Posts tagged energy efficiency
Figuring Out How to Go Green Without Going Crazy
Feb 3rd
Utilities worry about a lot of things, such as keeping the lights on, earning a return for investors, and making regulators and customers happy with their service.
Now there is a new worry: How can they protect customers from what one utility refers to as “mental fatigue?”
In this particular case, the utility raises the issue as it prepares to invite homeowners and small businesses to select from among new and possibly complicated rate options made available because of smart meters. The new rates should lead to greater energy efficiency. But that won’t happen if customers become overwhelmed by their complexity, throw the bill insert into the trash, and turn to the next thing demanding their attention.
Mental fatigue is a big problem not only when it comes to homeowners, but also businesses and organizations faced with technical decisions required to green their facilities. Start with the basics. Do you pursue energy efficiency or renewable energy or both? And then, do you choose to make actual physical changes, such as installing combined heat and power systems or solar panels, or do you buy from among the more virtual products such as energy efficiency certificates or renewable energy credits (RECs). And to make it even more difficult there are now a growing number of RECs to choose from: solar RECs, zero emissions RECs, low emissions RECs and more. (See my article on US RECs in the December issue of Platts Energy Economist.)
Analysts Patrick Costello and Roshni Rathi recently prepared a report for RealEnergyWriters.com that sorts through the many options presented to companies trying to go green. The detailed analysis attempts to give direction to organizations by using examples drawn, interestingly, from information technology and telecommunication companies. These industries are known for their progressive, game-changing strategies and many have led the way in reducing energy usage and emissions in their data centers, according to Costello.
The report, “Data Center Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, and Carbon Offset Investment Best Practices,” points out that seven of the top ten organizations in Newsweek’s Green Rankings were IT or telecom companies with IBM, HP and Sprint Nextel in the lead. IBM won further kudos this week from the European Union, which bestowed its code of conduct recognition on 27 IBM data centers for their energy efficiency. IBM met a 2007 goal to double the IT capacity of its data centers within three years without increasing its electricity usage.
But not all data centers are run by firms the size of IBM. Many are small and don’t have the kind of resources of a large IT firm, so don’t even know where to begin when installing or purchasing energy efficiency or renewable energy. REC purchases, in particular, can confound the uninitiated. Two markets exist for RECs, one voluntary and the other regulated by states, and each state has its own way of defining what constitutes a legitimate REC. “It is really important to be careful about what you purchase and where you purchase it. People often don’t have an understanding of what they are buying,” Costello said.
They don’t understand and sometimes they wish they didn’t have to. Mental fatigue may be a new occupational hazard for the energy-consuming public.
Written by Elisa Wood; who is a long-time energy business writer. To read more of her articles on energy visit www.RealEnergyWriters.com.
Johnson Controls, U.S. Army Establish First Contract Following Obama’s Energy Efficiency Charge
Feb 2nd
Mark Wagner, Vice President of Government Relations at Johnson Controls, gives us an inside view into Johnson Controls working with the Army on the Fort Bliss project.
Much Light, Little Heat Efficiency
Jan 30th
Energy efficiency in the US is much light and little heat – literally. Government policy pays a great deal of attention to saving electricity, but focuses little on the thermal energy we waste.
“Policy is electricity-centric in the US. Unless you are making kilowatts, the most efficient investments are off the radar,” said Rob Thornton, president of the International District Energy Association (IDEA), who I recently interviewed while writing this year’s edition of Pennwell’s US Guide to Combined Heat and Power Companies.
We throw away a lot of the heat. Power plants, for example, create heat as a byproduct of generation. Rather than reusing this thermal energy, we often let it dissipate into the air. As a result, we waste more energy than Japan uses for everything, according to Amory Lovins, author of “Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era.”
There is good news, however. Thornton and others I interviewed see a growing change in Washington’s attitude about combined heat and power (CHP), district energy, and other efficient methods of using thermal energy. Movers and shakers are becoming more aware of these energy alternatives. In addition, states are increasingly incorporating heat efficiency into clean energy portfolio standards.
“Finally, after all of these years, combined heat and power has become a hot topic in the political community,” said R. Neal Elliott, associate director for research at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
In fact, Congress is looking to improve heat efficiency in its own backyard. The Capitol Building, which already has a district energy system, plans to incorporate an 18-MW CHP system (also called cogeneration). The system is part of long-term energy plan that attempts to reduce costs and improve the efficiency and the environmental footprint of the Capitol. The CHP system will provide 200,000 lb/hour of steam to heat Congressional buildings. The steam comes from heat produced while generating the electricity, so the plant gets a twofer from the fuel. The CHP system will reduce building energy use 7.1%, according to the first quarter 2012 issue of IDEA’s District Energy magazine.
Barry Sanders, president and chief operating officer of American DG Energy, says that the smart energy movement needs to embrace heat, not just electricity, if the US is to achieve its energy independence goals.
“A gaping hole exists in the nation’s discussion about smart energy. Most of the talk focuses on electric power, and neglects thermal applications. Yet, we use a great deal of energy to heat and cool buildings, heat and chill water, and undertake thermal-driven industrial processes,” he wrote in a recent white paper, “Smart Heat: The Next Step in Clean Energy.”
In some parts of the country, we still use a good deal of imported fuel to make heat, at a time when we are trying to shift to domestic supply, Sanders wrote. He points out that oil continues to be the primary residential heating fuel in some of our most highly populated regions, such as the Northeast, the biggest single heating oil market in the US, according to the US Department of energy. And in New York, 10,000 of the city’s largest buildings use residual oil, considered a dirty fuel – 86% of the city’s soot comes from the burning of residual oil, according to New York City’s office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability.
“By neglecting heat in our smart energy pursuit, we continue to forfeit domestic, efficient and inexpensive fuels in favor of polluting and pricey foreign imports,” Sanders wrote.
Written by Elisa Wood; who is a long-time energy business writer. To read more of her articles on energy visit www.RealEnergyWriters.com.
A kWh Saved is a kWh Earned. Efficiency is the Key to Sustainable Energy for All
Jan 27th
As I watch the snow fall outside my window now, I am reminded that this is the time of year here in the Northeast where energy costs become very hard to bear for some.
At this time of year, we hear far too often of families struggling to pay bills and having to choose between paying for food and paying for heat. But it’s not just an issue for those digging out from the latest snow storm.
According to the United Nations Foundation, one person in five on the planet still lacks access to modern electricity. Twice that number, three billion people, relies on wood, coal, charcoal or animal waste for cooking and heating.
The inequitable distribution of energy around the world, is not only unfair, it’s economically unsustainable, and environmentally dangerous. While there are those who are struggling to find energy sources, there are others wasting it through inefficient energy use.
The United Nations Foundation has deemed 2012 the year of Sustainable Energy for All. The Initiative is calling on all sectors of society: business, governments, investors, community groups and academia to work in support of three inter-linked objectives:
- Ensure universal access to modern energy services – Making sure there is easy access to reliable energy.
- Double the rate of improvement in energy efficiency – Ensuring energy efficiency measures save the maximum amount of energy use.
- Double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix- Build the renewable energy supply to provide a diverse collection of energy sources to no one is dependent on one main source.
Whether it’s developing nations, or low income communities in developed countries like the U.S., energy efficiency is one of the most important tools to building a more sustainable energy system.
This burden of energy is the biggest reason why pursuing highest energy efficiency measures in new construction and existing buildings is vital for low income communities. The building sector, including residential, commercial and public-service buildings, offers the largest opportunity for cost-effective energy savings in the next twenty years.
According to the U.S. EPA, households across the nation spend more than $160 billion on energy to heat, cool, light, and live in their homes each year. Buildings represent 40 percent of our energy use in the U.S. and one third of the world’s primary energy.
In the face of rising energy costs it makes sense that building developers and operators would build or retrofit their properties to be as efficient as possible, yet this does not happen as often as it should because of lack of information on the benefits of energy efficiency, among other factors. Every building or industrial facility built without optimal energy efficiency measures represents a lost opportunity to lock in lower energy consumption for decades, or as long as the building is operating.
Reducing energy use in buildings is the cheapest, easiest, fastest way to solve the biggest problems around lack of sustainable energy, improve the environment and enhance both energy security and economic development. With residential energy use accounting for a significant portion of total consumption, simple improvements – such as switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs – are among the most effective. Greater environmental impact can be achieved by improving the energy efficiency of older, poorly insulated homes. Promoting energy efficiency in low-income households attacks two problems at once – climate change and poverty. Low income households traditional spend much more on energy bills than the average household. Energy efficient home weatherization measures like improved insulation can significantly reduce heating bills for these families. More efficient energy use allows money to be used for essentials like medicine or food.
Much is happening around the world to increase energy efficiency investments. To improve sustainable energy for all it is important that countries help turn the tide by providing best practices and education for standardization and improved use of energy in both new and existing homes, businesses, public schools and universities, and commercial and industrial buildings. There are two main approaches to focus on: Maximizing energy efficiency in new construction through advanced building guidelines and training as well as progressive building energy codes is one approach. Addressing the huge efficiency opportunity in existing homes and buildings through best practices for retrofit, building energy rating and high performance guidelines for operating and maintaining schools and public buildings for comfort and efficiency is the other. Both must be addressed at the same to maximize opportunities for energy and cost savings.
The United Nations Foundation’s initiative is an opportunity to organize a global effort on promoting alternative energy solutions. Events are happening all over the world from grass-roots events to major international governmental summits. The cry for advanced energy management is being heard. We all have our part to make it happen.
Carrie Nash is the Strategic Marketing Manager for Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships(NEEP), a non-profit organization committed to accelerating energy efficiency in homes, buildings & industry. She also manages NEEP’s blog, Energy Efficiency Matters,www.energyefficeincymatters.org
IBM’s Meyerson Talks Energy Innovation Predictions
Jan 17th
IBM’s Dr. Bernie Meyerson discusses potential innovations that could transform how people consume energy over the next 5 years.
Lower Energy Use For The Poudre School District; How & Why?
Jan 16th
John Little, Stu Reeve, and Pete Hall, of the Poudre School District talk about why they are participating in the Better Buildings Challenge.
Access the Funds for Energy Efficiency Projects
Jan 11th
Ultimately, you want an energy efficiency plan for your business – understanding it makes good business sense to lower your energy consumption, to save money, improve your bottom line and protect the environment in the process. You followed the preliminary steps of benchmarking to see how your building compares with similar buildings in your area. You’ve also had an energy audit to get a handle on what upgrades your building needs.
After looking at the laundry list of inefficient equipment and building systems that need improvements and the associated costs, you start to conceptualize the various ways to shuffle the budget to find capital for these improvements and make it work!
Becoming energy efficient gives businesses the opportunity to reduce costs and in some cases, actually enhance the level of services that they provide to clients in terms of putting in the right level of lighting, providing the right temperature controls and comfort in various areas of the building. This is beneficial because it allows one to control costs without diminishing the levels of service.
Even in a weak economy, the sooner improvements are made, the sooner savings will add up. The cost of waiting is enormous. It’s like the cost of waiting to enter the PC age and waiting for the greatest, most sophisticated computer to come on the market. Over that period of time you are waiting – in the case of energy efficiency – there are substantial savings that your business is losing.
When assessing options for investing in energy efficiency, keep in mind these important factors to help ensure a complete assessment of the cost effectiveness:
- Consider long term and think about the cost and payback that will accrue over the complete life cycle of systems or equipment.
- Compare the cost of continuing with “business as usual” with no changes versus energy efficiency investments.
- Consider your public image – strong leadership in energy efficiency demonstrating your commitment to sustainability, conserving energy and saving the environment.
Many organizations see cash flow as a major obstacle to energy efficiency projects especially in tough economic times. The good news is there are multiple resources. There are programs that offer a number of financing incentives through rebates and other means to promote energy efficiency retrofits and installations. The incentives typically cover standard energy efficiency equipment for lighting and lighting controls, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), furnace, boilers and other gas equipment, motors, variable frequency drive (VFDs), and DDC/controls. These programs may also allow for customized measures. The Con Edison Green Team C&I program, for example, has a custom program that may include the installation of chillers/and or refrigeration system upgrades, industrial improvements, compressed air systems and other innovative measures not included on the standard rebates equipment list.
In most cases, financing can be structured so that the projects can be repaid from energy savings, negating the need for upfront capital. Check with your utility to see what opportunities are available. A good energy service company can guide your organization, offering special financing while the government provides tax credits and low interest loans for energy efficiency projects.
Written by David Pospisil. David Pospisil is program manager of Con Edison’s Commercial & Industrial Energy Efficiency Program, New York, N.Y.
The Better Buildings Initiative: Why Companies Are Taking The Challenge
Jan 9th
Photo by: Dennis Schroeder/NREL
Maria Vargas, of the Department of Energy, provides some insight into some of the Better Buildings Initiative’s early accomplishments.
You Wish You Worked Here!
Dec 19th
Your dream office may have relaxation pods for naps and spa rooms for massages like the ones in Google’s Zurich office. A “play pit” like the one in the Lego Group Lobby may be a place to sort out your deep thoughts. Or you may prefer to hang your hat in an office at the shore of the six acre campus of water and walking paths exactly like the one that Nike employees share. You may think that more amenities would make you and your co-workers happy, but you might be missing something major.
Employees care deeply about the lighting.
Fifteen years of research from the Light Right Consortium (lightright.org), which has been managed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), have conclusively and empirically shown that proper office lighting leads to higher productivity while actually reducing absenteeism and turnover. Overwhelmingly, good lighting means more comfort and higher employee satisfaction. Dare to dream.
Sadly, you probably don’t have great lighting in your office. Most of the current US office infrastructure has evenly spaced, parabolic “troffers”; oblong or square grid based luminaires, with T-8 fluorescent lamps, and specular or semi-specular baffles. They dot the ceiling with large bright spots. Monitor screens and windows are two other, very disparate, sources of brightness. Further, whether in the open plan cubicle or private office, overhead storage or shelving may block the best available light, causing deep shadows on parts of your workspace. If you have a task light to compensate, add that illumination to the variety of conditions in your space. You very likely suffer from over-illumination, glare, and discomfort.
Perhaps even worse is the electrical energy waste. Traditional troffer systems eat up as much as 4 watts per square foot in the average workspace in the United States. If you’re lucky enough to have a perimeter or corner office, you probably have two such fixtures all to yourself, at twice the wattage for the area. Best practices today call for light levels at one watt per square foot or less in the open plan office.
So what is good office lighting? Good lighting balances the ratio of light between your work spaces, intermediate, and long views. Balanced brightness keeps the muscles in your eyes from working too hard; eye strain is caused by constantly adjusting to the amount of light from your screen, paper tasks, and views to the surrounding spaces and entire environment. Good office lighting incorporates some visual views or natural light from the outside, from window-scapes to the natural world. Incredibly, these improvements in your office could save the world a dramatic amount of electricity, and new practices can save the corporation big dollars as well.
Lighting Designers to the Rescue. The Light Right research confirmed people are most comfortable (91 percent of comfort) with a combination of direct and indirect lighting, wall washing, and occupant dimming control. From the results, the U.S. DOE put forth specific recommendations in its’ Commercial Lighting Solutions Program. The program, also developed at the PNNL, offers various suggested layouts. The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (iesna.org) has written DG-18-08, “A Guide to Designing Quality Lighting for People and Buildings.” This is a manual on best practices “related to visual performance, energy and economics, and aesthetics.”
Your fantasy come true is called task ambient lighting. Practitioners agree that “workstation specific” task ambient solutions are the best available lighting plans to addresses your personal tasks and your surroundings; lighting that is for you and your space, over which you have some control with personal dimming and spatial arrangement.
Energy savings can be captured with control systems that bring the wattage per square foot down as low as one quarter of a watt per square foot. Various methodologies are available to deploy control systems into the lighting scheme, all of which are attuned to the environment and your overall well being. Exciting new wireless devices including self powered photo sensors and battery-less switches use designated, protected radio frequencies to transmit information on electric usage to the overall Building Management System (BMS). Software for existing wireless devices can run on simple tablets and allows remote control by facilities managers.
Not coincidently, peak electrical usage and available light typically occur around the same time. Demand response controllers and daylight sensors, respectively, allow the local utility to minimize your use of electricity at peak hours and maximize the use of natural light from exterior windows. Occupancy/vacancy systems take away the risk that someone forgot to turn out the lights, and personal dimming controllers allow you the flexibility to control the amount of light you need, which can vary dramatically with age, task, and condition of each occupant.
The Regulators are doing the right thing. Really. Commercial Lighting can account for as much as forty percent of electrical usage in the industrial world, according to the US Secretary of Energy. Good lighting is good for the world, and President Obama put into law the Energy Act of 2007, which encourages upgrades to lighting systems and offers tax deductions for owners who comply to the standards. As part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), accelerated depreciation benefits may be taken for energy efficient systems in new and existing spaces. You never knew you could have it this good.
California Title 24 has put best practices into law in a state energy code that requires the one watt per square foot adoption in office lighting.
According to The Greater Greener Building Plan put forth by NYC’s Mayor Bloomberg as part of NYCPlan for 2030, the city’s largest 16,000 commercial buildings will all be submetered (starting this past August) for electrical usage by tenant, and lighting retrofits must be completed by as early as 2017 for some city buildings.
The state of Connecticut has just released a NEW Energy Code, effective October 7, 2011 for commercial spaces, based on the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and ASHRAE 90.1 2007. Every commercial project must conform to code. It is “Mandatory, Prescriptive, and Performance based”.
The most often applied standards are published by ASHRAE, a 115+ year old organization devoted to advancing the state of the art in High Performance Building. They publish energy usage guidelines not only on lighting, but also on the building envelope, HVAC systems and refrigeration systems. They are The Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers, and they publish national standards by industry consensus. The AHRAE Code 90.1 has become the backbone for regulation.
From all corners of the building and construction industries there is vigorous discussion of, and new updates continually forthcoming on, how to design the typical office floorplate with appropriate light levels.
The right light is the lighting just right for you, and the reduced energy profile is the most advantageous for the planet. So while you gaze wistfully at your current surroundings, large or small, cube or corner office, be sure that change is on the way to help you enjoy your workday a little bit more. Better Living through Better Lighting may be your office dream come true.
Written by Allison Shemitz Walker, CEO of The Lighting Quotient.
SAIC Gets Contract Extension for Hawaii Energy Efficiency Program
Dec 13th
SAIC gets contract extension for Hawaii energy efficiency program
The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission has given a two-year contract extension to Science Applications International Corp. for Hawaii Energy Efficiency Program. The PUC extended the contract for two years, through Dec. 31, 2013, at a value of more than $66 million.
Under the contract, SAIC will continue as the public benefits fee administrator, enabling Hawaii to decrease its dependence on foreign oil, make better use of efficiency measures and improve energy security. SAIC will also continue to administer the Hawaii Energy Efficiency Program, including program operations, outreach, market evaluation, general administration, information technology and transformational infrastructure development initiatives. The program provides critical support for the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative’s goal of 30% reduction in energy use through efficiency by 2030.
Duke Energy acquires 20-MW solar projects in Arizona
Duke Energy unit Duke Energy Renewables has acquired two large-scale solar farms in Arizona from Recurrent Energy. The solar plants include the 5-MW Ajo Solar Project in Pima County,Ariz., and 15-MW Bagdad Solar Project in Yavapai County,Ariz.Under the terms of two 25-year power purchase agreements, Arizona Public Service Co. will buy all of the output from both solar farms from Duke Energy Renewables.
Kyocera supplies additional 10-MW solar modules for solar park in Italy
Kyocera Corp. has delivered an additional 10 MW of solar modules for the second phase of a 16-MW solar park near Turin,Italy. Previously, Kyocera supplied 6-MW of solar modules for the first phase of the solar park. The additional 10 MW is distributed equally between the “Lotti” and “Petiva” sites — with 20,640 Kyocera modules installed at each of the two plants. The company expects continued growth in the solar industry in Italy, as high levels of energy production from favorable sunlight conditions and an attractive feed-in tariff promote the expansion of solar energy.
Tigo Energy secures financing to accelerate the growth of SmartModules
Tigo Energy has raised total over $50 million to accelerate growth of its SmartModues. The company also completed its round to raise $18 million in additional financing.
The investment will enable Tigo Energy to accelerate growth, expand manufacturing and focus on international sales to take advantage of the strong market demand for Tigo Energy-enabled SmartModules from the industries’ leading PV module brands.
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