The EPA is considering two options.  The first option is to leave the allowances the same as per the phaseout schedule, but the second option is to decrease the total production allocation by between 11 and 47 percent each year.  The EPA has asked for input from the Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy and others in the industry and they anticipate a final determination later this year.  In the meantime, they are allowing production of R-22; but at a lower level, 45% of their last allocation amount.

Here at Cii, we closely monitor the actions of the EPA and have planned for the gradual phaseout of R-22.  We continually research and investigate alternative refrigerants and their impact on existing equipment.  We will stay updated on this situation and be ready for any changes in the marketplace.

What can our customers do?  We encourage our customers to contact us with any concerns.  We strongly suggest regular maintenance visits from our technicians to monitor and fix any leaks and talk to us about purchasing newer more energy efficient equipment.

Ed West, branch manager for Cii Service of Greensboro, recently completed a maintenance / energy usage report for the City of Sanford.  This report was made to highlight the benefits of preventive maintenance agreements and to point out the effectiveness of the electronic control and monitoring system installed by Cii.

Ed determined that over the years, the energy saving program saved the City of Sanford over $40,000 a year and at least $640,000 over the past 16 years.  Their electrical usage for 2011 was 572,900 kWh less than when the program began, based on their usage in 1993.

Some of the noteworthy facility improvements include:

• November 18, 1983 – HVAC Preventive Maintenance Agreement signed.
• May 31, 1984 – Cii received a letter of appreciation from the client, complimenting Cii for getting the HVAC systems to operate properly for the first time since the facility was built.
• December 21, 1994 – Cii outlined, designed and proposed the City’s first Energy Conservation Plan.  The City sent our plan to be reviewed by CP&L engineering.  They reviewed and agreed with our plan.
• May 3, 1995 – Mayor, Winston Hester, signed an Energy Conservation Plan with Savings Guarantee.  The plan’s implementation costs were $121,230.00 with a guaranteed annual energy savings of $40,000.
  • The building’s main air handler motor was reduced from 75 horsepower to 50 and a variable speed drive was installed to control its output.
  • Accutherm® “Therma-Fuser” VAV modules were installed throughout the building.
  • Electronic temperature controls were installed for precise operation and to replace antiquated pneumatic controls, which were high maintenance and high failure.
  • Monitor and log building kWh demand for load shed and other energy saving opportunities.
• October 6, 1998 – Cii replaced the facility’s original chiller with a new high efficiency model.
• July 4, 1999 – Cii added a programmable speech dialer to the HVAC control system to notify Cii instantly in the event of a system alarm or temperature issue within the 911 call center.
• 
• May 17, 2001 – Cii replaced the remaining pneumatic controls with electronic devices. This eliminated the need to replace the aging pneumatic air compressor and the refrigerated air drier; eliminating their energy use, maintenance and repair.
• June 8, 2001 – Cii installed a chilled water coil in the main supply air duct of the Emergency Operations Center’s HVAC unit.  This allowed the EOC area to be cooled by the facility’s chiller, which is much more efficient than the mechanical cooling of the dedicated EOC HVAC unit. This also made the existing mechanical cooling a back-up cooling system, further reducing maintenance and repairs.

• December 6, 2001 – Cii upgraded the facility’s main air handling unit with:
  • Low Leakage outside air, return air and exhaust air dampers
  • Return Air CO2 sensor
  • Programmed the electronic control system for demand ventilation to reduce energy consumption.
• May 17, 2006 – Cii installed a variable speed drive on the EOC air handler, eliminating the energy wasting air by- pass dampers.

During this review, Ed was able to provide printouts from our Preventive Maintenance database. These forms showed what equipment we serviced, when, and what services were performed during each inspection. As services are performed they are tracked, an incomplete task is reprinted until completed to ensure that no task is left undone.

Congratulations to the City of Sanford, Ed and his branch for working together to find ways to improve the comfort levels for the City’s employees while reducing operating costs with energy efficient improvements.

Sarah is also working on ideas for quarterly service projects to encourage all Cii employees to be good citizens of our community.

“Please accept this as a letter of introduction and recommendation for David Lemieux, Sr., Manager of the Fredericksburg, VA branch of Cii Engineered Systems, Inc.

For the past 14 years I have had the pleasure of working closely with David and his group with tasks associated with preventative maintenance and repair of our HVAC units and production chiller units.  Throughout that time, I have found David’s group to be highly motivated and responsive to our need in maintaining our equipment related to a high speed magazine printing and binding operation.  His entire group is more  than willing to go the extra mile to help solve our problems associated with our production needs and building environmental systems.  They never fail to follow-up on the important issues that could adversely affect not only our production capabilities, but also all departments throughout the facility.

I am confident that David and his group will fulfill any requirements that your company requires and will bring to your facility a hard working and professional work ethic, competence, loyalty, punctuality and an upbeat attitude that few services possess in today’s business world.  I highly recommend CII for any HVAC or production chiller application repair of preventative maintenance that you may require.”

Congratulations to David and his team in Northern Virginia – great job!

VFD’s can save you money by matching the capacity required (by reducing the speed and therefore the horse power required) to actual heating and cooling system requirements during those periods of low load requirements.

Manufacturers state that the payback period for VFD’s is typically under three years, but can be less than one year.  Please contact Cii Service today to improve the energy efficiency of your facility through the use of VFD’s and other building automation and energy management strategies.

Please contact Cii Service for your commercial energy management needs including HVAC System evaluations, building energy audits, lighting energy solutions and utility management analysis.

“A penny saved is a penny earned.”
—Benjamin Franklin

Ben Franklin is indeed right, but if a business makes $1 profit for each $10 sold, saving a penny would be equal to earning a dime. Saving a penny per minute on your energy costs would save over $5,000 a year, which is like increasing sales by $50,000.

Which of these is easier for you to do? What can you do to save a penny or more every minute?

• Raise the cooling set point and lower the heating set point. One-half of a degree will hardly be noticeable but can save some serious pennies.
• Tighten the schedule. HVAC systems running when no one is in the building is like burning money.
• Have all heating & cooling equipment maintained to ensure the highest possible energy efficiency.
• Reduce artificial lighting. Turn it off when you don’t need it. All lighting produces heat, so turning off lighting will also reduce air conditioning load. Double bang for your buck.

There are two types of energy losses in B-belts not inherent in Synchronous Belts, torque loss and speed loss.  V-belts depend on friction as they are part of a wedging mechanical system and therefore have greater energy loss due to heat generation than a synchronous drive. Another loss comes from the energy required to bend a belt around a sprocket or sheave. The thinner cross section of a synchronous belt requires less energy to bend than the thicker cross section of a V-belt.  Finally, there is a speed loss characteristic of V-belt drives. A positive tooth/groove Synchronous Belt engagement prevents slipping, while V-belt drives, no matter how well maintained, will exhibit some amount of slippage.

Factoring in energy savings, maintenance savings and reduced downtime, payback from converting to synchronous belt drives is typically much less than one year.

There are some special installation requirements for Synchronous Belt drives. Please contact Cii Service to determine if synchronous belts are right for your system.