Efficient Design
Why adopt efficient design?
Companies are highly encouraged to look into energy and resource (e.g. water, gas) efficiency early at the design stage of a facility for a wide variety of reasons:
- Many system design synergies can yield substantial cost and efficiency improvements but are only available early in the design process before system choices are locked in.
- Facilities, on-site utilities and supply utilities tend to be oversized at the expense of energy efficiency. By designing a facility to make efficient use of electricity, industrial gas, water and air, dramatic savings can be achieved in resource use and the capital cost of the systems.
- The emphasis usually switches to production yield and quality, not resource efficiency, once the facilities are built.
- Incorporating energy efficiency at the design stage is the most cost effective approach to improving energy performance of the facility. The efficiency of energy, water, industrial gas use can drive energy and capital cost savings (due to reduced capacity needs) in upstream utility systems, potentially leading to lower capital cost of the facility. Efficiently designed systems lower energy, operating & maintenance costs later on.
- It is far less expensive to introduce energy efficient measures at the design stage than to undertake retrofit measures later. Retrofits are more difficult, expensive and intrusive to production.
- Reducing thermal loads and stress lowers maintenance costs and improves uptime, delivering top-line value as well as cost savings.
What is a Design Workshop?
Energy efficient facilities are most effectively developed through a focused and collaborative design effort, or brainstorming session, known as a design workshop or design “charrette”, involving various stakeholders from the very beginning of the project.
The design workshop is an intensive, highly integrative and multi-disciplinary 2-3 day session that brings together multiple internal experts (“home team”) and external experts (“visiting team”) at the design stage.
The “home team” can include, but not limited to the following:
- Building owner
- Building users
- Building operator
- Project Manager
- Facility directors
- Facility operators
- Architect
- Interior designer
- Electrical engineer
- Mechanical engineer
- Contractors
The “visiting team” is the energy consultant that provides expert facilitation and process support; as well as technical expertise (general and specialised) to the design workshop.
By fostering cross-disciplinary interaction, design workshops encourage the exchange of ideas and information, thereby allowing truly integrated design solutions to take form and generating solutions that would otherwise remain obscured by conventional thinking.
A design workshop requires 3-4 months preparation for maximum success and it is the most effective very early in design phase.
What are the Outcomes of a Design Workshop?
The design workshop produces identified technical opportunities in energy and resource efficiency (e.g. water, gases); waste reduction and reuse; cost-effective supply of energy, water, etc.
The other outcomes of the design workshop include conceptual designs for high-efficiency systems; and preliminary estimates of net cost and payback period.
Were there successful outcomes from Design Workshops?
Texas Instruments, U.S.
In November 2004 in Texas, Texas Instruments (TI) broke ground on a state-of-the-art, 100,000 m2 chip fab (with 20,000 m2 of clean room), designed with ideas generated in a design workshop facilitated by the Rocky Mountain Institute, a non profit organisation based in the USA.
TI predicts the new facility will cut energy use by 20% and water use by 35%, compared with TI's previous wafer fab. The savings come about half each from better tools and their direct support equipment and from smaller, more efficient utilities and building systems.
Energy-saving measures also improve key operating factors (yield, setup time, flexibility and construction time). The energy and water savings did not change the capital cost. The total cost per square foot was 30% below normal.
What are the Incentives for Design Workshops?
Companies that wish to conduct design workshops can apply for the Design for Efficiency Scheme (DfE), which co-funds 80% of the qualifying costs or S$600,000, whichever is lower.
