Building Upgrades
OVERALL OUTCOME
| Electric Usage Reduction | 28% |
| Gas Usage Reduction | 28% |
| Water Usage Reduction | 34% |
| Maintenance Reduction | $50,000 |
| Total Out of Pocket Cost | $0 |
| Utilized PG&E OBF Program to Fund Project Over 10 years | |
The Pacific Professional Building (PPB) is a five-story building that houses a wide spectrum of medical specialties and subspecialties along with general internal medical providers in over 131, 000 square feet of space. The PPB was uniquely developed by doctors and is managed by doctors. It is conveniently located to serve the community of San Francisco, Marin, The East Bay and The Peninsula. The Pacific Professional Building recently performed numerous Energy Efficiency upgrades that not only save energy and reduce the buildings carbon footprint but also have a positive impact on the doctors and patients that visit the building each day.
Existing Systems
The Pacific Professional Building’s existing systems; although well maintained, were nearing the end of useful life and were not operating as efficiently as they could if they were upgraded to the latest technologies.
- The existing building control system had a pneumatic system that controlled space temperature based off of 4 sensors.
- The existing lighting system was old technology and manually controlled.
- The boiler system was at the end of useful life and the existing system was not operating efficiently.
- The Air Handling system fans ran at constant speed, even if demand was low the systems still pushed maximum design airflow through the building.
The Solution
- The building control system was upgraded to a new direct digital control (DDC) system and all of the existing terminal units were upgraded to DDC as well giving the building 231 temperature sensors versus the previous 4. This allows Building Management to adjust temperature and air flow resulting in better occupant comfort and significant energy savings.
- The existing lighting fixtures were upgraded to LED lighting fixtures and each lighting fixture has an onboard sensor/controller that controls the occupancy, dimming and light output of each fixture. This allowed for the proper light levels for the given task and significant energy savings.
- The existing boiler system was replaced with high efficiency condensing boilers, new pumping system and controls to allow the boilers to operate efficiently and to prevent the building from overheating.
- The Air Handling systems were upgraded with new controls and variable speed drives to allow the fans to modulate to meet the demands of the space.
- We have installed a Bipolar Ionization System for cleaner air. Our system assists in particle reduction and smoke control, neutralizes odors by destroying VOCs, eliminates pathogens like bacteria, viruses and mold which in turn can reduce asthma and control allergens. This 30% more efficient and energy saving system reduces outdoor air intake by up to 75%. It reduces pressure loss by keeping coils clean without expensive UV system and requires no maintenance.