Page 41 - 2011 SDCA Project

VI. SOLAR POWERED WATER HEATER CONTROLS SYSTEM V. EFFICIENCY 7-3
Solar water heating systems include storage tanks and solar collectors. There are two The Controls system shall be configured to aggressively apply legacy energy conservation
types of solar water heating systems: active, which have circulating pumps and controls, I. INTRODUCTION methods such as setting back all systems to Unoccupied Mode (setpoint setbacks
and passive, which don’t. Building Controls is always the most misunderstood and mistreated application of those are applied) or Off to conserve energy. Other methods include the tie-in of electrical
included into the Building Systems discipline which typically includes Mechanical- panels to override most of the lights to Off when not in use. In turn the lighting systems
Most solar water heaters require a well-insulated storage tank. Solar storage tanks have HVAC, Electricity, Plumbing, & Communications. This industry is geared to provide an should have a motion sensor built-in the room light switch to turn Off room lights when
an additional outlet and inlet connected to and from the collector. In two-tank systems, “all inclusive” stream of technologies and information for which the potential Owner/ Unoccupied for more than 10 minutes (adjustable). The HVAC system shall incorporate Systems Recommendations
the solar water heater preheats water before it enters the conventional water heater. In User tends to acquire a certain level of automated advantages that includes a myriad of a single t-stat per room to increase the system controllability while ensuring expected
one-tank systems, the back-up heater is combined with the solar storage in one tank. little conveniences. comfort.

Advantages: In short the Adams Park Community Center needs a “smart” controls system configured VI. GREEN ENERGY
• Reduced energy usage to be “User Friendly” in terms of the non-technical staff that administers or run the place. The Controls system shall be incorporate site sub-metering for gas, water, and power.
• Qualify for USGBC LEED point These values can be read & logged remotely in order for the Administrative rep. to
• Installation in new and retrofit situations II. OPERATION verify that actual billings are accurate. If any form of Renewable Energy source is added
• Environmentally friendly This system should offer a web-interface, dedicated interface screen or dedicated such as solar panels then the User screen interface can dynamically show how much
• Easy to install by experienced installer button-switch panel that allows Administrative Users to set areas of the building as energy is saved from the grid or better yet sold back to the grid thus making the site a
Occupied, Unoccupied, or Off via schedules or time-based overrides to allow usage for truly sustainable place. Finally the HVAC system shall potentially incorporate a passive
Disadvantages: random events. exhaust to supply air heat exchanger to reduce energy consumption. Temperature
• New technology for the user - requires training sensors can be added to both upstream and downstream side of each air stream in
Upon setting systems to Occupied Mode the Controls system shall be “smart” enough order to show actual energy savings and overall efficiency on the User interface screen.
to index to On and Occupied those mechanical systems (such as air handling unit(s) and
VII. RAINWATER HAEVESTING COLLECTION SYSTEM exhaust fan(s) associated with the area to be used.
Rainwater harvesting is the accumulating and storing, of rainwater. Rainwater harvesting VII. MAINTENANCE
systems channel rainwater that falls on to a roof into storage via a system of gutters and This system shall be a User adjustable “time of use” setting. Once indexed to Occupied The can include a set of “smart” alarms that can notify Users, Maintenance and
pipes. The collected rainwater can be reused to irrigate vegetation or to water the local Mode all associated systems shall run continuously until the typical time of use duration Administrative staff of any issues via e-mail alerts, system alarm screen pop-ups,
golf course. Additional uses of the collected water could be to flush toilets. Local codes is completed. At this point several space motion detectors shall confirm that no automated voice dials, text paging, etc. These alarms can be arranged from the HVAC
must be understood in order to follow rainwater requirements. occupant is present in the space prior to setting the systems back to either Unoccupied failures to continuous water or gas usage while all systems are turned Off such as
Mode or simply Off. This pre-configuration will ease the system utilization on behalf of normally happens during a holiday period.
Advantages: the typical Users who usually are not aquatinted with the technical details to operate it.
• Reduced water usage All systems (existing and new) should be configured to operate as described in order to
• Qualify for USGBC LEED point deliver a functional system to the Administrator.
• Installation in new and retrofit situations
• Environmentally friendly III. COMFORT
This system should include a built-in “Pre-Occupancy Mode” function that will use
Disadvantages: internal algorithms to determine the best earliest time to index pre-selected systems to
• May lead to less water returned to the lake On or Occupied Mode so the space(s) are at setpoint at the beginning of the scheduled
• Underground tank may be required occupancy. Also the local screen shall include a pop-up window to flash whenever the
• Energy used to pump water to final destination systems are indexed to Occupied manually to advise the User(s) that it will take some
time to achieve the desired setpoint(s). Said screen shall flash intermittently until said
setpoint(s) are achieved. This feature will avoid the usual service calls generated due to
this scenario.

IV. MONITORING
Local monitoring for both local and remote Users shall be limited to a color coded
command, status and alarm pictorials where a building floor plan depiction is shown
on a screen indication a color for commands (occupied, unoccupied, on, or off), status
(run, on or off), and alarms (text based or equipment codes). This approach will allow an
effective communication of the system status to both local and remote users. Typically,
remote users will be the central monitoring office such as the engineering center of the
agency. Technically driven screens shall be available for maintenance personnel use
only.

Adams Park Conceptual Sustainability Study
Plans are conceptual and subject to change