Solutions

Energy Management Solutions

Example #1 – Legacy Account (Cold Storage)

CUSTOMER PROFILE:
This customer operates some of the most popular U.S. regional brands in quick-service and fast-casual dining which includes more than 3,000 locations in 43 states and in 13 countries. They have a Freon-based refrigeration distribution center located in California.

HENCH SOLUTION:
This facility originally installed a Hench system in 1999 and the current customer acquired the building in 2005. In February 2009, this customer signed up for the Hench monitoring program.

ACTIONS AND RESULTS:

  • Increased High Stage Pressure set point from 40 psi to 52 psi.
  • Reduced the runtime hours of the oversized high stage compressors, where on some weeks they don’t even run anymore, with a target goal to completely disable them.
  • Decreased Condenser Discharge Pressure by 5 psi.
  • Reduced evaporators defrost by approximately 2 to 3 times a week as well as activating the system’s defrost blackout table to spread out the defrosts and reduce the peak demand charge.
  • Implement Demand Table to help reduce the load and decrease the demand charges.
  • Implement peak demand control program that is activated during summer to eliminate summer peak hour charges.
  • From Feb ’09 – Dec ’09, this customer saved approximately $45,000 compared to their utility bills for the same time period the prior year based on comparable production volume.
  • This customer realizes just under a 5 times ratio of savings versus cost for the monthly monitoring fees.

 

Example #2 – New Installation (Production Facility)

CUSTOMER PROFILE:
This customer owns more than 400 brands; including 13 of which each achieve annual sales in excess of €1 billion. They have an ammonia-based refrigeration production facility located in Kansas.

HENCH SOLUTION:
This production facility installed a Hench system in 2008. Along with installing the Hench system, they participated in the monitoring program from the onset.

ACTIONS AND RESULTS:

  • Increased the Compressor efficiency to between 85% and 95% for both stages on average, depending on the load.
  • Reduced Condenser’s average Discharge Pressure from 150 psi to approx. 135 psi in winter time and 120 psi the rest of the year.
  • Enabled Fan Cycling.
  • Reduced Evaporators’ defrosts duration by terminating them based on hot gas temperature instead of by time.
  • Reduced Evaporators’ defrosts to less than 7 times a week and/or 1 defrosts per day.
  • King Air Units became managed by the Hench system utilizing the temperature sensor, temperature set point, temperature dead band and a weekend/weekday mode instead of just an On/Off operation.
  • Had the Hench system and monitoring program not been in place at this facility, this customer would have paid $138,660 on top of their existing utility bill during the first 12-months after the system was installed.
  • kW saved during the first 12-months = 1,854,000
  • The return on investment for this project including cash outlay and monthly monitoring fees occurred after month 20 which is less than a 2 year ROI.
  • Now that the initial cash outlay has been recouped, this customer realizes a 7+ times ratio of savings versus cost for the monthly monitoring fees.

 

Example #3 – New Installation (Cold Storage)

CUSTOMER PROFILE:
This customer built a brand-new, ammonia-based cold storage facility in 2005 located in Illinois. The facility consists of 40,000 SF refrigerated shipping/receiving dock with 55 dock doors, 28,000 pallet positions at -10F, 3,000 pallet positions at 38F, and 3 blast cells with 45 pallet positions each at -35F.

HENCH SOLUTION:
This customer installed a Hench system in 2009. Along with installing the Hench system, they participated in the monitoring program from the onset. Also, this customer took advantage of the bundled-financed package with no upfront costs (OSA-1).

ACTIONS AND RESULTS:

  • Decreased Discharge Pressure from 140 psi to 120 psi.
  • Reduced Low Stage Pressure Set point from 6.0 psi to 3.0 psi.
  • Enabled Fan Cycling.
  • Reduced evaporators’ defrosts to less than 7 times a week and/or 1 defrosts per day.
  • During a six-month time period of March – August in 2009, this customer saved $123,526 compared to their utility bills for the same time period the prior year predominately due to eliminating demand charges and proper energy management.
  • The return on investment for this project took place immediately (month 1) due to the financed package option.