New Energy Efficiency Standards For Construction

The California Energy Commission released updated building-efficiency standards that call for high-performance windows, better-insulating roofs and more-efficient lighting.

The 2008 Building Energy Efficiency Standards, also known as Title 24, regulate new residential and commercial construction.

The new standards include updated or new code regulations for lighting, windows, roofs, skylights, swimming pools and spa equipment, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment, and California's Solar Homes Partnership.

Park Slated For Energy Efficiency Fixes

In Maryland, officials are eyeing Oriole Park at Camden Yards among hundreds of state-owned buildings with so-called green strategies that could yield $10 million annually in energy savings.

The energy efficiency fixes, such as automatic-flush toilets, motion-sensing lighting systems, efficient heating and cooling systems, window sealants and compact fluorescent light bulb replacements, would eliminate an estimated 545 million pounds of carbon emissions each year -- the equivalent of removing 45,000 cars from the region's roads.

In all, federal, state and local governments in the area plan to spend $175 million to make the upgrades in more than 600 buildings. In return, they predict the changes will yield $36.5 million in annual savings on their energy bills.

EPA connects with the Green Grid in support of Energy Efficiency

The EPA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with The Green Grid to promote energy efficiency in small computer rooms. The effort begins with evaluating an existing EPA computer room for ways to optimize energy efficiency, then finding ways to standardize processes and performance measures.

Ultimately, the goal of this partnership is to share best practices for replication with other governmental agencies and industry stakeholders. Future partnerships between EPA, federal partners, and associations will help design and build our way into a green federal IT infrastructure.

Who Is Reducing Their Carbon Footprint?

The Massachusetts Port Authority said Tuesday it has planned a series of environmental initiatives to reduce the carbon footprint of its operations.

The initiatives would also enhance its environmental stewardship and give customers options that can reduce their impact on the environment.

The initiatives include buying renewable energy credits, taking energy-saving steps, favoring cab drivers using hybrid fuels and making capital investments that will save energy in the long run.

Ohio Lawmakers Push Energy Efficiency

Ohio will attempt to cut 0.3 percent of its total usage in 2009, and gradually to reach a total drop of more than 20 percent by 2025. If utilities fail to meet the annual requirements, they will pay a penalty that will go into a fund to invest in advanced energy. The House and Senate still need to work out differences in the details between their plans.

Electricity customers would see an increase in their bills measured in cents, and in some cases, a dollar or so. Some of the money collected will go toward utility infrastructure improvements such as decreasing the amount of electricity lost on power lines.

Money will also go toward creating collaborative programs to make homes more energy efficient. Programs to provide home energy audits, improve their ability to trap warm and cool air, and give rebates for the purchase of efficient home appliances will be created. The subsidy provided by the surcharge will enable residential consumers to pay just a portion of what it would otherwise cost if they made those improvements on their own.

GM Hybrid Goes To China

General Motors Corp will sell its first gas-electric hybrid cars in China in July, introducing a model created in part by GM's Shanghai design center. The Buick LaCrosse will be the second hybrid to enter the Chinese automobile market following Toyota Motor Corp's Prius in early 2006.

Hybrids improve fuel efficiency and cut emissions by generating extra power from the brakes as a vehicle tops. But they also cost more because they require both gasoline and electric motors.

GM says the LaCrosse will be the first hybrid made in China. The Prius is assembled from imported parts.

Noteworthy Recognition For Energy Efficiency

The Kentucky Office of Energy Policy has recognized five Louisville buildings that have attained the Energy Star label from the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The federal program recognizes buildings that rate among the top 25 percent of facilities of similar use across the country for energy performance. The five Louisville buildings recognized are:

* E.On U.S. Center
* Cemex Kosmos Cement Co. Louisville plant
* Aegon Center
* Courtyard by Marriott Louisville Airport-Expo Hotel
* Isaac Shelby Elementary (Jefferson County Public Schools)

Rhode Island Town Switches To "Greener Computing"

North Kingstown, R.I. will start a wholesale conversion of its government computers to more energy efficient systems in an effort to save money and reduce its environmental impact. Over the next three years, the town will switch to products in Dell's Energy Smart line of energy-efficient machines, including models from the OptiPlex and PowerEdge series.

In addition to switching over to Dell's green computers, North Kingstown also announced it will be joining Dell's Plant a Forest For Me program, an initiative the company launched in September 2007 to offset carbon emissions among its clients by encouraging them to fund reforestation projects around the globe.

Con Edison's New Energy Efficiency Program

Con Edison has filed a plan with the New York State Public Service Commission asking that a package of new energy efficiency programs be approved for implementation this summer.

The 11 residential and commercial programs proposed in the filing are designed to achieve 378 MW of demand reduction and reduce energy use overall by 4.4 billion kilowatt hours (KWh). The resultant 2.3 million tons of CO2 reduction is the equivalent of taking 380,000 vehicles off the road, or growing 53,000 tree seedlings for 10 years.

Total estimated cost of the programs is $306 million through 2015, varying from approximately $10 million this year to $75 million in 2015. The funding would be drawn from funds already designated for energy efficiency programs in the most recent rate plan approved by commission effective April 1.

Stamford Takes Energy Efficiency Award

Stamford has been named Municipal Leader for Energy Efficiency by the nonprofit Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships.

The award cites Stamford's Local Action Plan, which documents actions taken since 1998, the plan's first year. In the plan, the city laid out a framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent.

Building improvements from 1999 to 2002, such as better lighting and efficient air-conditioning and hot-water pumps, produced annual energy savings of $306,920. Public school buildings also were improved, including a new environmental magnet school that has been designed to meet "green" standards.

Is There More Interest In Energy Efficiency?

According to the second annual Johnson Controls Energy Efficiency Indicator survey, nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of organizations are paying more attention to energy efficiency than they were just a year ago. However, the percentage of companies expecting to make energy efficiency improvements, as well as their planned investment over the next year, has remained constant.

The research identified energy management decision-makers and asked how their organizations were responding to rising energy costs and environmental issues. Members of the International Facility Management Association and the American Society of Healthcare Engineering were included as survey respondents.

Sun plans for Energy Efficient Servers

With energy efficiency and environmental issues of growing concern, Sun is preparing to tune its servers to be more environmentally friendly by introducing power management capabilities.

Sun plans to introduce the notion of power-managed states, in which future servers will respond to a user's internal energy policies. For example, a 1 kilowatt server might be tuned to run at only 500 watts, and the server figures out how to run under that constraint, Bapat said.

Power management also will be offered for memory components, chips, disk drives, and fans via intelligent firmware that will calibrate power. There will be states like idle and sleep states.

Other suggestions include running datacenters at off-peak hours for activities such as batch jobs and even siphoning off the cheaper nighttime megawatts during the night to freeze water. During the day, air conditioning use is cut by running the hot air off the ice.

County Aims For Energy Efficiency

Schenectady County officials recently announced initiatives aimed at improving energy conservation and efficiency.

The county will give preference to Energy Star products when buying for county facilities. Energy Star, which is managed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy, is a voluntary labeling program from appliance manufacturers designed to help consumers identify products that are energy-efficient.

IBM Introduces New Energy Efficient Supercomputer

IBM has introduced a new supercomputer powered by one of the world's fastest microprocessors and cooled by an innovative water system.

The new Power 575 supercomputer, equipped with IBM's latest POWER6 microprocessor, uses water-chilled copper plates located above each microprocessor to remove heat from the electronics.

Requiring 80 percent fewer air conditioning units, the water-cooled Power 575 can reduce typical energy consumption used to cool the data center by 40 percent. IBM scientists estimate that water can be up to 4,000-times more effective in cooling computer systems than air.