Energy Management Action Plan

Energy Management Action Plan

Energy Management in the Mini-Energy Audit Utility

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

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Energy Policy

Having established the total energy consumed in the household, the next important step towards committing to lowering energy consumption and wastage in the home. An energy policy is a foundation for integrating energy management and setting performance goals. The plan aims 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 devices and developing a strategy to reduce negative environmental impact due to my consumption behaviors. 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 project 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:

S/No	Utility	Quantity	Rating (Watts)	Hours of operation in a day	Energy consumed (kWh)
1	Fluorescent tubes	3	36	24	0.864
2	42″ Samsung Television	1	79	12	0.948
3	Electric cooker	1	1200	0.5	0.6
4	Laptop	1	60	8	0.48
5	Coffee maker	1	800	0.1	0.08
6	fridge	1	100	24	2.4
7	Cooker head	1	120		0.08
8	shower		7500	0.5	3.75
9	bulbs	2	18	6	0.288
10	HVAC	1	13.4	24	0.321
11	Microwave	1	85	1	0.085
Total                                               9.896kWh

 

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 whenever 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 indicate the achievement of this initial goal.

Action Plan

We have already established that household energy 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 home. The following are the recommended measures to help increase the use of renewable energy in my apartment, which not only results in the use of a green energy source but also saves on the cost of power in the household.

Since lighting is one of the major power consumers 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 eliminate this cost. The initial installation may be somewhat expensive, but the long-term benefits of this initiative not only help my household but helps reduce harmful environmental emissions from the use of dirty energy sources. For a larger-scale installation of solar panels to produce enough power to run the household’s energy requirements, logistics, and permits are required from the local authorities on building permits (Richardson, 2018). The cost for this will also likely range from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars, requiring a financier to help with the project. Moreover, an expert in the installation will be necessary, which will add up to the total installation cost.

The second area with 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 significant environmental pollution regarding the pollutant per unit of power consumed. Replacing this with a solar water heater unit will save the household substantial money and 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 year, apart from the winters when the amount of heat is insufficient to raise the water’s temperatures.

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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 to create further action plans to achieve energy policies and goals. This may require students to consider other aspects of 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 think about how to apply them to their situation critically. Students should not focus on existing performance (Assignment Series 2) but think critically and constructively about how to apply what was learned in weekly lessons to this assignment.

This is a mini-version of Steps 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 concrete 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 lesson, and students must research and plan how they could be used in their selected projects. Further, students will need to structure action plans within what they can control, and those actions need to reduce the environmental impact. 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 unacceptable 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 careers, the intent of getting an education is to develop the broad knowledge and skills needed for this career. So think critically and creatively apply the lessons to challenge your project’s status quo mindsets or existing systems. Propose innovative solutions using existing technology and prepare 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 request 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, students should notify the instructor and plan to work alone on the remaining assignments. The submission for this assignment requires evaluating and applying previous weekly lessons and should include (at a minimum) the following:

• Energy Policy – To build commitment to improvement initiatives, developing an energy policy for the selected project is important. This policy must state clear and measurable objectives, consider roles, reflect on priorities, and set a context for energy goals to create a model near zero or net zero on energy consumption from external energy sources.
• Goals – Students must finish analyzing their energy audit or assessment from Assignment Series 2 to your new energy policy. Then set clear and measurable goals with target dates for achieving the goals. Students should think short-term with annual and ongoing goals and long-term measures to control progress. After completing their action plans, they also need to estimate the potential improvement these plans will have on their performance toward these goals. Goals should be specific regarding 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 research on 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 charges 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 and consider the project’s timing or schedule (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 needed 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 must 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 charges 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 and consider the project’s timing or schedule (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 needed 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 must identify at least three specific improvement action items to make their selected project use or conserve energy more efficiently. 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 charges 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 and consider the project’s timing or schedule (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 needed 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 with 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 have a maximum of 6 pages, a cover page, and a bibliography. Students should review the assessment grading rubric to understand the expectations before finalizing their submission. After this submission, students should read the Assignment Series 4 instructions, which require 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).