Preliminary Building Assessment Report
STATE OF MONTANA
LONG RANGE BUILDING PROGRAM
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY-BILLINGS
SCIENCE HALL
SCIENCE HALL
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY
BILLINGS, MT
Site Visit Date: September 19, 2008
Contact:
Mr. O.E. “Eakle” Barfield
Director of Facilities Services
(406) 657-2309
State of Montana A&E Division
Mechanical
Engineer:
Mark Hines
State A&E Division
1520 East Sixth Avenue
Provided By:
CTA Architects Engineers
1143 Stoneridge Drive
Bozeman, Montana 59718
Energy
Engineer:
Dan Stevenson, P.E.
CTA Architects Engineers
1143 Stoneridge Drive
Bozeman, MT 59718
(406) 556-7100
State of Montana
Long Range Building Program
Montana State University
Abbreviated Energy Assessment
Billings Campus, Science Hall
Project Detail:
This report is an abbreviated analysis of energy conservation projects identified with the Science Hall
building located on the Billings, MT campus. These potential projects were identified as projects with a
substantial energy conservation component. The same projects achieve improvements in facility
maintainability and replacement of systems that are at or beyond the end of their usable life.
The projects assessed include:
1. Steam heating system replacement
2. Chiller and cooling tower replacement
3. Multi-zone air handling unit replacement
4. DDC control upgrade.
5. Lighting upgrade
The methods of analyzing the energy savings and costs associated with these energy conservation
measures are preliminary in nature and require verification before project implementation. The
compressed timeframe in which this analysis was produced may have an effect on the accuracy of cost
and energy savings accuracy. The purpose of this analysis is strictly for identifying the magnitude of
energy conservation potential and rough economic performance.
HVAC and Controls:
The existing HVAC system consists of a pair of duel deck multi-zone air handling units, one delivering
14,000 cfm supply air to the Northeast portion of the building and the other delivering 16,000 cfm to the
Southwest portion of the building. Both multi-zone units installed as part of a 1976 addition are equipped
with chilled water cooling and steam heating coils. These duel deck multi-zone units do not meet
ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004 because of the enormous amounts of energy wasted in the process of
reheating and mixing of both cooled and heated air streams to provide temperature control. There are also
approximately 11 steam fined tube radiation heaters installed as part of a 1976 addition and 21 original
1947 construction convector style steam heaters providing perimeter heat. Laboratory exhaust consists of
about 16 individual laboratory exhaust fans on the roof serving 11 individual lab hoods and 4 general
exhaust locations within the building. Heating energy is provided by a 1947 vintage, 2,800 MBH input
fire tube steam boiler. Cooling energy is provided by a 100 ton water cooled reciprocating chiller in the
basement mechanical room coupled with a cooling tower located outside adjacent the mechanical room.
One of the four chiller compressors has become inoperable eliminating one of the two evaporator circuits
in affect limiting overall capacity to 50 tons. The chiller and cooling tower have been in service for 30+
years and are beyond the end of their usable life. The Lecture Auditorium was renovated in 2007 at which
time it was isolated from the rest of the building’s HVAC systems with a pair of 5 ton packaged rooftop
units.
The existing control system consists of pneumatic zone controls throughout the building. The only DDC
controls are on the two new rooftop units serving the Lecture Auditorium. With exception to the Lecture
Auditorium, none of the energy systems are controllable or viewable from the campus front end.
State of Montana
Long Range Building Program
Montana State University
Abbreviated Energy Assessment
Billings Campus, Science Hall
Lighting System:
Lighting throughout the building consists of high output T12’s, 5% of which have already been upgraded
to T-8’s.
Energy Summary
MSU
ENERGY USE HISTORY - AVERAGE
Science Hall
Billings, MT
Total Building Area:
34,040 sf
ELECTRIC ENERGY
Month
Year
kWh
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Totals
35988
38131
42683
42118
44431
45595
49874
40504
42687
40099
40025
38662
500795
EUI:
Btu/sf=
$/sf=
STEAM
Total
Electric
Cost
(Bills)
$2,159.25
$2,287.86
$2,560.98
$2,527.08
$2,665.86
$2,735.67
$2,992.44
$2,430.21
$2,561.22
$2,405.91
$2,401.50
$2,319.69
$30,047.67
198,495
Average Rates:
$2.66
Fuel Type Percentage:
Steam
Dkt
Cost
TOTAL
COST
771.5
743.5
663.0
458.5
175.5
39.1
7.7
6.3
107.9
544.0
730.0
801.0
5048.0
$9,258.00
$8,922.00
$7,956.00
$5,502.00
$2,106.00
$469.14
$92.58
$75.72
$1,294.20
$6,528.00
$8,760.00
$9,612.00
$60,575.64
$11,417.25
$11,209.86
$10,516.98
$8,029.08
$4,771.86
$3,204.81
$3,085.02
$2,505.93
$3,855.42
$8,933.91
$11,161.50
$11,931.69
$90,623.31
$0.0600 /kWh
25.3%
electric
$12.0000
74.7%
/Dkt
gas
State of Montana
Long Range Building Program
Montana State University
Abbreviated Energy Assessment
Billings Campus, Science Hall
H1 - Steam Heating System Replacement
Replacement of the existing steam boiler and associated steam and condensate return piping systems with
multiple, redundant, high efficiency boilers and associated heating hot water supply and return piping
would increase efficiency and controlability. High efficiency hot water boilers typically operate at lower
temperatures 80% of the year taking advantage of increased efficiencies up to 98% AFUE. A multiple
boiler arrangement will closely match varying demand while offering freeze protection should any one of
the multiple boilers fail.
Estimated Cost for Steam Heating System Replacement:
Demolition of existing steam boiler,
Associated steam piping and trim
Asbestoses pipe insulation abatement
High efficiency heating hot water boiler (2@ $22,000)
Heating Hot Water Pumps (2@ $4,000)
Insulated supply and return piping system
Subtotal
Overhead and Markup @ 15%
Contingency/Other @ 25%
Small Project @ 10%
Total Cost
Estimated Annual Steam Consumption Energy Savings
Estimated Annual Energy Savings Value (using current rates)
Simple Payback
$3,000
$5,000
$44,000
$8,000
$200,000
$260,000
$39,000
$65,000
$26,000
$390,000
744.6 DKT (15% of building total)
$9,000
43.3 Years
H2 - Chiller and Cooling Tower Replacement
Replacement of the existing reciprocating chiller and associated cooling tower with a high efficiency
screw chiller and cooling tower would increase chiller plan efficiencies. A screw chiller can modulate
output to match demand to provide better efficiencies at low demand.
Estimated Cost for Chiller and Cooling Tower Replacement:
Demolition of existing chiller and
Associated cooling tower
High efficiency screw chiller
Cooling tower
Subtotal
Overhead and Markup @ 15%
Contingency/Other @ 25%
Small Project @ 10%
Total Cost
Estimated Annual Electric Consumption Energy Savings
Estimated Annual Energy Savings Value (using current rates)
Simple Payback
$5,000
$55,500
$20,000
$80,500
$12,075
$20,125
$8,050
$120,750
19,200 KWH (4% of building total)
$1,152
148.4 Years
State of Montana
Long Range Building Program
Montana State University
Abbreviated Energy Assessment
Billings Campus, Science Hall
H3 - Multi-zone Air Handling Unit Replacement
Replacement of the existing Multi-zone air handling units with VAV air handlers with heating hot water
preheat and chilled water cooling coils. Install individual VAV boxes with hot water reheat adjacent to
each air handler reusing existing supply ductwork at each zone. Medium pressure air handlers with VFD
drives have the ability to reduce fan speeds to meet demand providing fan energy savings. Hot water
reheat will provide tighter temperature control within each zone.
Estimated Cost for Multi-zone Air Handling Unit Replacement with VAV
Demolition of existing multi-zone units (2@ $2,000)
Air handler with VFD drive (2@ $42,500)
Pressure independent VAV boxes (25@ $1,000)
Subtotal
Overhead and Markup @ 15%
Contingency/Other @ 25%
Small Project @ 10%
Total Cost
Estimated Annual Electric Consumption Energy Savings
Estimated Annual Steam Consumption Energy Savings
Estimated Annual Energy Savings Value (using current rates)
Simple Payback
$4,000
$85,000
$25,000
$114,000
$17,100
$28,500
$11,400
$171,000
10,330 KWH (2% of building total)
314 DKT (6% of building total)
$4,388
39 Years
State of Montana
Long Range Building Program
Montana State University
Abbreviated Energy Assessment
Billings Campus, Science Hall
H4 - DDC Control Upgrade
Upgrade of the controls for the two airhandling units, chilled water plant control, and terminal units
would allow substantial energy saving to be realized through implementation of control strategies. Some
of these strategies include:
1. Implementation of unoccupied period setbacks and run time schedules.
2. Airflow volume measurement and pressure independent controls at vav
terminals.
3. Hot deck temperature reset based on outside air temperature.
Operation advantages of this project are also substantial. A building-wide DDC system will allow spaces
to adapt to new uses and airflow/tempering energy to be optimized to the use through operator interface.
Estimated Cost for DDC Upgrade:
Network controller with web browser interface
Chiller control and chilled water loop interface
Boiler control and heating hot water interface
Pump control (4@ $500)
Airhandler control verification and upgrade
Air terminal DDC controllers (25@ $1,000)
Perimeter radiation valves (32 @ $150)
Subtotal
Overhead and Markup @ 15%
Contingency/Other @ 25%
Small Project @ 10%
Total Cost
Estimated Annual Electric Consumption Energy Savings
Estimated Annual Steam Consumption Energy Savings
Estimated Annual Energy Savings Value (using current rates)
Simple Payback
$10,000
$2,500
$2,500
$2,000
$50,000
$25,000
$4,800
$96,800
$14,520
$24,200
$9,680
$145,200
100,098 KWH (20% of building total)
905 DKT (18% of building total)
$16,865
8.6 Years
L1 - Lighting Upgrade
Although not addressed in detail as part of this study, significant energy savings can be achieved by
switching out the remaining 95% high output T12 fixtures to T8’s. Simple payback based on twelve hours
run time per day would be roughly four to five years.