How to capture the reward of higher efficiency

Plant Services (Studebaker) - Some energy-saving opportunities, such as lighting, are pretty obvious. Some can be readily identified by experts or consultants, for example, air compressor controls. Some, like motor management, give reliable results over time if you support a consistent program with a persistent leader. These relatively large, well-defined projects can be identified, quantified and executed by a small number of experts, engineers and managers.

In a typical facility, one-fourth of energy cost savings come from capital projects external experts identify and one-fourth from managing energy procurement more effectively, says Garforth,. One-fourth result from capital projects identified from within the plants themselves, “usually with returns in excess of 20%,” he says, and “in my experience, typically a quarter of the gains come from low-cost measures that pay back in less than a year.”
If 25% to 50% of energy savings are to come from within the plant, it makes sense to build energy awareness, gather ideas and recognize results on the floor. Good management supports plant-floor efforts with goals and rewards.

But a large percentage of potential energy savings won’t be realized unless you recruit and engage the plant-floor workforce. “Contrary to commonly held views, breakthrough energy productivity rarely comes from a few obvious magic bullets; it comes from capturing hundreds and thousands of small wins throughout the company,” says Garforth.

Make the invisible, visible. Take full advantage of existing power and flow metering, including untapped sources such as variable-speed drives. Add temporary metering where it makes sense, and make a plan to install a power monitoring system that lets you verify results and identify future changes in consumption patterns, malfunctions and deterioration.