When energy saving is not a priority for commercial companies

I read an article in the trade press last week about North London football club Tottenham Hotspur cutting its carbon emissions by 400 tonnes in a single year and at the same time implementing energy saving methods that resulted in the club being around 25% cheaper to run. It got me thinking: much as businesses (and business owners in particular) like to be ethical, it’s that last bit – the 25% cost saving – that spurs (pardon the pun) them on to take energy saving seriously.

But is it possible, as commercial organisation, to maintain high standards of quality and customer service while saving energy? This is a special dilemma for power protection customers whose primary need is to provide a continuous source of critical power and ensure business continuity in the face of potential power cuts and power problems. Can energy saving really become a priority for them?

The Premiere League club has been working in conjunction with the 10:10 scheme, an organisation set up by film director Franny Armstrong in 2009 after making the iconic climate change film, starring the late, great Pete Postlethwaite as a man living in the devastated future of 2055, looking back at old footage from our time and asking: why didn’t we stop climate change when we had the chance?

10:10’s premise, rather than aiming at staggering targets favoured by ambitious policy-makers of 80% carbon cuts by 2050, is to try and get everyone to aim for 10% carbon reductions per year?

Tottenham employs high-powered sun lamps to keep the turf at its White Heart Lane ground in premier league condition all year round. Giant banks of flood lamps are also used to illuminate the on-pitch action on gloomy winter days or evenings. The club reduced its hefty electric bill by firstly replacing 136 high-powered lights with energy efficient models and although it worked out as a six-figure investment, it is this that has enabled the 25% reduction in running costs.

New lighting controls, including time switches and motion sensors have also helped save on energy. Heating controls on training ground washing machines were deployed, alongside push taps to help save energy and water. The club also analysed and revised its transportation needs to lessen its carbon footprint and now directors take public transport to away games instead of private jets. Fans are playing their part to: after a big publicity push, the majority arrive at matches by public transport rather than private car.

Working alongside The Carbon Trust, 10:10 has developed an Energy Saving checklist offering simple tips to business such as:

• Make someone within your organization responsible for energy saving initiatives and ask them to draw up an action plan.

• Measure, log and analyse how much energy you are using and where it is being guzzled. Energy bills may not give you enough information and you may want to look into some form of energy management.

• Conduct an energy walk round, which will not only confirm the second point but give you a visual picture of where energy is being used in your business.

• Upgrade business critical equipment – old equipment is much less energy efficient and will guzzle far more power than new or modern appliances.

• Switch off lights once there is enough daylight to work by, or in rooms or areas that are not being used. This may seem obvious but you’d be surprised at how many lights stay on in empty toilet cubicles all day!

There are ten tips in all and I won’t include them all but this one is a particular favourite:

• do not locate photocopiers in air-conditioned areas as the heat it will produce will make the air-conditioning work harder and user more electricity.

So, the answer to my earlier question (it would seem) is a resounding “Yes”. If you would like information about energy saving eco UPS, visit our website.

Where can you get help in choosing the one that’s right for you?

If you are in the market for UPS power protection – and this is the first time you have thought about it – trawling the internet for information can be frustrating and you could end up more confused than ever. It’s a big subject, and a specialist one.

UPS manufacturers are a great source of information but much of it is either technical (geared towards electrical engineers rather than end users) or biased towards a certain type of technology.

If you’ve already got a UPS installed, you’ll have a good idea (based on past experience) of what to look for when it comes to upgrading or replacing it. However, in the past few years the power protection industry has undergone an evolutionary process of change and development of UPS products, solutions and services, driven largely by the desire for greater energy efficiency and lower lifetime costs of UPS systems overall. Advances in technology and manufacturing have resulted in smaller, more powerful products with fewer component parts and which are more reliable and sophisticated than their forebears.

Which UPS should I choose and where can I go for objective information?

Sadly, there are few places you can get information like this for free. UPS specialist resellers and manufacturers are running businesses from which they need to make a profit and they usually either charge for consulting advice or give it for free if they can then sell you their products. You may not be at the stage where you are ready to choose your UPS manufacturer or their products so, what can you do?

As luck would have it, we’ve written a book: The Power Protection Guide – the design, installation and operation of uninterruptible power supplies, which was published in 2007. It’s available from Amazon, all good booksellers and our own estore. At 290 pages, it details all of the elements you need to think about in terms of UPS power protection – and although our publisher insists on a cover price of £28-95, it offers great value for money and may even save money for you in the long-term. Armed with knowledge, you will be in a better position to get what you need and negotiate a good price.

Covering such items as criticality, UPS topologies and designs, UPS sizing and selection, online UPS designs, building in UPS reliability and resilience, batteries and alternative UPS back up solutions, UPS and generators, UPS monitoring and remote control, UPS logistics and installation, UPS warranties, maintenance and service, the book provides a handy tool for anyone responsible for assuring the delivery of critical power supplies for the continuity of their business – whatever business that might be. We’ve purposely incorporated a detailed index to make it easy to reference and appended some useful forms and worked examples. It is illustrated throughout with clear diagrams, charts and graphs.

I read an interesting article in the trade press last week about the potential of Lithium Ion (Li-ion) batteries for UPS applications. It seems Li-ion battery manufacturers have done much to improve the design and manufacture of these batteries and addressed some of the design flaws that have so far struck them off as a serious contender in UPS applications. Could it be that they are at last taking the potential growth in the UPS market seriously?

Reports so far focussed on the USA market suggests the market for Li-ion batteries will grow 23% per annum until 2016.

Li-ion batteries have been slow to penetrate the UPS market. They are more readily employed in portable consumer electronics, primarily because of safety concerns. Lithium is highly flammable so if the batteries are exposed to over charging or over currents, it can present a fire hazard. Cost has also been an issue (they can be 5-8 times more expensive than VRLA equivalents). Many countries do not allow Li-ion batteries to be transported by air, only overland or by sea. They are more expensive to produce than Sealed Lead Acid batteries, more commonly found in UPS systems. Due to their chemical make up and design, Li-ion batteries can present a significant fire hazard if not carefully monitored.

On the plus side, however, Li-ion batteries display rather better ‘green’ credentials than their VRLA counterparts. They are also lighter in weight and take up less space than comparably-rated VRLA battery sets (some reports suggest by as much as 50%). Li-ion batteries can offer longer back up times at higher discharge currents and are said to be less temperature sensitive (VRLA batteries require a constant ambient temperature to preserve battery life). Li-ion batteries can tolerate more and faster discharge cycles. They have no gas emissions and can operate in a totally sealed environment.

Some Lithium Ion manufacturers are now designing batteries with charging and monitoring circuits built in, which control battery charging and protect against hazardous situations from developing.

I can see the potential of Li-ion batteries and will be watching with interest how the market develops. However, VRLA batteries have been in use in UPS systems for a long time, the technology is stable and they are cost-effective. There are battery alternatives (such as flywheels and fuel cells) that are much more exciting and in my view offer a more significant alternative to batteries but a I cannot see VRLAs being replaced in UPS installations by any other battery technology anytime soon.

A couple of weeks ago, a bomb disposal team safely exploded a World War II mine, which was on-site at the Greater Gabbard Wind Farm off the coast of Suffolk. It turned out to be a 680 kilo German ground mine and an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) was brought in by ex-Royal Navy explosives experts to blow it up.

There are many areas around the British coast were unexploded ground mines from World War II are known to exist. Unlike other types of mine, or floating mines, ground mines are not designed to explode on impact, instead they employ magnetic sensors to detect the presence of an enemy submarine or ship overhead, which makes them exceptionally difficult to detect.  Areas of heavy shipping traffic, such as ports and marinas have been cleared but old mines are becoming a problem now in the light of the off-shore wind sector’s rapid expansion.

Ex-Navy and/or privately-owned bomb disposal teams are now busier than ever clearing sites for the development and expansion of new wind farms.

This article got me thinking about how important it is before any major power protection installation project to prepare the ground first with a thorough site survey. It’s extremely unlikely that land-based businesses on industrial parks or in office blocks will stumble upon unexploded bombs but you’d be amazed at how much material and information, relevant to the installation, surveys unearth.

In a tight economy, the temptation may be to either not carry out a survey at all or to massively scale it down. The installation time and costs saved as a result of the information contained within a site survey almost always far outweigh the time and costs associated with carrying it out.

A site survey will reveal all sorts to do with the complexity of the project and installation, such as logistics, environment and location and electrical installation. It covers a set of standard criterion that identify site-specific actions and information and areas requiring further investigation, all of which is documented in a formal report (a copy of which will be given to the customer for their files).

There is a long list but some of the issues a site survey can reveal are:

• The final positioning of the UPS and requirement for cranes or specialist lifting gear (stair climbers, for example).
• The existence of a low bridge on route to site and requirement to find an alternative route.
• The need for local authority and law enforcement permissions to close roads for equipment unload.
• The existence of floor loading weight restrictions (which can occur in computer rooms with raised floors) and need for reinforcement.

Nothing should ever be assumed or taken for granted when surveying a site. Wherever possible it should be completed with a site representative present, whose local and site knowledge will be invaluable. Visit our website for more details.

The importance of power conditioning within a power system cannot be underestimated and it is a little-known but very important feature of a UPS system.

At its source, mains power is ‘unclean’ and generally badly behaved and this can cause all sorts of problems within an internal power distribution system and for any equipment attached to it. It can ultimately lead to costly and disruptive breakdown or system crashes.

Power Problems

Alongside total blackouts and power failures, power problems manifest in several different ways:

• sags – short duration voltage reductions in mains power supply, which can cause computer equipment to malfunction and lead to data loss.
• Brownouts – longer duration reduction in mains power supply voltage, which can also result in equipment failure.
• Surges – these are short duration voltage increases, which can lead to system crashes from activated automatic cut-out protection within the equipment. Surges can also cause wear and tear and general equipment degradation over time.
• Spikes and transients – are fast-moving, high energy bursts (in excess of 6kVA in some instances). They last only a few milliseconds but can cause widespread and costly damage to equipment and motherboards.
• Electrical Noise – electrical noise exists in all electrical systems and if not filtered out can disrupt the operation of circuits and equipment and cause damage.
• Harmonics – harmonic pollution is a problem associated with proliferation of SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supplies) being connected to electrical distribution networks. Harmonics can cause distortion of the mains power supply voltage, overheating of building wiring circuits and nuisance tripping of breakers.

Power conditioners within a UPS system are designed to attenuate spikes, transients and electrical noise. But in environments where these problems are most severe, such as in industrial settings, for example, other types of power conditioner and/or filter may also be employed. Constant Voltage Transformers (CVTs) can be used to stabilise voltage over a wide input voltage window. This is a type of Ferro resonant design.

Other types of protection include AVS (automatic voltage stabilisers), which can protect from sags, brownouts and surges. TVSS (transient voltage surge suppressors) can be employed to guard against transient voltages and high-energy spikes. Some also have filters that protect from spikes, transients and electrical noise. Standard filters and filter strips may be employed in some installations to protect against spikes, transients and electrical noise but rather than attenuating performance, they ‘clamp’ peak voltages to predefined, acceptable levels.

A power quality review, prior to embarking on a power protection project, upgrade or change to your power protection plans, is recommended as it will reveal essential information pertinent to the design and configuration of your new system. For more information, visit our website.

There’s been a lot written in the press recently about Ofgem’s move towards cleaning up and radically reforming the energy industry. The regulator launched a retail market review earlier this year. In early August came the announcement that it was paving the way towards an enforceable standard format for utility bills and ensuring transparency for consumers.

The energy watchdog set about undertaking market research to identify best practices, language and formats to support enhanced clarity and engagement, which will form the new rules for billing and identify those key words or phrases that either help or hinder consumers in understanding their bills, annual statements and price rises.

It is often the case that energy users (business and consumer) fail to get the best deal because they are confused by what’s on the bill and are ‘bamboozled’ by the technical detail presented. Many energy users are resigned into a state of acceptance of what they are getting – whether or not it is the cheapest and best tariff for them. The number of tariffs being offered by energy companies has increased from 180 in 2008 to around 400 in 2011.

The ‘big six’ (British Gas, Npower, E.on, EDF, Scottish Power and Scottish and Southern Energy) energy companies are being blamed for monopolising the market through complex billing and tariff practices, not allowing consumers to make more informed decisions and allowing smaller companies to be competitive in the market. Ofgem is pushing for a market overhaul in 2012.

Accountants BDO have been brought in to examine how the profits of the big six are calculated to find out if retail profits have been deliberately underestimated to justify higher energy bills. Ofgem claims it has evidence that the big six have increased prices in response to rising commodity costs more quickly than they reduced them when those costs fell. Five of the big six have recently announced price increases equivalent to 15% for the year.

Given the amount of money businesses spend on electricity, can they really afford to wait until next year to reduce their bills?

At Riello, we employ a team of UPS Technical Energy Consultant (TEC). These are experts in the role power protection plays in business continuity planning and they can help customers design, install and manage the most energy efficient power solution that will save on energy bills from a wide range of Uninterruptible Power Supplies and Standby Power Systems, generators and automatic transfer switches. We can also carry out energy surveys and advise you on how to reduce your energy use. For more detail, visit our website or follow the links above.

A flywheel is a rotating mechanical device that employs a spinning mechanism to store energy that can be used as an alternative to mains electricity to power equipment. Its history dates back to Neolithic man and ultimately the invention of the wheel itself.

The wheel provided a means of transport, a way to spin wool and make textiles and a way (via a water wheel) of grinding crops for food production.

In the Industrial Revolution, James Watt contributed to the development of the flywheel in the steam engine, and his contemporary James Pickard used a flywheel combined with a crank to transform reciprocating motion into rotary motion.

Flywheel energy storage systems store kinetic energy (energy produced by motion) by constantly spinning a compact rotor in a low-friction environment. When short-term back-up power is required when utility power fluctuates or is lost, the rotor’s inertia allows it to continue spinning and the resulting kinetic energy is converted to electricity.

Flywheel UPS offer many advantages for certain applications over traditional battery-based UPS, although it’s important to point out that there is a distinct market for both. Flywheel UPS offers increased efficiency, greater environmental credentials (no emissions, no battery disposal), compact footprint (up to 50% less space requirements than battery-based systems), lower TCO (total cost of ownership) and almost instantaneous recharge.

In July we unveiled details of our new Master MHF series, which is a modular, scalable, power protection system incorporating flywheel UPS technology. It is ideal for eco-targeted data centres looking to get the most out of their investment in UPS.

The new Master MHF series offers 99% efficiency and is Smart-grid ready. It also boasts a 20-year design life. More details can be found on our website.

I read with interest a couple of articles this month in Marketing Week, entitled Studies Show it Pays to be Ethical and The Only Way is Ethics (nice pun).

Basically, recent studies carried out among consumers have established a link between business’s ethical credentials and the preferences of affluent, ethical consumers to buy their products. One study found that 91% of consumers take ethics into account when purchasing products.

A couple of other interesting pointers that grabbed my attention are that perception is just as important (or perhaps more so) than actual environmental performance. Top brands that scored higher on ethical perception than performance did rather better in consumers minds than other brands that are actually more ethical in their actions but not as vociferous.

Wealthy consumers of FMCG are happy to pay premium prices for goods and services they perceive to be ethical but I suspect it’s a little different in the business world. In business, cost is still king. Companies need to be seen to be ethical and environmentally sensitive but it cannot come at a cost. Products have to be ‘green’, ethical and cost less. The bottom line is as sacred as ever, especially in a struggling economy.

As a UPS manufacturer, we invest £thousands into researching how to make UPS more eco-friendly and in developing new products accordingly so that our customers genuinely use less energy and can be kinder to the environment at the same time. More details are available on our website.

The CBI (Confederation of Business and Industry) is up in arms about the Government’s proposed Carbon Tax and claims that energy-intensive manufacturers should be exempt from it, or the Government will risk making the UK an uncompetitive market where heads of heavy industry and manufacturing will no longer wish to base their businesses.

In a report (Protecting the UK’s Foundations: a blueprint for energy-intensive industries) published at the end of August, the CBI stressed that the Government must ensure energy-intensive manufacturers are not undermined by rising costs and climate change energy policies. These companies form a crucial part of the manufacturing and supply chain alongside employing a quarter of a million people and accounting for £15bn of UK GDP. As such, so says the CBI, they need protection from laws like the carbon floor price, which would penalise many of them in their manufacturing processes.

Such companies make a diverse range of products such as steel and chemicals required for wind turbines and low-rolling resistance tyres.

The CBI wants the Government to find a way of moving businesses to a low carbon economy while exempting certain ‘carbon-heavy’ companies from so doing. How can that be possible?

Thanks to our Master Plus Industrial range of rugged and energy efficient UPS, at least energy-intensive manufacturers can enjoy efficient and cost-effective power protection. Based on our leading Master Plus UPS range, the Master Plus Industrial is designed for tough installation environments, such as petrochemical manufacturing sites, where operating conditions (levels of vibration, mechanical stress, ambient temperatures and dust ingress) require a more robust and industrialised UPS design. We’ve incorporated a number of design features to make it applicable to this market, such as:

• HIGH Icc
Master Plus Industrial has a higher short-circuit current (Icc = 3In) making it suitable for loads with high current peaks, during switch-on or a load step-change.
• 220V DC VOLTAGE
- the UPS has a 220Vdc bus bar (from 108 to 114 blocks) – a common standard for industrial applications.
• REDUNDANT VENTILATION
- Master Plus Industrial has 100% redundant ventilation with 50% fan loading at nominal load. Each fan is monitored for failure to ensure optimum temperatures are maintained.
• IP (Ingress Protection) Rating Various IP protection levels are available on request.

For more details visit our website.

It has come to my attention, lately, that there are a number of data centres in operation running UPS ten years old or more. While UPS can have long design lives in excess of this figure, installing high-end servers, such as Blade servers, which offer greater efficiency, lower PuE and smaller footprints can pose a serious problem for older UPS.

I understand the need to get more from less and high-end servers offer that, but without reviewing the entire power protection system before installing such equipment, data centres are opening themselves up to being vulnerable to the incompatibilities between the power handling features of their old UPS system and new server equipment.

Power factor (pf) is one issue. Older UPS may be designed to work with equipment with a lagging pf, whereas new Blade servers offer a leading pf load. In some instances this incompatibility may not be obvious (as the UPS will continue to power the load) until there is a power cut and the UPS load increases, at which point it may fail. It could also affect the UPS’s control loop stability and cause unstable operation and load transients. The UPS’s ability to detect and isolate a failed UPS in a parallel-redundant system may also be compromised and battery life decreased. Also, the measuring and monitoring of power data may be affected and thus any information supplied unreliable.

Over the last decade manufacturers have made huge advances in designing UPS systems and equipment specifically for these dynamic and high-end environments that offer well-matched power handling capability and much higher power efficiencies.

It is important to stress that whenever new equipment is brought into a data centre, its effect on upstream and downstream equipment, including UPS, should be considered.

Riello has recently extended our range of energy saving data centre power systems by introducing a 60kVA and an 80kVA into our Multi Sentry range. The range has been designed for high-density demands and high-pressure environments, such as data centres and telecommunications applications. It offers unbeatable energy efficiency in online mode, which could save up to 50% in energy use per annum when compared with a ten-year-old UPS. It has been designed for environments with limited power capacity, generators and problems associated with harmonics. It has no impact on upstream power supply and acts as a power filter and phase-shift protection device.

Multi Sentry is rated Level 6 on our unique Eco Energy Level Scale and has a small footprint of just 0.4m2. Advanced battery optimisation features extend the average working life of the battery set, thus reducing lifetime management costs. For more details, visit out website.