The energy audit carried out at IIT Kharagpur during the Spring Session (2009-2010) was a systematic investigation process for improving and optimizing a building’s operation and maintenance. Complementing the GO-GREEN campaign initiated by AISEC IIT Kharagpur chapter the technical support for the audit was provided by ecoZen Solutions, an IIT Kgp based Startup. In all forty students from IIT kharagpur along with two interns (Sandra Chavez from Mexico and Felipe from Chile) worked under the guidance of Professor N Kishore and Professor Bajpai of the Electrical Engineering department to successfully complete the energy audit of the campus within the stipulated time period.
An energy audit is an inspection, survey and analysis of energy flows for energy conservation in a building, a process or a system which is done in order to reduce the amount of energy input into the system without negatively affecting the output(s). It is a comprehensive assessment of an institution’s energy use throughout its operations. Hence the audit was done to identify where energy is being consumed and then assess energy saving opportunities - so you get to save money where it counts the most.
Complete analysis of the total energy consumption of IIT kharagpur was carried out and documented. This included reporting the results in the form of area wise consumption, service wise consumption and consumption variation with time. Each department, hall commercial building were thoroughly audited and their hourly, monthly and annual variations in consumption were reported. The results obtained were intriguing and many startling discoveries were made. Although we knew that for the year 2009 the Institute paid more than INR 11,18,20,656/- for about 2,64,28,079 [kwh] units of electricity, it was found out for the very first time and brought to notice that out of the total electricity consumption the "Academic" area accounts for 49% of the total electricity consumption and Biotechnology department is the highest total electricity consumer whereas Rural Development Centre has the highest per capita consumption. All this and many such results are covered in the report.
The effectiveness of management structure for controlling energy use was assessed and proposals were put forward to achieve energy cost optimization, pollution control and to improve the operating & maintenance practices of the system. The proposals included both major infrastructural changes and minor ones. A major change like “ONLINE ENERGY METERING SYSTEM FOR THE CAMPUS” which even though has a high initial capital investment is expected to produce savings of INR 14.76 million annually. The minor changes such the one offered for central library in spite of being simple are expected to bring down the consumption in that section by 50%. The proposals have been approved by the concerned authorities and currently the Ecozen team is working implementation of these proposals which also includes development and fabrications of some completely new products which would be both cost effective and energy efficient.
Energy today has become a key factor in deciding the product cost at micro level as well as in dictating the inflation and the debt burden at the macro level. Energy cost is a significant factor in economic activity. Thus through the energy audit report we hope to create the awareness and establish the needs for metering and monitoring which would be instrumental in coping with the situation of variation in energy cost availability decision, on appropriate energy mix, decision on using improved energy conservation equipment, instruments and technology, in order to help the management authorities to institutionalize the practice and hence, save money for the years to come.