Line 72: Line 72:


2. RCEA. (2009). Customer Report: Sequoia Humane Society Energy Audit. Summary Data. Excel File. Received (2009)
2. RCEA. (2009). Customer Report: Sequoia Humane Society Energy Audit. Summary Data. Excel File. Received (2009)
3. Ryan, Cynthia (October 20, 2009). Executive Director, Sequoia Humane Society. Interview.

Revision as of 20:50, 11 December 2009

Template:115inprogress

Figure 1 Sequoia Humane Society (Source: B. Reilly)

Sequoia Humane Society

Purpose

Sequoia Humane Society (Figure 1) is a non-profit animal shelter dedicated to animal welfare. In 2007 the Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA) assisted the shelter in upgrading their lighting fixtures in order to reduce their energy consumption. The purpose of this page is to compare RCEA's predicted savings for the shelter to their actual savings using data aquired over a three year period.

Retrofit

Figure 2 Lighting fixtures after retrofit. (Source: B. Reilly)
Figure 3 Lighting in some kennel areas were upgraded as well. (Source: B. Reilly)

The Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA) upgraded approximately 55 of the shelter's fluorescent bulbs and ballasts. These upgrades were implimented in the shelter's office areas (Figure 2), as well as in some of the kennel areas (Figure 3). They upgraded from T12 fluorescent bulbs to T8 fluorescent bulbs and from magnetic ballasts to electronic ballasts. These upgrades are equivalent to a reduction of 52 Watts per lighting fixture. [1] They did not upgrade their lighting in areas which they planned on remodeling in the future which includes a fairly large kennel area.

Reasons for the Retrofit

The Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA) approached the shelter with a plan which could save them energy and money. The RCEA informed the shelter of grants that the Humboldt Area Foundation had available, which would cover all the expenses of the retrofit. Since the shelter is a non-profit organization their main reason for doing the upgrades was to reduce their electricity bill.

"We would not have even thought to do these upgrades if it weren't for the RCEA." (Cynthia MacMillan, Executive Director) The RCEA initiated the process by approaching the shelter with ideas for how they could upgrade their lighting and in doing so they could reduce their light bill. The retrofits would not have been feasible for the shelter had it not been for the RCEA informing them of grants available from the Humboldt Area Foundation.

Sequoia Humane Society's Electricity Bill Before and After Retrofit

Figure 4 shows that the humane society's electricty bill did in fact decrease after the retrofits. No data was obtained for the months of July and August. The graph shows a spike in the elctricity bill from December to January, however data collected included only one year prior to the retrofits, so its unclear if these values are outliers or not.

Figure 4 Sequoia Humane Society's electricity bill before compared to after retrofits. (Source: RCEA)

Impacts of the Retrofit

Table 1 summarizes RCEA's projected savings compared to actual savings. Installing the lighting upgrades has lowered Sequoia Humane Society's electricity bill by an average of $201.37 per year, as well as offset 796.5 pounds of CO2 per year. While this is helpful to the shelter, the savings are not as high as the RCEA had predicted. Actual simple payback was found to be much higher than predicted, however this will not affect the shelter as all their costs were covered by grants from the Humboldt Area Foundation. Noting the difference between RCEA's estimates and the actual data they must have used some general assumptions that weren't accurate for the shelters energy consumption.


Table 1. Sequoia Humane Society's actual savings after the retrofit compared to the RCEA's predictions. (Source: RCEA)

RCEA's Projected Savings Actual Savings
Total Savings per Ten Month Period $1,402.20 $201.37
Monthly Savings $140.22 $20.14
Energy Savings (kWh/yr) 10,825 1,520
CO2 Emissions Reduction (lbs/yr) 5,629 796.5
Simple Payback Time (yrs) 1.1 9.1


Behavior After Retrofit

The main sources of energy consumption for the shelter are their fluorescent lighting and an electric heater. During the winter months it is necessary for the electric heater to run continuously. Since the shelter only replaced their main fluorescent lighting, the retrofits didn't have an impact on the shelter's behavior. However employees do make an effort to turn off lights when leaving a room.

References

  1. -T12 to T8 Lamp and Ballast Retrofits. Retrieved December 11, 2009, from Universal Lighting Technologies website:http://www.universalballast.com/nema_retrofit.html

2. RCEA. (2009). Customer Report: Sequoia Humane Society Energy Audit. Summary Data. Excel File. Received (2009)

3. Ryan, Cynthia (October 20, 2009). Executive Director, Sequoia Humane Society. Interview.

Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies.