Hawaii Building Engineers Association

From HECO: Public Benefits Fee Begins on January 1, 2009

Public Benefits Fee Begins on January 1, 2009

Beginning with this month’s electric bill, you will see a charge called the PBF Surcharge (Public Benefits Fund Surcharge).  

The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC) recently approved this surcharge to collect funds that will be used to pay for future energy-efficiency programs, including customer incentives such as rebates, to reduce electricity consumption in Hawaii .  

The programs will be administered by a third party administrator, reporting to the PUC.  The PBF Surcharge may be adjusted by the PUC and the amount may be offset to some extent by a decrease in the IRP Cost Recovery Surcharge.

Please click here to see the attached for answers to the questions below.

What is this new line on the bill that says PBF Surcharge?

Why do I have to pay this new charge?

Will it always be this amount or will it change each month?

What does Hawaiian Electric do with this money?

Isn’t this just like another rate increase?  

Haven’t we already been paying for the incentives?  Why is there now another charge?

Is this surcharge going to be there forever or is it just this year?  Does it ever go away?

Why is it based on how much electricity you use?  Why not charge a flat amount for everyone?

2009 EDUCATION SCHEDULE

HBEA’s Education Program consists of three optimal ways to train: 1) Lunch time courses in Basic Electrical, Basic Air Conditioning, Electricity for Air conditioning, Motors and Maintenance Math are one hour per day for five days at Topa Financial Center or another building in the downtown area.  2) Online training with HVACR as listed on the website and TPC web seminars 3) take home courses with an assigned mentor to assist students.

 

Lunch Time Courses

Traditional classroom environment with instructor and books supported by Power Point presentations including practical and hands on applications.

Cost for five day class:      

Math                                    $100 per student

All others                              $200 per student

Books are available for students with option to purchase books through our supplier.

Great networking opportunities.  

Diploma awarded upon completion of course.

1/2 DAY CLASS

Understanding building systems

Course designed to teach Property Managers that need to learn the basic essentials of how systems work.

Topics include:

Roofs – Green                                      Waste water systems

Building envelope                                              Fire protection / life safety

Elevators                                                          Electrical distribution

Air conditioning systems                                    Lighting

Water systems                                      Energy reduction and sustainability

Course book: Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings 9^th edition, Benjamin Stien and John S. Reynolds

Cost: $ 125 per person includes lunch 

Online Courses

HVACR - online testing available to students through a third party – cost is dependent on the course. HBEA offers a 20% savings for members. Normal online cost is $185.00, and requires Internet access and a computer.

Outstanding online learning for those who serve the HVACR industry. Study in-depth content that has been developed to meet NATE (www.natex.org) and ARI (www.ari.org) Competency Guidelines.

 Benefits

Save Time/no travel

Save money

Helpful online experts

Classes/learning that fit your schedule

NATE recognized CEU’s

Highly engaging content

Ideal for the New Generation of technicians

Excellent for group training

In-depth training for HVAC or Facilities Maintenance Technicians in a variety of areas:

HVAC Fundamentals

HVAC Electrical

HVAC Systems

HVAC Gas or Oil Heating

Refrigeration

HVAC Controls

Boilers

Heat Pumps and Accessories

Hydronics

Take Home Courses  

All Basic Electricity, Basic air conditioning, electricity for air conditioning

Take home courses $250 each with assigned mentor.  Test for comprehension.

-         Diploma awarded upon passing grade of 75%. Time limit to complete 6 months.

Certification Test

Certification test available for advancement recognized for proficiency in the maintenance field. Individuals earn Certification by satisfying all the requirements and competency in testing, diagnosing and specializing in areas related to the industry. Certification is verified through written examinations and verification of experience by employers.

Certification is broken down by years in the field and knowledge of the maintenance industry.

All students take the basic Level 3 exam.  Based on scoring, the student is placed in Level A, B, or C.

Level:

(A)    passing level 85% or better

(B)     passing level <85%, >75%

(C)    passing level below 75%

Cost for test is $150.   Students may re-test at a cost of $50 per re-test.

Intermediate Test 

Intermediate test available – after passing Level 3 with a score of 75% or better.

Cost $150.  Re-test $50 per re-test

Categories as follows:

Level:

(A)  passing level 85% or better

(B)  passing level <85%, >75%

(C)  passing level below 75%

Chief Engineer

Chief Engineer test available after passing Level 2 Certification Test with an 85% or better mark and recommendation from employer for Board approval based on experience.  

Retest - $75 - wait period one week.

 All study material available for Certification. Additional cost $150.

All courses for Certification require prerequisites: 1) letter from employer stating employee has met required hours of hands on training in the field. 2) Courses taken equal or better than HBEA required courses, 3) Liability waivers and other documents.

2009 Lunch Time Course Schedule –  12:00 Noon to 1:00pm

Month	Basic Electricity (Day of Month)	Basic Air Conditioning (Day of Month)	Maintenance Math (Day of Month)
January	5
February			9
March	2	9
May	4	11
July	6	13
September	2	9
October			5
November	4	11

GREEN TO GRAY

From Green to Gray – Soaring with Sustainability and Crashing in Defeat Over Reality

 

 

Today owners buy into the aspect of a high performance building to later find that the well spent money is not providing the return on investment or any other benefits. In a recent study, it has been shown that after implementation, a drastic decline in performance results in buildings from the lack of education of property managers and facility managers on their new systems. Owners can expect savings of up to 10-15 percent in energy efficiency with improvements in building maintenance. The lack of continuous commissioning stalls the results. When property managers and facility managers don’t understand their energy management systems and how they work – they fail to work. Without realizing the full potential of the systems, the systems become useless and provide very little savings.  Savings in buildings could be reduced by 40 percent with the right operational strategies in place.

 

Achieving true sustainability requires continuous commissioning and education. Owners and operators must be educated so that they can evaluate building decisions based on life – cycle costing. Monitoring systems and comparing utility costs provides valuable information and states exactly how things are going in relation to energy reduction. High performance buildings require specialized maintenance. Unfortunately, it can be deferred. When deferred, all the costs increase as well. Education will always be cheaper and provide the best results.  

 

Check out ASHRAE Technical Resource Group (TRG) 7, Tools for Sustainable Building Operations, Maintenance and Cost Analysis.

 

 

Current Affairs

The Hawaii Building Engineers Association (HBEA) is growing! Attendance at our educational seminars has been exceptional. The speakers at the July 23rd meeting were Jim Trapp of InControl.  Jim talked about the fire ordinances and how Fire Codes affect buildings. Kehau Mendes talked about 2008 Duct Cleaning Standards from the National Air Duct Cleaning Association; his topic was “What Are You Breathing?” The third speaker was Rob Bellizzi who talked about “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” of variable speed drives. A lot was learned about each of the above subjects and we are looking forward to the next educational seminar.

HBEA is offering take home courses for Professional Certification to engineers with a one-hour lunch time class in Basic Electricity for Non–Electricians. You are invited to sign up for this class. We will also offer classes in Basic Electricity, Motor Fundamentals, a 3-day class (3 hours), and Understanding Building Systems- a 5-day lunch time course for Property Managers. On line courses are also available for HVACR (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration). For details, call 808/531-0444 and ask for Barbara.

ALERTON WEBTALK

ALERTON WEBTALK -Bactalk Product has mobile access. I have accessed through the following platforms. Yes to Pocket PC Yes to IE Windows Mobile v7.0 Yes to Apple OS. Supports the Safari browser on the Macintosh. Tested with Mac OS X Version 10.4.8 (Tiger), JRE Version 1.5.0_06, and Safari Version 2.0.4 (419.3) Yes to Firefox 3.0 My thoughts and experience with Campus Wide Access. Nothing beats a BACNET/IP connection through a laptop especially if your campus is already setup with enterprise wide Wireless Hot Spot access. BYUH is a prime example of a Facilities expanding their Alerton Controls through this media. The Handhelds or Phone is OK but limited and not a duplicate of what is on your front-end BAS Server. WEBTALK supports PDAs and Windows Mobile devices and smartphones. Again nothing beats access through Laptop or PC. At BYUH email alarms through smtp via their Nextel phones is all they need and when alarms happen, their Envision for Bactalk BACNET/IP enabled client PCs are used for complete interface. They saved $$ this way in lieu of our WEBTALK hardware. My thoughts and experience with Web Access. Setting up a VPN with the campus IT dept. and employing Remote Desktop or comparable to access the system from all over the world( Ive accessed and programmed from Guam and the Philippines with no lag- Solid Internet Access was the key) gives you operation as well as full programming capabilites and with current technology, makes propietary software a thing of the past and is more secure and versatile since the Campus IT Dept's Security is the Gatekeeper. Working with MIS/IT Dept. is the key. For PPTP: The server will allow you to have up to 254 outside connections at any given time. If your ISA Server has a Forefront TMG you can have a max of up to 1000 simultaneous connections. Web Access through a Centralized Server that is specialized to handle web page duties and a Front-end Server managing all Global Controllers and their unitary controllers is still the way to go in my opinion. Putting all your eggs one basket...yikes...Global controllers should only be working to Manage their specific site duties and not be bogged down by serving up web pages. This is what the Central Web Server/Front- End Server should be doing and with good IT practice and PC maintenance, it is the easiest, most reliable and the least costly to maintain. One Internet connection instead of multiple internet access nodes at each global controller equates to ease of tshooting by dileneating Enterprise Ethernet issues and BAS Specific Controls. Our Web Appliance- WEBtalk can have up to 150 simultaneous connections. No extra client "seat purchases" required. This product works with the Envision for Bactalk Bacnet Product Line, is Linux Based- Apache Server OS to add yet another layer of piece of mind from Windows haters and is made for Operator ACCESS with no way of outside access to programming. This Feature should never be sold; as programming should only be under the watchful eyes or with permission of the owner/facilities team ( through VPN Remote control or On-Site programming). The customer is ultimately the keeper of the key. Alerton is coming out with Web Enabled Global Controllers soon for sites/projects that require this in their spec and we will be BETA testing Wireless controls soon; which in my view is more valuable to potential customers than something that has already been done. Web Access can be served up many ways. Alerton has the easiest and possibly cheapest to deploy...then again I'm biased. I've never had to deal with Webtalk and Web aaccess issues ... the oldest system out there is the first generation released back in late 2001. Have a great week Alvin Director of Engineering Hawaii Energy Systems, LLC 2290 Alahao Place, Suite # 300 Honolulu, HI 96819 Ph 808-690-0820 Fx 808-679-0062

HBEA and The Gas Company Present 2008 Basic HVAC Systems Course

May 6 - May 29 2008: (Tuesdays & Thursdays)

Hawaii Building Engineers Association (HBEA) & The Gas Company Present:

2008 HVAC Basic Systems Course

Click here for more details and information.

2008

The New Year has arrived 2008 and the Association has also arrived with our great meetings and educational programs. We hope you will join us this year starting with our first meeting in January on the 23rd of the month. Call to RSVP for the meeting. Also we will be having educational classes on Basic Electricity and Basic Air conditioning over lunch hours starting at 11:00 - 12:00 during the week of the 7th, 14th, and 21st call for details. Those interested in the FEB. Meeting for the Storm Water Best Management Practices sign up today. HBEA 808.531.0444 ask for Barbara.

HBEA STANDARDS

ENERGY AUDIT AND ELECTRICAL AUDIT STANDARDS

GUIDELEINES AND STANDARDS

In cooperation with local, state, Federal Regulations and national associations many guidelines and regulations have been written to address both electrical inspections and energy managements programs. At all times the local, state and federal regulations must be meet to insure compliancy with all the organizations. These guidelines are only to be used to help meet the other requirements through an organized auditing process.

Applicable codes, standards and references should be used and some are listed below:

§         National Electrical Code   - NEC

§         National Electrical Manufactures Association – NEMA

§         American Society for testing and Materials – ASTM Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

§         National Electrical Testing Association – NETA

§         American National Standards Institute – ANSI

§         State and local ordinances

§         Insulated Power Cable Engineers Associated – IPCEA

§         Association of Edison Illuminating Companies

§         OSHA Part 1910: Subpart S, 1910.308

Other organizations may be involved as well and are listed below

• Occupational Safety and Health Association
• Hawaii Department of labor
• Hawaii Department of Health
• Environmental Protection Agency

Electrical Industry Standards

All electrical inspections shall be conducted by a responsible person and shall utilize all manufactures instruction manuals applicable to each piece of equipment that will be electrical energized. All personnel shall utilize NFPA 70E requirements when working on electrical equipment.

All equipment found defective shall be reported to the proper building manager. The inspector shall maintain a written report of all tests and present a certified final test report. Any equipment found to be defective will be repaired before any final testing is completed that may skew the reporting statistics. The following test guidelines will be followed and the testing report shall include the following:

• Summary of project
• Description of the equipment
• Description of test
• Test results
• Conclusions and Recommendations
• Appendix, including appropriate test forms
• List of test equipment used and calibration dates

Safety and Precautions

Safety practices will be adhered to and not limited to the following requirements:

§         Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 –OSHA

§         Accident Prevention Manual for Industrial Operations, Seventh Edition, National Safety Council, Chapter 4.

§         

Applicable State and local safety operating procedures

§         NETA Safety/Accident Prevention Program

§         Owner’s Safety practices

§         National Fire Protection Association, NFPA 70E.

All tests shall be performed with the apparatus de-energized except where otherwise specifically required by the nature of the test.

Power circuits shall have conductors shorted to ground by a hot line grounded device approved for the purpose.

All work in all cases shall not proceed until all safety precautions have been investigated and established.

The following programs should be available for each building.

3 Phase Motor Protection

Why Protect Your Three Phase Motors?

Historical data shows that 44% of motor failures are due to overloads and single-phasing.  (Cooper/Bussman’s Protection Handbook Bulletin http://www.bussman.com/library/docs/spd02/SPDSection11.pdf)

This can be serious, especially since a problem isn’t detected until the motor fails.  When that happens, which unfortunately may be on the weekend or night when it is difficult to get a repairman, the consequences may include inconvenience, loss of revenue, extensive repair costs, or irate customers. 

What Causes Overloads

Overloads are caused by excessive load on a motor.  This results in current that exceeds the

FLA

(full load amp) ampacity rating of the motor, resulting in overheating and damage to the motor.  Some causes are improperly sized motors or changes in the loads.

What Causes Single Phasing

Voltage imbalance means that the voltage between the phases isn’t equal.  Single phasing is the worst condition of voltage imbalance because one phase is lost (open) and the current in the other two phases increase to keep the motor running.  The result is overheating and a burnt out motor. 

Some causes are damaged motor starter contact, damaged switch or circuit breaker, open fuse in the circuit breaker, cable failure on the transformer primary or secondary side, or poor connections in terminals (Bussman, p5).

FIX MY PROBLEM

2:30 a.m. The engineer is called a power outage has caused problems with the central plant and other systems around the building. Upon arriving it is found that a lot of the equipment is tripped off line. After starting some equipment it is found that when an additional piece of equipment is started the other equipment starts single phasing. what is the problem? and how do you troubleshoot this problem correctly?