Energy
3 Questions
Smart Business Dallas | January 2009
Scott Harrison, director of product management for TXU Energy, has worked the past 12 years in the energy services business. He
has experience in the technical sales, project management, energy efficiency and operations areas. He provides energy audits, power
factor analysis, predominant use studies, high-voltage maintenance, energy usage analysis and technical support for business commodity customers.
Q. What techniques can assist companies most in being more energy-efficient?
Having digital control systems that automatically control everything is the best thing to implement in a business office or any facility.
This virtually eliminates human error. Also installing occupancy sensors in areas such as conference rooms and eating areas can
reduce wasted energy by shutting off after 10 minutes of no activity. Changing the air-conditioning units to the economizing cycle will
allow the unit to bring in air from outside to cool the building instead of keeping the compressors running. This alone saves 40 to 60
percent of energy a building uses.
Q. What products should be replaced to maximize energy efficiency?
Lighting retrofits pay back in one to three years, but this requires capital as does heating ventilation air-conditioning piping, which
takes about three to six years to get a return on investment. If a company wants to be more energy-efficient but wants to start small,
just having good maintenance practices can help, without requiring a significant investment. You can save 5 to 10 percent on energy
costs just by cleaning air-conditioning units. Filter changes are often overlooked, and a dirty filter means extra work to obtain the
desired temperature.
Q. What is happening in Dallas law to boost businesses energy efficiency?
Every new building that is 10,000 square feet or larger will need to be (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) silver certified. This is in compliance with new energy codes. These buildings must be more energy-efficient by design. The biggest problem in
the city are older buildings, which are not regulated and are energy hogs. The good news is a lot of CEOs are becoming interested in
the green movement and making efforts to be more conservative and efficient before mandates are imposed.
