New Ecology, Inc. Boston/Hartford/Providence/Baltimore TDA-JCHE Technical Assistance LISC Community of Practice March 2, 2016 Presented by: Andrew Proulx, P.E. 1

New Ecology, Inc. Boston/Hartford/Providence Better Buildings Challenge Department of Energy sponsored Owner commits to reducing portfolio-wide source energy use intensity (EUI) by 20% in 10 years Energy is measured as source energy and not site energy (purchased energy) Set a baseline year and track energy performance relative to this year

New Ecology, Inc. Boston/Hartford/Providence Site Energy Versus Source Energy Site Energy – amount of fuel or electricity consumed by the building as reflected in utility bills Source Energy – the site energy plus losses – accounts for losses incurred in storage, transport of fuel to building – Accounts for losses in production and transmission of electricity to building

New Ecology, Inc. Boston/Hartford/Providence Source-site Energy Ratios Energy SourceSource-Site Energy Ratio Fuel Oil1.01 Natural Gas1.05 Electricity (grid purchase) 3.09 Electricity (site PV)1.00

New Ecology, Inc. Boston/Hartford/Providence Technical Assistance to JCHE Shillman House geothermal heat pump system – Determine whether there are operational problems Ulin House and Leventhal House – Determine whether cogeneration system performance can be improved Genesis House – Determine whether a new cogeneration system is feasible

New Ecology, Inc. Boston/Hartford/Providence Geothermal Heat Pump Systems

New Ecology, Inc. Boston/Hartford/Providence Geothermal Heat Pump Systems – Heating Energy Reduction Strategy: Use heat from ground water and avoid firing natural gas boilers for heating Rationale: Heating with a geothermal heat pump system at a COP of 3.5 uses approximately 33% less source energy than an 80% efficiency natural gas-fired boiler system.

New Ecology, Inc. Boston/Hartford/Providence Geothermal Heat Pump Systems – Shillman House Investigation During heating season, the ground well loop was running at the same time as the natural gas-fired boilers, essentially causing dumping of boiler heat to the ground loop Recommendations: – Turn off ground loop and provide boiler heating to heat pump water loop only if required. – Determine why heat pumps are shutting down on higher water temperature than designed for.

New Ecology, Inc. Boston/Hartford/Providence Existing Cogeneration Systems – Source Energy Reduction at Ulin House and Leventhal House Strategy: Operate the cogeneration systems as much as possible to reduce source energy – use all available heat output for space heating and DHW Rationale: Electricity and thermal production of the cogeneration system decreases source energy by about 34% assuming an 80% efficiency natural gas- fired boiler system.

New Ecology, Inc. Boston/Hartford/Providence Existing Cogeneration Systems Investigation –Ulin House and Leventhal House Findings: – The cogeneration systems were not being used to their full potential. Heating and DHW boilers were turning on when cogeneration could have provided space heating and DHW heating at lower source energy consumption and cost. Recommendations: – Recommission controls to provide increased cogeneration system operation, insulate piping, etc. – Levinthal House cost reduction – Run the cogeneration system continuously during peak electricity demand periods. (potential savings of at least $1,000/month)

New Ecology, Inc. Boston/Hartford/Providence Leventhal House – Cycling of cogeneration system

New Ecology, Inc. Boston/Hartford/Providence Leventhal House – DHW Consumption relative to cogeneration system DHW heating potential

New Ecology, Inc. Boston/Hartford/Providence Thanks to … JCHE Staff TDA - Madeline Fraser Cook New Ecology Staff – Neil Donnelly, Maciej Konieczny, Jonah Decola, Michael Brod, Jessica Darling

New Ecology, Inc. Boston/Hartford/Providence Thank you! Andrew Proulx, P.E. (617) x36 New Ecology, Inc. 15 Court Square, Suite 420 Boston, MA 02108