Energy Efficiency Survey of the

Ganado Advocates Head Office

Antonino Fabio Agosta
Giovanni Luca Dierna
Marco Gileppo

Baldassare Capodici

Federica Anna Maria Geremia

Charles Yousif

Jotham Scerri Diacono
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY 2014: THE ISE ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Thursday 20
st
March 2014, Dolmen Hotel, Qawra, Malta
Background on GANADO Advocates
The law firm of GANADO Advocates - born within
the building situated at 171, Old Bakery Street,
Valletta.
The building at 171 served as a legal office since the
beginning of the 20
th
century.
A firm with a long tradition with many distinguished
lawyers having practised law as members of the
firm, a number of them becoming judges or taking
prominent positions.
The firm has grown from a loose arrangement of
collaborating lawyers to a structured association of
65 lawyers and around 60 supporting personnel.
Growth
Growth in numbers required additional office space.
Opportunities to acquire adjoining buildings were
taken to enable lateral and rear expansion.
The newly acquired buildings required substantial
renovation that was painstakingly carried out over
the last 3 years.
Renovation also extended to the offices at 171 .
Renovation gave an opportunity for modernisation
and that in turn enabled the firms management to
consider measures to be more efficient and also to
tap renewal sources of energy.
Office floor space grew to 1800 square m.
Going Forward
Ongoing collaboration (on other projects) between
members of the firm and Ing Charles Yousif of the
Institute for Sustainable Energy, led to the suggestion
for the firm to carry out an energy audit as part of
the project Renewable Energy Scenarios in Islands,
co-financed by the the Operative Programme Italy-
Malta 2007-2013.
The audit took place in November 2012 and a report
released.
A number of recommendations made to the firm
have been implemented and are in the process of
being implemented.
General considerations
This exercise was carried out as part of the exchange of experiences between
Malta and Sicily, forming part of the activities of the R.E.S.I. Project
(Renewable Energy Scenarios in Islands), funded under the Operative
Programme Italy-Malta 2007-2013. The partners were:

o Provincia Regionale di Ragusa (Italy)
o Provincia Regionale di Agrigento (Italy)
o MRA-Malta Resources Authority (Malta)
o Institute for Sustainable Energy - ISE of University of Malta (Malta)

The energy study was carried out on the Ganado Advocates Buildings No. 171
Old Bakery Street and 59 Strait Street, Valletta on 27 and 28 November 2012.
Provincia Regionale di Ragusa
Provincia Regionale di
Agrigento
General considerations
The exercise involved a walk-through survey of:

the electrical appliances used (PC, printers, etc.);
the lighting system;
the heating and air conditioning systems;
the building envelope;
air circulation.

The purpose of this study were to identify opportunities to:

Increase energy efficiency
Improve indoor comfort levels
Install renewable energy systems


Overview of presentation
Energy audit: electrical consumption

Energy audit: building envelope

Energy audit: PV system

Conclusions
Structure Ganado Advocates
Fourth Floor Entrance 171
Intended for Sectors Administration
and HR

Third Floor Entrance 171
Intended for Sectors IT and for
Kitchen

Third Floor Entrance 59
Intended for Sectors Investment
Services and Funds, Insurance and
Pensions and Company Secretariat
and Governance

Second Floor Entrance 171
Intended for Offices, Shipping,
Corporate, Litigation

Second Floor Entrance 59
Intended for Library and for Sectors
Banking international, Ship finance

First Floor Entrance 59
Intended for Sector Accounts

Ground Floor Entrance 171
Intended for Reception
The data collection was carried out in the following floors and areas:
Analysis of equipment and electrical consumption
The operation of data collection and processing were performed
in the same sequence:

collection, organization and analysis of data on electrical
equipment distributed by type related with nameplate
capacities and electricity consumption;

analysis of the building envelope (walls, windows and roof);

photovoltaic system.
Analysis of equipment and electrical consumption
Some equipment in the building:

hot / cold water dispencers;
paper shredders;
multifunction printers;
PC.
Some equipment in the building:

luminaires;
air-conditioners.
Analysis of equipment and electrical consumption
Analysis of equipment and electrical consumption
Electrical equipment Average operating time
Typology Quantity Hours
PC laptops n 91 8h
Air conditioners n 34 4h
Multifunction printers n 6 2h
Paper shredders n 3 2h
Water dispensers hot/cold n 2 6h
Neon lights n 75 6h
Printers inkjet n 22 1h
Televisions n 4 1h
Microwaves n 2 1h
Fridges freezers n 1 3h
Coffee machines n 2 1h
Toasters n 2 1h
Dishwashers n 1 1h
List of electrical equipment distributed in the various floors of the building, their
rated power and the average consumption associated with them.
Analysis of equipment and electrical consumption
Summary and electric power consumption per floor and total building.
4th Floor 171 Administration Total kWh/y 11678.480
HR Total Power Floor (kW) 16.310
3rd Floor 171 IT Total kWh/y 12334.416
Kitchen Total Power Floor (kW) 20.629
3rd Floor 49 Investment Services and Funds Total kWh/y 9204.640
Insurance and Pensions Total Power Floor (kW) 51.220
Company Secretaried and Governance
2nd Floor 171 Offices Total kWh/y 64390.304
Shipping Total Power Floor (kW) 85.976
Corporate
Litigation
2nd Floor 49 Library Total kWh/y 25768.336
Banking international Total Power Floor (kW) 35.074
Ship finance
1st Floor 171 Accounts Total kWh/y 7282.000
Total Power Floor (kW) 9.950
Ground Floor 171 Reception Total kWh/y 5167.360
Total Power Floor (kW) 6.980
Roof 49 Central air conditioning system Total kWh/y 108275.200
Total Power (kW) 153.800
Whole building All electrical systems. Total kWh/y 244100.736
Total Power All Floors (kW) 379.939
Graphics power consumption of floors 3
rd
and 4
th
floors
Total kWh/y = 11678.480
Total Power Floor (kW) = 16.310
Total kWh/y = 12334.416
Total Power Floor (kW) = 20.629
Analysis of equipment and electrical consumption
Analysis of equipment and electrical consumption
Graphics power consumption of floors 2
nd
and 3
rd
florrs
Total kWh/y = 9204.640
Total Power Floor (kW) = 51.220
Total kWh/y = 64390.304
Total Power Floor (kW) = 85.976
Analysis of equipment and electrical consumption
Graphics power consumption of floors 1
st
and 2
nd
floors
Total kWh/y = 25768,336
Total Power Floor (kW) = 35,074
Total kWh/y = 7282,000
Total Power Floor (kW) = 9,950
Analysis of equipment and electrical consumption
Graphics of power consumption for the ground floor and central
air conditioning system
Total kWh/y = 5167.360
Total Power Floor (kW) = 6.980
Total kWh/y = 108275.200
Total Power (kW) = 153.800
Central air conditioning system
Charts the total annual electricity consumption
Total kWh/y
(*)
= 244100.736
Total Power for all Floors (kW) = 379.939
(*) Estimate based on the power and duration of operation

87% for the use of air conditioners;

7% due to the use of laptops;

3% for the use of printers.
Results of the analysis for equipment
Problem Solution Achievable improvement
Failure on/off switch neon
light in some places even
in the presence of sufficient
natural light and in
absence of people
Check and ad just the brightness and
human detection system sensors
Good home automation system with
dimming lights according to outdoor
lighting/presence of people. Switching to
manual control forspecific needs
Best visual comfort in
environments
Energy savings due to the use of
optimal external light source
Some rooms had poor
lighting: e.g. library
Install LED systems more efficient and
warm light diffused inside the library
Best visual comfort in
environments

Non-uniform temperatures
in some areas and
workrooms
System for enabling/disabling of the
machines according to the presence
Control systems for control zone
Refer to intervention on the building
envelope: work on walls, windows and
insertions screens where required (for
the case in summer)
Saving energy with optimization of
power consumption
Superior environmental comfort
Energy Audit: Observations and improvements
List of interventions and suggestions for improvement of the management of
consumption.
Energy Audit: evaluation of external envelope

Heating and cooling

Problem: possible critical situations in summer, particularly below
the top floor because of a poor roof insulation.


Solution: Roof insulation can be retrofitted, through the installation
of polyurethane foam panels that have very low thermal
conductivity, as well as using light colors on their outer surface or
even reflective surfaces. This translates into savings of electrical
energy for heating in winter and for cooling in summer.
Coverage
Problem: The cover is not well insulated.
Solution: hot roof for the laying of the
insulation between two layers of waterproofing,
the first acts as a vapor barrier, the second is
used instead to protect the insulation from
water.

External walls
Problem: to improve the thermal resistance of
the outer casing.

Solution: installation of a "thermal insulation"
polystyrene 5 cm (strips).
The system of insulation is used to coat the
outside of the facade, in order to save
significant amount of energy required for
heating and cooling.
Energy audit: evaluation outer casing
Windows

Problem: to further improve the thermal
efficiency.

Solution: replace existing fixtures with PVC
frames of the latest generation or aluminum
with thermal break that guarantee good
performance for thermal insulation.
Energy audit: evaluation external envelope
Energy audit: Indoor air quality assessment
Indoor environment quality

Problem: the buildings are fairly closed despite
the presence of many windows, so some areas
could have stale air.
Causes: over-crowding of staff in certain offices.
Solution
replacing windows with open balconies, to
enhance circulation of air and also a greater
flow of light to those environments.
addition of a glass cover with automated
horizontal openings, to utilise the courtyard and
turn it into a waiting room and reception. To
enhance the freshness of the air of this
courtyard, one can add vertical climbing greenery.
Energy audit: windows and wall-to-green
Energy audit: photovoltaic system
The firm Ganado & Associates Advocates expressed its willingness to increase
its sensitivity to the environment as well as to increase their energy savings,
given that the estimated consumption currently amounts to approximately
245,000 kWh / year.

Despite the presence of shading due to the presence of surrounding buildings,
it would still be possible to install PV systems coupled to power optimisers or
micro-inverters.
Energy audit: photovoltaic system
Solution
The use of micro-inverters or power optimisers enables the use of different
parts of the roof without having to pass long dc cables from one side to
another.
In fact, consider a tilt over 5 by installing panels on a single aquifer, would
result in a high height of the supporting structure, resulting in a visual impact
to the beautiful surrounding neighborhood. From the simulations done at
constant azimuth: 138 tilt and 0, 5, 10 and 15, it turns out that the best
compromise in relation to the production of the PV system, the height of the
supporting structure and the visual impact , is to tilt the panels of 5.
In order to achieve the
greatest possible power
we have sought a
compromise between
the inclination, the
number of panels and
the aesthetic impact.


Energy audit: 8 kWp photovoltaic system
Simulation 8 kWp PV system and 18 kWp PV plant with an annual production
estimated at 39.5 MWh, compared to an estimated requirement of 245 MWh in
energy by the audit so as to obtain a saving of 16.12%.
0,53
0,62
0,9
1,15
1,4
1,44
1,52
1,33
1,07
0,87
0,61
0,51
Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dic
PV 8 kWp - Estimated monthly energy
MWh
Estimated yearly energy: 27,586 MWh
Energy audit: 18 kWp photovoltaic system
1,23
1,42
2,07
2,66
3,23
3,32
3,51
3,08
2,48
2,01
1,4
1,18
Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dic
PV 18 kWp - Estimated monthly energy
MWh
Estimated yearly energy: 11,954 MWh
Energy audit: improvements in PV
Problema Solution
Supporting structure of the photovoltaic
system
Building a support structure having a height that
can be useful to exploit or used as a smoking area,
or as a possible expansion of the firm
Shortage in some parts of the thermal
insulation of the roof of the building

The photovoltaic system, and its supporting
structure, will ensure thermal stability and the
water tightness of the roof
Aesthetic impact, indoor and outdoor
Use of photovoltaic panels glass-glass so as to
ensure aesthetics and saving on the supporting
structure
Energy audit: Conclusions
A number of possibilities have been identified for improved energy
efficiency

A hierarchy of actions to be taken may be developed to optimise
savings and minimise investment. This may start with simple actions
for controlling lighting and air-conditioning, modifying existing
systems (lighting), insulation to certain parts of the building
envelope, and finally the construction of PV systems.

The energy audit is therefore a prelude to a project aimed at
obtaining greater energy efficiency and increased energy savings,
which Ganado Advocates have already taken up on their agenda.
In conclusion
..If you want to
contribute to the welfare
of the world you have to
change the way you
design it
THANK YOU for your attention