Energy Demand Load Shifts to Residential Base

Significant GHG emissions reductions are projected Energy demand load shifts to residential base

by Barbara Carss

The energy demand load has shifted in sync with the vast majority of Ontario’s workforce from commercial to home offices, prompting the Ontario government to suspend time-of-use (TOU) pricing during the current COVID-19 related upheaval. Residential, small business and farm customers will be charged the off-peak rate of 10.1 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) throughout the entire day until at least early May, substantially reducing the cost of electricity consumption during the 12 hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

“Reduced peak from office buildings should compensate the increased load from the residential side,” notes Bala Gnanam, vice president, energy, environment and advocacy, with the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Greater Toronto. “Plus, other energy-based activities related to having kids and others home will increase the residential load. So it is only fair that the Ontario Energy Board suspends the TOU and extends the offpeak rate until this is over.”

Alternatively, a significant reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions provides at least one bonus of these unprecedented times. Energy management specialists affirm that it won’t be a simple neutral shift from the commercial to the residential sector. Rather, commercial reductions should far outweigh the uptick residential buildings might cause.

“There has been significant reduction in commercial natural gas use due to ventilation setbacks, but only marginally higher

“The primary focus should be for all of us to comply with requests for social distancing and minimize human interaction until concerns surrounding COVID-19 are lifted.”

residential use due to slightly less setback than usual,” says Michael Lithgow, manager, energy and climate change, at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. “The transportation GHG reduction will be huge, particularly when you factor in air traffic.”

However, Andrew Pride, an energy management specialist who also serves as chair of the standing committee on the National Energy Codes, adds a couple of potential qualifications.

“When it comes to heating, homes typically run more efficiently than commercial buildings, but the large volume of space being heated (at higher-than-usual daytime temperatures) in individual homes will be significantly more than a school or office building,” he says. “Transportation GHGs should be down a lot, although there will be an increase in home deliveries that may somewhat balance out those savings.”

Lithgow and Rob Detta Colli, manager, energy and sustainability, with Crossbridge Condominium Services Ltd., offer some tips for building operators who are now contending with fulltime occupancy in residential buildings or emptier than usual commercial and public facilities. In the multi-residential sector, Detta Colli advises some adjustments to ventilation controls will likely be required.

“I would consider resetting the variable speed drives on the makeup airs to the setting used during the typical occupied hours of the day,” he says. “Many buildings have programmed drives to take in less air during the middle of the night and in between meal times, and even that lesser amount is usually much more than is needed, but we’re in uncharted waters here.”

Otherwise, he doesn’t expect much extra pressure on building systems. “Many buildings deliver cold water with variable speed drives so, if the demand goes up during the day, they’ll just run at a higher horsepower,” Detta Colli explains.

There are still no firm numbers on residential water consumption itself, but he reports one industry consultant has told him to expect a “noticeable” increase. The hot water share of that extra usage will also have some flow-through added GHG emissions. “We may need to wait for the natural gas consumption data to know the GHG impact,” Detta Colli says.

Turning to the commercial and public facilities sectors, there is a plethora of recommended actions for buildings that are now emptier than is customary.

“Put all ventilation and temperature set-points in unoccupied mode, and consider a deeper setback. Power down all unused equipment, computers, printers and lighting. Given this is a longer-than-typical shuttering, look at additional equipment such as network devices, AV equipment, hot water heating and vending machines,” Lithgow instructs. “Consider shutting off the incoming domestic water to some or all of the facility, though the central plant may need to be left on.”

Many of these steps dovetail with the low-cost/no-cost measures that Toronto Hydro’s now cancelled OPSaver program was devised to entrench as common, reflexive operational procedures, notes Scott Rouse, managing partner with the consulting firm, Energy@ Work. He suggests facilities management staff could use some of this unexpected downtime to assess and consider ways to improve energy performance.

“With the facility empty, it could present an opportunity to identify the leaks and phantom power use, and squeeze the baseline down as much as possible,” Lithgow concurs.

Nevertheless, even energy efficiency champions are clear that it’s a secondary priority right now.

“The primary focus should be for all of us to comply with requests for social distancing and minimize human interaction until concerns surrounding COVID-19 are lifted,” Gnanam reiterates.

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