Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 January 2013
374. Deputy Dominic Hannigan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if energy audits are carried out on public buildings; if so, the frequency of same; the way in which inefficiencies are remediated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58041/12]
View answerThe Office of Public Works has been running a very successful staff energy awareness campaign in all large State buildings (>1000m2) since 2008. The programme entitled Optimising Power @ Work has achieved average energy savings of over 19% in 270 participating buildings/complexes. As part of this campaign there are a number of different types of energy audits carried out in each building.
The first audit is a preliminary energy audit. The purpose of this is to identify any areas of energy wastage in the building which can quickly be eliminated without significant investment e.g. checking that heating system time schedules are suitable for actual building occupancy, identifying unoccupied areas where artificial lighting is left on, etc. Some of the remedies can be implemented immediately by changing control settings, while others require low-cost capital investment e.g. installing automatic controls on lighting. A priority list of recommendations is prepared for each building and these are implemented in order of fastest payback. Typically a preliminary energy audit is carried out every 2 years in each building.
A “Night-time Energy Audit” is also carried out in each building. This is a detailed survey which identifies each component of the night-time energy consumption that is running unnecessarily, when the building is unoccupied e.g. office equipment, lighting, air conditioning, etc. The results of these audits are presented to staff from the dedicated energy team that has been established in each building. Staff are encouraged to “switch-off” all unnecessary equipment. The results are monitored by analysing the corresponding reduction in the night-time energy consumption. The savings are maintained by continually monitoring the consumption to ensure that it does not begin to return towards pre-audit levels.
A “Building Management System (BMS) Audit” is also carried out (typically on an annual basis) in each building. The BMS is the system that controls the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in the larger buildings. Each BMS is checked to ensure that the time-schedules, set points and other control settings are correct and appropriate for the occupancy profile in each building. Where anomalies are identified, these are brought to the attention of the energy team and alterations are made.
Comprehensive Energy Audits are carried out on targeted buildings. These buildings are selected on the basis of unsatisfactory annual energy performance when compared to similar buildings. Typically there are 25 buildings identified for “Intensive Intervention” at any one time in the campaign. As energy performance improves the list is revised and buildings are added/removed. In addition to the “intensive intervention” list, some larger more unusual complexes have also benefited from comprehensive energy audits. Recently these have been carried out in the Museum buildings for example Collins Barracks, Kildare St. and Turlough Park. These buildings have very specific requirements to maintain the environmental conditions necessary to preserve the collections. An in-depth energy audit to ensure that they were being operated in the most efficient manner possible was carried out. The audits identified areas for savings and these are currently being implemented.
