All Sample Projects

Steinway's Solar-Driven System for Industrial Dehumidification and Steam Generation

Over the past several years, Steinway & Sons has been aggressively addressing productivity and energy issues at their 150-year-old manufacturing facility in New York City. As part of this effort, ERS worked with Steinway to install rooftop tracking parabolic trough solar collectors in conjunction with a dual-fuel (solar input or natural gas) absorption chiller for cooling/dehumidification and a steam generator for process heating purposes. To date, this project is the largest solar-sourced industrial heating/cooling system in the world. In the summer months, this solar fluid drives a 100-ton double-effect absorption chiller enabling humidity management in the Action Department where the intricate keyboard mechanism of the piano is manufactured. If dehumidification is not needed and the collectors can generate hot water above 275°F, a steam generator is used to develop 15-psig steam to offset a portion of the plant's continuous steam load. Simultaneous dehumidification and steam generation is also supported by this system. The system became operational and was partially commissioned in the late summer/fall of 2010 and will be fully commissioned during the early cooling season of 2011.

Thirty-eight Abengoa Model PT-1 solar collectors mounted on the roof concentrate heat onto evacuated glass tubes, heating a pressurized (115 psig) water and glycol mixture from nominally
320°F to 340°F. The actual temperature varies with solar availability but is limited to 350°F maximum.When cooling is needed, the diverting valve directs this hot water to a 100-ton double-effect absorption chiller. The dual-fuel chiller uses natural gas when cooling is needed and solar is not available. It can run entirely on gas or use gas to supplement solar-sourced energy. When dehumidification is not needed and the collectors can generate hot water above 275°F, the hot water circulates through a vertical helical tube and shell steam generator heat exchanger and produces 15 psig process steam to offset a portion of the plant's constant 1,200 kBtu/h load. Key components of the system can be seen in the figure above.

The system, which was partially funded by the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA), became operable late in the cooling season of 2010 and data is now being captured to evaluate its full performance. The project recently won “Renewable Project of the Year” for the region from the Association of Energy Engineers.

For more project details, see Mark D'Antonio's 2011 ACEEE paper Post-Installation Performance Characteristics of a Solar-Driven System for Industrial Dehumidification and Steam Generation.

PSNH C&I Technical Assistance

ERS serves as the primary contractor providing a variety of technical assistance, technical review, and engineering services for New Hampshire facilities on behalf of Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH). Our efforts have addressed hundreds of new construction and retrofit projects in both the commercial and industrial sectors. We have also provided software development and enhancement services in support of program objectives. We typically perform preliminary site assessments to establish project scope field data collection, detailed analyses of energy system consumptions, energy use breakdown and equipment baselines, and efficiency measures analyses. We also provide system design, project implementation, implementation supervision, and associated consulting support. Recent clients include Stonyfield Farms, Wentworth-by-the-Sea, International Paper, GE Aircraft Engine Plant, Osram Sylvania, Manchester Airport, and Eastern Mountain Sports.

NYSERDA Program Development

ERS developed a completely new state-wide Pre-Qualified (prescriptive) Energy Efficiency program for New York’s commercial/industrial customers. The program includes both electric and gas measures and targets all market segments within the state of New York. Our tasks on this project included reviewing New York State and New York City market conditions as well as the previous and existing NYSERDA programs and the success rates of all measures; performing a Best Practice assessment of prescriptive programs around the country and relating those practices to the New York market; proposing new electric and gas measures, including incentive levels, that would dramatically increase program performance; and performing societal cost/benefit and programmatic cost-effectiveness tests for each measure proposed. We also produced new program forms covering lighting, unitary HVAC, VFDs, refrigeration, motors, controls, commercial kitchen equipment, gas heating equipment, etc. This program represents the most aggressive and comprehensive prescriptive energy efficiency program in the country.

NYSERDA Impact Evaluation

ERS is the prime contractor with four subcontractors assessing the impact of eleven of NYSERDA’s gas energy efficiency programs. The programs address existing and new construction, commercial, multi-family, and single-family residential programs, market rate, and low-income housing. The evaluation scope includes computing energy impacts, non-energy benefits, and program cost- effectiveness, and the calculations reflect the effect of economic factors such as free ridership and market effects including spillover. Gross savings analysis methods vary for each of the portfolios of programs evaluated and include both billing analysis and site-specific M&V. In addition to traditional impact evaluation tasks, the project scope includes special study of special study of condensing boiler performance including intense instrumentation at over a dozen sites.

LEED Certification—Democracy Now!

Working as a technical consultant under NYSERDA’s New Construction Program, ERS played a major role in improving the energy efficient design of New York City’s Democracy Now! broadcast studio and helped them achieve LEED Platinum certification. The studio covers 9,000 sq. ft. on the eleventh floor of an old industrial printing house and includes administrative offices, a broadcast studio, a research library, and a lobby. One of the challenges of the project was to figure out how to minimize cooling energy use throughout the diverse spaces. ERS engineers used advanced building energy simulation models to assess energy efficiency opportunities. The final building design included innovative lighting systems and controls, high efficiency windows, and an energy efficient modular chilled-water system, all of which helped the design team lower their overall energy use by more than 10 percent compared to a conventional system, making Democracy Now! the greenest broadcast studio in the country.

Comprehensive Green Building Study

ERS performed a renewable energy and green building feasibility study for a renovated mill building at Cedar Tree Development. Working with two other solar design and installation firms, ERS designed solar monitors for the building that incorporated high performance glazing with integrated photovoltaic cells. These monitors are intended to transmit light to increase natural lighting in the interior space while generating up to 29 kW. For the various solar options proposed, ERS estimated the annual energy generation (kWh) using various simulation tools including SolarSim and RETScreen.

NYSERDA FlexTech Program

ERS provides a variety of energy analysis, energy modeling, LEED consulting, technical assistance, technical review, and engineering services for New York State customers under NYSERDA’s Flexible Technical Assistance Program (FlexTech). Technologies, measures, and projects address essentially all end use systems, building systems, and process equipment and target both commercial and industrial facilities. During these reviews, we perform preliminary site assessments to establish project scope, conduct design charettes, collect field data, analyze energy system consumptions, develop facility energy use breakdown and equipment baselines, perform efficiency measures analyses, and develop project reports. A representative client list includes Steinway Piano, IBM, Roosevelt Island, Hird Blaker, and Tilcon.

EMaine Program Planning and Implementation

ERS is the prime contractor implementing Efficiency Maine, the energy efficiency program for the state of Maine. ERS worked with the MPUC staff and a team of subcontractors to design and develop the technical assistance and the premium efficient equipment incentive programs that include Commercial New Construction, Commercial and Industrial Efficiency, Residential New Construction, and Residential Lighting & Efficient Products. We currently maintain the programs and serve as the technical advisor for all projects, establishing the eligible measures and related eligibility requirements and performing individual project evaluations. We also provide comprehensive monthly reports including activity tracking for this program. This report includes specific program data such as goal achievement and projects completed as well as a monthly overview of specific information for projects processed during the month.

CPUC IOC Evaluation & M&V

ERS is an engineering subcontractor for six of the eight contract groups evaluating California’s 2006–2008 commercial, industrial, and agricultural energy efficiency programs for the CPUC. The groups include PG&E Agricultural & Food Processing, PG&E Fabrication, Southern California Manufacturing & Agricultural, Specialized Commercial, Major Commercial, and Retrocommissioning. The four prime contractors for the evaluations are all renowned for their statistical capabilities, and each chose to include ERS on their teams for our engineering and field metering expertise. ERS’s principal project responsibilities are impact analysis planning, field verification, metering & verification, engineering analysis, and non-energy impact assessment.