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Sustainability Team 1 - Recom Word Draft

This version was saved 13 years, 11 months ago View current version     Page history
Saved by Jeffrey
on May 2, 2010 at 1:23:49 pm
 

Ok team, here is the outline of the report. The actual .doc is highly formatted, so rather than posting for all to edit, I created this page and will copy and paste. (It took me a bit of time to figure out formatting and I know from experience that when it gets altered it is almost impossible to fix - you must start over. I will submit this draft in .doc to Dr. Staggers and will post on webcampus.) We do need to start writing, so feel free to pick one and go.

 

Richard - let me know how you want to include your info/findings. If you want, you can post here and I will write around it. Just let me/us know. I know it seems simplified for you at this point, but I think the rest of us are still struggling to understand. Also, how can I help/do the appendices and source info?

 

Also, any comments/thoughts/dissension are welcome...just let me know.

 

Here is a copy of the updated draft. I did not include the graphics of the tables as they just didn't look good in the document. Rather, I recreated them. I can't fill the info in right now as I have to prepare for my Spanish final in a few hours. I you feel like editing/altering the draft, please highlight the areas so I can adjust/copy/etc. in my version. Thank you!

 

1:21 am - here is the latest copy. Richard or Antonia, can either of you submit by 5pm? I will be at work...will work on it more in the am.

 

Okay, here is my revision. I've reorganized some of the sections a bit, fixed some grammatical errors / typos, updated to include both best case/worst case figures based on current NV Energy rates, put the detailed zone calculations in an appendix, and rewritten the Background section so it's different from the Problem section. Can someone update the Sources section? I put in the links to the two documents we have for sources, if there was anything else utilized we should include it there as well, and format it in APA style. - Richard

 

1:20 PM - Hey all, I've attached my revision here. I only added a few sentences and change minor things (Track Changes has been enable so you can see these changes). Team1_RecommReport_Draft_JTH revisions.docx


 

Letter of transmittal

 

 


 

 

Cover/Title Page

 

 


 

Executive Summary 

 

Finding a greener way to provide light for the employees of Global Cash Access (GCA) is the subject of the Sustainability Project for Team 1. The purpose of which, is to compile and report analysis of alternative lighting sources. The team considered several criteria when deciding which lighting methods would potentially provide the highest benefit at the lowest amount of cost.

 

Criteria include:

  • Cost
  • Scheduling
  • Hours of operation
  • Environmental impact

 

Based on these criteria, the team agrees that re-wiring and adding additional individual switches provide the best solution for GCA.  Allowing employees to adjust lighting on an as needed basis minimizes energy usage while also introducing little to no impact on productivity. The relatively low cost in making the proposed changes in addition to the year over year cost savings allows the company to make a solid financial decision while embracing a greener vision for the company’s energy consumption.  

 


 

Table of Contents

 

Introduction................................................................................................................................. 3

Background.................................................................................................................................. 3

Client Description....................................................................................................................... 3

The Problem................................................................................................................................. 3

Recommendation........................................................................................................................ 4

Research........................................................................................................................................ 4

Methodolgy or Methods and Findings                                                                                      4

 


 

Introduction

 

Global Cash Access, a service provider for the gaming industry, has a Las Vegas office composed of two main building sections. Like any office building, its office contains numerous fluorescent bulbs which are operated by only one control for an entire section. Despite the fact that large portions of the building are unoccupied during the evenings and sporadically throughout the day, these lights are very rarely turned off. These circumstances present an obvious problem of waste and inefficiency with Global Cash Access's power consumption.The purpose of this report is to present a series of directives designed to tackle this issue and to provide the client (Global Cash Access) with viable options to reduce their overall power consumption

 


  

Background

 

The current office layout, lighting plan, and the timing of employee hours are tremendously inefficient. As such, we have devised a proposal that includes several sustainable directives that aim to decrease daily power consumption. Most of the lighting is very rarely turned off, even though there are portions of the building unoccupied from 5 or 6 PM until roughly 7 to 9 AM on weekdays, and unoccupied through the entire weekend. Often, one person working late (say, until midnight) will result in the lights for an entire side of the building being lit. There are only two areas with people working in them 24/7, and one of these (the help desk, where Richard works) already has separate light controls. The other area, the call center, is a fairly large area (occupying about 1/2 to 2/3 of that section of the building). These issues present tremendous opportunities for cost savings that are not only financially enticing but are environmentally conscious.

 


 

Client Description

Global Cash Access (GCA) is the premier provider of cash access products for the gaming industry in the United States and the world. Established in the early 1970s, GCA  provides products and services to over 1,100 gaming establishments worldwide, including all of the largest gaming companies in the United States. GCA's headquaters are located in Las Vegas, NV, a suitable site for the industry that they serve (http://www.globalcashaccess.com/Contact.html). 

 

                                                                      

 


 

The Problem

The current office layout, lighting plan, and the timing of employee hours are tremendously inefficient. As such, we have devised a proposal that includes several sustainable directives that aim to decrease daily power consumption. Most of the lighting is very rarely turned off, even though there are portions of the building unoccupied from 5 or 6 PM until roughly 7 to 9 AM on weekdays, and unoccupied through the entire weekend. Often, one person working late (say, until midnight) will result in the lights for an entire side of the building being lit. There are only two areas with people working in them 24/7, and one of these (the help desk, where Richard works) already has separate light controls. The other area, the call center, is a fairly large area (occupying about 1/2 to 2/3 of that section of the building). These issues present tremendous opportunities for cost savings that are not only financially enticing but are environmentally conscious.

 

I HAVE BACKGROUND AND PROBLEM THE SAME…ARE THEY?

 


 

Recommendations

I think it is best to list in order of our recommendations, which I believe are:

 

1.    Rewiring to:

1.1   Add individual light switches

 

The current wiring arrangement causes all of the lights in one area to be turned on from only 1 switch. To mitigate excessive power consumption, zones have been create to divide up the current circuitry into more manageable areas.  For the North side office in particular, seven equally sized and lit areas would allow for maximum control over individual areas while maintaining sufficient lighting for working conditions. Zones 1 through 5 would each contain 10 lighting fixtures, while zones 6 and 7 would contain 8 lighting fixtures. Each fixture operates at 96 watts. For each of these zones, a switch would be installed in a relevant and accessible area on the wall. 

 

North Office Proposed Zones:

 

South Office Proposed Zones:

 

 

 

1.2    Add motion sensors

 

Motion sensors add an additional level of sensitivity in the efforts to reduce overall power consumption. In addition to the switches that are to be implemented for each of the zones, each of these will also be synchronized with a respective motion sensor. Outside of normal business hours, the motion sensors will take the place of individual initiative by ensuring that an unoccupied zones would remain off until an employee trips its sensor. Motion sensor will only be effective if used in conjunction with manually operated switched along with a company wide memorandum to inform employees of their importance. 


 

Research

Our research consisted of:

 

  • ·      On-site inspections
  • ·      Evaluation of office layout 
  • ·      Evaluation of wiring diagrams
  • ·      Internet searches

 


 

Methods and Findings

 

Hours of Operation

Richard conducted an informal survey to find out when people typically left for the day for each area / department. The survey was conducted by consulting with at least two people in each area and asking who was the earliest in and latest out on a regular basis. If available, those people would then be asked for their typical times in and out. The earliest-in and the latest-out times were used to generate the time frames below. In general, light will be needed in these departments / sections during all weekdays during these times.

 

South Side:

 

  • Call center: 24x7 (there is a large portion of the call center that isn't being used currently, which can essentially be dark 24x7)
  • Facilities: 8:30 AM - 5 PM
  • ATM (section by facilities): 8 AM - 6 PM
  • Compliance: 6 AM - 5 PM
  • HR: 7:30 AM - 6:30 PM
  • Booth OP / Misc: 7 AM - 7 PM
  • Purchasing / Misc: 7:30 AM - 6:30 PM
  • PC Support: 7 AM - 5:30 PM
  • ATM (section by north side; left side in image): 4 AM - 7 PM
  • Field Support Services: 7 AM - 6 PM

 

North Side

 

  • IT Admin: 7 AM - 6 PM
  • Billing: 4 AM - 7 PM
  • Sales / Relationship Mgmt: 8 AM - 6:30 PM
  • Finance: 7 AM - 6:30 PM
  • Legal: 7 AM - 7 PM

 

 

This data was used to determine the savings possible and to help map out the zones we are recommending. 

 

Current Fixtures

Richard obtained the current bulb type from the Facilities Manager. Currently GCA uses Philips 32-watt T8-type bulbs, with 3 tubes per fixture. T8 bulbs are among the most efficient types of fluorescent bulbs available and are recommended by energystar.gov at http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=sb_guidebook.sb_guidebook_lighting.

 

Wiring Layout

Richard obtained the wiring blueprints for the lights from the Facilities Manager as well. Jeffrey was able to determine from them that rewiring the lights into zones should be feasible without requiring massive structural rewiring. In fact, it is plausible that a 2 man crew could locally rewire the proposed zones in approximately a day for minimal costs to GCA.

 

Current Costs

 

Between the north and south office layouts, there are approximately 168 light fixtures providing immediate lighting to the various departments of GCA, each operating at 96 watts (3 light bulbs x 32 watts power rating per bulb). Based on the above mentioned Hours of Operation, the daily costs to power both the North and South offices and their respective departments have been calculated to establish a base-line cost of operation. For reference, Nevada Power currently charges $0.1053 per kilowatt-hour for industrial complexes:

 

The total daily cost for the entire complex is roughly $28.27. For a 5 day work week, the total cost of operating the entire office complex is approximately $141.35. Annually, it costs GCA approximately $7350.20 to power the entire office complex. It is from this price point that savings can be achieved. 

 

Potential Savings

 

In both the North and South offices, there are specific areas that could be divided as per Richard's proposed zone diagrams above:

 

North Side Office Building

The cost savings opportunity for the North side lie in splitting Billing and IT Administration into 4 smaller, equally sized zones. Though it's difficult to specifically say how much less energy will be consumed, but having to opportunity to only turn on one section of light could potentially and effectively reduce the cost of operating each of those zones by 25-50%. For example, if power in these sections (Zones 4,5,6,7) were reduced by 25%, this would lead to an annual cost savings of $339.30 in the North Office alone (based 52 x 5-day work weeks). Having multiple switches that allow for more controllable electricity consumption at least make these savings possible. 

 

 

 

 


 

Conclusion

 

Re-wiring and adding additional individual switches provide the best solution for GCA. Allowing employees to adjust lighting on an as needed basis minimizes energy usage while also introducing little to no impact on productivity. The relatively low cost in making the proposed changes in addition to the year over year cost savings allows the company to make a solid financial decision while embracing a greener vision for the company’s energy consumption.  

 

List of Sources

 


 

List of Sources

 

 


 

Appendices

 

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