Energy benchmarking and ventilation related energy saving potentials for SMEs in Greater Toronto Area

Energy benchmarking (EB) has become a popular method for the estimation of energy consumption and overall performance improvement in buildings and industrial facilities. The industrial plant ventilation system is one of the most overlooked and underestimated components in terms of total industrial sector energy consumption. A proper assessment and management of energy use in industrial ventilation systems can lead to a considerable reduction in energy consumption, cost, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The main objective of this study is to present comprehensive EB along with analysis of energy consumption and saving opportunities. The energy analysis was conducted for fourteen Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The building's ventilation load analysis was developed, and a comparison with similar types of companies was performed to determine the natural gas (NG) consumption, GHG, and energy cost savings. It was determined that the inefficient performing facilities could reduce an average of 9% of their total NG consumption from mechanical ventilation, 25% from transmission heat loss, and 10% from infiltration loss as compared to the top-performing facility. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.