Energy Management Action Plan

Energy Management in the Mini-Energy Audit Utility

The energy audit carried out on my residential apartment is geared towards reducing the energy cost in residence by eliminating the unnecessary use of energy and reducing energy wastage. Further, the plan aims at helping lower the harmful effect of energy use on the environment. Since the entire energy used in the household is gotten from the utility supplier who is supplied from both renewable and non-renewable energy sources, what measures can be taken in my household to help lower the emissions to the environment by focusing on my household only? This is attributed to the inability of a single energy user to dictate to the utility provider about energy sources. However, there are things within reach of the consumer that can be utilized to achieve these goals.

Energy Policy

Having established the total energy consumed in the household, the next important step towards making a commitment to lowering energy consumption and wastage in the household. An energy policy is a foundation for integrating energy management and setting performance goals. The objective of the plan is to eliminate all the areas where energy is lost in the household. This includes high-power-rated appliances that can be substituted with others. Knowing the standby consumption units for all clocked appliances and developing a strategy to reduce negative environmental impact due to my consumption behaviours. I am in charge of the implementation of the plan since this is my household, and there will be a monthly evaluation of the achievements of the plan to initiate updates on the policy in line with the changing needs and priorities of the household.

The performance of the household will be assessed based on the established baseline. The appliances that are the major consumers of power in the household have already been established as follows:

Progress will be measured from these established baselines for consumption. Since we aim to eliminate the standby power that goes to waste, the plan will recommend switching off power from the mains any time no one is in the household or when none of the appliances are in use. A decline in the amount of energy consumed monthly will be an indicator of the achievement of this initial goal.

Action Plan

We have already established that the household energy used depends entirely on the utility provider’s supply. This makes it impossible to dictate the type of energy source to be supplied. However, a local solution based on the particular household alone may be used to help utilize renewable energy in the household. The following are the recommended measures to be used to help increase the use of renewable energy in my apartment, which not only results in the use of a green source of energy but also saves on the cost of power in the household.

Since lighting is one of the major consumers of power in the house, accounting for a daily consumption of 0.864+0.288=1.152kWh daily, installing a solar panel to utilize the sun’s energy is the way to go towards eliminating this cot. The initial installation may be somewhat expensive, but the long-term benefits for this initiative not only helps my household but helps reduce harmful emissions to the environment from the use of dirty sources of energy. For a larger-scale installation of solar panels to produce enough energy to run the household’s energy requirements, there are logistic and permits required from the local authorities on building permits (Richardon, 2018). The cost for this is also likely to range from thousands of dollars to tens of thousands of dollars which will require a financier to help with the project. Moreover, an expert in the installation will be required, which adds up to the total cost of installation.

The second area that has a considerable amount of power consumed in the household is the shower which takes up to a daily power amount of 3.75kWh. This contributes to considerable environmental pollution in terms of the pollutant per unit of power consumed. Replacing this with a solar water heater unit will save the household a substantial amount of money as well as save the environment from pollution (US Department of Energy, 2018). This unit requires a storage tank and a solar collector. The exchange between the collector body and the storage tank is aided by the thermosyphon effect that causes cold and hot water circulation through convection currents (Davis, 2015). The installation company will cover the transportation and installation of these two systems at the cost of the residence. It will be noted that the water heating system will be used throughout the whole year apart from the winters when the amount of heat is insufficient to raise the water’s temperatures.

References

Davis, E. (2015, August 13). Solar Water Heating Systems for Homes. Retrieved from Buildesign: http://buildesign.co.ke/solar-water-heating-systems-for-homes/

Richardon, L. (2018, February 27). Solar Panel Installation Guide: the 5 Step Process. Retrieved from Energy Sage: https://news.energysage.com/solar-panel-installation-guide-what-should-you-expect/

US Department of Energy. (2018, September 19). Solar water heaters. Retrieved from Energy saver: https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/heat-and-cool

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Energy Management Action Plan

The initial baseline performance defined in Assignment Series 2 needs to be analyzed such that further action plans can be created to achieve energy policies and goals. This may require students to consider other aspects from the lessons that were not anticipated when Assignment Series 2 was completed (i.e. may need to extend beyond the 20 (minimum) items). In Assignment Series 3 students will need to reflect on the weekly lessons to critically think how to apply them to their situation. Students should not focus on existing performance (that was Assignment Series 2), but think critically and constructively as to how to apply what was learned in weekly lessons to this assignment.

Energy Management Action Plan

This is a mini-version of Step 1, 3, and 4 of the Energy Star Guidelines for Energy Management. Please plan time for this assignment as students will need to consider some substantial action plans to analyze their energy audit or assessment developing specific technical needs to create a model for near zero or zero energy use. Meaning just saying you will turn off a light switch is not going to be sufficient. Various best practices are covered in each of the lessons and students will need to research and plan how they could be used in their own selected project. Further students will need to structure action plans within what they can control and those actions need to reduce impact on the environment. Meaning recommending your utility provider to pursue solar energy is not within your control (what can you do?). Or stating your utility provider should use coal for energy production without emissions control equipment is not acceptable due to the negative impact on public health and the environment (even though it would produce the cheapest electricity). Remember your role is the energy analyst or consultant for this project and you need to manage energy needs for the future with less impact on our environment.

As students seek to grow their management career, the intent of getting an education is to develop broad knowledge and skills needed for this career. So think critically and creatively apply the lessons to challenge status quo mindsets or existing systems in your project. Propose innovative solutions using existing technology and preparing the necessary action plans to achieve this model performance. As always be sure to practice academic honesty in your submission by giving credit (i.e. in-text citations) to all statements of fact that are not common knowledge used from your sources in your writing. As well students should provide a bibliography listing all sources used (that were cited) at the end of their submission. Otherwise students are at risk of plagiarism issues for an academic submission which may lead to a zero (see syllabus).

Students should continue to work on the same project, with the same people (if applicable), from Assignment Series 1 and 2. If partnering with another student, it is up to each student to plan how to complete this submission sharing the workload (each partner is to submit the same paper). If the partnership is not working then students should notify the instructor and plan to work alone on the remaining assignments. The submission for this assignment requires evaluating and applying prior weekly lessons and should include (at a minimum):

• Energy Policy – In order to build commitment for improvement initiatives, it is important to develop an energy policy for the selected project. This policy must state clear and measurable objectives, consider roles, reflect on priorities, and set a context for energy goals to create a model that is near zero or net zero on energy consumption from external energy sources.
• Goals – Students need to finish analyzing their energy audit or assessment from Assignment Series 2 to your new energy policy. Then set create clear and measurable goals with target dates for achieving the goals. Students should think both short-term with annual and ongoing goals, as well as long-term measures to control progress. After students have completed their action plans, they also need to estimate the potential improvement these plans will have on their performance to these goals. Goals should be specific as to quantities or percentages of energy and environmental reductions.
• Action Plans: Renewable Energy – Students will need to consider a renewable energy source to achieve this policy and goal to be a model for near zero or net zero energy consumption. This will require further researching the technical requirements to install a system. Students need to identify specific tasks (WBS) that they would need to pursue to implement this project. Students should consider tasks to further initiate, plan, execute, monitor/control and close the project. Students will need to estimate costs (i.e. purchases, labor, incentives, etc.) to prepare a budget for this project, as well as consider timing or schedule for the project (i.e. start and end dates or milestone dates to support estimating performance to goals). Students should be clear on their role and identify further resources they will need to implement the project.
• Action Plans: Transportation – Students may not have considered transportation related items in their initial mini-energy audit or assessment. So this criteria may require determining your current baseline performance and then critically thinking about specific transportation goals. Students need to propose at least two major action items on their transportation methods (one short-term over the next year, one long-term). Students should clearly explain their reasoning for each prioritized recommendation. Students need to identify specific tasks (WBS) that they would need to pursue to implement these action items. Students should consider tasks to further initiate, plan, execute, monitor/control and close the action items. Students will need to estimate costs (i.e. purchases, labor, incentives, etc.) to prepare a budget for this project, as well as consider timing or schedule for the project (i.e. start and end dates or milestone dates to support estimating performance to goals). Students should be clear on their role and identify further resources they will need to implement the projects.
• Action Plans: Efficiency & Conservation – Students should analyze the initial baseline performance collected in Assignment Series 2 looking for patterns or trends. For example, students might consider the time of day or year that may influence energy consumption. In Assignment Series 2 students had to compare their energy performance to other similar projects (should research this benchmark if never addressed in Week 4). Students need to identify at least 3 specific improvement action items that would make their selected project use energy more efficiently or conserve energy. Students must clearly explain their reasoning for what they prioritized (i.e. ability to achieve policy and goals, estimate by how much, etc.). Students need to identify specific tasks (WBS) that they would need to pursue to implement these action items. Students should consider tasks to further initiate, plan, execute, monitor/control and close the action items. Students will need to estimate costs (i.e. purchases, labor, incentives, etc.) to prepare a budget for this project, as well as consider timing or schedule for the project (i.e. start and end dates or milestone dates to support estimating performance to goals). Students should be clear on their role and identify further resources they will need to implement the projects.
• Conclusion – Summarize how these collective action items build value for the stakeholders of this system and enable them to compete in today’s world. Students must calculate a payback or return on investment for these action plans. Students should further identify potential trade-offs or concerns that may be associated to these decisions (i.e. technology availability, cost/schedule investment, stakeholder commitment, strategic or policy issues, performance measures or goals, incentives or taxes, etc.) and what contingency plans or alternatives might be necessary to eliminate or minimize these risks and the impact they may have that could impede implementation of the action items.

Students may prepare a consolidated action plan with tasks, budgets, schedules, etc. integrated for Criteria 3 through 5. Or students may break down these action plans by sub-section as shown in this explanation (how to organize the report is your decision). This submission should be a maximum of 6 pages, plus cover page and bibliography. As always students should review assessment grading rubric for further understanding of the expectations before finalizing their submission. After this submission, students should read the Assignment Series 4 instructions which requires writing an Executive Summary for this project (students should not wait for feedback on this part as it should not be necessary to write this summary due early in Week 8).