Achieving Net Zero with a 649,848-square-foot Industrial Complex

ABSTRCTThe following is a comprehensive review of what works when designing for net zero. Typically, it is very difficult or nearly impossible to re-commission an existing historical heavy use industrial complex with a 1222-ton refrigeration plant to a net zero energy standard.The subject is a 649,848-sq.-ft. warehouse and office complex in Edison, New Jersey. The energy reduction plan consisted of a solar project consisting of 17,745 solar panels, along with an energy reduction plan consisting of a 20,000 cfm; a BPE energy recovery ventilation (ERV) system; high-speed doors for refrigerated and freezer areas; controls for a 1,222-ton refrigeration plant; and additional energy reduction measures that were engineered by Haglid Engineering & Associates, Inc. This energy reduction plan resulted in the building being successfully retrofitted to become a power producing facility on peak summer days. This subject industrial complex was also nominated for an EBie award.The project was able to achieve a net zero energy standard, or net power producing, on very hot summer days, even with a 1,222-ton refrigeration plant, by recovering thermal energy through avenues supplied by BPE along with a host of other energy reduction plans. This, incorporated with a solar panel array, actually allowed the massive industrial complex to be net zero or net power producing. Now in the “Reformed Gas Guzzler” category, the project has been recognized for having one of the highest percentages of energy savings! Hosted by the Urban Green Council, USGBC New York, the EBies™ is an annual award ceremony that recognizes significant increased environmental performance in existing buildings among building operators, facility managers, owners, engineers, retro-commissioning agents, and other professionals who conceived and implemented the work. On June 28th, Mr. Haglid received the EBIE (Existing Building Oscar) award from the Urban Green Council and the USGBC.Turning an industrial user of over 16 million kWh of annual electric energy usage into a net 2 megawatt power plant and putting that electric power into the grid helped reduce brownouts and blackouts in this area of New Jersey! The energy cost savings were substantial, but the ongoing reduction in peak power usage (and in fact adding over 2 megawatts of power under peak usage) helps reduce instability in the electric power grid and keep the power on for all electric power customers in this area.