Commercial Building
Busey Bank
Schneider Electric uses EnergyEdge® and powerful HVAC building controls and
components to re-commission antiquated 70,000 sq. ft. building.
customer benefits
• Precise temperature control
• Improved occupant comfort and employee
productivity
• Energy optimization ensures fast ROI
• Future-proof operational savings
• Enhances environmental and climatefriendly company profile
PrOjECT AT A GLANCE
Project Type
Energy, indoor climate
and building management
Location
Champaign, IL
Busey Bank realizes a 52% reduction in natural gas consumption and a 30%
kwh savings; all with fast payback and a better bottom line.
Size of building
70,000 sq. ft.
Applications
Heating systems
Cooling systems
When Jason Vogelbaugh of Alpha Controls & Services, Schneider Electric’s
Rockford, IL partner, visited Busey Bank’s 100 year-old Executive Center
building in Champaign, IL he saw challenges – and enormous potential. “It
was ‘the poster child’ for buildings of this vintage,” recalls Vogelbaugh. “The
entire building was one zone, running at full heating or full cooling. We were
there to quote new controls on one of the RTUs, but I found an extremely
receptive audience at Busey Bank for making significant across-the-board
improvements in energy efficiency in this older building.”
Make the most of your energy
Commercial Building
Busey Bank
“To say that Busey runs a ‘tight ship’ where costs are concerned would
be a bit of an understatement.” In this challenging economic environment,
we’re keenly aware of operational costs – and at the same time the need
for green, sustainable practices. What Schneider Electric was able to tell
us about the building was a real eye-opener.”
Donald J. Schlorff
Busey Bank Executive Vice President
Getting busy at Busey – with EnergyEdge.
Armed with Busey Bank’s utility bills, Vogelbaugh
put Schneider Electric’s EnergyEdge program to
work. EnergyEdge is a proven, proactive process
used to assess and analyze a facility’s energy
usage and costs, and then create and implement
a program that delivers sustained energy efficiency
and operational cost savings. “Typically, facilities
are managed reactively, meaning obvious
problems are fixed as they arise, but little is done
proactively to counter ever-rising energy costs,”
says Vogelbaugh. “But EnergyEdge makes it easy,
and in the case of Busey Bank it quickly confirmed
what we suspected. For example, we determined
that the building’s annual electricity usage was
about 1.8 million kilowatt-hours (kwh) – or 2-1/4
times greater than a typical building of this size
and type. We also could see that the 3 million BTU
boiler system was running at only about 60% of its
nameplate rating, meaning there was an enormous
potential for saving ‘therms’.”
Re-commissioning: combining HVAC
brains – and brawn.
With the green light from Busey Bank, Vogelbaugh,
Alpha Controls and Schneider Electric proceeded
full steam ahead with the re-commissioning
project. “We install building management systems
that act as the ‘brains’ of the building so it can
detect, and react swiftly to, even the most subtle
building changes caused by solar load, outdoor
air temperature, humidity and even occupancy,”
says Vogelbaugh. “We design and install a system
of rugged field devices to provide the ‘muscle’ to
work dependably around the clock. Schneider
Electric gives us the complete range of solutions
so the process of installation and integration is that
much easier.”
For example, the vintage 70’s rooftop unit was
originally designed to run at constant volume, so
the fan always operated at full speed regardless
of outdoor air temperatures or internal load
conditions, accounting for considerable energy
waste. But by installing a Schneider Electric
Altivar Variable Speed Drive (VFD), it now became
possible for fan motor speed to be matched
exactly to changing load requirements within the
building, and either increase or reduce fan speed
and corresponding outside air volume accordingly.
Installation of Schneider Electric S-Link
temperature sensors and thermostats provide
building heat load control. When, for example, a
thermostat calls for cooling, a Schneider Electric
I/A Series® MNB-1000 Plant Controller activates
one of four cooling stages and instructs the VFD
to increase fan motor speed accordingly – and
to reduce speed just as quickly and efficiently as
soon as the desired temperature is detected. With
the entire air conditioning system now operating
with vastly improved energy efficiency, Busey
Bank reduced its kwh usage over the course of 12
months from 1.8 million kwh to just 1.2 million kwh
– an impressive 30% savings.
Commercial Building
Busey Bank
Schneider Electric’s HVAC controls respond to changes in load, time of day and occupancy demands to optimize annual energy savings.
Making the project even more
attractive to Busey was the
exceptionally short Return on
Investment (ROI) period, adds
Busey’s Schlorff. “Clearly,
the energy savings would
be significant, but there was
also a powerful additional
incentive through our electric
utility provider Ameren Illinois,
which provides businesses
with financial incentives for
upgrades of older HVAC
systems. Ultimately, we
qualified for a 20% rebate on
the total project cost, which
essentially gave us a new
Schneider Electric control
system practically free.”
EnergyEdge had also shown that the two 2,500 gallon, 3,000,000 BTU antique
Aerco condensing boiler systems used for the building’s steam heat were
running at just 60% of nameplate efficiency and consuming, and wasting
thousands of natural gas ‘therms’ a year. The complete lack of separate
space temperature zones, or any way to quickly and efficiently adjust for fast
changing building load changes anywhere in the building, had created an
incredibly inefficient, and uncomfortable, environment.
Alpha Controls instead created 16 separate heating zones, and a network
of Schneider Electric DuraDrive zone valves and valve actuators to precisely
regulate steam flowing through the 2” steam distribution piping running
to each zone. Schneider Electric Altivar 21 VFDs were installed on the hot
water pumps to provide more precise control, along the lines of the RTU
fan motors. And Schneider Electric temperature sensors, thermostats and
MNB-1000 controllers were again used throughout the system to provide
exceptionally accurate, and responsive, heating control in each separate zone
based on changes in load, time of day, and the demands of the occupants.
Today, annual BTU consumption in the Busey Bank Executive Center has
been cut in half.
Commercial Building
Busey Bank
Financial Results
• Annual kWh usage reduced from 1.8 million to 1.2 million –
a 30% savings.
• Annual natural gas consumption reduced by 52%.
• 20% rebate earned from electrical utility provider’s HVAC
upgrade incentive program virtually pays for a new
Schneider Electric control system.
• 100% Return On Investment (ROI) on total project cost just
18 months after completion.
The solution
Busey Bank turned to Schneider Electric and a
wide range of powerful HVAC building automation
controls and components to re-commission its
Executive Center building.
Project Assessment
Schneider Electric’s EnergyEdge® program
assesses, analyzes and helps implement a
program for sustained energy efficiency and
operational cost savings.
Heating
A single heating zone is converted to 16 separate
heating zones, all with the ability to quickly and
efficiently adjust for fast changing building load
changes. Schneider Electric DuraDrive zone valves
and valve actuators precisely regulate steam and
return lines; Schneider Electric Altivar 21 VFDs
provide precise hot water pump control.
Schneider Electric I/A Series® MNB-1000 Plant Controllers put powerful
information at the fingertips of the building’s managers to help reduce
energy consumption and troubleshoot problems – all available anywhere
via the Internet.
The results
Busey Bank is busy reaping the rewards of the
building re-commissioning project, including
significantly lower energy costs and an ROI fast
approaching 100%. “It’s proofthat making an
investment of this type in an older building is good
business and great for the bottom line,” concludes
Busey’s Schlorff.
© 20011Schneider Electric. All rights reserved.
Air Conditioning
Building rooftop units equipped with Schneider
Electric Altivar Variable Speed Drives; conversion
from constant volume to exceptionally precise
fan motor control results in significant energy
savings and vastly improved occupant comfort and
productivity. Schneider Electric S-Link temperature
sensors and thermostats provide input and heat
load control.
Schneider Electric
1354 Clifford Avenue
Loves Park, IL 61111
Phone: + 1 888 444 1311
www.schneider-electric.com/buildings
F-27747
July 2011