ACEP Researchers Assess Building Energy Efficiency in Kodiak

ACEP research faculty Richard Wies and David Denkenberger, and visiting Stanford graduate student Daniel Sambor visited the UAF College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences’ Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center last week.

The intention of the visit was to assess the building’s energy use and to explore possible research collaborations with energy efficiency and heat recovery in Alaska’s seafood processing industry.

The Alaska seafood industry is the largest private employer in the state, and processes 5 billion pounds of fish and shellfish annually - more than 55 percent of the total US catch.

The KSMSC is a 20,000 square foot facility completed in 1991, which houses a laboratory representing a small-scale seafood processing plant and office space for research faculty, staff, and students. The facility faced possible closure in the recent past due to its high operating cost, mainly related to electrical energy and fuel oil use.

The research team observed the daily operation of the facility while on site including occupants, lighting, ventilation, and refrigeration, and collected electrical energy and thermal data that will be used to assess and explore possible options for reducing the buildings energy use.

A power analyzer records electrical energy use data from the air handling unit which serves the KSMSC laboratory portion of the facility. Photo by Richard Wies/ACEP.