Casey Printing just finished installing new environmental controls for its building that will reduce energy usage in an effort to remain an environmentally friendly business. These new thermostats are linked to a computer system that allows for automated temperature settings and automatic optimization of energy use.

Currently, the system is set to take advantage of early morning cool outside air and cools the building down to the low 70’s. The AC units run in “economizer” mode and draw in cool outside air rather than running compressors.

Later, as the day warms up and energy demand (and power company rates) goes up, the set points go up to the mid 70’s.

The plant has been divided into many zones. Each zone has it’s own schedule for heating, cooling and fan ventilation. The system is set to run in un-occupied mode after hours, weekends and holidays. During these times, cooling set points are raised to the mid 80’s and heating is set in the mid 50’s.

Each thermostat can be overridden locally. For example, if someone needs to work on a Saturday and the office is too hot, the employee can simply tell the thermostat for the zone that they are working in to temporarily raise or lower the set point. The setting will last two hours, then revert to the programmed setting.

“I expect the new controls will help us save a dramatic amount of energy while doing a better job of maintaining comfortable temperatures” says Bill Casey, Plant Manager .