The Power of the Retrofit: Part 2

A little over a week ago, we highlighted Caterpillar as an example of what can be achieved with an intelligent retrofit.  The project earned LEED certification and the energy savings were well publicized.  But we weren't satisfied.  We know that the most important part of any business case is ROI and payback.  With that in mind, we reached out to Tom Gerike, Engineering Project Team Leader at Caterpillar to learn more.

1) Reports indicate your retrofit achieved an energy consumption reduction of more than 40% resulting in $800k worth of savings. We're always making the business case for sustainable retrofit and renovation; can you give us a sense of the ROI and payback period associated with the retrofit?

We spent approximately $3,000,000 to get this $800,000 in savings for a payback of 3.75 years.

2) Were there primary building systems you knew you could target when planning the retrofit or did you evaluate everything? What was the design process like?  

Primary building systems that were evaluated were the air handlers and air distribution, the chiller plant, and the lighting.  The design process was based on seeing what current equipment was not performing as it should have been and then looking for further improvement opportunities.  A walk-through audit was performed after maintenance improvements were made to determine what kind of engineering changes were needed for the systems.

3) As a result of your design process, what primary building systems were retrofitted? Were core systems retrofitted (HVAC, Lighting, Windows), was this largely a control-based retrofit, or both?

The major areas of work for this project were to convert the building from a constant volume system into a variable air volume system, controls upgrades to convert pneumatic controllers at terminal devices to direct digital controllers, control upgrades to the chiller plant, and the installation of an automated lighting system to schedule the lights on and off.

4) You achieved LEED Gold-EBOM certification for this project. Was LEED certification a primary goal of the project? How did that impact the way you approached the project?  

Yes, LEED certification was a primary goal.  It impacted the approach of the project in the following way.  To get LEED, you need a minimum score on the Energy Star of 69.  We were well below that value, so the energy improvements became a major focus of the project in order to reach that minimum score.  Also, the savings from the energy improvements went to offset the costs of additional changes need to achieve LEED.

5) How long did the project take from internal proposal to completion?  

We worked 2 years on this project.

6) Given the success of this project, are there future Caterpillar sites slated for similar retrofits?

Yes, we are always looking to make energy efficiency improvements that are in line with our enterprise sustainability goals.

Balancing the Board

We lean on our advisory board so much to shape our strategy going forward. Our first stepping stone to our pilot project is publishing a white paper (due out in December) The Business Case for Sustainable Renovation what I love about our board is the diverse personalities and philosophies serve as natural counterweights and help us craft our market strategy.

In one corner we have Chris Hill, who's business-case practicality consistently reminds me that the people who will ultimately write the checks for our renovations usually think with their wallets first and we need to make a strong ROI case to them for why this makes sense.

In the other corner, there's Sara Sweeney, a green building veteran who believes deeply in our responsibility to the planet and our implicit need to make our building stock sustainable for the good of all. Her greenwash radar is turned on high at all times and she consistently reminds us that if we don't accomplish real effieciency gains in our projects and truly help the planet then none of this really matters.

Somewhere between these two intellectual heavyweights is Yahya Henry, I call him silent but deadly on our conference calls because he sits back and listens, and might not say anything for 15 or 20 minutes. Then after I've gone on some monologue about what I think about this and that, he will ask a singular incisive question I hadn't thought about that might challenge me to rethink the entire way I go about things.

Then there's Rich Cartlidge, who's energy for this field of work and infectious desire to solve the legal problems Green Building will cause make him a deeply valued asset on our team.

These calls and emails are of enormous value to me both personally and professionally and while I make the call out to be a heavyweight bout, our discussions are always intelligent and thought provoking without being dirisive, yet another reason I'm so appreciative to my board for all the work they do.