ATLANTA — The organizing partners of the Advanced Rooftop Unit (RTU) Campaign (ARC) have announced their award winners for excellence in RTU efficiency. ASHRAE, Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Better Buildings Alliance and Federal Energy Management Program launched the campaign in 2013, and since then over 190 partners have driven reduction in heating and cooling costs of commercial buildings by upgrading over 40,000 rooftop units. As a result, this has saved 4 trillion Btu of energy and $37 million annually, said ARC.

The following organizations were recognized for leadership and excellence in commercial building rooftop unit efficiency. Combined, their estimated energy savings total over 100 million kWh and $10 million per year from efficient rooftop unit replacements, retrofits, and quality management.

• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. General Services Administration, Pizzagalli Properties, and Elman Investors: Highest number of high-efficiency RTU installations by a government organization, 66 RTUs, with an estimated savings of 289,300 kWh/year worth $41,200 annually.

• Walmart Stores Inc: Highest number of high-efficiency RTU installations by a commercial company, 10,032 RTUs, with an estimated 89,000,000 kWh/year worth $8.9 million annually.

• U.S. Navy Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam: Highest number of advanced RTU control retrofits by a government organization, 30 advanced controls retrofits, with an estimated savings 272,000 kWh/year worth $116,000 annually.

• Whole Foods Market: Highest number of advanced RTU control retrofits by a commercial organization, 107 advanced controls retrofits, with an estimated savings of 836,000 kWh/year worth $85,000 annually.

• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. General Services Administration, Pizzagalli Properties, and Elman Investors: Highest number of RTU installations that meet/exceed RTU challenge specification, 66 RTUs, with an estimated savings of 289,300 kWh/year worth $41,200 annually.

• Target: Largest efficiency gain for a single building RTU replacement project, 60 percent installed efficiency gain with 41 percent (108 tons) capacity reduction.

• Target: Largest efficiency gain for a multi-building RTU replacement project, average of 50 percent installed efficiency gain at 40 stores with a range of capacity reduction of 8 to 41 percent, with an estimated savings of 12,729,000 kWh/year worth $1.3 million annually.

• adidas: Most innovative RTU management approach by a participating partner; changed equipment replacement strategy from “replace upon failure” to “proactive replacement” for over 300 stores, starting off with an estimated 25 RTU replacements on 10 stores saving 131,000 kWh/year worth $13,143 annually.

ARC is a national initiative to promote market adoption of high-efficiency HVAC rooftop units. By replacing RTUs more than 10 years old with high-efficiency units and retrofitting other eligible RTUs to high-efficiency units with advanced controls, ARC said buildings can reduce annual HVAC energy consumption 20 to 50 percent and energy costs by up to $3,700 per RTU. Using national averages, this equates to a national savings potential of $6.7 billion dollars and 670 trillion Btu annually.

Publication date: 6/8/2015

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