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MicroMain can help you conserve paper today - check out our green products:

MicroMain makes it easy to go green with paperless maintenance and facility software options. Here are some more tips for going green:

• A Plan for Reducing Your Carbon Footprint
• Green Restrooms: Sustainability Meets
   Savings
• Green Tech Movement
• Show Me the (Green) Money
• Going Green in the Snow & Ice
  Management Industry
• Ways Green Roofs Can Help
• 6 Dos and Don’ts for Green Purchasing
• 9 Ways Your Building Wastes Energy

A Plan for Reducing Your Carbon Footprint

By 2030, energy demand is predicted to increase by 50 percent as a function of continued global economic expansion. Over this same time period, carbon-dioxide emissions are expected to increase substantially, and new data are coming in daily, linking environmental impacts with rising greenhouse-gas emissions. In response to these challenges, organizations are grappling with understanding how climate change will impact their businesses.

Beginning Steps for Companies:

• Read the literature
• Join organizations that are sponsoring climate-change programs, and developing carbon footprints.
• Identify and measure the major life-cycle carbon impacts inherent in the design, manufacturing, delivery, and use of products or services
• Develop and implement opportunities to reduce the carbon footprint

Transportation:

• Provide subsidies to employees for mass transit passes and use of bicylcles and other forms of transportation that decrease traffic-related pollution.
• Utilize the concept of virtual offices to cut back on employee transportation
• Recognize employees who walk to work or use public transportation on Earth Day.

In Office:

• Replace outdated vending machines with new, energy-efficient equipment that recycles paper, cardboard, glass, and plastic
• Install software to put computers to sleep to reduce energy consumption during the day when they’re not in use.
• Companies can buy a significant portion of the electricity it uses from renewable sources.
• Initiate an employee sustainability committee. Committees are delegated responsibility for reviewing and evaluating internal practices to identify additional green-building improvements to reduce its carbon footprint.

In these demanding times, establishing and maintaining momentum for such an endeavor is difficult; however, by making well-planned business decisions today, you can successfully articulate your own pathway in a carbon-constrained world of tomorrow.

Excerpted from A Plan for Reducing your Carbon Footprint By Jane Obbagy,  Buildings Magazine, April 2009 http://www.buildings.com/Magazine/ArticleDetails/tabid/3413/ArticleID/8269/Default.aspx

Restrooms have become focal points for many institutional and commercial organizations seeking to become more environmentally responsible. Since many budgets are tighter and demands for results are louder, managers need to act as quickly as possible to improve the sustainability of restrooms and, at the same time, generate savings for organizations.  

Plumbing fixtures:

• Measure water use for restroom fixtures, and develop a conservation plan.
• Check for, locate, and fix leaks in faucets, shower heads, and toilet and urinal flush valves.
• Monitor for potential losses by replacing worn O-rings and washers before they start to leak water.
• Replace older, high-volume, timed-cycle flush valves and high-volume taps with newer, low-flow valves.
• When upgrading fixtures, convert to fixtures with copper pipe extensions and a brass coupling nut.
• Check to see if hot-water temperatures at the heaters are set properly. If the temperature is set at 140 degrees, adjusting it to 120 degrees can result in large electricity savings.
• Insulate hot-water lines or move the heater closer to the point of use. This step can minimize heat loss and save water and chemicals.
• If the savings related to water, water-softening chemicals, and waste bills in just a few years are greater than the cost of upgrades, the result is a win-win-win situation — free upgrades, a greener facility, and lower operating costs.

Paper products.

• Verify that paper products deliver the promised sheet count by checking the roll or pack.
• Use larger sheet-count rolls of toilet paper to cut cost. This step reduces replacement time and empty-dispenser calls.
• Consider converting to high-velocity air dryers with shorter cycle times in some locations to minimize the use paper towels.

Dispensers.

• Measure the flow of liquids from dispensers and install restrictors where needed.
• Use newer dispensers that are easy to refill.
• Use foam instead of liquid soap to reduce use and pipe clogs.
• Use cartridge soap replacements to save time reloading dispensers.

Cleaning chemicals.

• Measure, measure, measure. Many cleaning jobs require only a few ounces of chemical cleaner per gallon of water. If workers pour concentrated cleaner directly into a pail from the bottle, they probably are using too much and forcing the department to pay a premium for chemicals.
• This wasteful practice also might create a safety hazard by leaving surfaces slippery after drying.
• High concentrations of chemicals in the waste water also cause buildup, clogging, and unnecessary loads on waste-treatment facilities.

Excerpted from Restroom Fixtures, Dispensers Are Common Green Targets By Thomas A. Westerkamp, Maintenance Solutions, April 2009  http://www.facilitiesnet.com/plumbingrestrooms/article/Restroom-Fixtures-Dispensers-Are-Common-Green-Targets--10742

Green Tech Movement

The green movement among technology organizations is aimed at mitigating their impact on the planet, but the strongest driver is economic, according to a recent study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, "Technology Executive Connections: Going Green: Sustainable Growth Strategies."

This shift toward green products, services and business operations is reportedly having a direct impact on the level of collaboration and innovation found throughout the entire technology value-chain, including marketing, HR, R&D processes, manufacturing, and supply chains.

Organizations are paying closer attention to the actions of their partners and suppliers as well. One in five executives (18 percent) claim their companies practice environmentally preferred purchasing, selecting products and services that have a lesser effect on the environment than competitive products and services. Within the next two years, this figure will rise to over half (53 percent), says the report.

Show Me the (Green) Money

Energy costs are controllable and, finally, C-suite executives (CEOs and CFOs) are paying attention.

To gain funding for energy-management projects, asset managers, facilities managers, and directors of engineering need to “show me the money.” While the technical merits of an energy-management project are important, they’re of no interest to finance-driven people.

To get the CFO’s attention, you need:

• A compelling financial story
  Clear and straightforward financial justification of the project needs to be presented in a few pages as an executive summary. Use conservative assumptions based on past performance and short case studies. A conservative approach helps ensure that the project will meet its numbers and ideally outperform the projected results.
  
• Tax incentive information
  The Energy Policy Act of 2005 and other federal laws have provided tax incentives for certain energy-management projects that exceed the minimum energy-consumption benchmarks in ASHRAE 90.1-2001. Certain utilities and state energy offices also have demand-side management (DSM) rebates and low-interest loans to encourage energy-conservation projects. These financial incentives could be used in your project’s financial justification.
  
• Plans for tracking cost savings
  Be prepared to track savings and report this to senior management. Metering and independent tracking of utility bills are common tools used to document the before and after levels of energy consumption. An independent third party also can track the utility cost savings. This process is called measurement and verification (M&V) of savings. M&V may be required to prove any guaranteed energy savings or document any performance-based contracts.

Energy-Management Tips

• Focus on the big stuff. Work on projects that will have the largest impact on utility bills.
• Let ROI drive the process.Energy management starts and ends with finance.
• Don’t settle for 5-percent savings. Look for ways to reduce building operating expenses by 10, 20, 30, and even 40 percent.
• Seek independent energy consulting assistance. A Certified Energy Manager® (CEM) or a professional engineer (PE) can help with your energy audit.
• Gain senior management buy-in at the beginning of the process. If the CFO thinks it’s a good idea, then others are likely to support the effort.
• Get the process started now. There is a cash cost for delaying an energy-cost-control project. The money that you could have saved might have paid for part of the energy-management improvement, or gone right to the company’s bottom line.

By selling your energy-management project to the CFO, you can impact your company’s bottom line, get the country closer to energy independence, and help the environment. While being green has recently become a popular endeavor, you need to focus on the money (another kind of green) if your company is going to be successful with its energy-management investments.

Excerpted from Energy Management, CFO Style by Richard G. Lubinski at
http://www.buildings.com/articles/detail.aspx?contentID=8040

Going Green in the Snow & Ice Management Industry

Managing snow and ice during harsh winter conditions is challenging work. From unpredictable weather patterns to dangerous conditions, snow and ice professionals face many difficulties while maintaining safety for the public during the worst winter weather. In addition to these existing challenges, a whole new set of issues is arising regarding environmental stewardship and conservation.

The snow and ice management industry is no stranger to these demands, as the use of heavy equipment and deicing/anti-icing materials is paramount to keeping streets and parking lots clear of snow and ice. In this industry, it is a balancing act of managing the impact snow and ice professionals have on the environment with the need for pedestrian and motorist safety during winter. Fortunately, there are a number of best practices and new technologies that can help reduce harm to the environment while still providing top notch safety to the public during winter weather.

There are many steps snow and ice professionals can take to help lessen harmful impacts on the environment. The following are ideas specifically for the snow and ice industry suggested by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO):

• Evaluate your equipment
• Perform regular vehicle maintenance
• Consider alternative fuels
• Train drivers to operate vehicles efficiently and correctly
• Create a plan for reducing salt use
• Consider alternatives to salt
• Winter operations facility management

Considering these steps towards improving snow and ice management operations can have a beneficial impact on the environment.

To reference the complete article go to
http://www.sima.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=98.

Author: Brian Birch and Ellen Kobach, SIMA Staff.
Snow & Ice Management Association at www.sima.org

The first study to compare the performance of different types of green roofs has been completed by The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin and suggests that buyers shouldn't assume these roofs are created equal.

Interest in vegetated roofs has increased as water and energy conservation becomes more important to property owners. Yet the study of six different manufacturers' products found the green roofs varied greatly in capabilities such as how much they cooled down a building's interior and how much rainwater they captured during downpours. 

"Just having a green roof may not mean anything in terms of preventing water from reaching the street level, for instance," said Dr. Mark Simmons, a center ecologist and the lead investigator on the study. "Green roofs have to be done right, and our hope is to help manufacturers understand how to improve their designs."

Simmons and collaborators published their findings on the Web site of the journal Urban Ecosystems. They continue to review real-time temperatureand otherdata from the study.

Wildflower Center staff designed the first commercial green roof in Austin at the Escarpment Village Starbuck's. Simmons, center colleagues and Brian Gardiner from Austech Roof Consultants Inc. simulated green roof conditions by studying the manufacturers' roofs atop metal insulated boxes. The study of 24 experimental roof tops during fall 2006 and spring 2007 at the center suggested a green roof could reduce a building's air conditioning bills about 21 percent compared to traditional, tar-based black-top roofs.

During one 91-degree day of the study, for example, a black topped box without air conditioning reached 129 degrees inside. Meanwhile, the green roof replicas produced indoor temperatures of 97 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

"That's a huge difference to have a 20-or-so degree temperature drop," Simmons said, noting that green roofs' temperature-lowering capabilities are also believed to double the lifespan of roofing material.

An even greater temperature difference was found on roof surfaces, where black-top roofs reached 154 degrees Fahrenheit on that 91-degree day. By comparison, the soil temperature of the green roofs was between 88 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Part of the rooftop differences, Simmons noted, resulted from the native plants used on the green roofs. Each had 16 different types of plants native to Texas in a similar arrangement as part of this first-ever study of their use on green roofs. The study didn't directly measure their cooling impact. However, plants cool surfaces by providing shade, and by shedding water to cool down, like humans do by sweating.

States such as Texas that experience flash flooding may benefit even more from the ability of green roofs to capture water, lessening runoff onto streets and storm drains. Yet this feature varied the most among the six manufacturers. The better green roofs retained all of the water during a ½-inch rainfall, and just under half the water when 2 inches of rain fell. Some roofs, however, only retained about a quarter of the water in a light, ½-inch rain and as little as 8 percent during deluges.

The presence of native plants likely helped all the green roofs capture water better. In comparison to sedums, a type of succulents traditionally used on most green roofs, native plants can take in more water and release more of it to the atmosphere. The center will study these factors in future green roof research.

Regardless of those findings, Simmons doesn't expect to be giving blanket recommendations about green roof manufacturers because of the variability in their products. That variability is the reason that some of the green roofs in the study that captured water well didn't have the best plant growth, for example.
"After you choose a manufacturer, tell them what kind of plants and what other features you want," Simmons said. "It's up to them to then tailor the green roof to your needs."

Note: This project was sponsored by the City of Austin, Roof Consultants Institute Foundation, Austin Energy, TBG Partners, and involved labor donated by local roof contractors. To learn more about the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, go to: http://www.wildflower.org

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at University of Texas at Austin
http://www.wildflower.org/press/index.php?link=press&id=108
Barbra Rodriguez
brodriguez@wildflower.org

6 Dos and Don’ts for Green Purchasing

Do Away with Misconceptions
First, managers believe green products and services cost more. Second, managers might think being green won’t help them get approval for projects. Consider life-cycle costs because green products can offer a better payback than their more traditional counterparts. If managers think they can’t justify projects by calling them green, which is a misconception, then use the phrase “true life-cycle cost.”

Don’t Be Shy
Another piece of advice is don’t be shy. This is important work for the planet and facilities. Also, never underestimate how much this resonates with employees. If employees tell upper management they want more environmentally responsible products and services, it helps open wallets to pay for more.

Do Advocate for Green Purchasing
Some of the best advocates for saving energy are facilities professionals. I’d say they have been green much longer than many people because to do their jobs well, they have to focus on energy efficiency and water efficiency. It’s just very good business practice and good engineering. In terms of green purchasing, managers can call the shots, so it’s a real opportunity to advocate for the best solution.

Do Start with an Audit
I would start with an energy or water audit. While undergoing larger renovations, audits allow departments to perform smaller maintenance tasks, such as replacing ballasts floor by floor during the remodeling project or specifying emergency lighting with light-emitting diodes on a section-by-section basis. Sink aerators, water filters – to reduce the need for water coolers – and low-flow plumbing fixtures are other examples of common green-purchasing targets.

Don’t Focus on Recycling First
The reality is, preventing waste is a more responsible approach. A great example is the use of reusable filters versus disposable filters. Even if an organization fully recycles the cardboard and manages the waste as construction and demolition waste, it still produces large volumes of disposables. More importantly, think about how much fuel it takes to deliver the materials and how much labor is involved with the handling of the waste. It is shipped, received, moved to temporary storage, changed out and then disposed of. That’s five steps. A reusable filter requires some handling, but it skips all the peripheral handling and packaging.

Do Your Preventive Maintenance
There is not much difference between an economy car and a luxury car if the owner doesn’t take care of it, and it’s the same with energy-efficient products. Ignoring maintenance will force managers to fix and replace equipment sooner. Looking at the life-cycle cost is critical. Managers should look beyond the purchase price and consider what the costs will be to maintain and eventually replace the equipment. Managers also should consider the costs related to support services, such as purchasing, receiving, and accounts payable, as well as the cost of packaging. The purchase price is just the starting point. Green purchasing can be the program that helps managers look at the full picture, not just the sticker price.

By Tom Badrick, Sustainability Coordinator
Legacy Health System, Portland, Oregon

9 Ways Your Building Wastes Energy

Dripping Faucets: One hot water faucet that leaks at a rate of 1 gallon/hour wastes $30 - $120 in energy per year. Tal Rabiah, supervising mechanical engineer, Syska Hennessy Group, San Diego, recommends going touchless with restroom faucets to reduce this problem.

Unnecessary Vending-Machine Cooling: Vending machines use electricity 24/7. “We recommend shutting off refrigerated drink vending machines at night and on weekends,” says Dwight Klippel, vice president of business development and principal consultant at Carmel, IN-based Energy Consultants Inc.

Unnecessary Vending-Machine Lighting: De-lamping vending machines can save energy and money. Assuming an average operating cost of 6.39 cents per kilowatt-hour (and approximately 40 watts of consumption), one machine can cost $225 or more to run. De-lamping that one machine can save $100/year.

Dirty Windows and Skylights: Keep your windows and skylights clean. If dirt and dust block daylight from entering, tenant/occupants will compensate by turning on more overhead lighting, more task lighting, etc.

Not optimizing Equipment start-up Time and Sequencing: Think about when your equipment is turning on, how many pieces are turning on at the same time, and when it’s all shutting down. If each piece of equipment in your facility is starting at the same time, your peak demand will be much higher than if equipment starts sequentially. Bring your equipment online throughout a period of about 30 minutes or so.

Cleaning at Night: Your janitorial staff, whether it’s in-house or a third party, expends energy during off-peak hours when it comes in to clean. Larry Spielvogel, a consulting engineer based in King of Prussia, PA, conducted utility-bill evaluations for high-rise office buildings. “…I found was that more than half of the electricity consumption occurred during off-peak hours.”

Dirty Filters: Clogged filters reduce airflow, which makes the blower work harder to push air through (which increases energy consumption). Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy recommends that, during peak cooling and heating seasons, filters be changed or cleaned monthly. It estimates that dirty filters can cost up to $5 extra/month (in addition to overworking your HVAC equipment and circulating dirtier indoor air). Five bucks doesn’t seem like much, but multiply that number by how many filters there are in your buildings.

Leaving Electronics & Appliances Turned On: According to the U.S. Department of Energy, office equipment makes up about 16 percent of an office’s energy use. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that more than $1 billion/year is frittered away on electricity for computer monitors that are left on. Install power-management software to control monitors and CPUs. Sleep mode can slash energy expenses by up to 50%. Shutting down just one computer/monitor nightly and on weekends saves up to $80/year.

Incandescent Exit Signs: Exit signs are small and (hopefully) not relied on very often. Older exit signs that  use fluorescent and incandescent lights draw more power than newer LED exit signs. Save up to $24/year by replacing one exit sign with LEDs. Between the energy costs saved and reduced maintenance costs, payback occurs in less than 3 years.

By Leah B. Garris, senior associate editor at Buildings magazine.