Jacqueline Hsu

CITRIS Sustainability Internship

12 April 2013

Measuring Plug Loads at LBNL

Initially, John Elliot and I talked about potential projects, including one that involved

creating and implementing an equipment lending library, but we have decided to work on a plug

load project. This plug load project is aiming to measure the energy usage of plug loads in LBNL

buildings that are not on their main laboratory campus. As these buildings will soon merge with

the main campus and the Richmond Bay campus, we want to see how we can reduce plug load

energy usage during the move. Thus, this week I did research based on case studies on plug load

reduction and how to implement a project similar to this.

In a typical California office building, lights consumer 40 percent of the total energy

usage, HVAC consumes 25 percent and plug loads consumer 15 percent, but as laboratories use

three to eight times more energy than a typical office building, plug loads constitute a far larger

portion of the energy consumption. Furthermore, proportions for the energy usage change in a

high performance and efficient building, where unregulated plug loads can become more than

50% of the total energy consumption. Plug load monitoring is the best way to determine the plug

loads that are redundant and unnecessary in both office spaces and laboratory spaces.

One case study that I looked into is the NASA pilot study program at the NASA Ames

campus. This pilot program took place during the spring and summer of 2011. The study used

plug load management systems by Enmetric Systems that allows for metering and control of

individual electric plug loads. From this study, they found that each workstation consumed an

average of 27 kWh every week with no controls in place, but computers made up 82 percent of

that energy usage. The average desktop computer consumes an average of 2.7 kWh, while

laptops consumed 0.36 kWh, thus showing that a switch from desktop computers to laptop

computers could demonstrate large energy savings. Additionally, they recommended using

tactics such as promoting energy efficient behavior changes, installing energy efficient

appliances and equipment, implementing and institutionalizing energy policies, and employing

plug load controls to help lower the overall energy usage.

A second case study that I researched is the California Energy Commission Office Plug

Load Field Monitoring Report. During this study they found that office equipment and other plug

loads constitute for more than 20 percent of the energy usage in California offices. The study

look place in 47 offices with plug load meter installations in 25 offices with the use of the Watts

Up Pro ES meters to monitor the plug load usages. Their results showed that computers and

monitors accounted for 66 percent of the total plug load energy usage, office electronics

including printers and fax, made up 16 percent of the plug load energy usage, and miscellaneous

items such as task lighting and coffee makers made up 18 percent of the plug load energy usage.

As repeated in this case study, computers tend to be the largest energy user in office settings, so

this is something that LBNL can look into when monitoring the plug load energy usage in their

offices. Additionally, the study also mentioned that a lot of the plug load energy usage came

from the electronics being on during nights and weekends, which is something that can be

improved through occupancy sensors and installation of timers. They recommend offering

aggressive education about the energy use of office electronics, promoting power management

features of office electronics, purchasing only energy efficient appliances, implementing smart

strips and automatic controls, and retrofitting the office if needed.

With these two case studies, I found that the most common way of monitoring the plug

load energy usage is by using a metering system for a short period of time. First, it is important

to create a plug load inventory and meet with a facilities building manager to answer any

questions they may have about the study, as well as get answers about the staff practices and

behavior in the office or laboratory space. During this process of inventorying, it is important to

note the device name, location, type of power supply, and whether the device is unplugged or

inaccessible for metering. Second, the metering team must choose a random sample of the

inventoried electronics to meter. As it is not easy to inventory a high number of electronics,

especially if it was on a building wide scale, choosing a random sample from each floor would

supply the best plug load energy usage estimate. If choosing the electronics by hand, it is

important to note that devices that have a high energy use or little is known about the energy use

should be considered first for metering. During this time, it must be determined how many

meters will be allocated to each site and to keep track of which meter is tracking which device.

Then, the meters are installed for a minimum of 1 week and then removed after that period. The

data from the metering system will show the peak energy use times, standby times, and whether

or not the electronic is left on after work hours.

While my research thus far only shows the plug load usage in California offices, it has

been difficult to find plug load research for laboratories. I believe that this is mainly due to the

type of equipment being used in laboratories and the difficultly in installing a metering system

for a laboratory building. This next week I will continue my initial plug load research and find

resources that can specifically help LBNL develop an implementation plan to conduct a plug

load monitoring project, as well as find data on laboratory equipment energy usage.

Jacqueline Hsu

CITRIS Sustainability Internship

19 April 2013

Plug Load Meters and Solutions

After researching and reading through several case studies of offices doing plug load

audits and installing monitoring meters, this week I have completed research on existing plug

load meter technology. As mentioned in the meeting, network meters allow for a simpler way to

gather and aggregate all of the data in a building and a more advanced form of technology that

will be easier to implement than manual plug load meters, such as kill-a-watt meters. The plug

load meter technology systems that I researched include Enmetric Systems and Autani Systems.

First, from a NASA Pilot Study for a plug load management system, they used the

Enmetric Enterprise Plug Load Management System, which is a plug load management system

that consists of two separate consoles, the PowerPort and the Bridge. This plug load management

system allows for metering and control of individual electrical plug loads. The Power Port is an

advanced power strip with four channels that are individually metered and controlled and this

console transmits the data once per second to a separate console, the Bridge. The data is stored in

a cloud-based data service once per minute with the minimum, mean and maximum power draw

over each one-minute interval recorded. Currently, Enmetric Enterprises system comes with

software that allows users to measure and control the plug load energy usage and quickly

identifies unnecessary energy usage and automatically shut them off. The software also allows

users to generate detailed reports on the plug load energy consumption and the energy demand at

certain times of the day. The software features allow for the benefit of measuring and tracking

the progress of reaching specific energy goals. Additionally, it helps save time by logging all of

the data for baseline measurements and treatment measurements. Unfortunately, I could not find

a price for the system online, but their targeted customers include large enterprises, small and

medium sized businesses, government facilities, and educational facilities. Due to the lack of

specific pricing, I am assuming that they charge based on the quantity and type of consumer.

A second plug load meter system that I researched is the PLUS system by Autani. On

their website, Autani noted that when equipment is in standby mode, the energy used accounts

for up to 10 percent of all electricity usage in commercial and educational facilities. While I have

never seen this particular statistic before, it is interesting that when electronics are in standby

mode, a ton of energy is still being used. The Autani System offers different types of plug load

meters that all contribute to plug load management. For instance, the Autani 6 Pack Load

Controller is a wirelessly managed load controller that provides both direct and independent

control of six different plug loads. This is commonly used for controlling plug loads in an office

space, site lighting, signage, or appliances. The features of this controller include independent

control of six switched loads according to schedule, occupancy and day lighting. Another Autani

Systems plug load management product is the DISTRO Wirelessly Managed Power Strip. This

advanced power strip allows for wireless control of the power strip, which will help reduce

energy usage from standby mode loads and unattended devices. Additionally, the PLUS

computer software that comes with the different system products allows for remote and local

access to web-based metering, monitoring, reporting and management of the power strips. This

software helps keep track of the energy usage data for each individual plugged-in electronic.

Lastly, I wanted to find a large network based monitoring system for plug loads, but I

found that in most cases, facilities used smart meters and advanced power strips to monitor plug

load energy usage. Additionally, there is growing popularity for software systems that

accompany these advanced power strips and meters in order to track and log the energy data in a

web-based data system. A lot of the companies and case studies I researched mentioned that they

installed different types of equipment to meter different appliances. For instance, when

controlling plug load usage from computers, it is recommended to install a power management

system specifically for IT, in which case, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory has already installed

the Tivoli BigFix Endpoint Manager. As for individual small plug loads, most case studies

recommended the use of smart meters and smart strips. While I do not know if this is the best

way to monitor plug load usage, it seems as if it is a common method used in office spaces.

The main distinction is that the office setting and laboratory setting are very different.

The lab would need to install the wirelessly controlled smart strips and have someone who sets

the timers and schedules for each one, without interrupting anyone’s work schedule and work

environment. This seems as if it could be complicated, as many laboratory workers may not have

set hours for each day. Additionally, it was difficult to estimate the cost of installing smart

meters and advanced power strips due to the lack of direct pricing information from the

companies. It seems as if many of them work with large corporations, thus do not offer an every

day consumer based pricing method. I will continue doing research on what other laboratories

have done to manage plug load usage and see if there are better monitoring systems and meters

out there for LBNL.

Jacqueline Hsu

CITRIS Sustainability Internship

26 April 2013

Case Studies from Sutardja Dai Hall and Lawrence Berkeley Lab

After speaking with John Elliot last Friday, we have decided to continue our research by

reading past case studies related to plug load usage monitoring and tracking on the UC Berkeley

campus. Thus, this week I focused on the project completed by both Jason Trager and Jorge

Ortiz in Sutardja Dai Hall and the plug load energy survey completed in Building 90 of LBNL.

First, the plug load survey in Sutardja Dai Hall incorporated the use of a smart phone

based auditing application. QR codes were assigned to each electronic device and tracked with

the smart phone application. By using this type of database, it was easy to organize the electronic

devices by location, type, and energy usage. Luckily, I have gotten access to the smart phone

application and will delve further into how to use the application for the potential plug load

survey to be completed in the summer.

After reading over the project paper, I noticed that a previous study they had noted had

used the Watts-Up plug-load meter, which has no networking capabilities and costs around two

hundred dollars, but is user friendly and commonly used by auditing teams. As an alternative for

the Watts-Up meter, they used a plug-load meter called ACme, which is said to have cost around

twenty dollars per meter. When speaking with Jorge about these meters, he mentioned that the

team had made these meters themselves and they highly recommend them as they have wireless

networking capabilities.

As for the actual survey implementation, I have summarized the process into the

following steps:

1. Conduct a walk-through of the building and compile a list of electronic devices and categorize

them by assigning each type of device a short name (i.e. Phone = PHN). During this step, it is

necessary to either find the manufacturer’s specifications for the device’s average energy usage

or take a baseline of the energy usage using the plug-load meters. Another helpful resource is

floor plans for the building, so that it is easy to keep track of where each device is in the

building.

2. Deploy the plug-load meters to specified areas, if not metering the entire building. When

doing this, be sure to use the QR codes and the smart phone based auditing application to track

which meter is installed to which electronic device. This will make sure that the data logged is

accurate and organized.

3. Analyze the collected data based on timeline and specific details relating to the project.

Provide recommendations based on findings.

As for the results of the case study, the team found that the majority of the plug load energy

usage came from resistive loads, which includes space heaters and coffee machines. The second

largest energy user was computing equipment, such as monitors and desktop machines.

A best practice from this particular case study is the use of the mobile phone application.

By using the application, the team members were able to collect deployment information in an

easy and timely manner. Additionally, it keeps the data logged through a cloud-based network

and prevents loss of information and data. Also, the use of QR codes allows for an easy and cost

effective way to track each individual electronic device, although it may seem tedious to sticker

each individual device, but it ultimately necessary for the success of the data tracking for plug

load energy usage.

A second case study that I looked into was the plug load survey completed in Building 90

of LBNL. The survey completed in Building 90 consisted mainly of an office section of the

building and thus, does not offer any insight into the plug load energy usage of a laboratory

space. During this project, they also deployed ACme plug load meters to track the energy usage

of individual electronic devices and installed 455 ACme meters for over six months to get long-

term data. They also used a cloud-based network to make the process of tracking energy usage

easier. For this study, the results showed that plug load energy usage accounted for forty percent

of the building’s electricity and fifty percent of that was being used by computing equipment,

while the other ten percent was displays, miscellaneous heating and air conditioning appliances,

network equipment and task lighting. As for their recommendations, they found that using

computer power management could save up to twelve percent of the building’s total energy

usage and using timer controlled power strips could save six percent of the total energy usage.

One thing that I am keeping in mind for the computing equipment energy usage is that LBNL

has recently deployed the use of the BigFix Endpoint Manager software, which is a power

management software that is supposed to help eliminate plug load energy usage from desktop

and laptop machines. Although not every computer has the software installed, I believe that the

use of power management will help lower their plug load energy usage significantly as shown in

this particular LBNL study.

Jacqueline Hsu

CITRIS Sustainability Internship

3 May 2013

LBNL SEAMS and Lab21 Plug Load Study

A new group at Lawrence Berkeley Lab called SEAMS, Scientific Equipment Asset

Management System, has been attempting to catalog all plug loads at four off-campus LBNL

building locations. They have kindly shared their data with me, and this week I analyzed

SEAMS surveying strategy, as well as conducted additional research on energy efficiency in

laboratories based on Labs21 papers and information.

SEAMS was recently created with the goal of providing a collection and tracking system

for all scientific equipment at Lawrence Berkeley Lab across groups, departments and divisions.

The project is separated into two different phases. For phase one, SEAMS has completed data

collection for one off-campus LBNL building (APBDU) and are currently working on collecting

data for three other off-campus LBNL buildings including JBEI, JGI, and LSD. The format for

their project is an online database website and search engine. The website is currently being

developed and I will be reviewing the beta version and offering comments and suggestions

during phase 2 of the project. For the online database, lab attendants can login, search, edit, add,

and note hazards about the laboratory equipment, but these functions may not be carried over for

the published online version after the project is complete. For this database, it reflects the data

collection network used in Sutardja Dai Hall, except SEAMS is utilizing lab attendant

participation and cooperation. One problem that they will possibly run into is a lack of

participation, thus an educational marketing campaign may need to be implemented in order to

guarantee success for the online database. On the other hand, they are thoroughly surveying the

plug loads on each building and they may have more than enough data to complete the database

themselves. The only problem there is that they will not be able to track any new and incoming

appliances and electronic equipment after their complete their data collection and surveying

phase.

SEAMS has also provided me with an extensive spreadsheet of their data collection thus

far and while it is relatively rough, they aim to gather a lot of information. The information that

they are attempting to collect for each appliance includes the includes equipment category, name,

description, the manufacturer, model and serial number, weight, width, depth, height of the

appliance, the exact location of the appliance, the key contact person, status of use, whether it is

a shared appliance or not, the appliance’s chemical components and usage, the appliance’s water

usage, the appliance’s waste category, electrical power usage in voltage, wattage, ampage and

frequency, energy usage in standby mode and safety guidelines and operating manuals. If

SEAMS can collect all of this information by their projected June deadline, I will be able to help

them in the data collection process and help generate potential energy savings and create a

recommendation for departments.

This week I also did some background research on energy efficient research laboratories

from the Labs21 database. In their database their have a lab equipment wiki, which includes

energy information for a lot of commonly used lab equipment. The structure for their lab

equipment wiki is very similar to SEAMS beta database. The database will be useful once we are

able to get into the laboratories and see what type of equipment is being used. From the Labs21

database, we may be able to recommend more energy efficient options and provide potential

metrics and monetary savings. Additionally, Labs21 also provides a ton of case studies and

energy efficiency guides. I focused on the “Design Guide for Energy-Efficient Research

Laboratories,” which is interesting in that it is based on a new research laboratory, which may be

useful regarding the move of several building to the LBNL Richmond Bay Campus.

In the design guide, it is mentioned that many different things must be taken into account

with looking into energy efficiency in a research laboratory such as the fact that it is a “special

environment” and laboratories are designed to meet specific demands for experimental studies

thus safety and planning is essential. The energy-efficient design process includes the topics of

minimizing the energy load, determining potential energy load variability, matching the

variability with an adjustable system, using integrated energy engineering and understanding

barriers with consideration of safety precautions. For minimizing the energy load, the focus is

primarily on the heating and cooling ventilation system and the circulation of air in laboratories.

In this aspect, fume hoods are enormous energy users and would most likely be an area to focus

on when looking into energy usage on laboratories. As for the HVAC system, I can assume that

the Richmond Bay Campus has already taken energy efficiency into account on that matter. As

for variability in the energy load, this relates to how experiments and projects in a laboratory can

vary with time. Some projects take years to finish, while some only take months. In this aspect, it

would be important to consider what type of equipment these groups are using and how long

they will be using them for. For example, if the research group were to be working with high-

energy intensity equipment for many years, it would be a wise decision to prioritize purchase of

energy efficient equipment for that particular research group. Secondly, integrating energy

engineering involves planning ahead of time. This is for new research laboratories and allows

building facilities managers to take energy efficiency into account before there are building

attendants. This tends to be the case for newer LBNL buildings, thus this may not be important

when considering plug load energy usage.

Works Cited

"A Design Guide for Energy-Efficient Research Laboratories." Labs21. Labs for the 21st

Century, n.d. Web. 02 May 2013. <http://ateam.lbl.gov/Design-Guide/index.htm>.

Jacqueline Hsu

CITRIS Sustainability Internship

10 May 2013

Demand Control Ventilation

Demand control ventilation is heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system that aim to

provide the correct level of heating and cooling for the actual occupancy level. There are

multiple ways to provide demand controlled ventilation including developing a scheduled HVAC

system, use of motion sensors, use of carbon dioxide sensors, use of sound sensors, and use of

video cameras as occupancy sensors. This week I conducted research on different studies of

demand controlled ventilation for laboratories and hospitals.

As ventilation in hospitals is essential to the indoor environmental health of both patients

and hospital staff, most hospitals pay close attention to new technologies related to HVAC

systems. In addition to that, a hospital’s air conditioning and ventilation systems are exposed to

more airborne contaminants than general areas. Thus, hospitals tend to have strict regulations for

HVAC systems. For instance, in the Tampa Bay area, hospitals have adopted a multi-parameter

demand controlled ventilation system. This system senses airborne contaminants and increases

the ventilation rate to dilute and purge the affected areas. The system does this through the use of

contaminant sensors that are placed throughout the hospital. Air samples are collected every

three minutes and analyzed locally or transported to a centralized sensor array for further

analysis. In addition to this new sensor system, these Florida hospitals have taken the extra step

to hire MSCA Green Star certified air conditioning contractor, an Energy Star partner provider,

and LEED accredited professionals to develop this demand controlled ventilation system. From

this study, their best practice is using the overall goal of sustainability to take advantage of an

energy efficient system that will also provide them with economic and monetary savings.

Another study I looked into is UC Irvine’s initiative to compare ventilation control

systems to reduce their overall energy consumption and increase lab user safety. At the UC

Irvine campus, lab buildings consume two-thirds of the overall campus energy usage. Their

current ventilation systems run at a constant rate and are usually running excessively during

periods of low-level process activity or non-occupancy. During this study, they evaluated three

different systems including a centralized demand controlled ventilation system (CDCV), a zone-

occupancy control system, and a combined control system using both the CDCV and zone-

occupancy. From their study, they found that a monitoring-based commissioning program was

best for their lab buildings and this program combined different aspects of the systems they

tested. This type of program would increase safety and reduce energy consumption by

monitoring lab areas on a steady basis, provide quick and easily accessible data, and involve

onsite personnel for accurate monitoring. In addition to this program, they believe that installing

occupancy sensors will make their monitoring system more accurate and useful for the

ventilation controls.

Another resource that I found it the Aircuity paper on demand control ventilation. The

main demand control ventilation system method that they mention is carbon dioxide sensors.

They note that the main challenges with a demand control ventilation system is the inability to

address non-human pollutants, inaccuracy of control leading to excess use of outside air, and

carbon dioxide sensor calibration and maintenance considerations. To overcome these

challenges, they recommend a multi-parameter demand control ventilation system, such as the

one used by the Tampa Bay hospitals. This type of system will be able to accurately provide

differential sensing of carbon dioxide, be cost effective and have simple sensor calibration and

maintenance. To implement this system, one individual sensor for each contaminant that should

be sensed would have to be installed. To make this more cost effective, sensor equipment that

combines at least two or more of the sensors onto one circuit board can be installed. This would

lower the cost, as these sensors would share packing, energy consumption, and signal processing.

The only issue here is that the quality and accuracy of the sensor may diminish.

Before researching demand-controlled ventilation, I thought that the concept would be

similar to demand side management for energy consumption, but it is not. Demand controlled

ventilation focuses on providing the right indoor environmental air quality for the occupants,

especially in sensitive areas and locations, such as a hospital and a laboratory. Thus, such a

system would be beneficial for LBNL to utilize. As of right now, the most similar type of

ventilation used in laboratories would be a fume hood, unless the laboratory has installed a

system-wide demand controlled ventilation system. The difficulty for laboratories, especially

ones like LBNL, is that projects change every few years, thus the chemicals used may change. If

the chemicals used change, then the sensors would also need to be replaced. This would most

likely be a main concern for why demand controlled ventilation systems may not be best for

laboratories. Additionally, there is the question of whether or not the use of a demand controlled

ventilation system would replace the need for a fume hood. I believe that these issues depend on

the laboratory and the type of study the lab group is conducting.

Works Cited

"Advanced Ventilation Strategies for Tampa Hospitals." Hill York. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May 2013.

<http://www.hillyork.com/advanced-ventilation-strategies-for-tampa-hospitals/>.

"A Healthier, More Energy Efficient Approach to Demand Control Ventilation." Aircuity, n.d.

Web. 7 May 2013. <http://www.aircuity.com/wp-content/uploads/7c-Healthy-Demand-

Control-Ventilation.pdf>.

Gudorf, Matt. "Laboratory Ventilation Performance: Comparing Centralized Demand Control

and Zone-Occupancy Control Systems." I2SL: E-Library. Labs21, n.d. Web. 07 May

2013. <http://www.i2sl.org/elibrary/gudorf2010.html>.