IF YOU KNOW THERE IS SOMETHING YOU WANT TO DO THAT YOU
THINK IS VERY IMPORTANT TO THE ENVIRONMENT BUT IS NOT GOING TO
SAVE MONEY, PACKAGE THAT IN WITH ENERGY-EFFICIENCY PROJECTS.
work with commercial buildings and institutions ranging
from sustainability audits to determine baselines and
where the organization can improve, to taking people
through the LEED building certification process for existing facilities.
I like the energy-efficiency project we did with the
National Education Association’s (NEA) headquarters
building in Washington, D.C. They spent $45,445
including our audit and were able to make changes from
the operational side, except in a couple of cases when
they bought and installed equipment. In three years the
organization realized an energy savings of $365,000 and
raised their Energy Star rating from 63 to 77.
Starting in 2007, the NEA took a practical, methodical
approach primarily from the energy-efficiency side. For
the 470,000-square-foot headquarters the NEA looked at
earning LEED certification to demonstrate what they were
doing. We started by looking at a prerequisite assessment,
determining any major hurdles to attempting LEED certification. Some prerequisites can be difficult for existing
buildings, particularly the Energy Star rating. You have to
Agreat place to grow. “Growing Our Future Together”
William Bradley, Executive Director
260-726-9311 • Fax: 260-726-4477
bbradley@jaycodev.org
www.jaycodev.org
have a minimum Energy Star rating of 69 to attempt
certification.
The NEA had a low Energy Star rating but nothing
else was really standing in their way so we moved forward with an energy audit to identify areas where they
could improve energy efficiency.
We identified low cost to no cost measures, which
included operational changes, and some improvements
that would require investment. Operational changes
included the minimization or elimination of the use of
steam humidifiers within 19 air handling units and
rebuilt/replaced steam traps. The NEA also set up schedules in the building control system to shut the air handling units off when zones were unoccupied. Low cost
measures included installing motion sensors in restrooms
and variable frequency drives for cooling tower fans. The
NEA also purchased Energy Star equipment.
The organization also began to implement the
sustainable initiatives they needed to do in order to
earn LEED certification. This included water measures,
which has achieved an annual water cost savings of
