Energy Efficiency Summit

Tuesday, October 26, 2021 | Monona Terrace, Madison, WI

 

Explore new advances in energy efficiency for your business and your customers. Join us in person for an inspiring morning of breakouts specifically designed for businesses and trade allies. Attendees will gain insights into new and emerging technologies to improve commercial & industrial buildings. 

The Energy Efficiency Summit is bringing local and regional energy experts to Madison to help solve your energy challenges. Our half-day summit includes:

  • Innovative, solutions-oriented workshops for C&I customers.
  • Exploration of new tools and technologies to help you identify and optimize energy conservation opportunities for your business.
  • Implementing city energy planning goals and strategies. 
  • Opportunities to engage with your local MGE staff, FOCUS ON ENERGY® representatives, and explore Commercial PACE financing solutions.
  • And more.

Whether you're just beginning to explore emerging technologies or navigating advances in HVAC and lighting controls, the Energy Efficiency Summit will have something for you.

8:00 - 8:30 a.m.: Registration and exhibits

8:30 - 8:55 a.m.

  • Welcome and introductions | Syed Abbas, Business Development Manager, Slipstream
  • Opening remarks: MGE net zero carbon goal | Brian Driscoll, Senior Multifamily Services Manager, MGE
  • Bayview's redevelopment: Net zero for all | Alexis London, Executive Director, Bayview Foundation and Kevin Frost, Energy Engineer, Slipstream

8:55 - 9:00 a.m.: Networking break and exhibits

9:00 - 10:00 a.m.: Breakout sessions

  • HVAC integration and building optimization | Ryan Hoger, Director of Training, Temperature Equipment Corporation
  • Current lighting practices for health and energy | Randy Johnson, former President, US Lamp, Inc.
  • Strategies to increase cooling tower efficiency (includes demos and props) | Tom Tucker, Principal and Founder, Kinergetics; Kate Brebrick, Energy Engineer, Kinergetics

10:00 - 10:15 a.m.: Networking break and exhibits

10:15 - 11:15 a.m.: Breakout sessions

  • Advanced RTU controls and strategies | Ryan Hoger, Director of Training, Temperature Equipment Corporation
  • Panel Discussion: City energy planning - from community support to implementation | Megan Levy, Local Energy Programs Manager, Wisconsin Office of Energy Innovation; Stacie Reece, Sustainability Coordinator, City of Madison; Kelly Hilyard, Sustainability Coordinator, City of Middleton; Jeannette LeZaks, Director of Research and Innovation, Slipstream (moderator)
  • Industrial chilled water systems: improving the performance of process cooling | Tom Tucker, Principal and Founder, Kinergetics; Kate Brebrick, Energy Engineer, Kinergetics

11:15 - 11:45 a.m.: Closing Session

  • Emerging technologies and trends to accelerate decarbonization | Scott Hackel, Director of Research & Innovation, Slipstream and Joe Zhou, Principal Engineer, Slipstream

12:00 p.m.: Summit concludes

All breakout sessions, EXCEPT for the panel presentation, will offer continuing education credits. Each session will offer the following: 

BOC These sessions offer up to 1 point for BOC certified operators.

BOMI These sessions are approved for 1 continuing professional development point toward renewal of the professional designations offered by BOMI International.

WI-PE These sessions are geared towards professional engineers in the State of Wisconsin and offers up to 1 professional development hour (PDH). The course participant must decide if this is a qualifying course as defined in the relevant Wisconsin Administrative Code.

These sessions will not be pre-approved for GBCI CE Hours or AIA LUs; however, if you believe the content is applicable to your credential(s), you can self-report credits (note that while AIA CES does accept self-reported education, some architecture licensing boards do not accept such courses).

Please note that in order to receive continuing education credits for attending a breakout session, you must sign-in at the start of the session and be present for the entire session; partial credit cannot be given.

The following breakout sessions will qualify for credits:

HVAC integration and building optimization | Presented by: Ryan Hoger, Director of Training, Temperature Equipment Corporation

Building automation systems are constantly evolving. The desire and need for integrated building systems is increasing exponentially. Gone are the days where the air handler could operate with “stand-alone” controls. Since we expect our systems to be smarter and figure out issues before the occupants do, the air handler must be able share data with the VAV boxes, the lighting system, and the work management tool. Join us for a discussion on the basics of BAS integration for HVAC systems, the current expectations for robust systems, and a look into what the future may hold.

As a result of this session you will be able to:

  1. Understand the benefits of building automation systems (BAS).    
  2. Determine a general comprehension of protocols and integration.
  3. Examine the differences between optimization, fault detection & diagnostics, and commissioning.
  4. Learn how to begin applying solutions to existing projects.

Current lighting practices for health and energy | Presented by Randy Johnson, former President, US Lamp, Inc.

LED lighting today provides a number of benefits from energy savings to aesthetic control, and can even address health concerns. In this session, we will cover how LED lighting continues to evolve and how it can improve your business and workspaces. Some key topics include:

  • How fixture, room, and building controls can provide enhanced energy savings while allowing precise control of lighting levels.
  • The advances in color tuning and dimming capabilities in LEDs and how light quality can offer enhanced health benefits to occupants.
  • How germicidal and near UV lighting can be used as a disinfectant to keep work environments safer.

As a result of this session you will be able to:

  1. Look at their current buildings and compare existing lighting systems to new LED solutions.
  2. Evaluate multiple building opportunities and rank order which to address first.
  3. Evaluate areas of your building where controls could and should be considered.
  4. Discuss health benefits of lighting technologies to determine which are beneficial for your building

Strategies to increase cooling tower efficiency (includes demos and props) | Presented by: Tom Tucker, Principal and Founder, Kinergetics; Kate Brebrick, Energy Engineer, Kinergetics

Knowing how to make your cooling tower as energy efficient as possible can save your facility energy, water, and operating costs. It can also help extend the equipment service life and decrease the amount of chemicals required for water treatment. So, how do you make your cooling tower more energy efficient?
This session will highlight components of a cooling tower system and opportunities for improving system performance. Our presenters will perform a cooling tower performance demonstration to show common efficiency opportunities and their impact. With these examples and real data, the session will illustrate energy efficiency gains in cooling towers.

As a result of this session you will be able to:

  1. Describe the difference between cooling towers and air-cooled units.
  2. Identify potential causes of poor cooling tower performance.
  3. Explain an example of cooling tower performance.
  4. Discuss cooling tower performance opportunities using cooling tower demonstration.

Advanced RTU controls and strategies | Presented by: Ryan Hoger, Director of Training, Temperature Equipment Corporation

Packaged rooftop units (RTUs) currently heat and cool more than 50% of all commercial buildings, but are they efficient? While  there have been some improvements in the last 10 years, they have been limited:

  • Refrigeration circuits have seen a slight improvement in cooling efficiency 
  • Average gas efficiency has improved from 80% to just 82%.  

The question then becomes, what else can we do to improve the performance of RTUs so they use less energy to heat or cool our buildings? A recent Department of Energy study explored this exact question and introduced the Advanced Rooftop Control or ARC in response. This course will explore that research and several methods for improving RTU functions to yield energy  savings from 24 to 35% through fan, cooling, and heating energy combined.

As a result of this session you will be able to:

  1. Learn the RTU related requirements of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC).
  2. Determine the appropriate RTU accessories to maximize performance and efficiency.
  3. Describe technologies such as economizers, staged air volume, and demand controlled ventilation.
  4. Examine about the newest energy savings RTU option of multi-speed fan control.

Industrial chilled water systems: improving the performance of process cooling | Presented by: Tom Tucker, Principal and Founder, Kinergetics; Kate Brebrick, Energy Engineer, Kinergetics

This engaging course is designed to help you keep your systems running at their best throughout the year. Focusing on a holistic systems approach to optimization, we will highlight real-world examples of process cooling improvement opportunities. The session will emphasize system interactions and methods to reduce operational costs. In addition to identifying equipment-based solutions, we will also address operations and maintenance processes that can impact system efficiency.

As a result of this session you will be able to:

  1. Describe solutions to improve the performance of process cooling and understand relevant maintenance opportunities.
  2. Identify how summer conditions impact the performance of cooling towers and cooling system performance.
  3. Identify energy use reduction opportunities and demonstrate the potential cost benefit.
  4. Explain the value of “data mining”—what it means and when it should be used.
  5. Estimate the performance of cooling towers and heat exchangers.
  6. State how power factor impacts motor load calculations and learn about a graphical tool to estimate it.