1. Introduction
The latest energy-saving solutions and technical improvements offer great potential for energy savings.
However, in order to ensure the long-term, energy-efficient and efficient functioning of a building, continuous, properly maintained operation and maintenance of technical installations is essential. In order to meet these requirements, an Action Plan has been developed outlining the energy saving measures to be implemented in order to meet the energy efficiency criterion of the building during its operation. In addition to concrete actions, the plan also includes commitments to adopt general principles of good energy management. The tools that will make energy efficiency a priority for management at every stage of a building’s life cycle and its systems have been identified.
The following Action Plan covers issues related to environmental policy elements, operation and maintenance of technical building installations and a measurement and verification plan contributing to optimising energy consumption and ensuring a high quality indoor environment in the building. The influence of the use of technical installations by the building personnel on the final energy consumption and the need to make the users aware of it is also emphasized. In addition, a number of measures are described to ensure an optimal environment for the building user. The adopted parameters of the internal environment have a direct impact on the health, efficiency and comfort of users. Maintaining high standards of interior design allows to achieve higher efficiency of work or leisure, which, for example, by reducing absenteeism can be a measurable benefit for the employer, the owner of the building and, consequently, for the whole society.
2.The Energy Efficiency Action Plan
Operation, maintenance and technical supervision
Technical installations of the building will be under constant supervision provided by an external company providing 24-hour service and monitoring.
Technical safety will be guaranteed through maintenance and the smooth and safe operation of technical installations in accordance with the set parameters and regulations. Constant monitoring of the condition of equipment and periodic inspections may contribute to prolong the life of equipment, and the preventive system implemented in this way will allow you to optimize energy consumption, reduce building maintenance costs and eliminate unforeseen events.
The process of maintaining and maintaining the installation in the building will be fully documented. Data and information on all failures and service
events, including detailed descriptions, will be collected.
In order to ensure the most accurate measurement results and to meet the legal requirements, the equipment will be periodically verified and calibrated. High-quality, long-life equipment will be used, and operation and maintenance will be carried out in accordance with the principles of energy conservation and user comfort. Periodically, ventilation ducts and filters will be cleaned to prevent the accumulation of dust and microorganisms and excessive increase in air flow resistance, and thus increase the energy consumption needed to
transport air to the rooms.
Additionally, the system of reporting corrections and faults by the employees, operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, will be implemented. For this purpose, specialist software will be used to support technical service and provide “help desk” services.
Full operation will guarantee the efficiency of the installation in a long period of time, quick intervention in the event of a possible failure and will give the possibility of planning fixed costs in a longer time horizon. The principle of agreeing on all major structural changes and building systems changes in the context of the impact on energy consumption will also be implemented.
Measurement and verification plan
A measurement and verification plan will be implemented to assess the energy efficiency of the building and to ensure its continuous optimisation.
It will provide the necessary infrastructure to continuously measure the energy consumption of a building over a given period of time. The technical installations of the building will be controlled and monitored by the Building Management System BMS (Building Management System), which ensures simultaneous
reporting on the technical condition of the installation. In this way, easy and fast access to information about the current and past state of the building is guaranteed through a logical data archiving system.
Additionally, invoices for energy will be collected and archived and an electronic document circulation system will be implemented.
The collected data will be used to study the energy efficiency of a building and its installation, comparing the expected energy consumption with the actual one. Annual reports will be produced interpreting the results of the measurements and indicating the most important energy consuming elements. These analyses will help optimise energy consumption in the years to come.
Further optimisation, in addition to standard measurements of electricity, water consumption, etc., will be made possible by control measurements of the main air streams in the hygienic ventilation system to maintain the required amount of fresh air supplied to the individual rooms of the building.
Energy simulations of a building
In order to obtain reliable information about the building, it is assumed that extended analyses based on energy simulations will be carried out.
In this step two energy analyses will be carried out:
- Computer simulation using software based on the methodology of hourly building simulation – IESVE
- Analysis carried out on the basis of the methodology of developing an energy performance certificate in Poland.
Adjustment of the installation
Technical installations will be adjusted after the building has been put into service. Further adjustments will be made periodically on the basis of the results of user surveys on thermal comfort and indoor air quality.
In this way, optimal system operation is guaranteed while ensuring proper working conditions. The risk of excessive energy consumption caused by excessive heating or cooling of the building interior will be reduced.
3.Action plan for respecting the quality of the internal environment
Segregation of waste
Buildings generate significant amounts of waste every day. To reduce their volume, a waste management policy will be put in place that will identify public areas for the separation of recyclable waste such as paper, plastic, glass and batteries.
This will reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.
Removal of air pollution sources
Materials that are as least toxic as possible should be used to prevent the emission of pollutants in the building.
Paints, carpets and other materials used for minor refurbishments should contain a minimum number of VOCs, formaldehyde and should not contain carcinogenic or allergenic volatile substances.
Personal room temperature control
The building will have large windows providing excellent lighting of the interior of the building, while minimizing the need for artificial lighting.
The cooling system is equipped with an automatic control system that provides temperature controllers from the level of individual rooms or open spaces. This ensures that the temperature and capacity of the heating and cooling devices can be controlled by individual users. Outside the hours of use and on Saturdays and public holidays, through the system operation schedule, a superior determination of system operation parameters from the BMS level was introduced.
Ventilation and air-conditioning system maintenance
Regular maintenance of the ventilation and air-conditioning systems must be carried out in the MCER building.
The frequency of maintenance operations depends, among other things, on the failures that have occurred and the associated operating problems, as well as on whether previous maintenance operations have been carried out correctly and with the necessary accuracy.
The ventilation system will ensure an adequate level of air filtration, thanks to the use of filters of at least M5 class in the supply air duct. In order to keep the purity of the air supplied to the building at a high level at all times, installed filters should be replaced in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations, at least once a year or as soon as they are found to be in abnormal condition. In addition, the ventilation and air conditioning system must be cleaned mechanically. The equipment should be cleaned of dust and harmful substances, such as bacteria and fungi, which can cause allergies and respiratory diseases.
A malfunctioning ventilation and air conditioning system may contribute to the deterioration of the air quality in the facility. They may complain of fatigue, shortness of breath, reduced concentration, allergies and respiratory diseases. All maintenance work should be carried out by a specialist company.
Maintenance of the water and sewage system
Faults in the water and sewage system, fire protection system, central heating system, technological heat, air conditioning and heat distribution system should be regularly eliminated in the building.
Installations should be serviced by specialist companies. Periodic superheating of the domestic hot water system and humidity control devices should be carried out to remove the risk of Legionella bacteria causing legionnaires’ disease.
Water policy
A cold water leakage detection system will be installed so that significant water losses can be avoided, which would otherwise be unnoticed.
In addition, a system to prevent uncontrolled leakage of water from the toilet installation will be used by using motion detectors coupled to solenoid valves.
Supervision and control of building parameters
In order to ensure the highest possible comfort of building users, it is necessary to supervise and control companies dealing with internal installations.
Proper control and supervision of the work performed by specialist companies will ensure that the services are performed properly and that the internal environment is properly maintained.
In addition, the technical condition of the building should be monitored regularly. The building should be periodically inspected and inspected in accordance with the Act of 7 July 1994. Construction Law (Journal of Laws No. 89, item 414) and the Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 12 April 2002 on technical conditions to be met by buildings and their location (Journal of Laws No. 75, item 690). Inspections and inspections should apply to building partitions, chimney flues and other internal installations.
4. Raise awareness of employees, staff and users of the building
The energy consumption of a building largely depends on the occupants and the way in which they use the installed equipment and systems.
Therefore, it is very important to make the personnel aware and provide them with the necessary knowledge about the individual components of the system and their correct operation, which contributes to the minimization of energy consumption. With this in mind, public information will be prepared for the building’s employees to show the correct, energy-efficient operation of systems in the workplace. In addition, a web portal will be created – a building website where information on energy saving measures as well as HVAC systems installed in the building will be placed and how to regulate them in order to ensure the highest possible comfort of use of the building.
