Extreme energy usage at Grand Forks Public Library

As promised in this post, here is Dave McFarlane’s full expert opinion about the current energy efficiency (or lack thereof) in the Grand Forks Public Library:

By Dave McFarlane

About four years ago, our company started working with the City of Grand Forks in a process to evaluate energy efficiencies in public buildings. The library was one of the 30 or 40 buildings we looked at, and it turned out that it was one of the top five most inefficient buildings in the city.

Earlier this month, the Library Board asked us to review the energy usage in the building and give our professional opinion regarding efficiency levels. So, we’ve studied the library’s energy bills from the last three years and we’ve made comparisons with buildings of similar size and occupancy in the region. With this information, we are able to determine how much energy per square foot the building is using and calculate exactly how much the library is spending above and beyond normal expectations.

The end result is the Energy Analysis Report we are releasing today. As expected, the energy usage at our Public Library is extreme. It’s significantly higher than it should be. Our analysis indicates that the library complex is using 58% more energy than recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency for a building of similar occupancy within the North Dakota region. That inefficiency results in annual energy costs that are $22,500 higher than necessary.

It’s important to remember that the Grand Forks Public Library was built in 1972, and that was a time when energy was very inexpensive. It was so inexpensive that Northern States Power Company was running an ad campaign that proclaimed, “Electricity is penny-cheap at NSP.” At that time, NSP used Reddy Kilowatt as their cartoon spokesperson. You might remember that his arms and legs were made of lightning bolts and his nose was a light bulb.

Since energy was so inexpensive in the early 1970s, it wasn’t a priority to conserve, and there were no building design initiatives that concentrated on energy efficiency. The design professionals at that time did not concentrate on energy usage – electric, gas or anything.  Because of that, the system that was originally installed in our library was a very inefficient one, and after all these years, it has become one of the most inefficient buildings the City owns.

The library building is almost 40 years old, and these types of systems have life expectancies of 25-30 years. Mechanical equipment, by its nature, is going to wear out. It’s not unusual that the library’s system is failing or that the maintenance staff has been replacing components several times a year. This gets to be a very expensive ongoing upkeep for the library administration. It is also a precariously unreliable system.

The question now is, “How do we fix it?” Results from our Energy Analysis certainly lend credence to the need to redo the entire system. The cost to retrofit the library would be significant. We would need to gut the building and basically start over. It would mean shutting down the library for a year; removing all ceilings and some walls, removing the air handling systems and starting over.

Energy inefficiencies alone do not justify the construction of a new library. However, a failing mechanical system is a very expensive component in a public building, so we need to carefully consider whether it is a wise decision to make that investment in a 40-year-old building that has serious space deficiencies.

Energy inefficiencies at the library: Dave McFarlane weighs in

One question we’ve heard is, “Can’t the current library be renovated to accomodate future needs?” We’ve addressed some reasons why a remodel is not the answer in this blog post, and earlier this week Dave McFarlane further clarified why the library’s current HVAC system needs more than minor renovations. Here’s the transcript of his radio interview:

Transcript of the Jarrod Thomas Show, KNOX AM-Radio
Wednesday, April 20, 2011 – 9 a.m.

In-studio guests: Rick McCarthy and Susan Mickelson
Phone guest: Dave McFarlane, president, McFarlane, Grand Forks, ND

Dave is the head of all engineering functions at McFarlane and has overall responsibility for Design-Build, TAB, Commission and Retro-Commissioning projects. A nationally-recognized expert in the field of energy commissioning, Dave is a NEBB-qualified supervisor with more than 25 years of experience. His expertise has helped form U.S. national standards for environmental balancing in HVAC systems. He has often served as guest lecturer for industry professionals and has written numerous trade journal articles on the subject.

McFarlane:
“About three or four years ago, we started working with the City of Grand Forks to identify the energy use in all of their buildings. We also looked at the County buildings and anything that was kind of City-related. The library was one of those. Of the 30 or 40 buildings we looked at, the Grand Forks Library was in the top five most inefficient buildings. Now, my memory isn’t that good, but it maybe even in the top three.

“It was built in 1972, at a time when energy was cheap. I don’t know if you remember this… NSP Electric, at the time, had a Reddy Kilowatt guy running around, and their logo was ‘Electricity is penny-cheap at NSP.’ Because of this, the design professions at that time did not concentrate on energy usage – electric, gas, or anything. Because of that, the system that was put in there was just a very inefficient system.

“Right now, Susan [Mickelson] asked me to look at it, so we’ve taken the last three years’ energy bills and we’re in the process of reviewing that to determine exactly how much energy per square foot the building has used over the last three years. We’ll get back to her this week with that information.

“Once we see what the energy usage is, we can determine what it should be — from a lot of the work we’ve done — and tell you exactly how much the library is spending over what it should be. But it’s significant. It’s one of the worst buildings the City owns.”

Thomas:
“Is there a way to make the building more energy efficient?”

McFarlane:
“To do so would mean, basically, shutting the library down for a year, gutting the mechanical system, replacing with something new, and putting it back in. This building is almost 40 years old. The life expectancy on equipment like this is 25 to 30 years. Because of that, you need to gut it and start over, basically.”

Thomas:
“So, if we were to build a new library, would the energy efficiencies that were to be put into it today, would they be only  good for 25 to 30 years?  Or have we moved far enough along in this arena, where we can make sure that if we want this building to be around for 40, 50 years or more, that it’s going to continue to be energy efficient?”

McFarlane:
“The energy efficiency sequences and control logics, the design strategies that are used are state-of-the-art right now. But, I’ll bet you anything – 30 years from now – someone will have come up with a better way of doing it. They will be efficient by today’s standards – which are much more efficient than they were 40 years ago. Mechanical equipment, by its nature, is going to wear out. So, once you get more than 40 years out of a system, you may end up having to replace components anyway.”

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We expect to receive a complete report from Dave McFarlane next week on the library’s energy usage, and we’ll post that information as soon as we can. As always, if you have questions, please comment below.