Three Ways To Be More Energy Efficient

If you want to become more energy efficient, here are three ways to help accomplish your goal:

3) Reach for the stars – the ENERGY STARs, that is. ENERGY STAR qualified products can cut related electricity costs by up to 30 percent. More than 50 categories of products are now labeled with this government “seal of approval” for energy efficiency. In addition to electronics and lighting (see tip numbers 8 and 5), they also include appliances, HVAC systems, windows, and more (see www.energystar.gov for a complete rundown).

2) Don’t waste money and energy heating and cooling the great outdoors, either! Make sure you have the proper amount of insulation for your climate, and seal leaks around doors and windows to cut your heating and cooling bills by up to 20 percent. With home energy costs estimated at $2,200 for the average U.S. household in 2008, and just over half of that going for heating and cooling, those savings can amount to about $225. Added benefit: Eliminate drafts and hot and cold spots for greater indoor comfort.

1) Slow down and save! Each 5 miles per hour you drive over 60 mph costs you about 20 cents more per gallon of gasoline. And aggressive driving habits – speeding, rapid acceleration and braking – can lower gas mileage by a whopping 33 percent at highway speeds and 5 percent around town. But driving sensibly can save up to 200 gallons of gasoline per year at highway speeds, or about $600 per car and about $1,200 per household with gasoline prices at $3/gallon. Added benefit: Avoiding up to 4,000 pounds of CO2 per car/8,000 per household.

Governor orders state to take lead in energy efficiency

Gov. Chet Culver Thursday issued an executive order which requires and promotes energy-saving practices in state government buildings.

Culver will tap Office of Energy Independence Director Roya Stanley to oversee the Green Government Steering Committee, which will organize the eco-friendly initiatives. The new committee will offer modifications for existing state offices to make them more green, while ensuring all future state government structures meet efficiency standards.

Energy Co. completes first phase of Energy Efficient lighting

Lime Energy has announced the completion of the first phase of an energy efficiency retrofit of a major airline's maintenance hangar at San Francisco International Airport.

The project involved replacing nearly 500 lighting fixtures in offices and work areas as part of a comprehensive lighting upgrade that will save operating costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This project utilized strategically located sensors and daylight harvesting that will automatically turn lights off when the space is not in use or when there is enough sunlight to provide adequate natural lighting.

Sensors are particularly important in this application because of the variable nature of the maintenance work performed in the hangar.

Which 'BULB' Is Best?

In October, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed AB1109, a lighting-efficiency bill sponsored by Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael. The law requires an increase in energy efficiency and a reduction of the pollution associated with lighting technology. The law also will likely speed up adoption of efficiency requirements in California and could even layer on new standards.

Starting in 2012, a 100-watt bulb will have to become a 72-watt bulb. Similar reductions in wattage will roll out for other bulbs through 2014, as manufacturers upgrade the efficiency of incandescents. In the meantime, GE has announced its intention to introduce a high-efficiency incandescent lamp, or bulb, ahead of schedule by 2010.

State Reviews Efficiency Incentives For Utilities

State regulators are drafting a new rate plan to guarantee that utilities won't lose money if their customers use less electricity. This framework, known as revenue decoupling, aims to revamp rate structures, which environmentalists and utilities say pose barriers to energy efficiency and lower consumption. Currently, utilities make more money by delivering more electricity, giving them little incentive to promote efficiency measures that reduce sales.

Decoupling aims to break the connection between sales and revenue, typically by fixing per-customer delivery charges, which are now adjusted regularly to compensate for changes in sales volumes. Freed from the need to increase sales, utilities can pursue efficiency measures to help customers use less energy and save money, decoupling supporters say.

Highmark Inc. top lists of Green IT users

Highmark Inc. of Harrisburg, Pa., has been named the number one green IT user by Computerworld, which surveyed more than 80 companies to find the top 12 green IT users and vendors.

With the help of experts from The Green Grid, Forrester Research and Base Partners, Computerworld crafted a survey looking for which companies are doing the most in reducing energy and implementing technology to cut energy and carbon emissions.

The top companies were chosen from the 86 responses to queries about energy and carbon goals, employee encouragement, purchasing practices, incentives, recycling, HVAC, data center layout, increase in energy efficiency, renewable energy and reduction of energy used.

Wal-Mart Pledges $500 For Energy Center

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which has embraced conservation measures as a way to cut costs at its giant stores, has announced that it will provide $500,000 over five years to support programs at the Energy Efficiency Center at University of California Davis and one of its executives will serve on the center's board.

The center, established in 2006 with a $1 million grant from the California Clean Energy Fund, is intended to help speed energy-saving products and techniques into the broad marketplace. The company's local energy-efficiency efforts include a new type of cooling system at its West Sacramento store.

U.S. Utilities focus on Energy Efficiency

U.S. utilities are focusing on energy efficiency to lessen the need to build new power plants while they await what they see as inevitable carbon regulation, executives said at the four-day CERA conference in Houston that ended on Friday.

Uncertainty over the form and cost of regulation of carbon dioxide emissions has many utility executive hedging their bets on new power plants while consumer conservation programs are viewed as a safe way to give consumers more tools to control energy consumption in the face of rising costs.

Data centers take the LEED

Highmark Inc.'s new 28,000-square-foot data center in Harrisburg, Pa., isn't just energy-efficient, it was also one of the first to attain the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building certification, issued by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

For businesses that want the cachet of going green, LEED is the ultimate status symbol. While attaining the certification is a laudable goal, not all of the recommendations make sense for buildings that house data centers, and getting the certification can be a reach -- especially when retrofitting existing data centers.

While most data center managers associate going green with energy efficiency, LEED certifications are much more about overall impact on the environment and social responsibility. For example, having a recycling program is mandatory to attain LEED.

'Going Green' big at Builder's conference

The drive toward "green" residential construction takes center stage this week at the world's largest light construction conference and trade show. The National Association of Home Builders will announce national green building standards and a green builder designation at the International Builders Show in Orlando, Fla.

Both represent "what seems to be the future of home building," said Calli Schmidt of the NAHB. The national effort is growing out of individual states' green building initiatives in recent years. That includes Michigan, where Grand Rapids builders helped drive a statewide set of green building guidelines in recent years, said Schmidt.

Ameren Illinois Utilities propose Energy Efficiency plan

The Ameren Illinois Utilities have filed an energy efficiency plan with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) designed to help customers save money by reducing their natural gas usage.

Customers will be given a variety of options from which to cut their energy costs. For example, the plan proposes incentives for residential customers to install high-efficiency furnaces, automatic programmable thermostats, water heater and hot water pipe insulation, wall insulation and low-emissivity double-pane windows.

There also will be programs for low-income customers and incentives for apartment building owners and commercial customers that will help them improve energy efficiency.

Data Center University Includes Green Courses

Heading into its third year, Data Center University offers more than 45 online courses, including classes on energy efficiency and green IT practices. Data Center University was launched by American Power Conversion in 2006 and offers a course catalog running the gamut of power and cooling basics to blade server integration.

Optimizing data centers has become an important issue for companies that are looking to save money, lessen their impact on the environment, or both. Recent studies have show businesses are migrating to, or want to switch to, greener computing practices for various. Not only does cutting power and cooling costs at data centers save money, but it also cuts the amount of energy consumed.

Many of Data Center University's courses have environmental, and economical impacts. Introductory, intermediate and advanced classes look at different levels of power and cooling. Other classes teach how to establish energy-efficiency benchmarks and environmental monitoring. The University also offers an Associate Certification test that covers knowledge of all aspects of data centers

Europe outpaces US in energy efficiency

Across Europe, countries are experimenting with policies to encourage homeowners, renters and landlords to make buildings more energy-efficient. They've been prodded by the European Union, which as part of its effort to fight climate change has set an ambitious goal to cut energy consumption in buildings 11% by 2020.

In the U.S., some companies such as Citigroup Inc. and a handful of states such as California have launched efforts to improve energy efficiency in buildings. But in general, the U.S. has been slower to devise policies to address the problem. The EU, meanwhile, has mandated that member states renew their building codes every five years and create standards to calculate the energy efficiency of buildings.

Another measure calls for all buildings to submit a report card, or "energy certificate," which can be shown to prospective buyers or renters. The hope is that grading buildings on their energy efficiency will spur landlords and owners to undertake renovations.

'Renewable' Label wrong For Nuclear

Last year, the South Carolina Senate approved a bill that would classify a host of energies -- solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, hydrogen -- as "renewable." But the bill was amended to also include nuclear power, which does not make sense because uranium fuel comes from a finite source just like oil and coal does.

The House this week voted 114-0 to remove nuclear energy from the list of renewable resources and returned the bill to its original intent.

The classification of nuclear as "renewable" is more than just senseless. It diverts attention from the original intent of the Energy Efficiency Act, which was to promote South Carolina's emerging, homegrown energy economy. Furthermore, allowing power companies to boost their "renewable" power ratings with nuclear-generated power creates loopholes for future energy production standards and discourages serious investments in real energy conservation.