The Untapped Secret
The Untapped Secret in Solving Ontario’s Power Generation Woes!
The rapid growth of every developed country’s energy requirements is quickly advancing a wide array of innovative ideas to address critical energy demands. Some of the solutions implemented globally include; solar power, geothermal energy, hydro/tidal power and windmill farms. All of these options are being applauded by environmental groups such as WWF-Canada, the David Suzuki Foundation, the Pembina Institute, and Ontario Clean Air Alliance, as addressing our power requirements with the least negative impact on our environment. However, solutions such as geothermal energy are only feasible in certain geographical regions, and none of the above options has the potential to play much more than a minor role in addressing our immediate power generation needs.
With industry experts suggesting that fusion energy won’t be a viable option for at least another 30 years1, (a ballpark figure they seemed to have been handing out for at least 20 years now) both governments and the commercial sector need to urgently adopt strategies to conserve power if we hope to curb drastic energy inflation rates, power grid failures, and ultimately, irreversible damage to our environment. The question that’s on a lot of people’s mind is . . . Just how practical is energy conservation? Even when there are genuine financial advantages for consumers to conserve, utilities and government organizations have to initiate massive educational campaigns to get the message out.
Are The Calls To Conserve Energy At Home Being Heard?
A good example of this complacency in the residential sector is the $3.00, 15-watt compact fluorescent bulb that costs 6 times more that the 60-watt incandescent light bulb counterpart, but the compact fluorescent uses only ¼ of the energy. So, over the 10,000-hour average lifespan of each compact fluorescent, consumers save more than $45.00 a bulb in energy costs. Yet many of us continue purchasing the incandescent lamps simply because their retail price is lower! It should be stated that there has been progress in this area, and new government agencies like Energy Star are effectively changing government policy and peoples purchasing habits.
Yet, making an impact in the residential sector is a challenging proposition. So long as individual consumers view selecting one kind of light bulb over another as a prerogative reflecting their personal taste, in the same way they might choose Starbucks coffee over Tim Horton’s, this sector just has a limited potential to make a critical impact in energy conservation. This isn’t to say we shouldn’t keep trying, but just about every government sector and environmental organization in the country has been harping on this issue for years, and with only a modest change in peoples purchasing habits.
The Untapped Secret – Conservation Of Electrical Power In The Workplace
However, there’s another answer to this issue that no one’s really talking about. In fact, only one of the environmental organizations I spoke with had any information on this issue at all. The virtually untapped solution to making a significant impact on our electrical generation deficit is . . . conserving power in the workplace! Most of us spend at least half of our waking hours at work, and a large amount of electrical energy is used to heat, cool, and light these workplace environments. Lighting for example, consumes 20 percent of our total energy production 2, yet most of our workplace environments still use outdated fixtures and over-light many of the areas of the workplace.
The groundbreaking report called “Power for the Future 4”, published by the Pembina Institute, a not-for-profit environmental policy research and educational organization, addresses how much future electricity demand in Ontario could be reduced through the adoption of energy efficient technologies. The report specifically earmarks lighting in the workplace as one of the most profound single factors that can affect our conservation efforts. The new T5 and T8 fluorescent technology generates 30 to 50 percent more light per watt than the older T12 lamps. These new lamps also enhance the quality of the light they emit, which is far closer to natural light, and has been clinically proven to improve worker performance 3.
Where To Save Energy In The Commercial & Institutional Sectors?
"Of all building upgrades, lighting is generally considered the easiest and most lucrative," said Steve Purdy, VP for TRIDONIC.ATCO, a digital ballast & LED manufacturer in Australia 5. The key for optimizing lighting efficiency within the commercial and institutional sectors, however, is not simply replacing older lighting fixtures with new ones. Companies and government need to understand some of the basic principles behind energy efficient lighting, and set out an effective conservation strategy within their work environments. For example, lighting level standards have changed over time with the use of computers in the workplace, so it’s possible, and in most cases even preferable to reduce the number of lamps per fixture. This procedure is called de-lamping, and in the case of the Department of National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa, de-lamping and implementing newer lighting technology reduced the power used for lighting by more than 70%, and is now saving the government more than 1.8 million dollars a year if we use 2006 Ontario energy rates.
JAFtech Mfg, whose energy efficient fixtures and lighting retrofit kits were used on the Department of National Defence’s lighting optimization efforts, suggested there are tangible benefits to retrofitting existing fixtures, rather than just throwing the old fixtures out. Al Simpson, president of JAFtech suggested, “If you’re really interested in saving money and being environmentally responsible, your existing fixtures can be re-designed to be more efficient at a fraction of the cost of replacing them, and with little or no disposal problems.”
Massive Energy Savings In The Industrial & Retail Sectors!
High Intensity Discharge (HID) lighting fixtures is another product that needs to be addressed with this new lighting technology. These 455 watt HID High Bay fixtures which are typically used to light factories, warehouses, large shopping complexes and gymnasiums use more than double the energy of the fluorescent High Bay alternative. JAFtech is presently selling their fluorescent High Bay by the tens of thousands, and to companies like Pepsi Cola, General Electric, Firestone, and Canadian Tire. Mr. Simpson suggests that JAFtech’s success with this fixture line has come, “because the payback and future returns on these fixtures is so good, not to mention the quality of their light which is remarkably better than HID High Bays. This means a lot more than just putting a lot of money back into a company’s bottom line, better light effects quality control, productivity, and worker safety, so when a company considers all the benefits, they recognize that employing new fluorescent technology is a pretty simple decision.”
According to Cushman & Wakefield LePage 7, one of Toronto’s leading Industrial Real Estate companies, there’s more than 750,000,000 square feet of warehouse and manufacturing space in the Greater Toronto area, of which we believe less than 10% has already been converted to these high efficient fluorescent High Bays. Together with about 300,000,000 square feet of retail space in the GTA where 80% of this space is still using older HID high bay fixtures, there are about 2,287,500 fixtures that can be upgraded. If we average the on-time use of these lights to be about 12 hours a day, businesses in the GTA would save about 2,354,523,750 kW/year or $ 258,997,612.50 a year.
On the environmental side, retrofitting these older HID high bay fixtures would also mean that 1,398,801,155 Kg of Carbon dioxide will not be produced, 4,527,749 Kg of Sulfur dioxide will not be produced, and 4,176,000 Kg of Nitric oxide will not be generated in our communities. Ontario coal power plants are responsible for about 20% of the green house gas emissions in this Province, so the figures for retrofitting this one kind of fixture will reduce air pollution in the GTA by a notable amount.
Critical Steps In Making Energy Conservation Actually Work:
Provinces like BC and Quebec are already creating awareness within their regions by offering incentives for businesses to change to more efficient fluorescent technology, but the Ontario provincial government has yet to make a move in the same direction. The problem is awareness, as business owners and corporate controllers find the return on investment and the money they will save by retrofitting lighting fixtures hard to believe. It simply appears to be too good to be true! In view of the 80 billion dollars the Ontario government is about to spend on 4 new nuclear power plants, investing in awareness campaigns to business could potentially defer the need for any additional power plants for another 10 years. This would provide ample time for the development of greener energy alternatives and cogeneration initiatives, which could defer the need for any of these nuclear power plants indefinitely.
Ontario has an immediate opportunity to experience a decisive transformation in our electrical generation conservation efforts if we ensure the following action items are implemented:
- Businesses need to know about this opportunity to save money and be good corporate citizens, and they need to hear it from the media, environmental agencies, and the government. We all need to work together to get this message out!
- Government agencies at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels all need to start investing money in communicating this vital message about lighting efficiency in the workplace, as well as creating legitimate financial incentives for businesses to become more efficient.
- Legislation needs to be introduced that requires architects, engineers, and specifiers who are building new industrial / commercial space to utilize energy efficient lighting technology. Lighting manufacturers will quickly develop more creative fluorescent fixtures to meet any exacting designer’s requirements if they’re mandatory.
References
1) CL Smith, Potential Role of Fusion In 2100, UKAEA report, 1998
2) S Rang, Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ontario Power Generation’s Coal-Fired Power Generation Plants, OCAA report, Feb. 2005
3) P Boyce, Lighting Quality & Office Work, US Dept of Energy report, Dec. 2003
4) M Winfield, Power for the Future, Pembina Institute report, Apr. 2004
5) C DiLouie, Finding the Benefit of Energy-Efficient Lighting Upgrades, LCA report, 2002
6) Environmental Pollutants From Electrical Production, SECO Fact Sheet 25, 2002
7) Cushman & Wakefield LePage Quarterly report, Apr. 2006