***From University of
Maryland, Baltimore****
Demand Response Case
Study:
University of Maryland
Reduces Consumption by 20
Million kWh
In 2006, the State of
Maryland adopted legislation for the reduction of energy consumption throughout
state buildings-the State Buildings Energy
Efficiency and Conservation Act-geared to reduce energy consumption by 5
percent in 2009 and 10 percent by 2010 (see sidebar). Regional businesses
in the local regional transmission organization (i.e. the Pennsylvania-New
Jersey-Maryland (PJM)
Interconnection) subsequently received approval from the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC) to develop additional energy-efficiency programs.
All of this coincided
with the timing of energy-efficiency programs being considered at the
University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). The university began working with PJM
Interconnect, LLC and Comverge, a provider of demand response (DR) and
energy-efficiency programs, to reduce energy consumption on campus and find
cost-effective ways to save energy and expenses.
"Serving as our
curtailment service provider (CSP) or broker in the PJM demand response
programs, Comverge became a facilitator for reducing our peak demand and
overall consumption, which ultimately contributed to reducing our carbon
footprint and emission levels," said Michael Krone, UMB utility operations
manager.
SOLUTION
UMB enrolled in
Comverge's Real-Time Economic Load Response Program and Reliability Pricing
Model (RPM) Program.
Some examples of the strategies
that UMB and Comverge are implementing for participation in the FERC-sponsored
PJM DR programs include:
1. Use an existing
20,000 tonhour/2,000-ton output thermal-storage system to shift air
conditioning load from daytime on-peak operation to nighttime off-peak
operation.
2. Remotely
controlling all public area lighting and turning off all nonessential lighting
loads during periods, of high demand.
3. Real-time switching
of lighting and HVAC loads via remote control from sensors (based upon occupant
levels) and the local building automation system (scheduling of hours for
real-time control).
4. Temporarily raising
HVAC return-air set points for periods of 30 minutes or less to reduce cooling
demand. (Given a typical building's level of thermal inertia of 45 minutes or
greater, this effort is totally transparent to the occupants.)
5. Putting a portion
of the campus chilled-water production on a current limiting mode for 30-minute
periods. (To ensure the transparency of this activity to the building
occupants, only a fraction of the overall production is put into the
conservation mode at any time and the operation is shifted between production
facilities over time.)
6. Deployment of a
building automation network that monitors and controls the individual
automation system in each building from a central location.
7. Interconnect and
group together building-chilled water plants to optimize chilled-water
production.
Comverge worked
closely with UMB facilities managers to keep them up-to-date on energy market
prices, new energy-conservation opportunities and helped with technical
support. UMB has had a long-standing business relationship
with Comverge and recently amended its contract for DR program-support services. UMB
is also looking to use Comverge for participation in the PJM Synchronized
Reserve (SR) Program (see additional sidebar), which is similar to the
real-time market and RPM programs (except that participation hours are extended
to evenings and weekends, which will require additional technical support).
BENEFITS
UMB reduced its load
to date by more than 20 million kWh since July 2006. That is the equivalent of
two months worth of electrical consumption for the university, or powering
10,000 homes with electricity for two months.
"UMB is a great
example of what just one campus can do to reduce its energy load and lessen the
carbon impact. ... the university should be commended for its innovation and
forward thinking," said George Hunt, Comverge senior vice president of the
Enerwise Group.