Claus Daniel is a curious guy who is passionate about the environment, saving money and being energy efficient. So, he set out to do what he could to be environmentally friendly in his career as a facilities director.
Curtis Simmons is a senior energy analyst at Tampa Electric who loves learning new technologies and showing customers how to be energy efficient and save money.
Wouldn’t it be great if these guys teamed up? They did, and the rest is history.
The duo’s endeavors began 12 years ago when Claus became the facilities director at the Tampa Bay History Center. With a CEO and board of directors that embraces sustainability and a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver-certified building, the Center was the perfect place for Claus to achieve his energy conservation goals. His first order of business - call Tampa Electric and schedule an in-person commercial energy audit.
During numerous energy audits, Curtis and Claus evaluated the Center’s equipment, performance and processes to see where energy usage improvements could be made and money could be saved. Over the years, Curtis made multiple energy-saving recommendations and identified several Tampa Electric rebates and incentive programs to help the 97,000-square-foot, 4-story Center reduce its energy usage and save approximately $50,000 a year on its utility bill!
According to Claus, “It is always a pleasure to work with Tampa Electric’s Energy Auditing team since they are proactively introducing energy-saving measures and programs to the customer with the client’s best interest in mind.”
Over the course of their partnership, the Center has worked with Tampa Electric on:
- Retrofitting the facility’s lighting system to light emitting diode (LED) technology and installing 30 feet of sun shading on the facility’s windows to lessen the heat load inside.
- Recommissioning the HVAC equipment, controls, and operation perimeters to meet LEED standards.
- Upgrading the Center’s energy management software with a new system that qualified for a rebate within Tampa Electric’s Facility Energy Management System program. This system also enabled the Center to reduce its cooling tower’s water usage by 60%.
- Monitoring services for the Center’s chiller systems.
In the future, Claus hopes to install roof-top solar panels to be more sustainable and save even more money.
Helping the environment and saving money aren’t the only benefits the Tampa Bay History Center has achieved by being energy efficient. At the recommendation of Tampa Electric, the Florida Public Service Commission picked the Tampa Bay History Center as a Triple E Award winner for their superior Energy Efficiency Efforts. As a result of the Center’s efforts, it reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 313.59 tons of carbon dioxide, 1,017.87 pounds of nitrogen oxide and 1,634.76 pounds of sulfur oxide annually.
The Tampa Bay History Center’s achievements demonstrate how partnering with Tampa Electric helped the center become an industry leader in energy efficiency. If your business is ready to save money, conserve energy and get rebates for energy-efficient improvements, schedule your Energy Audit today. Our auditors are eager to analyze your facilities and usage, educate you about our energy-saving programs and help your business achieve its goals.
