Power quality and energy efficiency in e-offices

This paper presents results from a PQ audit conducted in an IT-intensive modern office building. Some of the mayor objectives of the PQ study were: detecting the main involved disturbances by PQ monitoring, identifying the power disturbances root causes, characterizing the electromagnetic compatibility level of equipments and installation and providing guidelines for implementing energy-efficiency solutions. It has been found that the main problems for the equipment installed were harmonics and leakage currents. The widespread presence of electronic power supplies in buildings is, in most of the cases, the root cause of the proliferation of harmonics. This case study demonstrates the impacts of generalized electronic devices on the power quality of the buildings and the implications on energy uses.