Over the course of the three-day Better Buildings Challenge SWAP, the Hilton Worldwide and Whole Foods Market energy teams gathered quite a few recommendations to help them save energy in their buildings. Read more about what the teams learned from each other and take away a few energy saving tips from the experts at Hilton Worldwide and Whole Foods Market.
- Seal refrigerator door gaskets in the kitchen; check with your local utilities who may offer rebates for seals.
- Monitor refrigeration defrost cycles to limit over defrosting and save energy.
- Install a heat exchanger to recapture and precondition the building exhaust through charcoal filters on the roof nets over 25% energy savings.
- Link the energy management system computer to other devices for remote and easy monitoring by staff.
- Conduct employee huddles to motivate and engage employees in energy savings. Engaged employees results in 2% - 10% energy savings but the ROI is priceless!
- Daylight harvesting in the front of store to save energy on lights could net between 10% - 40%.
- Control the VFDs on the cooling tower drives for improved ventilation could net a one year payback.
- Post energy-specific back-of-house poster boards to communicate with team members and drive engagement in energy efficiency activities.
- Implement a system that will bypass the chiller and go straight to the condenser to reduce the load on the chiller and conserve energy.
- Implement a digital maintenance management and tracking system to monitor chiller performance.
- Replace old lights with LEDs in guest rooms, kitchen, and hallways. Retrofits can net a 5-7 year payback.
- Automate lighting controls and install occupancy sensors to harvest daylighting in the guest room bathrooms, hallways and stairwells that are not often used.
- At check in, offer guests the opportunity to check a box to allow housekeepers to turn down the thermostat in an unoccupied room.
- Switch the evaporator fans in the kitchen coolers over to solid-state motors for about a 70% savings.
- Install sensors to control outlets and plug loads in the ballroom and turn off AV equipment when not in use.
- Implement live modeling for mechanical systems to show the theoretical possible energy efficiency of that system, a great way to diagnose issues.
- Replace broken door gaskets and strip curtains in walk-in coolers in the kitchen results in $3,000 savings per door.