Benchmarking

Water/Wastewater
Treatment Facilities in
Portfolio Manager®
March 2020
ENERGY STAR Partnership

• Align with a trusted brand to communicate your

energy management accomplishments
• Gain access to a rich variety of promotional
materials and the ability to co-brand with
ENERGY STAR
• More information at
energystar.gov/joinbuildings
Agenda

• Introduction to ENERGY STAR® and Portfolio

Manager®
• Live Demonstration of Portfolio Manager for
Water & Wastewater Plants
• Q & A Session

Kathy Martel
The Cadmus Group LLC.
Working in support of the EPA’s ENERGY STAR program
4
Energy Use in Water and Wastewater
Services
• Accounts for 3-4 percent of national energy
consumption
• Produces more than 45 million tons of greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions per year
• Largest energy consumers of municipal
governments, accounting for 30-40 percent of total
energy consumed.
• Energy use is expected to increase by 20 percent in
the next 15 years due to population growth and
stricter regulations that require use of advanced
treatment technologies.
Source – http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/sustain/energyefficiency.cfm (July 2013) 5
Clean Energy Opportunities

• Studies estimate that 15-30 percent of potential

savings are “readily achievable” in water and
wastewater plants. These savings would provide:
• Financial returns in the thousands of dollars, and
• Payback periods of only a few months to a few years.
• Energy efficiency optimization
• Energy recovery
• On-site clean power generation
• Net Zero Energy: generate all power needed
6
Source – http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/sustain/energyefficiency.cfm (July 2013)
How Can Water and Wastewater
Utilities Get Involved Now?
• Get started with ENERGY STAR. Whether you're
new to energy management or ready to take your
program to the next level, EPA’s ENERGY STAR
program can help you accomplish your goals.
• Utilize ENERGY STAR resources to:
• Build an energy program
• Improve energy performance
• Benchmark energy use
• Communicate and educate
• Visit http://www.energystar.gov/buildings to start
improving energy performance today.
7
 A Strategic Approach to Energy
Management

This approach is based on

the successful energy
management practices of
thousands of commercial
and industrial organizations.

8
Benchmarking

A benchmark is a point of reference from which to

make comparisons. 9
The Value of Benchmarking

Consistent
benchmarking in
buildings results in
energy savings and
improved performance.

Source:
http://www.energystar.gov/ia/business/dow
nloads/datatrends/DataTrends_Savings_2
0121002.pdf?8d81-8322 10
Management Tool

Assess whole building Track changes in energy,

energy and water water, greenhouse gas
consumption, plus waste emissions, and cost over
time

Track green power Create custom reports

purchase

Share/report data with Apply for ENERGY STAR

others certification
 Hundreds of metrics, including:

Energy use Water use Waste & 1-100 GHG

Source, site, Water use Materials ENERGY emissions
weather intensity, Waste intensity, STAR score Indirect,
normalized, Water Score diversion rate direct, total,
demand (for Multifamily) avoided
Benchmarking Wastewater Treatment
Plants
• ENERGY STAR 1 – 100 score available
• Based on Water Research Foundation survey
• Accounts for sources of energy used, geography/ weather
• Data Needed:
• Energy use for all fuels - monthly
• Average Daily Influent Flow (million gal/day – MGD)
• Average Influent Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
Concentration - average over 12 months (mg/l)
• Average Effluent BOD Concentration - average over 12
months (mg/l)
• Plant Design Flow Rate - treatment design (MGD)
• Trickle Filtration Process (yes/no)
• Nutrient Removal (yes/no)
13
Benchmarking Drinking Water
Systems
• Can compare energy use per flow to national
median
• Data Needed:
• Energy use for all fuels - monthly
• Average Daily Influent Flow (million gal/day – MGD)
• Property information

14
Common Performance Metrics

• ENERGY STAR Score (Wastewater)

• National Median Site Energy Use Intensity (EUI)
(kBtu/gpd)
• National Median Source EUI (kBtu/gpd)
• Percent Better than National Median Site EUI
• Percent Better than National Median Source EUI
• Site EUI (kBtu/gpd) (energy used at your facility)
• Source EUI (kBtu/gpd) (raw energy include
production, transmission, and delivery losses)
15
Common Performance Metrics (cont.)

• Water or Wastewater Greenhouse Gas Emissions

• Total GHG Emissions Intensity (kgCO2e/gpd)
• Direct GHG Emissions Intensity (kgCO2e/gpd)
• Indirect GHG Emissions Intensity (kgCO2e/gpd)
• Biomass GHG Emissions Intensity (kgCO2e/gpd)

• Water or Wastewater Cost Performance Metrics:

• Investment in Energy Projects, Cumulative ($/GPD)
• Estimated Savings from Energy Projects, Cumulative
($/GPD)
16
EPA Report Templates

• Summary Report for Plant Managers and

Mayors
• Medium/Standard Report for Facility Managers
and Operators
• Large/Evaluation Report for States and
Associations
• Drinking Water
• Wastewater

17
Live Demonstration of
Portfolio Manager

www.energystar.gov/benchmark

18
Benchmarking Steps: Add a Property

19
Benchmarking Steps: Add a Property

20
Benchmarking Steps: Add a Property

21
 Benchmarking Steps: Add a Property

Fill in the form

and click
“Continue”
below (not
shown)

22
Benchmarking Steps: Add a Property

23
Benchmarking Steps: Add a Property

24
Add a Flow Meter
Add a Flow Meter

26
Add a Flow Meter

27
Add a Flow Meter

28
Benchmarking Steps: Add Meters

29
Benchmarking Steps: Add Meters

Click “Get
Started!” at
the bottom
(not shown)

30
Benchmarking Steps: Add Meters
Benchmarking Steps: Add Meters

32
Benchmarking Steps: Add Meters

Enter monthly values

for the meter and
upload the data to
your Portfolio
Manager account.

33
Create Views Specific to WWTPs

34
Create Views Specific to WWTPs

35
Select metrics and
click Apply Selection
button below

36
Using Views to See Metrics
Once you have created your view, you can go to your dashboard and select
it in order to see those metrics. You will need to select "Refresh Metrics" for
the metrics to calculate.

37
Comparing Plants

Energy Use and Cost vs Flow at similar sized plants

12.0 $160,000
$149,349
Energy Use per Flow (kBtu/GPD) $140,000
10.0 Energy Cost per Flow ($/MGD)

$120,000
$115,053
8.0
$100,000
kBtu/GPD

$88,176

$/MGD
6.0 $80,000
$73,739

$60,000
4.0
$45,233 $47,764
$40,000

2.0
$20,000

0.0 $0
2.3 1.9 1.7 1.9 2.1 2
Average Daily Flow (MGD)

38
Case Study 1
Total Project Annual Estimated Simple Local Payback
Cost Energy Operating Payback Electric After
Savings Cost Utility Incentive
Savings Rebate

$56,000 250,000 $34,500 1.6 years $21,000 1 year

kWh

Burlington, VT Main Wastewater Treatment Plant

• Design flow of 2.0 MGD but routinely treats 1.0 MGD
• Replaced one of their 75 hp centrifugal blowers with a 50
hp Turbo blower and new DO probe for automated
control (DO target is 2.5 mg/L)
39
 Case Study 2
Total Project Cost Annual Energy Estimated Simple Payback
Savings Operating Cost
Savings
$13,500 72,000 KWh $9,176 1.5 years

City of Bartlett, TN, Wastewater

Treatment Plant
• 1.0 MGD, secondary treatment using two
mechanically aerated oxidation ditches
• Installed optical DO sensor integrated
with VFD speed control of the oxidation
ditch rotor aerator.
• DO control setpoint of 1.2 mg/L 40
 Q&A

• Learn More at www.energystar.gov

• Ask a Question at
www.energystar.gov/BuildingsHelp

Katy Hatcher, US EPA, National Manager, Public Sector

hatcher.caterina@epa.gov
(202) 343-9676
Consultants to EPA at The Cadmus Group LLC
Kathy Martel Kudret Utebay, LEED AP
Katherine.Martel@cadmusgroup.com kudret.utebay@cadmusgroup.com
(207) 642-6651 (703) 247-6138
41