Lose the greenwash when the tank is in the red

Our Variable Speed Drives installed

With the serious threat of energy rationing on the ten year horizon, using less energy is a smart move from both a cost and business continuity perspective. Against this background, the new Cibse President David Fisk called for real performance and less greenwash in building services systems (Incoming Cibse President Calls for Benchmarking, June 2012). He’s right; the UK needs more than greenwash to manage our energy crisis. And make no mistake; the global fuel tank is in the red.

We need to implement tried and tested energy saving technologies such as variable speed drives (VSDs), rather than make spurious claims about the efficacy of unproven technologies. VSDs are proven; 90% of the lifetime cost of an electric motor comes from its energy consumption. This can be demonstrated by installing a VSD on a pool motor application; a speed decrease of 10% has been shown to produce an average energy saving of 27.1%. A relatively small speed change controlled by a VSD produces a large fall in energy consumption.

So instead of waiting for a panacea energy saving contraption to be invented, businesses should ditch the greenwash and get to the core of the problem. VSDs may be simple devices that we’ve had for many years, but the fact of the matter is they are fit for purpose.