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Tag: <span>commercial buildings</span>

Kirby ElectricBlogcommercial buildings
13 Jul 2017
electrical hazards
0 Comments By seo@bigfin.com Commercial Buildings, Commercial Lighting, Electric Safety , , , , , , , ,

4 Common Electrical Hazards in the Workplace

Electrical safety is imperative to a safe work environment. Reports show that about 1,000 electrical related accidents occur a year in the workplace, which leads to about 30 recorded fatalities. Legally, employers must provide a safe work environment for their employees. Here at Kirby Electric, we promote electrical safety in commercial buildings. Therefore, we have comprised a list of the four most common electrical hazards that can occur in the workplace and how to prevent them.

Faulty or Damaged Wiring

Any wires or cables that are not functioning properly should be removed immediately as they pose a serious electrical hazard. Electrical cables that are frayed, loose, or have exposed wires need to be attended to and replaced. Damaged wires and cables can cause electric shocks and fires.

To prevent this, make sure to schedule regular check-ups for your electrical wiring. We can assist you in the design and construction of your electrical system.

Equipment Safety

Regardless of the type of electrical equipment, they can pose as dangerous electrical hazards if not used properly. Exposure to equipment that is live but presumed dead can cause severe injuries. Shocks from electrical equipment can also lead to falls from scaffolds, ladders, or other suspended platforms.

This is why it is imperative to practice equipment safety protocols when using electrical instruments. Having routine safety seminars and other educational sessions can help inform both employees and employers on safe electrical handling. Checking equipment properly before use is also a way to ensure that equipment is safe.

Overused Outlets

Outlets can only handle so much strain before it becomes a serious shock and fire hazard. Overusing the outlet can lead to overheating or a power shortage. This is a severe misuse of the outlet and should be handled immediately. If the outlet is posing as a threat, do not try and handle it yourself. We can help with any electrical concerns that you may have.

Water

When electricity or electrical outlets are exposed to water, there is a greatly increased risk of shock. Make sure at all times that electric equipment is kept away from any source of water. This includes making sure that all hands are dry when dealing with electrical equipment to prevent life-threatening shocks or burns.

Maintenance and Safety Checks with Kirby Electric

Preventative measures should be taken in order to provide a safe work environment for everyone. At Kirby Electric, we have a variety of services that can assist all of your electrical needs. Our inspection services can help you should any electrical concerns arise. Our preventative maintenance services is a proactive step in keeping your building safe. Plus, our emergency service repair hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is our job to immediately help solve your problem, so you can get back to doing yours.

Kirby Electric Prevents Electrical Hazards

Kirby Electric, Inc. offers premier electrical services for both commercial and industrial contracting. Our dedicated team can help manage your facilities and present energy management solutions. Contact us today and request a quote by phone at (253) 859-2000 or online here to learn more about our services.

09 Jun 2017
natural light solutions
0 Comments By seo@bigfin.com Commercial Buildings, Commercial Lighting , , , , ,

Natural Light Solutions in Commercial Buildings

Sitting in a dark office space not only can be discouraging, but it can also be bad for your health. Incorporating natural light in your commercial building can help to motivate employees and increase productivity. At Kirby Electric, we can help you create an electric system that benefits your building’s structure and takes advantage of natural light. Read on to find out more about different natural light solutions, and how Kirby Electric can help you.

Health Benefits

Studies have shown that there are many health benefits to having natural light in your commercial building. Not only does it appear to improve productivity of employees, it can help with your sleeping patterns too. CNN discovered that those with more exposure to natural light in their buildings throughout the day received 46 more minutes of sleep a night on average than those who were not exposed to natural light in their workspaces. More natural light can improve one’s mood as well.

Seat Positioning

Your workspace may be expansive, and natural light might not reach all parts of the building. This means that some employees in those darker areas might not be exposed to natural light. In a study done by Northwestern Medicine and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, they found that the best place to put workstations is within 20 to 25 feet of the peripheral walls that have the windows. Daylight seems to vanish outside of this 20 to 25 feet area. This is a simple natural light solution to expose employees to natural light through a reordering of your building’s interior design.

Windows

If your building is fitted with lots of windows, you might be concerned about having too much natural lighting. Issues like too much glare can hinder employee performance. Heat from natural light too can make the building uncomfortable and end up costing you more money. A solution to this problem is to make sure that your windows have proper glazing. Windows and skylights with proper glazing can help reduce this glare while still providing enough natural light to boost employee performance.

If your building has no windows and no source of natural light, there are still some solutions for this problem. Forbes found that a change in interior design can help create an essence of natural light in your building. However, having a proper artificial lighting system can also help make the building a little brighter and more cheerful. The goal is to choose the right type of lighting, which we are more than happy to help with. Encouraging your employees to go outside during breaks and getting some actual natural light throughout the day can also prove to be beneficial.

Energy Saving Lighting

LED lighting and energy saving lights can help you take advantage of natural light while also giving you the most cost-effective solution. Here at Kirby Electric, our goal is to save you money and energy while also protecting the environment. With a LED lighting design, we can take create an electrical system that is most beneficial to you. Bloomberg also found that installing blue lights can help boost your brain, especially during the sluggishness of the midday. We can help meet these particular needs of your employees and provide you with great natural light solutions.

How Kirby Electric Can Help

Kirby Electric provides a number of services that can help you choose the right type of lighting for your building while also taking advantage of natural lighting. From electrical design, engineering, and construction, we can help find natural light solutions that are most cost-effective for you. With technology such as LED lighting and daylight responsive sensors, there are many different artificial lighting solutions that can assist in boosting employee exposure to natural light while also keeping your building properly lit. Not taking advantage of natural light can be a costly decision, and we want to help make sure that your building saves energy and saves you money.

Find Natural Light Solutions with Kirby Electric

As Seattle’s premier electric company, Kirby Electric specializes in commercial and industrial contracting. We offer electrical services that best fit your building’s needs and present energy management solutions. Such solutions provide economically and environmentally beneficial services. Contact us today and request a quote at (253) 859-2000 or online here to learn more about our services.

18 May 2017
save energy with kirby electric in seattle, wa
0 Comments By seo@bigfin.com Commercial Buildings, Commercial Lighting , , ,

Save Energy in Commercial Buildings This Summer

With the spring temperature rising, keeping your office cool can be expensive. As your company works toward keeping itself cost-efficient this upcoming summer, try considering alternative ways to save energy. Here are four tips to save energy in commercial buildings this summer.

Ventilate

Ventilation of commercial buildings can help to lower high energy costs and protect the environment. Natural ventilation, as discussed by the Construction Specifier, shows how businesses can make the most of their mechanical ventilation system while also lowering their energy bill. Such natural ventilation systems require little maintenance and can keep the building cool for employees during the warm summer months.

LED Lighting

LED lighting lasts longer and uses less wattage than other forms of lighting. The U.S. Department of Energy states that more commercial buildings are choosing LED lighting as their form of commercial lighting. They provide a more environmentally and economically friendly product. They found that LED lights can save about 75% more energy and last up to 25 times longer than other electrical lighting. LED lighting can help lower your company’s electrical bill and provide an alternative energy source.

Motion Sensitivity

Motion sensitive lighting shows to be effective in saving energy as it automatically functions based on occupancy of the building. Boston’s Challenge for Sustainability emphasizes the inexpensive installation of motion sensors and that your overall savings percentage can increase. Motion sensitive lighting can help especially in areas of your building where there isn’t much activity or where lights can end up being left on. Benefits of switching to motion sensitive lights, according to Challenge for Sustainability, include energy savings that can reach around 75% and total savings that can be around 35% to 45%.

Retrofitting

Inadequate lighting or electrical problems in your commercial buildings can lead to increased electrical costs. Save energy by retrofitting your buildings. We can help install electrical bundles that best fit your building’s needs while also protecting the environment. Schedule your energy audit here to start the process of saving energy for the summer today.

Save Energy with Kirby Electric

As Seattle’s premier electric company, Kirby Electric specializes in commercial and industrial contracting. We offer electrical services that best fit your building’s needs and present energy management solutions. Such solutions provide economically and environmentally beneficial services. Contact us today and request a quote at 253-859-2000 or online here to learn more about our services.

20 Jan 2017
0 Comments By seo@bigfin.com Commercial Buildings, Commercial Lighting, Lighting Retrofits , ,

Energy Saving Solutions for Commercial Buildings

It is no secret that energy bills for commercial buildings can run rather high. Moreover, businesses may find it rather difficult to find efficient solutions to reduce them. According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, 20% of the energy consumed nationwide is from commercial buildings. Explore our blog for the top 4 energy saving solutions to help your commercial building reduce energy bills today.

Incorporate Efficient Lighting

One of the easiest and economical ways to reduce energy bills is installing energy efficient lighting solutions. LED technologies continue to improve and advance, which makes energy solutions vaster than ever before. Options include re-lamping, retrofitting, incorporating replacement products, and more for commercial buildings to accomplish substantial savings through efficient lighting.

Implement Reduction Strategies

Two main ways to save money on energy bills are:

  1. Figuring out how to pay for less energy = supply side savings
  2. Figuring out how to use less energy = demand side savings

Shifting energy usage habits will provide great results. Meaning, reducing top demand with more energy efficient lighting, pumps and vital strategic solutions will aide in energy bill savings. The lower the top demand and/or capacity, the less you pay for power.

Energy Usage Analysis

In order to figure out how a commercial building consumes energy, it is imperative to understand the power usage patterns. Understanding where and how energy is consumed can result in reduced energy costs and consumption overall.

Energy Products

Nowadays, one top trend for businesses is to meet sustainability initiatives. For example, implementing wind technology or solar panels are great technologies that reduce energy usage and will help businesses become less dependent on utility companies. For inside, LED light bulbs (light emitting diode) for lamps and other utilities that require light bulbs are beneficial for energy efficiency as well. In comparison, incandescent bulbs cost approximately 5-10 times the initial price of the bulb alone. LED light bulbs will last up to 10 times as long as compact fluorescents and the cost of the bulbs. Overall, smart energy products are efficient ones.

About Kirby Electric

Kirby Electric, Inc. is a premier electrical contractor specializing in commercial and industrial electrical construction. Our dedicated and knowledgeable team of electricians, low voltage technicians and office staff are led by senior leadership whose core philosophy is consistently delivering exceptional service. Kirby Electric offers a wide array of services to meet the needs of our customers and ensure a smooth operation of their facilities. Learn more about our services by calling 253-859-2000.

28 Mar 2016
0 Comments By dev@bigfin.com Commercial Buildings, Commercial Lighting , ,

How to Save Energy in a Commercial Building

Did you know the average commercial building wastes 30 percent of the energy it consumes? Additionally, $200 billion is spent annually on electricity and natural gas for commercial buildings, which contributes to nearly half of our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. As startling as that reality is, there’s plenty of ways to save energy.  Read on to check out some low cost improvements that can be made for reducing energy consumption in your office or commercial building.

Perform a Nighttime Audit

For a commercial building, it is likely a large portion of excess energy is being wasted at night. This is why an energy audit conducted after hours could help determine which sources of waste could be minimized or all together eliminated.

Monthly Maintenance

Each month, make a habit of checking and maintaining the cooling and heating equipment used in the commercial facility. This will help make sure everything is working correctly and efficiently.

Limit Lighting

Are lights turned off when they should be? It’s estimated that lighting consumes 25 to 30 percent of energy in commercial buildings. Depending on the space, free natural lighting from windows can even suffice over traditional lights. Not to mention, it’s free! Keeping lights off when not in use can not only reduce energy consumption, but it can also lower lighting expenses by 10 to 40 percent.

Enable Sleep Settings

Each office computer is equipped with a power management function. This should be enabled on each monitor so that it instantly goes to sleep when not in use. Additionally, all sleep functions should be enabled on printers, fax machines, copiers, scanners, and other various devices.

Unplug

Even when equipment is in standby or sleep mode, it still eats energy. For example, one building found that eight percent of their annual electric bill was allocated to their standby power alone. Luckily, there’s an easy fix to this, unplug what’s not in use! Talk with your office’s IT department or your office manager about whether unplugging certain products at night is a viable solution to saving money and energy.

Heating & Cooling

Set the thermostat to a lower temperature when the commercial building is not occupied. Have you checked the filters? They can help reduce energy usage by changing them out monthly. Also, make sure your vents are completely unblocked. As much as 25 percent more energy is required for air distribution when vents are blocked by furniture.

Educate!

There is no more affordable way to limit energy consumption, than basic energy education! Make it known how much energy is being wasted when certain actions occur. Plus, prospective employees want to work for an environmentally conscientious company.

Commercial Energy Management Programs

Did you know you can lower your business’s energy bills without engaging in a substantial investment? Puget Sound Energy offers commercial energy management programs that can be tailored to fit your building’s needs. The programs help identify problem areas, and provide suggestions along with incentives that can cover some or all of your implementation costs.

About Kirby Electric

Kirby Electric, Inc. is a premier electrical contractor specializing in commercial and industrial electrical construction. Our dedicated and knowledgeable team of electricians, low voltage technicians and office staff are led by senior leadership whose core philosophy is consistently delivering exceptional service. Kirby Electric offers a wide array of services to meet the needs of our customers and ensure a smooth operation of their facilities. Learn more about our services by calling 253-859-2000 or contacting us online.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay.com)