Commerical Energy Solutions Joins the Greffen Team in New England:
Commercial Energy Solutions, LLC has signed a distributon agreement with Greffen Systems effective July 1, 2010. Commercial Energy Solutions partners are: John Mitchell, Jr., David A. Richman and Mark Paley. John Mitchell Jr. is president of Mitchell Fuel Company Inc. a family owned heating, cooling and oil business located in South Windsor, CT. John has 35 years experience and is the technical advisor in charge of installations and training. David A. Richman is the owner of Simrich Properties and has 23 years of real estate investing, insurance and property management experience. Mark Paley is the founder of Harvest Properties, a regional property management firm managing more than 40 apartment complexes throughout New England. Richman and Paley will be involved in marketing, sales and distribution. Mitchell stated, “in all my years in the business I’ve never encountered a product as unique as the M2G intelligent boiler controller. We installed several systems and I was thrilled to see the results on fuel savings and carbon reduction. Commercial Energy Solutions looks forward to helping companies throughout New England reduce their energy consumption”. Commercial Energy Solutions is located at 1209 Sullivan Avenue South Windsor, CT 06074 and can be reached at 800.851.0089.
Lorica Efficient Energy Systems Join the Greffen Systems Team in Ohio:
Lorica Efficient Energy Systems provides unique energy saving products and services to a wide variety of industries. Lorica specializes in sourcing energy saving equipment and controls for large energy consumers. With over 20 years experience in equipment sourcing, Lorica is poised to provide our customers with products to maximize energy efficiencies throughout thier processes. Lorica Efficient Energy Systems provides energy and emmissions saving technology for both the Public and Priviate sectors. The environment is becoming a top priority to all organizations and the Lorica product set allows organizations to embrace both corporate and social responsibility. Lorica's President, Graydon Greisse indicates that the M2G with its proven ability to reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption by up to 25% with Incorporating Lorica's smart technology into your business's energy and carbon strategy will deliver signifigant results from the day of installation.
Lorica Efficienct Energy Systems, 2112 Cherry Valley Road, Neward, OH 43055
Recovery Solutions Group, LLC Joins the Greffen Team:
Recovery Solutions Group, LLC was established to provide clients cost recovery services based upon an in-depth review of their utility billing statements.
The services offered by RSG arise out of federal, state and local laws, regulations and interpretations limiting taxing authorities from imposing certain surcharges, taxes and fees on utilities providing a variety of governments, industries and businesses.
RSG works with clients to remove such charges in the future and to secure a refund of such surcharges, fees and taxes previously paid. Reducing the costs of utilities has become a high priority of many governments, charities and companies in these challenging economic times.
The introduction of the M2G to such entities has been a welcome addition to those seeking to reduce energy costs, energy consumption and environmental impact.
CAM Magazine features article on the M2G:
Cruise Control for Hot Water Boilers
By David R. Miller, Associate Editor
Hot water boilers have been a comfort heat mainstay for years. Simplicity is a big factor in their appeal. Water is heated and the heat is transferred to other media to warm the air in a building. There are few opportunities for inefficiencies to creep into such a simple system – that is until you factor in the environmental complexities that are inherent inside any occupied facility.
Water needs to be kept hot in order for the system to work. Water inside the boiler will gradually cool, but a number of factors including colder ambient temperatures or simply turning up a thermostat will hasten this process. An increased number of warm bodies inside or thermal gains from bright afternoon sunshine can have the opposite effect as the day wears on. Boilers need to be set to meet peak demand on the coldest conceivable day to reliably provide warmth, so most boilers are set to cycle anytime the water temperature falls below a certain number. Many of these cycles are unnecessary, merely resulting from a predictable drop in temperature rather than an actual need for more heat. Every cycle burns costly fuel, emits CO2, and allows valuable heat to escape out the flue during a one or two minute purge cycle that allows cold air to blow across the heat exchanger.
Greffen Systems recently acquired United States distribution rights for the M2G, a British microprocessor product that reduces the number of times that hot water boilers cycle. PACE Mechanical Services, an Emcor company located in Madison Heights, is the Michigan installer for this unique device that applies proven algorithms to allow the temperature to drop below typical set points only at times when this can be done without impacting the system’s ability to deliver necessary heat inside the building. The M2G essentially acts as a cruise control, replacing the stops and starts that plague most hot water boilers with more efficient cycling that is analogous to steady highway driving.
How it Works
Temperatures inside a boiler drop for two reasons: real calls (heavy load) and false calls (also called light load or standing loss). If heat is drawn away from the boiler because of an actual demand for heat inside the building, the result is a real call. False calls occur when temperatures drop simply because the outside air is cooler. A mechanism that fires the boiler when the water drops to a preset temperature will react to these temperature drops, even though there is no real demand for additional heat.
“Basically, the M2G is a microprocessor technology that uses algorithms developed by boiler people in Europe,” said Len Zera, regional sales director for Greffen Systems. “It reduces the number of times that a boiler cycles by learning its thermodynamics, so it can differentiate between real and false calls.”
Boiler control mechanisms that only monitor temperatures inside the boiler create a very limited picture of what may be causing temperature changes. In addition to inside temperature, the M2G measures water temperatures at the inlet and outlet of the boiler. It also tracks another vital variable that aids in its understanding of the building’s thermodynamics.
“The two sensors don’t only measure temperature, they measure temperature over time,” said Don Lawson, service manager for PACE Mechanical. “Instead of providing a photograph to work with, they give the M2G a movie.”
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a moving picture must be worth infinitely more, as the real world applications of the M2G clearly demonstrate.
Real Results
Over 4,000 M2G units have been sold in Europe, but the product is relatively new in the United States. Still, there have been several Michigan applications, including Sysco Foods in Canton, the Nisbet Building at Michigan State University (MSU), and Mound Correctional Facility in Detroit. These early forays into Michigan’s demanding climate have gone well, with Sysco Foods experiencing a 17 percent savings leading to return on investment within 10 months. MSU is poised to have a similar experience, as the M2G controlled boiler is providing heat for the Nisbet Building and being tasked with the demanding work of melting snow and ice on walkways stretching across the sprawling campus.
Even though the M2G has performed well in these applications, there are undoubtedly some skeptics. When a real call results in a quick temperature decline, boilers equipped with the M2G, or with standard control equipment, will cycle. If the drop is more gradual, the result of a false call, the M2G may wait a few minutes before firing at the same preset temperature, or it may even let the temperature fall several degrees lower. M2G essentially widens the variance in temperatures that are considered acceptable inside the boiler, but this could be a concern for experienced boiler operators.
“When you widen the variance, two things can happen,” admitted Zera. “If it gets too hot, you have a lot of extra heat loss from overheating the water. If you let the temperature get too low, you won’t deliver enough heat to the building.”
Overheating the water is not a factor with the M2G because the system cycles 30-50 percent less frequently, but the unit also keeps the water from getting too cold by developing an understanding of the thermodynamics of the building. It only lets the water temperature drop below 160º F when this action will not result in an inability to meet the heating requirements of the building. Once the M2G is installed, it needs no maintenance to operate; it simply learns when it can let the boiler cool down without sacrificing performance.
“You install it, walk away, check your bills and save money,” said Zera.
That kind of cruise control makes for a smooth ride that any facility owner can live with.
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Greffen Systems Inc. launches M2G intelligent boiler load optimizer at AHR Expo 2010
Booth 1067
ORLANDO, FLORIDA, January 25, 2010: The Greffen Systems booth features the M2G, the world’s number one intelligent boiler load optimizer. Already saving energy and thousands of dollars for major corporations in the USA and UK – even when a Building Automation System(BAS) is in use - the M2G brings 21st Century technology to the well-established problem of boiler dry cycling.
Visitors to Booth 1067 will learn how standing losses from boilers can waste energy and money when the boiler fires simply to replace the heat lost from its’ casing and flue, without contributing to the building’s heating load. The M2G is able to recognize this ‘dry cycling’, distinguish it from a genuine call for heat, and save between 10 per cent and 30 per cent in a wide range of old and new gas or oil fired boilers.
At the Palm Terrace in California, for example, M2G units have already reduced gas consumption by 22 per cent, working in harmony with the existing BAS.
Early attempts to control dry cycling failed because the technology then available, could not differentiate between a genuine “call for heat” to maintain comfort levels and a “false call for heat” resulting from just the standing losses. Crucially, the M2G is completely different. The M2G can be retrofitted to the majority of closed loop hot water boilers - ensures the boiler’s designed set point is met, therefore preventing any impact of the building’s ambient temperature and avoiding any additional servicing and maintenance requirements.
Greffen Systems’ experienced personnel will be on hand to explain these issues further with visitors and discuss their requirements.
Please come visit Greffen Systems in Booth #1067 in the Building Automation and Control Showcase.
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Alumnus promotes ‘green’ technology for hot-water boilers
Across Europe some 4,000 commercial and industrial facilities are going “green” and reducing their carbon footprint by using a smart device that optimizes the energy used to fuel their hot-water boilers.
Well established on the other side of the Atlantic, the technology is now gaining a foothold in the United States, thanks in part to Steve Schulte, BSME’82, general manager of PACE Mechanical Services Inc. in Westland, a division of Emcor Group Inc.
Steve Schulte is capitalizing on the growing interest in “green” technology by promoting a device that makes hot-water boilers more efficient.
Called the M2G, the device is manufactured in Europe and distributed in the United States by Greffen Systems Inc. PACE, which holds the exclusive distribution rights in Michigan, has installed a dozen of the devices in the state. Another dozen have been installed by others around the country in the past year.
The device is a small box, about the size of two or three videocassettes, and it sits on the top of the existing burner controller. “In effect, the device ‘learns’ about the building load, and then starts to make decisions as to when it is best for the boiler to be on and when it is best for it to be off. The built-in algorithms in the controller end up saving natural gas,” Schulte explained
In Europe, Schulte notes, the emphasis is more on the environment and less on saving money; in the United States, it’s just the opposite. Despite that, he predicts a bright future for the Greffen boiler controller in this country. “It seems to be where the market is going right now, and my prediction is that the trend will stay,” he said.
Schulte joined PACE Mechanical Services in 1996 and previously worked with Centex Construction Co., where he managed the mechanical, electrical and plumbing work on the $250 million Detroit Veterans Administration Hospital Project.
Although he started his academic career at Michigan State University, Schulte transferred to Lawrence Tech because he was so impressed with the University’s commitment to “theory and practice.”
“When I compare the graduates of other universities and schools to those from Lawrence Tech, there is a clear distinction,” he says. “And now that I’m back on campus for the first time since I graduated in 1982, I’m really impressed with how far Lawrence Tech has come in terms of its programs and buildings.”
Don Reimer, associate director of the Lear Entrepreneurial Center, looks forward to getting Schulte more involved with the University.
“Steve is a very inventive, creative guy, who got very excited about this piece of equipment,” Reimer said. “We look forward to having him come back to campus as a speaker and getting involved with the LEGENDS alumni group.” @CM
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