Huron Real Estate Associates
Broome County
Generating savings with On-site Energy Manager
Overview
Dating back as early as 1905, the Huron Real Estate Associates campus is the original birthplace of IBM and offers 3.5 million square feet to commercial and industrial tenants engaged in clean energy manufacturing, data center hosting, professional services, and more. Currently, Huron employs approximately 100 people including security, engineering, accounting, energy, and facilities staff.
The campus receives electricity, natural gas, and city water from off-site providers. A central utility plant is located on-site and provides compressed air, chilled water, and steam for tenant usage. All site utilities are metered through an integrated industrial automation system, iFix, with sensors positioned around the campus.
Goals
- Identify and complete projects to achieve a reduction of 8,503,626 kWh of electricity and 75,184 MMBtu of natural gas in annual energy use.
- Build a cohesive energy team consisting of site engineering, central utility plant/ maintenance supervisors, facilities, and energy staff.
- Make changes to preventative maintenance and training schedules to ensure knowledge of on-site equipment and protocol is understood.
Project at a Glance
Company Name:
Huron Real Estate Associates, LLC
Industry:
Commercial and Industrial Real Estate
Location:
Endicott, New York Site
Size:
3.5 million sq. ft.
Utilities:
Electricity, Natural Gas, Steam Chilled Water, Compressed Air
Annual Electric Savings:
10,964,550 kWh
Annual Natural Gas Savings:
51,404 MMBtu
Check out the Engagement Road Map [PDF]
“Partnering with NYSERDA’S On-Site Energy Manager program has set Huron’s Energy Team up for success by providing continuous support to identify and quantify energy savings projects, while also meeting the site’s financial targets. This program helped enhance our work environment, organization, and profitability. We believe an organization’s investment in energy focused staff can deliver more than bottomline benefits. Huron is looking forward to a continued collaboration with NYSERDA to ensure project progress and cost savings for the future.”
– Molly Pero, Energy Project Manager, Huron Real Estatel Associates, LLC
Results
A total of 57 energy conservation measures were identified by Huron’s Energy Team during the two-year OsEM program. Of these, approximately 22 have been implemented, including cooling tower optimization, air-compressor pressure and size change, exhaust fan optimization, steam trap audit/repair, and campus-wide LED retrofits inclusive of bulb and fixture replacements, as well as removing bulbs/ fixtures (i.e., delamping).
Sharing Success
Employee engagement was a major component of Huron’s initial Energy Management Plan. The company succeeded by incorporating weekly facilities team meetings, suggestion boxes, employee appreciation days, an electronic daily logbook, an energy dashboard in the central utility plant, and the purchase of new equipment (i.e., tablets, TVs for training, advanced water treatment materials, etc.). This expanded communication across the site’s three shifts increasing collaboration on energy projects.
The NYSERDA On-site Energy Manager Program
Through the On-site Energy Manager (OsEM) Pilot Program, NYSERDA cost-shares up to 75% of the cost to hire an OsEM. OsEMs work with companies to develop and implement successful energy and productivity projects. Projects may include operation and maintenance improvements, behavioral changes, energy efficiency upgrades, process improvements, throughput and scrap reduction improvements, and cost management.
Discover how to bring energy costs under control and maximize profitability with NYSERDA.
Visit nyserda.gov/OSEM.