Are you monitoring your facility's plug loads? The Department of Energy forecasts that overall energy consumption by commercial buildings will increase 24% by 2030, but plug and process loads (PPLs) will increase 49%, twice the overall rate. Currently, PPLs represent 33% of energy use in commercial buildings, making them a significant factor in any whole-building conservation program. To reduce your facility's PPL, you can work through the 10 steps of a quick-start guide, Assessing and Reducing Plug and Process Loads in Office Buildings, prepared by the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Applying the principles in the guide allowed NREL to reduce plug loads by 43% in some of its offices. With a utility rate of $0.06/kWh and a decrease of 1,290,000 kWh/year, NREL saves $58,000 annually from the plug load effort.
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