Electricity Management Systems installed at Cumberland House

The owners of Cumberland House at One Victoria Street have recently completed a $600,000 investment in this high-rise 9-story office building.  The improvements included the installation of over 1,000 energy efficient LED ceiling fixtures as well as a state-of-the-art Energy Management System (EMS) which allows for sophisticated control of the air-conditioning system.

In 2011 , Tara Timmins of Noesis Consulting Ltd., a local energy-consulting firm, conducted a detailed energy audit of the 94,000 SF building, and calculated that over 2 million kilowatt hours of electricity were consumed in the previous 12 months.  43% of the energy was consumed by air-conditioning, 28% by the lighting systems and 13% through the various water pumps in the building.  As a result, Noesis identified a number of strategies to lower the Belco bill and recommended the replacement of an existing 3,200 fluorescent light tubes with 915 x 45 watt LED panels and 173 x 10 watt LED light bulbs.

Throughout 2012/13 Leroy Robinson of Options Electric Ltd. oversaw the installation works. Leroy commented “This was an exciting project and the building owners are to be commended for undertaking such a proactive and progressive program.  We worked late every evening, installing the light fixtures and controls, making sure that the Tenants in the building were never disturbed by our work.  The project took over a year to complete but the benefits will be there for the environment for many years to come.  Frankly, this is the kind of project that many more office building owners should be doing to reduce their energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint.”

With new LED lighting fixtures, and new internet-based controls for the air-conditioning system, the building is now consuming 30% less electricity than prior to the retro-fit.  The reduction in the carbon output of 468 tonnes of CO2is equal to a saving of over 1,000 barrels of oil per annum, which would provide enough energy to power 60 homes in Bermuda every year.

Mark Orchard, on behalf of City Centre Properties confirmed, “Our tenants are the ultimate beneficiary of this project.  We have improved the quality of the light in the offices, lowered the amount of electricity the building consumes, which will allow us to reduce our service charges and make Cumberland House a very competitive building from a local perspective and a world- class office space from an environmental perspective.  All in all, we are estimating a 30-month pay-back of our investment.” 

As part of Caricom Energy Week 2013 Mr. Orchard recently presented a summary of this project to an enthusiastic audience of electrical professionals and environmental experts at the Energy Efficiency Forum sponsored by the Department of Energy in collaboration with the Greenrock Green Building Forum.