. “If half of those units that are operating now were retrofitted with this particular technology, you could avoid 16 power plants.”
The savings result from sensors and other technology that clamp down on wasted heating and cooling. These retrofits are costly and in rare use. But Katipamula hopes demonstrated savings will convince building owners to install these energy saving methods.