Legend Power Blog

Conservation Voltage Regulation (CVR) is an energy conservation technique that regulates the incoming voltage to buildings.

To compensation for line loss along the power grid, buildings at the beginning of the grid receive voltage at higher levels than others. This leads to energy waste, higher energy bills and unnecessary carbon dioxide emissions. Over $1 billion is wasted per year by commercial buildings due to forced grid consumption.

How Conservation Voltage Regulatioin Works

There is an optimal minimum voltage level below the primary level (600V CA, 480V US, 400V EU) where lights, motors, etc, will operate comfortably with no effect on their practical performance. At 5% below the primary voltage (570V CA, 456V US, 380V EU) these loads are still within manufacturer’s specifications but will work with less waste heat, longer life, a lower carbon foot print and less energy.

CVR regulates buildings’ incoming voltages to optimal levels through a transformer and a tap changer.

Legend Power’s transformer and tap changer is called the Electronic Harmonizer-Automatic Voltage Regulator. It is an on-load automatic electronic tap changer with a high efficiency autotransformer that regulates voltage to the optimal level.

The Harmonizer component adjusts the incoming voltage to the optimum operating level for each facility as determined by an extensive pre-installation assessment. Currently, the Harmonizer can optimize the incoming voltage by 0% (bypass), 2%, 4% or 6%, creating a significant reduction in energy consumption and peak demand. Power grids will fluctuate on a regular basis so flexibility in the rate of voltage reduction is critical to maximizing conservation and eliminating risk.

The Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR) continually monitors a facility’s incoming voltage level and automatically selects the correct tap setting on the autotransformer to ensure power is always entering the facility at an optimal level. If grid voltage levels drop below the minimum optimal, the system is immediately bypassed ensuring that the energy flow to your building is never negatively affected.

The Electrical Harmonizer-AVR maximizes voltage optimization, improves power quality and operates at an efficiency of greater than 99.5%.

Benefits of Conservation Voltage Regulation

The Electronic Harmonizer reduces energy consumption by 6-10% by:

• Reducing energy consumption: kWh
• Reducing real power: kW
• Reducing reactive power: kVar

In addition to reducing energy consumption, CVR technology increases the life expectancy of equipment. All electrical equipment is designed to operate at +/- 5% of their rated valued. Voltage optimization ensures that equipment is operating at the lower limit, which increases the life expectancy of equipment. For example, after Science World installed the Harmonizer-AVR, they doubled the life of their exterior light bulbs on their geodesic dome, and went from having to change the bulbs once a year to once every two years.

Overall, Conservation Voltage Regulation benefits both the end user – through power savings and improved equipment efficiency – and utilities – through reduced power losses. CVR benefits both groups by reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

For more information about Legend Power’s Conservation Voltage Regulation technology, download our technical brochure (PDF) or watch our corporate video:

Mike Harcourt is the former premier of British Columbia (1991 -1996), mayor of Vancouver (1980 – 1986) and city councilor.

Between 1996 and 2004, he was appointed by the Prime Minister to serve as a member of the National Round Table on the Environment and Economy and Chaired the Urban Sustainability Program. Mike is an Honorary Chair of the International Centre for Sustainable Cities, and Co-Chair of the International Panel of Advisors.

Mike received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service in 2005 and was awarded the Canadian Urban Institute’s Jane Jacobs Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.

In addition to his achievements, Mike has also written 3 books: Mark Harcourt: A Measure of Defiance; Plan B: One Man’s Journey from Tragedy to Triumph (with John Lekich); and City Making in Paradise: Nine Decisions that Saved Greater Vancouver’s Livability (with Ken Cameron and Sean Rossiter).

Mike is an active advocate for sustainability and has been a member of Legend Power’s board for 8 years.

At Legend Power we are noticing an interesting shift in attitudes about energy efficiency. Instead of choosing energy efficiency for environmental reasons only, companies are now talking about the financial benefits of doing so.

In fact, newspapers are now covering this angle more easily given the industry data available that reinforces the financial sense of going green. The Wall Street Journal reported on January 6 that, according to a new study from venture capital firm Good Energies Inc., half of non-residential buildings will be green by 2015.

In particular, WSJ is referring to results released in November 2009 by Gregory Kats, managing director of Good Energies. The results of Kats’ two-year independently funded study are available in a book called Greening Our Built World.

According to the Wall Street Journal:

Kats and his partners interviewed 100 architects working on 170 green non-residential buildings, mostly located throughout the U.S. He also obtained information from the USGBC, the American Institute of Architects, the American Public Health Association, the National Association of Realtors, BOMA International, the Federation of American Scientists, the Real Estate Roundtable, the National Association of State Energy Officials, Enterprise Community Partners and the World Green Building Council.

The interesting shift in attitude here is that “Green Buildings”–buildings that use fewer resources to build and to sustain—are commonly thought to be too expensive to attract builders and buyers. But the costs are not as high as expected.

Kats’ study provides detailed findings on the costs and financial benefits of building green. According to the study, green buildings cost roughly 2% more to build than conventional buildings—far less than previously assumed—and provide a wide range of financial, health and social benefits. In addition, green buildings reduce energy use by an average of 33%, resulting in significant cost savings.

The study provides a large enough, detailed enough body of data to say that green building is very cost-effective and “it reduces risk in a number of areas including health, exposure to energy and water prices and obsolescence,” says Kats.

In addition for real estate investors, energy efficiency measures, whether introduced at the building stage or in retrofits, enhance real estate portfolios

A new report, “Energy Efficiency in Real Estate Portfolios: Opportunities for Investors” (PDF), was commissioned by Ceres and authored by the responsible investment group of the investment consulting business Mercer.

The report draws on key industry and academic research on building efficiency’s economic impacts. It also shows that “proven, existing efficiency technologies — in everything from lighting to climate control and more — can unlock the untapped reserves of efficiency gains buried in many real estate holdings” (Source: GreenerBuildings, December 24, 2009)

Those gains would be a boon to real estate investors’ bottom lines—both direct property owners like large pension funds and smaller investors who primarily hold real estate securities.

So whether it’s making a new building less power-hungry or conserving energy in an existing building, both efforts combat climate change and leverage efficiency to achieve cost and risk reductions.

For more information, see our case studies from industry leaders showing the positive impacts of voltage optimization on power and electrical costs.

Read Case Studies

• IKEA Richmond Saves 7% on Electricity
• Honda Canada reduces power costs by 6%
• Science World’s Energy Conservation Efforts Reduce in Electricity Costs by 8.5%

The Legend Power Harmonizer has received the 2005 Canadian Energy Efficiency Grand Prix Award and been recognized under the Energy Star Partner program.

As facility managers and electrical engineers in commercial and industrial facilities, we are often asked to consider power conservation. We are used to thinking of this issue in terms of lights, air conditioning motors, industrial motors and other devices that consume electricity running at 120 volts (or a multiple of that). However, all of these devices are built to withstand a range of fluctuation in the public power grid that can lead to higher and lower voltages being delivered to the customer’s facility.

In reality, there is an optimal minimum voltage range below 120 volts where lights, motors, and other electrical equipment will operate with no perceptible effect on their practical performance. For example, at 114 volts the electrical loads mentioned above will generally operate with less waste, less heat, longer life, and a lower carbon footprint. Plus, since they are using 114 volts instead of 120 volts, they also consume less energy.

There are two key factors stopping us from delivering the minimum optimal voltage and consistently achieving maximum electrical energy efficiency in commercial and industrial facilities:

1. The physics of the power grid
A substation feeds electrical power to a number of facilities. Since there are inherent inefficiencies or “leaks” (line loss) along any length of cable run, the power company must deliver more voltage than is required to the buildings closest to the substation, so that facilities furthest from the substation will receive at least the minimum rated voltage. As a result, it is impossible for the power company to deliver the same, consistent and efficient voltage level to each facility.

2. The fluctuations in the power grid
Power supply is like DSL High speed internet – the more users on a line, and the more power each user wants, the greater the effect those users have on the actual power delivered to each individual. In other words, at peak use times the voltage to your facility drops, just like the speed of your internet drops during peak times. Since the power company must always deliver enough electricity to allow for “peak demand,” the voltage being delivered at non-peak times to your facility can rise well beyond what is efficiently required.

If a commercial or industrial facility measured their incoming voltage and found that it was quite high, they could install a transformer that would step down the incoming voltage by a certain percentage. This “fixed tap” transformer solution has been available for decades.

However, if the grid power fluctuated down, as detailed in point two above, the percentage reduction is “fixed” and the voltage can drop too low, causing a brown out, which has a visible impact to lighting and which can damage motors and other electrical devices. For this reason, in most cases in North America, fixed tap voltage reduction cannot achieve the best efficiencies while maintaining operational integrity.

The factor that most building owners and facility managers do not realize is that these inherent weaknesses in the general power grid mean that the power company must force feed some of its clients electricity they neither need nor want … but then you, the client, must still pay for that unnecessary power. In short, even though the electrical items in our buildings do not need the higher voltage, and, in fact, that higher voltage reduces the service life of electrical items and creates wasted energy through excess heat, the facility is STILL BILLED FOR THE EXTRA ENERGY.

Legend Power Systems Corp. provides a simple and effective solution that allows qualified commercial and industrial facilities to reduce their voltage to the optimal minimum level, without any worry about going too low when the power grid fluctuated down at peak times.

About Legend Power’s Electrical Harmonizer-AVR for Commercial-Sized Buildings

Legend Power’s Electrical Harmonizer-AVR is a patented and approved commercial/industrial power conservation unit that:

• Saves 6-10% on your facility power bill
• Lowers maintenance costs
• Reduces your facility’s carbon foot print
• Delivers an ROI in 3 years with available incentive funding
• And, can be up and running within a week with no interruption to the building or workers, and absolutely no changes to their work process or environment.

Ask us about ensuring that your facility is no longer receiving, or paying for, voltage that you just do not require.

David Orton
sales@legendpower.com
604.420.1500

Legend Power will complete a detailed audit, at no charge, ahead of the proposal to give you a clear savings figure.

Other Resources
* Have a look at our corporate video to hear what IKEA, Science World, and BC Hydro say firsthand about how effective the Legend Power system is for them.

Being Power Smart is more than just a residential responsibility. Best practices for commercial and industrial energy management ensure we make sustainable choices at an environmental, social and economic level.

The following tips are ways that you can commit to:

• Developing sustainable communities
• Saving on your energy bill
• Extending the lifetime of your equipment.

Energy Saving Tips

1. Turn lights off if you are the last person to leave a meeting room or when you leave your office for lunch.

2. Put your computer to sleep when leaving your desk for more than 15 minutes, or turn off the monitor.

3. Dress appropriate for the weather. In the summer wear loose-fitting clothing to keep cool and bring a sweater in the winter to keep warm. Cooling and Heating systems consume large amounts of energy in large buildings; don’t be the person who turns the AC on high while wearing a sweater in the middle of summer.

4. Take advantage of the sun, it is free after all. Energy efficient skylights and windows bring in natural light, allowing lights to be turned off. Not only is natural light free, but people are generally happier in a naturally lit building. Happy people work harder and spend more.

5. Use energy-efficient windows. Windows let more than just light in, older single pane windows also let in, and out, heat. New energy efficient windows keep heat in during the winter and heat out during the summer.

6. Use Energy Management Software. If a problem goes unnoticed, how can it be fixed? Energy management software points out large energy leaks in a building; from there it is as simple as plugging the leaks.

7. Know your incoming voltage. Many buildings have power quality issues, causing equipment to run inefficiently, which can result in energy waste. A poor power factor or voltage on the high side of 120 volts needs to be fixed.

8. Think ROI. Energy efficiency retrofits with a payback period of 5 years or less should be a no brainer.

9. Be aware of all energy retrofit incentive programs. Your utility and the government have a number of incentive programs available to help reduce the initial capital cost of an energy efficiency retrofit. Passing up on incentive funding is like saying no to free money.

10. Brag a bit. If you have helped to create an energy efficient building, tell people about it with pride. But there is a catch, when people ask how you saved so much energy, you have to tell them–no secrets allowed.

ABOUT LEGEND POWER
Legend Power Systems Inc. is an electrical energy conservation company that uses a patented device to achieve significant energy conservation through voltage optimization. Installation results have yielded measurable reductions in electric bills, maintenance costs and greenhouse gases.

Legend Power helps facilities reduce their environmental footprint while increasing their competitiveness through cost effective and sustainable investments in energy efficiency.

Find out if the Electrical Harmonizer-AVR is right for your facility.

How it Works.

Contact:
David Orton
sales@legendpower.com
604.420.1500

What are the most innovative ideas and companies that you have discovered in the green space?

At Legend Power, we see some breakthrough ideas in the green and clean tech space that are noteworthy, in particular deals in algae, geothermal, biodiesels, PV, wind, tidal and hydro.

Here are 5 Canadian companies providing great power conservation solutions:

1. Pulse™ Energy. Energy Management Software

Pulse Energy’s software collects, analyzes and communicates real-time energy intelligence for building operators and management, enabling savings of 5-25% with improved operating efficiency.

2. PowerKure™
PowerKure™ is an integrated modular system that is custom engineered for each facility to effectively and economically optimize power quality, providing guaranteed energy savings, through reductions in power demand and power consumption. (KVA/KW and KWH)

3. REGEN Energy
REGEN provides commercial, industrial, institutional, and multi-unit residential facilities with the ability to reduce their electrical demand charges by at least 25-30% using a practical, cost effective approach!

4. Fifth Light
Fifth Light offers advanced Lighting Solutions that conserve energy, improve lighting quality and simplify facility management while generating an attractive return on investment.

5. Legend Power
Legend Power is an electrical energy conservation company that uses a patented device to achieve significant energy conservation results through voltage optimization. Installation results have yielded clearly measurable reductions in electric bills, maintenance costs and greenhouse gases. Legend Power helps utilities and facilities reduce their environmental footprint while increasing their competitiveness through cost effective and sustainable investments in energy efficiency. View “Legend Power Corporate Video.”