Question
You serve as the energy champion for a large care facility in Calgary, AB. You received a $200,000 grant from the federal government to reduce
- You serve as the energy champion for a large care facility in Calgary, AB. You received a $200,000 grant from the federal government to reduce the greenhouse gas footprint of the building.
- The electricity you purchase from a local utility has a greenhouse gas intensity of 820 g CO2e per kWh of electricity. You are charged $0.09/kWh for consumption and $4/kW-month for demand.
- The natural gas you purchase has a greenhouse gas intensity of 56 kg CO2e per GJ. You are charged $5/GJ for natural gas.
An energy assessment was done on your hospital which identified the following energy efficiency projects:
- A LED lighting project can reduce annual electric consumption by 800,000 kWh and reduce peak demand by 46kW for a cost of $250,000. The lighting is expected to last 15 years.
- A project to install variable speed drives on fans and pumps around the hospital can reduce annual electric consumption by 1,000,000 kWh, without reducing peak demand and save 1,000 GJ of natural gas annually for $400,000. The variable speed drives and motors are expected to last 15 years.
- A project to upgrades burners on the hospital boilers and install pipe insulation can reduce annual natural gas consumption by 5,000 GJ for $100,000. The boiler burner controls are expected to last 15 years.
In addition to the energy efficiency opportunities, you received a quote to install solar panels on the roof of your building.
- The cost of the solar panels is $5/W.
- For every watt of solar installed, 2.6 kWh of electricity can be generated annually and demand can be reduced by 0.6W.
- The solar panels are expected to last 30 years.
Based on this, respond to the following in a single, APA formatted, MS Word document:
Question 1:
For each of the following, calculate the total project cost (don’t forget to consider the grant), simple payback period, annual cost savings, greenhouse gas reduced and the cost per lifetime kg reduced. Create a table to show your results.
- Install a 100 kW solar panel
- Install all energy efficiency projects
- Install all energy efficiency projects and a 30 kW solar panel
Question 2:
How would you prioritize the three energy efficiency projects and the 100 kW solar project to maximize your investment cost savings? What would change if the key driver was lowest cost per lifetime kg CO2e reduced?
Question 3:
Assume there is a strong corporate desire to install building-scale renewables to supply the majority of electricity utilized by the building and import excess power to the grid. How do you recommend minimizing the cost of installing an appropriate building-scale renewable system to supply the majority of electricity utilized by the building?
When you submit your assignment, please attach a copy of your calculations or MS Excel spreadsheet
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