Reducing electricity cost by VND 270 million per year in Ford Thang Long building

14/09/2011

Also, during the operation of energy using equipment in the building, the building management board always upholds the management, operation and maintenance of equipment to ensure that power consuming systems always operate in the best conditions.

Located at No. 105 Lang Ha, Dong Da District, Hanoi, Ford Thang Long building is one of the biggest buildings in the city with office leasing function. Realizing the importance of saving energy in terms of economy and impacts on environment, since the stage of design and installation of energy using equipment, the investors as well as the building management board has proposed design criteria and selected advanced equipment and technologies to save energy and minimize energy consumption for the building.

An overview of Ford Thang Long building

Talking about energy consumption reduction, Mr. Nguyen Phuc Hung, Chief engineer of the building, said: "Factors to reduce energy consumption have always been considered by the investors when designing the building. With the particularity of a leased office, the building requires many energy consuming devices; the selection of equipment always prioritizes energy-saving products".

Also, during the operation of energy using equipment in the building, the building management board always upholds the management, operation and maintenance of equipment to ensure that power consuming systems always operate in the best conditions.

Based on the actual testing results, representative of Hanoi Energy Conservation Center said, electricity consumption at Thang Long Building was just about 118.5. KWh / m² / year, an average consumption of 92,800 kWh per month, lower than buildings of the same model and function. Specifically, in 2009, statistics showed that with energy saving solutions, the building reduced the cost of electricity by VND 270 million.

Saving power at the air conditioning system

As an office building, the air conditioning system accounts for a large proportion of power consumption. Therefore, an appropriate design which brings high economic efficiency, saves investment costs and operating costs was chosen by Thang Long Building. The building has selected to only install air conditioners for offices and apply natural conditioning in corridors and public areas.

The dew-spraying system helps saving power for air conditioners

To improve the cooling performance for the machine, the technical department of the building has installed a dew-spraying system to reduce heat for outdoor units in hot weather, especially in summer. This system has great saving efficiency. On hottest summer days, when the dew spraying system is turned on, the temperatures of air around outdoor units decline by about 4 º C, so the cooling performance of the air conditioning system will be much higher. On days when the outdoor temperature is high, performance of outdoor units work will be reduced, so to ensure the cool air in offices, air conditioners shall be set at a very low temperature. With this dew spraying system, temperature in offices can be reduced by 2 to 3 º C. Thus, compared to the consumption of 2m³ of water per hour, the effect of this system is very large.

Saving power at the lighting system

A series of measures have also been applied to the lighting system such as installation by each specific area, clear distinction between areas based on demand for brightness and aesthetics. The building has designed separate switches for each cluster, each line of lights that can be turned on and off to satisfy the demand of each area, each office, lobby area... in each different moment without affecting other areas. The buildings has chosen to install ceiling light tray for fluorescent lamps, using 100% of T8 lamps which provide high performance and save up to 10% compared to T10 lamps.

The installation of 800 3x1,2m ceiling light trays, all equipped with capacitors, has contributed greatly to improving the performance, significantly reducing the power loss, increasing the lighting capacity of lights. In public areas such as hallway, lobby and in toilet, investors have chosen to use compact light bulbs which save power without sacrificing lighting requirements.

In particular, an improvement made in 2003 which had reduced 30% of power consumption compared with the initial installation is to replace downlight lamps with two 11W indirect bulbs using traditional electromagnetic ballasts with one 14W direct compact bulb without sacrificing lighting requirements.

Besides, the building has also installed inverters for the elevator system including three rooms in operation. This system helps customers always feel smooth when using and the standby system controls the shutting down of lights and ventilation fans of the elevators when their operation stops within 30 seconds. These solutions help the buildings save around 10 to 11% of the total power consumption for the elevator system.

Along with technical solutions, architectural design and materials have also contributed to the reduction of power consumption for the building.

By Minh Duc

Reducing electricity cost by VND 270 million per year in Ford Thang Long building

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