EleBlog

05 Sep, 2010

Recent posts by yours truly to NECA's Energy Solutions Blog:

Electric Vehicles: Updated Fact Sheet - if you've not been paying attention to EVs, well -- you should

What Would You Subsidize? - subsidies + energy. Perhaps the best of this group (my opinion)

Common Sense, Energy & Contractors - take a look at your assumptions

What's Written on the Wind - wind energy's problems, energy storage

An Ugly Shade of Green - bad stuff about green, to keep you informed

30 Aug, 2010

The DoE's Energy Efficiency + Renewable Energy op has launched a new website devoted to Energy Basics.

Seems like a portal offering a different level of access to what's already posted to the DoE/EERE website(s).

23 Aug, 2010

Realcomm, a real estate/technology service, publication, and more, has a magazine, RealcommEDGE. It also has a weekly service to which you can subscribe for free, the Advisory.

Each has taken on the topic of Connecting Smart Buildings to the Smart Grid.

Advisory -- here's a slice of an article posted in Nov. '09


EDGE -- you'll have to download the whole recent issue (PDF) of the magazine to see this. You might want to read the whole thing, but the article on TSG + buildings starts on page 20 (page 22 of the PDF). The article isn't a dramatic departure from the Advisory, really, and ends with the same sentence: "The question still remains: 'How will buildings connect to the Smart Grid?'"

31 Jul, 2010

Smart Home -- more automation, less energy use

High performance buildings -- video series from RMI (home of Amory Lovins)

Cabling for intelligent buildings (from Siemon)

LED bulbs now cost $20, it says here (Bridgelux)

'Intel's new device can read your dryer's mind'

29 Jul, 2010

From the 12/09 issue of CE Pro magazine comes this chart (and several others) on whether consumer electronic professional installers (residential technology integrators, if you will) think GREEN will be important to them.

Yep. "A staggering 87%," the mag said, "say they'll offer alternative energy products or energy management within 3 years."

25 Jul, 2010

Taken verbatim from here:

SACRAMENTO -The Contractors State License Board (CSLB) has issued an updated fact sheet on the contractor license categories that are authorized to perform work on solar energy projects.

As the popularity of alternative energy projects heats up, CSLB hopes to avoid any confusion among contractors seeking to venture into these emerging technologies. The following Fast Facts sheet is available on the CSLB website at www.cslb.ca.gov in the "Educational Materials" section for contractors.

Only contractors with the license classification listed below are authorized to perform solar construction or installation. Those without any of these license classifications are not authorized to perform this type of work.

"A" – General Engineering contractors are authorized to install solar energy systems.
"B" – General Building contractors are authorized to install solar energy systems within the definition of B&P Code Section 7057, since an solar energy system constitutes the use of two unrelated building trades or crafts as required by Section 7057.*
Specialty Classifications
C-4 – Boiler, Hot-Water Heating and Steam Fitting contractors are authorized to perform projects including solar heating equipment associated with systems authorized by this classification.
C-10 – Electrical contractors are authorized to perform any solar projects which generate, transmit, transform or utilize electrical energy in any form for any purpose.
C-36 – Plumbing contractors are authorized to perform any project using solar equipment to heat water or fluids to a suitable temperature.
C-46 – Solar contractors install, modify, maintain, and repair thermal and photovoltaic solar energy systems. A licensee in this classification shall not undertake or perform building or construction trades, crafts or skills, except when required to install a thermal or photovoltaic solar energy system.
C-53 – Swimming Pool contractors are authorized to include the installation of solar heating in swimming pool projects.

* § 7057 General Building Contractor (a) Except as provided in this section, a general building contractor is a contractor whose principal contracting business is in connection with any structure built, being built, or to be built, for the support, shelter, and enclosure of persons, animals, chattels, or movable property of any kind, requiring in its construction the use of at least two unrelated building trades or crafts, or to do or superintend the whole or any part thereof.

23 Jul, 2010

Back at the beginning of this month (why does that seem so long ago?), an EleBlog post regurgitated an item from TEDMAG.com, giving you access (from here) to the 12 blogs posted by yours truly from reporting at the Wind show, May 23-26 in Dallas.

I'm going to add a bit more from time to time. I'm engaged (and will be for a while) in looking over the presentations from the conference. I didn't hear all of them because, in fact, I can only be in one place at a time!!!

I just reviewed a presentation by Ryan Wiser of the DoE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on trends in U.S. wind project performance. Here are a few bullets from his conclusion:


Now, well you might ask -- what the F is Curtailment?

Before getting to that, tho, note the first of the bullets I've excerpted here: Wind developers are building at sites in which the quality of wind is lesser than it should be (or otherwise has been).

For a definition of Curtailment, it occurs when wind plants are required to or choose to reduce their generation output, according to this post (from a wind association official) to RenewableEnergyWorld.com -- an article about a study paid for by NREL and released in the last part of 2009. 

23 Jul, 2010

"7 Ways to Slay Power Vampires" is a short article (a slide show, really) from CE Pro. It's aimed at residential. Here's one of 'em: USE SWITCHABLE SURGE SUPPRESSORS (and turn them off) --

22 Jul, 2010

Yep, this is a bit of a departure for EleBlog. But this stuff is HOT HOT HOT -- and I think electrical contractors/electricians can do this (or learn how).


- - - - -

WANT MORE? The Parks Associates blog has a category on Digital Health. Much of it is about Parks people speaking at conferences . . .

20 Jul, 2010

I've written that this is going to be important -- most recently, a post yesterday on the Energy Solutions Blog (NECA's site).

Is there more out there beyond my opinion? Yes, but it is (so far) a bit thin.

VIDEO: An MIT website lecture, 48 minutes, on Innovation in Energy Storage. This went beyond me very early on; if you concentrate, or if you're smart, it might be useful to you.

STOCK MARKET: A run-down on the Seeking Alpha site on Energy storage stocks. The writer claims to have been "focused on the energy storage sector for almost two years."

GOVERNMENT: As mentioned in the ES Blog noted above -- the DoE's Energy Storage starter page.

25 Jun, 2010

Solyndra is an interesting maker of solar PV modules (it makes round ones). This news is a week old, and I apologize, but the company had planned to sell stock for the first time (an initial public offering) to the public. Now, it won't.

What's interesting about Solyndra -- the reasons I follow it (from afar):


Yeah, I know, I know. It's tubular, man.

17 Jun, 2010

John of the blog IP Convergence works for a building automation company that used to be part of a big Chicago electrical contracting enterprise (I believe the co. he now works for is still owned by the Witz family, or members of it, the same folks who own CECCO, the contractor).

You may or may not have noticed -- there are some EleBlog-friendly sites at right. John's blog is one of them.

A recent post covered the smart grid. My experience of John (I've talked with him in person 3x) is that I learn something every time I shut up and listen. Here's some of what he had to say:

The smart grid opens up opportunities for buildings to save energy and expose the true cost of doing business. Systems that can participate in the new smart grid energy market while still defending the mission of the enterprise are uniquely positioned to provide value. Knowing the real time cost of doing business allows managers to modify their operations to maximize efficiency, this efficiency in turn maximizes margins and is the true driving force behind saving energy.

What I really like there is the phrase "expose the true cost of doing business" and "knowing the real-time cost of doing business." You might not have read those phrases before.

Read the rest of his post, and poke around on his blog after you're done.

01 Jun, 2010

....reviewed by NECA's Michael Johnston, a Code expert. 

29 May, 2010

....with metering.

29 May, 2010

You can find out via Google Maps. 

25 May, 2010

Wind Energy for Schools - Locations: http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/schools/projects.asp

Wind Energy Education Programs + Training:
http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/schools/education/education_training.asp

Open PV Project (locations of solar photovoltaic installations): http://openpv.nrel.gov/

23 May, 2010

An article from KACO New Energy, Inc., on AltEnergyMag.com is headlined

"Micro Inverter or the AC-Module Inverter: Truths vs. Myths."

This is probably NOT the last word on the subject. But, for many of us, it might be the first word!

23 May, 2010

One major piece of evidence that electricity (and other forms of energy) are still MUCH TOO CHEAP is the fact that no one -- not even commercial building owners -- understands how to read an electricity bill.

Read Do You Understand  Your Energy Bill?


I've studied this issue, the guy who wrote this is 100% correct. In very many cases, people find themselves on the wrong "rate card" of the local utility. A simple phone call (to get on the right rate card -- called a "tariff") saves money.

And then, on top of that, there are dozens and dozens of little things that an energy user can do to cut the bill.

The EleBlog take: The fact that people do not read their bills, do not make these phone calls, do not do the dozens of little things . . . is clear and final evidence that the rates charged in this country for electricity are MUCH TOO CHEAP.

18 May, 2010

From Advertising Age:

Like a typical launch, there's a car to promote, a consumer to entice and a price point ($32,780) to convince potential buyers is fair. But that's where the similarities end.

Those who buy a Leaf when it becomes available later this year will be in for quite the one-to-one marketing experience. This is not a car that can be plugged into any outlet: Buyers will have to undergo an electrical education and a visit from an electrician to inspect their home and make sure their wiring is up to snuff -- and a possible upgrade if it's not.

"There will be an individual conversation with every customer that goes through the purchase process for the Leaf," said Mark Perry, director-product planning at Nissan North America, said. "Some of it will be web-based, but it is going to be an individual communication."

[Eleblog added the bolding]

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09 May, 2010

A multi-part series on the Special Report blog - Tedmag.com

Solar

Wind, part one

Wind, part two

Major support needed for wind + solar

Energy storage issues

More on energy storage

03 May, 2010

That's what it says in a Design News article -- and I'm not taking issue with it. This is the kind of thinking that we maybe need right about now.

Read this:


The whole article is interesting, but I'm not going to paste it in this box -- go here.
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02 May, 2010

This is the 2nd of 2 posts from the Baldor Electric Q1 financial release.

The point here: MOTORS are often overlooked when folks talk about energy efficiency.

They shouldn't. You shouldn't. And -- well, I shouldn't!

Q… How are you preparing for the December 19, 2010 implementation of the Energy Independence and Security Act?

The Energy Independence and Security Act raises the minimum energy efficiency standards for most 1-500 horsepower AC motors produced or sold in the United States.  As a result of this legislation, approximately 50% of our motor sales in 2011 will be premium-efficient motors.  Premium-efficient motors have a higher material content and sell for a 20-30% higher price than standard motors.   We believe the shift in mix to more efficient motors will benefit our sales in 2011.

Implementation of this legislation will have a positive impact on our plant productivity.  Because we will no longer produce a number of motors in a standard design, we will reduce the variety of products produced while increasing the production order volumes.  In addition, we will stock approximately 700 fewer finished goods items.

25 Apr, 2010

A really good article from Sustainable Facility -- summarized as

21 Apr, 2010

That's the headline on a NECA Energy Solutions blog post from this week. 

21 Apr, 2010

TEDMAG.com posted a three-part report on Executive Order 13514 and the GSA -- basically on the federal approach to energy efficient buildings:

1 Why the GSA is important (and an intro to these 3 pieces)

2 What the President "ordered" in EO 13514 (GHG reduction specifics)

3 Another piece on the thinking of Kevin Kampshroer of GSA, a person we're lucky to have in government service.

13 Apr, 2010

Solar photovoltaics -- the solar-to-electricity module -- produces DC power. The world has been arranged in such a way so that we all use AC power; most of us, most of the time, anyway.

What do we do about this?

Option One -- funnel the DC power to things that use DC power, so you don't have to convert it (from DC to AC).

Option Two -- equip the solar modules with microinverters.

Option Two is the subject of an article on the IAEI site.

13 Apr, 2010

See the Consulting-Specifying Engineer 4/10 issue feature. 

28 Mar, 2010

I got a tour of what the EMerge Alliance is up to back in 5/09 at LightFair in New York City. INTERESTING!

At least one of us (me) needs ot keep track of what's going on here. If you want to do that, too, give a read to this brief article from the March issue of BUILDINGS magazine --

http://www.buildings.com/Magazine/ArticleDetails/tabid/3413/ArticleID/9468/Default.aspx

24 Mar, 2010

AC Solar Technology is the name of a co. in Bend, Ore., that was a start-up in 2009. From the Bend newspaper:

AC Solar Technology’s Blue Leaf 210W AC module, which is essentially a small solar electrical system, has the potential to open up the solar market to small commercial and residential users, Harris said. It simplifies solar power installation.

Photovoltaic systems produce DC, or direct current. Most electrical appliances in a home use AC, or alternating current. So most solar systems need wires that lead from the solar panels to an inverter, which converts direct current into alternating current. The wires continue from the inverter to the building’s electrical system.

The Blue Leaf module essentially removes the direct current portion. It has no DC wiring or components and uses AC from the modules to the power grid, according to a company news release. It has a single AC line leading from the inverter on the back panel. It’s like an extension cord, Harris said.

22 Mar, 2010

Revolving Doors Generate Energy (from Buildings) is a short piece.

The idea (from the Netherlands) is "to harvest the kinetic energy produced when the door spins." The power goes from the front door to the LEDs illuminating the cafe in the train station. 

22 Mar, 2010

“Many people think that solar won’t work in Michigan because it’s too cold and it doesn’t get as much sun as other places, but that’s misconstrued,” Hagerty said. “Michigan has an average of 4.2 hours of peak sunlight per day each year. Florida, the ‘Sunshine State,’ only has about five hours. Solar panels are less efficient the hotter they get and actually produce more power when it gets cooler. While the Southwest may get more hours of sun, the panels produce less voltage per peak hour because of the heat.”

-- that's Mark Hagerty, president of Michigan Solar & Wind Power Solutions LLC, as quoted here.

20 Mar, 2010

I like it when someone says something that goes AGAINST the conventional wisdom. Writing for AutomatedBuildings.com -- one of my favorite places to learn things -- Toby Considine noted:


Why is this guy so NEGATIVE? Among other things, you have to first consider that he's probably right about this. But of course, his thesis is (the headline) -- Buildings must get smarter because Smart Grids will be worse.

And:

20 Mar, 2010

Look ma -- no batteries. Or wires!

15 Mar, 2010

Over at The Oil Drum -- a website dedicated to "peak oil" thinking -- I found a pretty amazing audience-participation dingbat on Home Solar Photovoltaics. An active poster to the site -- "Gail The Actuary" -- started it with a brief post including 8 questions on the subject.

160+ comments followed, many of them detailed, pointed, and interesting. I printed it out and read thru it; it's worth you time!

13 Mar, 2010

I recently heard Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) speak at a Smart Grid event. The presentation included one heck of a lot of self-aggrandizing sentences . . . very "liberal" use of the word "I" -- and I don't like that. Plus, the guy is from EvilRedSoxLand -- so I was predisposed to not like him.

Maybe I was wrong. GreenSource, the construction/green magazine from McGraw-Hill, did a Q-and-A with the guy.

OK, so maybe all EvilRedSoxLand residents are not, exactly, evil. Perhaps he's an aberration.

13 Mar, 2010

From InTech, the (pretty good) magazine of the ISA, in an article on The Smart Grid:

11 Mar, 2010

The bit that follows is from a 2,000-word article in the January 2010 Security Distribution & Marketing -- on the residential integration business, smartHOME & green:

With rising energy costs and shrinking incomes, homeowners are becoming more receptive to money-saving alternatives. Margaryan is working to take advantage of this opportunity by providing cost-effective solutions, such as energy-, water- and gas-usage monitoring.

Like other contractors, Margaryan has found that redefining what his company does and working with its strengths has created opportunity despite the economy. As an electrical contractor, forTech began taking on smaller electrical projects. By helping customers with basic electrical needs, Margaryan’s company is discovering new client relationships, increasing both current and future revenues. Plus, these smaller projects give it an opportunity to introduce the consumer to the possibilities green solutions provide: “The more doors we can open, the easier it is for us to get our name out there.”

09 Mar, 2010

In catching up on old reading, I found a 6-paragraph shorty in NewScientist (7-11-09) that I clipped to follow up. It's no longer available anywhere online. The headline: "The house that texts you."

Dig this:


And this:


AND HERE IS THE KEY (very next sentence) -- "Texting back will lock any doors or windows in question."

-- so if the EleBlog reads that right, not only will the house text you, but your response will "tell" the house what to "do" . . . amazing!

09 Mar, 2010

New blog from the U.S. Dept. of Energy -- Energy Empowers. It's about "personal success stories" that "give us a glimpse of how, together, we are building America's new energy economy."

Despite that baloney, it might be worth a look.

05 Mar, 2010

My most recent post was "111 green code ideas in 341 pages" on a recent NYC effort.

. . . while you're there: NECA has updated the blog, now offering an archive.

02 Mar, 2010

Article from PV World magazine:

Next-generation transformerless technology offers integrators, IPPs, and utilities maximum power delivery as well as reduced complexity . . . [for] direct inverter connections to a local grid and utility-scale installations generating power for transmission.

Those, the article says (it's a 5-page PDF if you click above) are the "two most common types of commercial PV installations."

02 Mar, 2010

I apologize, but this is item #2 on MIT for this day's group of postings. From my catch-up reading (on my recent mini-vacation at the beach -- Ocean City, MD in winter!!!) -- the NewScientist article caught my eye:


For several years now, I have heard -- from various really smart people -- that LEDs could do a lot besides replace the standard light "bulb." This is part of it. Read the story!

02 Mar, 2010

One thing making me deliriously happy about the current enthusiasm about green, sustainability, etc., is the sharper focus -- on the part of some -- on how buildings ACTUALLY perform. See this MIT piece on "real-time energy performance."

Going beyond the design and LEED's 6 easy pieces -- and beyond trophies and recognition and awards -- to what's ACTUALLY HAPPENING seems (to the EleBlog) to be "the right thing."

For everybody, especially the guy, gal, people, or entity that's paying the bills.

25 Feb, 2010

A new GE product ("an in-home, multi-function energy information panel") -- oriented toward consumers -- seems to be ushering in the era of TOU metering.

TOU = time of use.

See the Parks Associates blog, which includes a link to the GE press release.

09 Feb, 2010

Your humble EleBlog proprietor has begun contributing to NECA's Energy Solutions blog. 4 of the 5 posts since 2010 started are from me (attributed) -- and you might want to read the others as well. Access to the blog is NOT limited to NECA members -- and I believe the subjects will be of interest toall. 

09 Feb, 2010

When you hold yourself up for praise, you also harvest a slew of rotten vegetables thrown in your direction. That's what has happened with the USGBC's Leed for Homes program, in an article -- Green home award winners flunk walkability test -- from USA Today.

The article quotes the Treehugger blog extensively. You may or might not empathize with the greenies, but I think what follows is not about sustainability, or attacking USGBC, etc. -- it is, instead, simple common sense:

Don't you think that, if we're going to highlight not just certified projects but award winners deemed to be the very best, we should select more of them in high-performing (or, jeez, just better than average) sites?  

One result is that the added environmental benefit of the residences' laudable green features will be offset by the environmental damage caused by the sites' automobile dependence, poor environment for walking, and relative distance from jobs, shops and services. 

Another result is that the public, the building industry, and policy makers will continue to be misled about how best to achieve true environmental performance in our built environment.

"Walkability" refers to the idea that if you have to drive everywhere to do whatever (including, even, exercise), your house ain't green.

07 Feb, 2010

With all of the stuff you hear about Lighting, and about Water, and about a lot of other "green" things (or things-that-need-to-be-greened) . . . including windows . . . I believe a Doggone Big Baby has been thrown out with the bathwater.

It's motors.

This is from the NH ute web site:

Motors frequently drive variable loads such as pumps, hydraulic systems and fans. In these applications, motor efficiency is often poor due to operation at low loads.

The operating cost of a motor over its lifetime is many times its purchase price. For example, a 100 horsepower AC induction motor costs approximately $5,000, yet will use as much as $35,000 worth of electricity in a year. Small improvements in efficiency can therefore generate significant savings in energy costs.

I'm not saying water isn't important, or that windows now in place do not waste energy (they do). And lighting retrofits are not the low-hanging fruit; as I heard Energy Secretary Chu say in person once (to laughter from his audience) -- this is the fruit that's already fallen from the tree, and is lying on the ground; all you have to do is bend over to pick it up!

But ignoring something that accounts for 64% of the power use is just plain dumb. Especially when . . . well, read the 3rd paragraph quoted above!

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28 Jan, 2010

25 of them were funded by your tax dollars (or those to be paid later on by your children and, maybe, grandchildren). I wrote a 2-part piece for TEDMAG on this -- part one and part two -- providing some details on each of the 25 $ recipients. 

28 Jan, 2010

Here's something you probably never have thought you would see:

- - - - -

What’s Wrong with Mechanical Locks and Keys?

The fundamental problem with trying to control access with mechanical locks and keys is that the facilities professional can’t really control access:

• They have no way of knowing if and when a lock was opened.
• They don’t know if and when someone tried, but failed, to open a lock.
• Most mechanical keys can be copied.
• Most mechanical locks can be picked

- - - - -

It's from an article on Wireless Electronic Access Control. It's worth reading (and thinking about), even if you'll not get into this bizniz.

19 Jan, 2010

A white paper from the Modular Building Institute -- described here by Buildings magazine -- talks about modular building & LEED V3.  Here's a relevant piece, I think:

18 Jan, 2010

Schneider Electric -- home of Square D electrical products -- now gets some of the electricity consumed at its Palatine, Ill. HQ from solar PV. Manufacturing Business Technology provided a feature.

Of additional interest: FIVE IMPLEMENTATION TIPS, reprinted here:

17 Jan, 2010

It's an issue for later. A Grist.org article ("solar's dirty little secret") -- which I find neither secret nor so damn dirty, if you think about coal for a minute -- is this:


I'm sure I don't want to breathe any of that stuff in, and I'm sure I want the workers (on the front end of the solar-module-making process) to be properly protected and monitored.

But let's put this in perspective. Not a gram of nuclear waste has EVER (ever ever ever) been properly disposed. We're talking about the stuff Enrico Fermi first experimented with, in the Manhattan Project, still in a "temporary" holding facility.

I know Grist is on the side of the angels. I know the folks there are tackling this before the anti-solar people (like maybe the coal proponents) get to it. Etc. Etc. Etc.

BUT STILL: Gimme a break!!!!!

15 Jan, 2010

See this Energy Solutions blog post (on NECA's website) -- by yours truly. Worth your time!

14 Jan, 2010

$100 million (almost) from the US gummint to various local projects for training people to do "green" installation work. This is NOT the same as the big manufacturing grant news (from the same source) that came out recently.

Release -- see the list of projects just below the seven paragraphs, and, if you want more, click on the link to the PDF (it's 26 pages, lots more info).

07 Jan, 2010

On the site of a company called Bauer Power, they've posted a Grand Rapids Business Journal story from 6/22/09 about the company:

Mark Bauer is energized by the growing alternatives.

Staff as of June =15 -- including one electrical engineer, two electricians and technicians.

Bauer apparently is quite a character. Get this quote, in answer to the question: "Is solar energy really viable in Michigan?"

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04 Jan, 2010

From the Sandia National Lab (a DoE operation) --

The tiny cells could turn a person into a walking solar battery charger if they were fastened to flexible substrates molded around unusual shapes, such as clothing.

The solar particles, fabricated of crystalline silicon, hold the potential for a variety of new applications. They are expected eventually to be less expensive and have greater efficiencies than current photovoltaic collectors that are pieced together with 6-inch- square solar wafers.

04 Jan, 2010

From Eco-Structure:


and

31 Dec, 2009

Tim Morgan, described (by The Ledger of Lakeland FL) as "an electrical contractor and CEO of the former Electric Company, a major electrical contracting firm," is now from TMI Green Energy LLC of Lakeland. He was part of 25 people from the state of Florida that comprised "the Florida delegation" to the Copenhagen climate change conference.

From the article:

The company acts as a contractor, finding and designing the equipment needed for a solar-power project and then subcontracting with installers.

The Florida delegation, operating under the title of "Green Jobs for Florida," holds official observer status at the conference, according to the group's consulting firm of Bryant, Miller, Olive.

28 Dec, 2009

I'm a bit behind on reporting from the EcoBuild conference & show, held Dec. 7-10 in Washington, D.C. It was a pretty good event. I'm behind b/c I've not yet written up (3 or 4 or 5 short reports) for the blog on TEDMAG.com.

However, there was so much happening at this event (a lot of different construction industry groups and "green"-type people in separate meetings) -- that even when I get the work done, I won't "cover" everything . . . mainly because I could not possibly be everywhere.

So: To get you a bit more (and a bit earlier) than I will get you -- see this piece on the High-Performance Building sessions at EcoBuild. A (VERY INTERESTING!!!) slice of the piece -- bolding added by EleBlog:

28 Dec, 2009

From an old (April) post I saved on GreenBiz.com, here's a bit on hotel energy efficiency:

And why not? Hotel owners apparently worry that some guests may not like the loss of control or the inconvenience of arriving at a slightly colder room in winter or slightly warmer room in summer -- even though the owners could keep room temperatures just a few degrees from 70 or 72 and guests could enjoy something else (lower costs, more amenities) in return for a few minutes of waiting for the room to heat or cool.

By the way, travelers in Europe and Asia have come to expect the key card system. How do markets account for that?

Item here.

21 Dec, 2009

Chapel Electric Co. cmplained about the bidding process for installation of new security equipment at Dayton International Airport (Ohio), a bid won by Wagner-Smith.

See the Dayton newspaper story here.

What's interesting about this is that two significant ECs were the competitors in a big electronic security job. According to the story:

21 Dec, 2009

Somehow, I ended up on the e-mail list for TheGreenBuilder.com, where Ron Jones pontificates every so often. I like what he said in the 12/15 e-mail -- "Ditch The Climate Change Debate."

I have had similar thoughts -- which round out to, "do you mean we (the human race) are going to keep wasting energy and doing other idiotic things just in case we are NOT the cause of global warming?"

Here's what Jones had to say (three sentences I liked):

1. "We don't have to reach some final, indisputable conclusion on the 'climate' debate to know that there are plenty of good reasons to take steps to replace 18th and 19th century technologies and the polluting energy sources that have been fueling them."

2. "I have also fished a variety of streams, rivers, lakes, and reservoirs throughout North America where the fish populations face collapse from human-caused pollution and where signs are posted to warn against consuming the fish that are there."

3. "It's time to clean up our act and 'create a better world'—whether global warming is a hoax or not."

Amen. I found Jones' piece posted here.

17 Dec, 2009

Six of them, short, on BAS, from FacilitiesNet.com. Turns out it's all about the Pittsburgh airport (presented in small, digestible bites). From Part 6:

15 Dec, 2009

Years ago -- when I was still the Publisher of Electrical Contractor magazine -- I toured a smart house in California with the mag's West Coast salesman. The idea of the visit was to talk to the president of the company that supplied the "smart" system and, eventually, to get him to advertise in the magazine.

a. That didn't work. The company did not buy an ad. I don't think it had the money.

b. I don't remember the name of the company.

c. I do remember the tour distinctly. It was of this guy's house. The system had a voice-interactive system (you talked to it, it talked to you). He had equipped the system with the voice of Betty Boop. I am not making this up.

d. The system was remarkable. It hells bells and whistles all of the place -- bells and whistles up the ying-yang. The guy had stables not far from his house, the system monitored the conditions out there (it would spray to suppress bugs if need be). I thought it was wonderful.

e. This HAD to be before May 1, 1998, because I stopped being Publisher on that date.

Fast-forward to last week, when I read this story (from Canada) on how "New technologies let older homes become smarter."

Read the story (697 words). There's stuff about security, automatic window shades (that respond to the sun/lack of sun) and drapes0, video on multiple TVs, a panic button, blahblahblah. "Sensors can warn of fire, water leaks, and sudden temperature drops."

I have to tell you: Other than perhaps better use of the Internet and more whole-house entertainment, the story makes it seem as if there's not much happening in "smart houses" today than was happening in 1997-98.

Two points:

1. If this is all there is, you could have had it -- most of it, anyway -- from the Betty Boop-offering guy in the mid- to late-1990s.

2. BUT -- and this is an important but -- I think there IS much more than this, and it's IMPORTANT. It's about senior citizens, sensors, health care, and aging-in-place. I'll find some of it and post it here in the next days/weeks.

12 Dec, 2009

" . . . the market for energy management systems — stuff like wireless sensor networks, lighting controls, and heating and cooling management in buildings — will turn into a $6.8 billion-a-year market by 2020 and will generate investment of $67.6 billion between 2010 and 2020."

from Pike Research, as posted to Earth2Tech.

07 Dec, 2009

There's been a rally in the U.S. stock market since March. Well, sometime in 2008-09 -- thanks in part to solar photovoltaics and the effort to make buildings more efficient and sustainable -- a rally also begin in something called DC Power. It's going to be sustainable, unlike the stock-market thing.

In other words: DC Power is here, and it's here to stay. It's gaining ground, and it's going to get bigger. Three pieces of evidence:

1. The EMerge Alliance. Read up on the site, it's all about distributing DC power.

2. Press release from GE about a "Direct Current" Data Center System.

3. Coverage by yours truly of a presentation by the GSA's Kevin Kampshroer (look down to the subhed on "Dual Power Distribution").

27 Nov, 2009

Electronic House offered a question in a feature-article headline: "Can an 8K-Sq-Foot Home Be Green?"

Your knee-jerk answer is probably -- well, NO (or maybe HELL No!).

Maybe you are wrong (and me, too). Here's a section on the electrical/lighting piece of the (obviously somewhat expensive) house:

This system goes much further. Photocell sensors are positioned throughout the house to determine how much sunlight is entering and how much additional artificial illumination is needed. The AMX home automation system retrieves local weather information from the Internet and operates the lighting and motorized Lutron Sivoia QED shades accordingly. If it’s a sunny day, for instance, the shades can rise to increase the solar gain, thereby requiring less heat and lighting.

Note that Conundrum is the name of the custom electronics company responsible for the job.

27 Nov, 2009

It's the EleBlog's opinion that an awful lot of resources are put behind lighting & energy efficiency, but that MOTORS are ignored. Here's a bit from an 11/09 article in Plant Engineering about motor rewinding:

18 Nov, 2009

I ran across a pretty good magazine, about which I knew nothing, recently -- State & Local Energy Report. One article that's worth your time is "How to Make Sense of the Eco-Label Boom," which contained this graphic.


Here's an excerpt from the thing that's a telling sample, I think:

But even this criterion has not always resulted in best practices for the environment. The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification of buildings was heavily criticized in recent years for designing a points system riddled with loopholes, allowing resource-intensive buildings to receive certification. The program has responded to the criticisms, but this example illustrates the difficulty of creating a meaningful certification.

17 Nov, 2009

I did not attend the Nov. 11-13 GREENBUILD event in Phoenix. I regret not going, but it is literally impossible to be everywhere. So I'm relying on web reports on what others saw and heard there, as well as some video. Here's what I've found so far (there is probably a lot more!!!):

From USGBC (the event sponsor)


From GreenBiz.com


From EnvironmentalLeader.com

GreenBuild news roundups (with embedded links) --

17 Nov, 2009

The World Energy Engineering Congress was held Nov. 4-6 here in Washington, D.C. I attended each day. Four reports were posted to TEDMAG.com, and I think I did a pretty good job of reporting -- which means (freely translated) . . . you might want to read this stuff.

1. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s keynote; Leviton's breakfast; a bit about green jobs.

2. How lighting fits into a vision of The Smart Grid.

3. I attended a session on the World's Greenest Building. It wasn't hype (and I got a surprise).

4. Misc. stuff from WEEC, focus on Toyota's Approach to Lighting.

10 Nov, 2009

Here's what's been posted to TEDMAG's blog lately:

Most recently -- a review of employment data emitted last Friday by the USG. Includes electrical contractor data.

AND

Four posts on the Green Retrofit conference, held Oct. 15-16 in NYC (sponsored by McGraw-Hill). The posts concerned:

An intro, plus details on PlaNYC (the city of New York's green plan).

Details on a presentation by Kevin Kampschroer, a green guy from the GSA. Subjects: DC power distribution, among other things.

Bracken Hendricks addressed the group, and I was mesmerized. He tied all of the green stuff you might have heard together.

Data on the Green Retrofit market (again, from McGraw-Hill) -- including three slides I pasted in to the blog.

03 Nov, 2009

Here are some selected sentences from a National Real Estate Investor report (10/19):

AND


AND

The improvements will allow the company to provide occupants and tenants with state-of-the-art services, he said.

[XXX] plans to install security systems that permit monitoring of public areas from a central location or via remote cell phone. Tenants can also have systems installed to monitor their offices remotely.

03 Nov, 2009

Here's a "Did You Know?" from the 10/26 issue of Business Week: Peter Morici, the U. of MD economist, said:

31 Oct, 2009

A company called ODL has rolled out a "Solar Powered Dimmer" -- for its tubular skylight. To see a 2:05 (two minutes, five seconds) video on the thing, go to this page on YouTube. 

31 Oct, 2009

UPI = Unified Physical Infrastructure. Panduit wrote about it recently in this RealComm advisory --

page down to the bottom of this page to see it.
 (More)

31 Oct, 2009

For your house, from GE (and others). See the Solar Today write-up. 

26 Oct, 2009

"Utilities Embrace Newer, Smarter Services for the Power Grid"

-- this is a utility magazine story. It's a quick read, full of bullets -- and ideas -- about where the electrical power industry (and maybe the rest of us?) might be going in the years ahead. I'm not a big fan of this magazine, and yet I'm recommending the article . . . so just maybe it's worth an investment of your time. 

15 Oct, 2009

Energy efficiency costs an average of 2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. It's the cheapest "fuel" out there. The cost estimate was recently revised down (by ACEEE) from 3.0 cents/kWh. For a discussion, see Elisa Wood's brief column.

Resource	Cost
Energy Efficiency	1.6 cents/kWh to 3.3 cents/kWh
Pulverized coal	7 cents/kWh to 14 cents/kWh
Combined cycle natural gas	7 cents/kWh to 10 cents/kWh
Wind energy	4 cents/kWh to 9 cents/kWh

28 Sep, 2009

See this New Mexico Business Weekly feature for the tale of Visible Light Solar Technologies -- which "emerged from stealth mode on June 17 for a nationwide launch of its inaugural product line." The thing "combines solar PV collectors with LED lamps." 

28 Sep, 2009

A July 17 feature in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch carried the headline "Electrician Proves Green Jobs Exist." Chris DeMoor, an IBEW electrician (a 38-year-old father of six)  -- an an employee of a pretty good company, Guarantee Electrical -- provided a pretty good quote, which you'll find in the middle of the 730-word article:

"I believe I'm going to learn until the day I die . . . we can either fear technology or we can figure it out." The article includes a discussion of his work on a solar installation on the campus of Emerson Electric, an industry manufacturer -- where a 550-panel solar PV installation recently was put in place.

27 Sep, 2009

GreenSource is a magazine from McGraw-Hill on, well, green construction. The Jan/Feb 09 issue included a lengthy (7 pages, with a lot of pix) article on "Prefabrication's Green Promise." It's now findable, free -- here.

NOTE if you go -- the site has spread this article over SIX pages, so to see the whole thing, you'll have to click away.

21 Sep, 2009

A 7/24/09 article in the Sarnia Observer (which is in Ontario, Canada) -- which I can't link to online -- noted this:

"Local electrical contractors enrolled in the progrma [Power Savings Blitz, funded by the Ontario Power Authority] go out to small business, do an assessment, and submit it to Bluewater Power, the local municipally owned electricity distributor. If the assessment is approved, the program will pay up to $1,000 for upgrades the contractor carries out for the business.

"That can include upgrading lighting with new fluorescent equipment, putting in LED exit signs, and other improvements."

Quote from the guy at Bluewater; "There's no real catch to it. It's just a thousand bucks."

Now, this is a program that will put money and people to work in a big hurry -- and save money (and energy) on down the line. It seems neat, clean, fast, and green!

28 Jul, 2009

Coverage at PV-tech.org of the recent Intersolar North America event (held a few weeks ago) included a lengthy piece on the increased need for workers that solar photovoltaics is going to need if it is to continue to grow at a high rate.

Here's the piece on field installer needs:

24 Jul, 2009

. . . on the other hand, there is the prospect of direct federal payments (grants) to those building renewable energy facilities.

Here's a February DOE article on the thing, which is part of the Stimulus.


And here's a July 9 DoE release on the $3 billion available.

20 Jul, 2009

It's easy to find (and regurgitate) lots of not-so-hot news. Here's some good HOUSING news: 17% of single-family homes built last year in the U.S. earned the Energy Star label. The number in 2007 was 12%. 

29 Jun, 2009

For reasons that anger me too much to note here, I didn't get to Philadelphia for the PV America event a few weeks ago. Here's what people who DID show up had to say about it:

25 Jun, 2009

Jerry Yudelson blogs weekly for TEDGreenRoom.com. Disclaimer: I work (as a freelance writer) for TED and TEDMAG, so this isn't entirely disinterested.

However, you SHOULD get over to his most recent post, What Makes Smart Meters So Smart? Short, to the point, and with links if you want more.

23 Jun, 2009

The latest two Special Reports posted to TEDMAG.com (by yours truly) covered two panels of four members each on GREEN topics from the NAED Leadership Summit, held last month.

Four electrical manufacturing execs

Four real estate/facilities execs.

23 Jun, 2009

From the May issue of Black Enterprise (I've bold-faced the interesting sentence):

As the money from the stimulus package makes its way through the economy and the cost of solar photovoltaic technology becomes cheaper, Burger says the technology will eventually become a standard item in residential and commercial construction, such as large installations on flat roofs or structures that shade parking lots. He says he also expects more electrical contractors to follow Holston's example by adding solar to their offerings.

"That you have electrical contractors like Erik and his company getting into the business is a very good sign because it shows that the construction and building trades, which have been rather conservative, are realizing the benefits and the opportunity in solar and other renewable technologies, and it becomes an important business line for them. It then becomes important for the public because this shows that this technology isn't something exotic or esoteric. It's very promising when somebody can look in the phone book or online and see there's someone in their community who can do this stuff," Burger says.

Note: Erik Holston is the electrical contractor featured in the story. "Burger" is a principal at Kestrel Development (Oak Park, Ill.), a "renewable energy policy and market development firm." More here.
 (More)

21 Jun, 2009

A lengthy article (almost 3,500 words) I found on Alternet.org came from Washington Monthly. It talks about Germany's experience with feed-in solar tariffs, what's happening around Gainesville, Fla., and an electrical contractor (Tim Morgan). Here are three key snippets (I've bolded some of the words):


+

The policy has allowed Germany not only to meet but to exceed its renewable energy goals. Initially, the aim was to get 12 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2010. But it passed that milestone three years early, and has since reached the 15 percent mark -- the most rapid growth seen in any country. By mid-century, Germany aims to increase that share to 50 percent.

Already, the nation, which is about as sunny as Juneau, Alaska, is home to almost half the world’s solar generating capacity, and churns out more solar power than any country except Japan. Although it is half the size of Texas, and far less windy, it is also vying with the United States for the number one spot when it comes to generating capacity for wind power.

+

21 Jun, 2009

An article carrying a GE byline explains how the company's "Energy Treasure Hunts" work. These things are alleged to have saved the company more than $110 million! The thing starts on a Sunday afternoon (!) --

15 Jun, 2009

Occupant education is the missing link in green building, according to a story in The Oregonian. Here's the basic thinking in a nutshell-ish few sentences:

13 Jun, 2009

The AIA's weekly newsletter 6/12 included a write-up of the Commercial Real Estate Energy Alliance, a new plaything of the Department of Energy (one of several alliances -- find out more on this DoE web page).

Here's an interesting snippet buried deep in the AIA report -- I've boldfaced the piece that I really like:

Dave Pogue, the national director of sustainability for institutional and corporate services at CB Richard Ellis, says the way technology is currently introduced to the commercial real estate marketplace is a cautious process that helps abate potential risk.

“Generally, what we might do is beta test on a couple of buildings,” he says, but the beta test adds time to the process. “I think that’s what DOE is looking for in the near term: speed to market. They’d like to compress the time frame from good idea to application to broad application of programs and systems and the like.”

13 Jun, 2009

Apparently, an ongoing project detailed on BuildingGreenTV.com is an off-grid house built with SIPs. 

13 Jun, 2009

A blogger noted in a 6/11 post that a minimum program requirement in LEED had mysteriously disappeared. Then he corrected himself (if you click thru, make sure to read down to the bottom of the blog, to the copy in italics). The language he though twas gone "is buried in the legal mumbo-jumbo section." 

10 Jun, 2009

An AIA newsletter last week featured a Q-and-A on "design" with a Target executive. Here's what he said in answer to a question on sustainability:

We now have four LEED™-Silver stores. They can add cost, so we are careful about each of the things that we do to get to those LEED levels. We are probably more interested in the energy side, so we’re part of the EnergyStar® program. We have had all of our stores evaluated and feel that virtually all the stores would score high enough to receive the EnergyStar citation.

Now we have to have a professional engineer visit each store and evaluate them before we can get that. But that does cost a bit of money, so we are evaluating the value of doing that for all the stores. But I think that you’d find that our performance in that program is the best of any retailer, or very close to it.

We have 18 stores, almost all in California, with photovoltaic installations across the roof. We have a team that’s constantly watching for opportunities to do more of those. It usually takes a partnership with the utility or a governmental entity that’s providing some of the subsidy to make it happen financially.

We can go on and on. There are a lot of things we do in the building and recycling construction materials that all fit into LEED classifications. Probably half of our stores go into sites that were already used for something else. There’s a great deal of remediation of brownfields. Going forward, because of the economy and changes in demographics, the bulk of our stores will be going into already built up urban zones and therefore into properties that are being redeveloped and cleaned up. We may see a lot more LEED-rated stores going forward.

10 Jun, 2009

It's not as popular as LEED or ENERGY STAR, but there is a measuring stick out there to quantify a building's "intelligence." It's called BiQ (building intelligence quotient) -- and it's explained in detail (2,250 words) here. 

08 Jun, 2009

Last week, I spent some time writing an article about "carbon footprinting." It won't see the light of day for some weeks, and prob. won't be posted to the web for two months. I'll link to it when it's "up" and ready.

However, I accessed a lot of info that I don't want to lose. One website of interest was CarbonCatalog.org. One item, "Managing Corporate Carbon Legally and Practically," was really, really interesting. Just the headline (the phrase "corporate carbon" was new on me, although that may say more about me than the phrase).

Of course, "carbon footprints" and "corporate carbon" might seem to be pretty Out There for some. But the guy on the "A side of the Q+A made a lot of sense. Here are three paragraphs comprising a well-thought-out approach:

It’s far easier, useful, and practical to produce estimates for entire facilities over which your organization has majority control. This includes joint ventures. The numbers will change year to year anyway, as product lines are added or closed out. The public, governments, and competitors do not need to see the details of plant operations. And, you pay the electric bill for a whole facility, not for each product line. To do otherwise is just asking for frustration. And it will fragment small businesses from larger ones.

It’s more important to be able to make a reasonable estimate of how much reduction of emissions can be achieved year-by-year, decade-by-decade, than it is to estimate the baseline emissions of a company or business. Outside consultants are in no position to know how much efficiency can be wrung out of a process or business model. You are always better off to start with inside experts, guided by outside consultants rather than the other way around.

08 Jun, 2009

The Electrical Contractors Association's Dave Staefanowicz has written about "Electrical Contractors and Smart Homes Today." No, not NECA, and not any other association in the U.S. This is from the UK. Here are an interesting coupla paragraphs:

Due to the increased popularity of the smart home market, the Electrical Contractors Association's (ECA) technology team has increased the amount of guidance on audiovisual systems available to members. The ECA has also teamed up with AMX, and will be running advisory seminars in AMX's London showroom for their members. In addition, the ECA offers its members a company qualification scheme that involves onsite inspection of work, and a six-year warranty scheme, guaranteeing client confidence and satisfaction.

The European Electrical Contractors' Association (AIE) and the European Telecommunication Services Association (ETSA) will shortly be announcing the launch of its 'European Smart Home Installers Scheme,' aimed at helping clients to identify companies who design, install, maintain and service smart home installations. Their system introduces the world's first system for grading smart home systems in terms of smartness and energy efficiency.

Things, obviously, are different in the Old World.

04 Jun, 2009

TEDGreenRoom.com featured 3 items on electrical contractors + green (and one more on a mechanical) in its most recent posting:

01 Jun, 2009

. . . that's what's coming in Britain, which is obviously a lot more ambitious than the U.S. (according to a New York Times report). 

01 Jun, 2009

Daily Home Renovation has 241 energy conservation tips. According to the sponsors, 100+ "cost absolutely nothing to do" and another 75+ "cost next to nothing." 

26 May, 2009

Three recent "Special Report" weekly columns posted to TEDMAG:

I went to a conference on Net Zero Energy Buildings.

Should we do away with air conditioning? Only if we're serious . . . are we?

Feedback on this one was positive: Haven't we been subsidizing conventional energy sources?

26 May, 2009

Just a few points on green, energy, enviromentalism, sustainability, and such:

NECA launches green blog -- find it here and a release about it here. Disclaimer: I work with the person doing the blog (I have zero input into what she writes) on another project.

Home builders say green growing "at a surprising rate" -- they expected otherwise?

Electrical green training.

01 May, 2009

I don't like it, but it's straight reporting -- SV Solar going, and Photowatt ceasing activity.  (More)

21 Apr, 2009

Perhaps you do NOT subscribe to the print edition of SOLAR TODAY magazine. That's OK, they put a "digital edition" online.

Now, as a long-time magazine writer and editor, I am not very fond of digital editions. It's a personal quirk, I guess. HOWEVER, the fact is: If you don't get the magazine, you can access it via this format.

As I do get the print edition, I'll wait to browse it when it gets here. Taking a quick look at the conference page, I'm especially interested in the Net Zero Retrofit story on page 37.
 (More)

21 Apr, 2009

Headline: Institutional Investors Pay More for Energy-Efficient Buildings, Study Finds.

This shouldn't be a huge surprise. And with electricity rates likely to go UP almost everywhere in the near future (and prob. intermediate-term as well), buying a building that's efficient has a long-term payback that can't really be calculated.

It's just a good idea!

21 Apr, 2009

The Dept. of Energy held a free webinar on 4/16 on "Recommendatiosn from the Advanced Energy Design Buide for K-12 School Buildings." I didn't get to listen, but I will, because DoE has archived the thing. It's 120 minutes, and it remains free. 

19 Apr, 2009

It's the title of a blog post on the BD&C website.

Note that I recently wrote up a session on EPAct, led by a lawyer who has worked on roughly 8,000 EPAct deals in three years. He was interesting to listen to, and I hope I did a good job of writing it up!

14 Apr, 2009

National Real Estate Investor ran an interesting article this past January, most of it consisting of it of a Q&A with Stephen Gossett Jr of Transcend Equity Development. According to the piece:


From Gossett:


To check whether I'd written this up recently (to avoid a dupe), I did a search on Gossett. It turns out the EleBlog DID have something on him previously, but not on this article. See this report on a Commercial Property News article from 4/08.

07 Apr, 2009

CoStar Group two weeks ago posted a Q-and-A with Alyssa Quarforth, who runs the commercial buildings division of ENERGY STAR. There were 10 answers to 10 questions, posted here. Something interesting:

Is energy disclosure something that more consumers are looking for right now?

26 Mar, 2009

Co Star Group (which does a bang-up job of "covering" real estate) did an interview on ENERGY STAR with Alyssa Quarforth, who handles Commercial Buildings for the EPA in the program. Here's a really neat Q and A --


EleBlog take: Green building stuff has got to become more "realistic." Buildings that "perform" (i.e., use a lot less energy) -- not neat designs and superb "intent" -- ought to be the goal.

21 Mar, 2009

A blogger posted "Top 10 Tidbits" from the NFM+T show, held last week in Baltimore. In the next three weeks, TEDMAG.com will post three columns I've written based on what I heard and saw at the show (with photos taken by me and slides from some of the presentations).

For the time being, the Tidbits post will have to do. I really DO agree with #4 (one of the columns coming up talks about what Craig Sheehy had to say).

And: I heartily endorse the content of item #3.

21 Mar, 2009

A 12-page PDF from the SEIA (a solar association) puts 2008 solar photovoltaic installs at 1,265 mW, up a bit from 2007's 1,159 mW. That's about 2,400 mW installed over a 24-month period, taking the U.S. to 8,775 mW of installed PV capacity.

Bottom line: It ain't much.

16 Mar, 2009

Changes to the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design program (from the U.S. Green Building Council) are presented in a semi-entertaining presentation downloadable from the blog REAL LIFE LEED. It's worth your time to click on that link and, from there, download the presentation. 

10 Mar, 2009

Facility Care magazine, which is about health care facilities, has an Ezine. A recent short article lists one dozen ways to save energy -- "quick fixes." Simple stuff.

By EleBlog's reckoning, numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are about lighting. And #11 is about using occupancy sensors for HVAC.

16 Feb, 2009

9 Predictions for Smart Buildings in 2009 (by Jim Sinopoli) went up on the AutomatedBuildings.com site in January. Sinopoli's stuff seems ALWAYS worth reading, and this article is no different. Here's prediction #1:

13 Feb, 2009

Jerry Yudelson came out with 10 green building trends for 2009. Find a news report on 'em here. They are:

 (More)

28 Jan, 2009

From AECCafe: "Five AEC Challenges for 2009." AEC = architecture, engineering, construction. This article is devoted to a niche within the AEC biz, but incluides a section on "Solar Boston." Note that the article is on several HTML pages (the Solar Boston piece is on p2). Here's a bit on SB:

23 Jan, 2009

From Jim Sinpoli, "new year resolutions" for the industry covered by AutomatedBuildings.com. His point to go with the graphics below is pretty important, I think:


   

23 Jan, 2009

From Leanne Tobias of GreenerBuildings.com, what she thinks will happen in '09. One of them is:

21 Jan, 2009

A press conference from the IBS (international builders' show), a National Association of Home Builders event. I went last year (it was in Orlando). I didn't go this year (it is being held in Vegas).

I don't like Vegas. Unlike everyone else I've ever met, when I go there, I come back poorer.

ANYWAY -- here's the info:


CGP DESIGNATION CONTINUES STELLAR GROWTH
AS NEW GREEN PROGRAMS, PARTNERSHIPS
UNVEILED AT THE INTERNATIONAL BUILDERS' SHOW


LAS VEGAS, Jan. 21 - A new agreement with Purdue University means that the Indiana school's construction management students will be the first in the country to earn a professional designation from the National Association of Home Builders University of Housing when they receive their bachelor's degrees.

Students can earn the Certified Green Professional (CGP) designation to jumpstart their knowledge of green building practices.  "That's yet another sign of the success of this University of Housing program - that it's considered to be an added value to a traditional university degree," said T.W. Bailey, a home builder from Frisco, Texas, and chair of the CGP designation task force for NAHB.

Bailey and Purdue Prof. Dale Koehler spoke at a press conference this afternoon at the International Builders' Show in Las Vegas. Students can choose to pursue either the CGP, the Certified Aging in Place or the Residential Construction Superintendent educational designations from the NAHB University of Housing and the Home Builder's Institute in the Purdue program, which is funded by the National Housing Endowment.

But as NAHB celebrated Green Day today, the focus was on the exhibits, educational sessions and other special events that marked the association's continuing focus on green home building. The CGP designation, which is based on 24 hours of classroom instruction, industry experience and other requirements, was introduced just 11 months ago and numbers more than 1,900 designees.

In the midst of the housing market downturn, the country's home builders and remodelers are still preparing themselves for the homes and home projects of the future. In fact, said Bailey, association volunteers are already working with curriculum development experts to create a new "Master" green building and remodeling designation to meet the demand for more advanced training and coursework. The new designation is expected to be unveiled in early 2010.

The phenomenal growth of the CGP is not surprising because of the value the industry places on green, press conference participants noted.

Home builder Greg Ugalde of T & M Building Co. Inc in Torrington, Conn., said the CGP designation adds credibility to his company's marketing efforts. "It indicates to a customer that the person they are hiring to design, build or remodel their home sees building green as more than just a buzzword or marketing ploy," he said at the press conference.

Countrywide Bank Senior Vice President Dave Porter of Seattle said the CGP designation is also an excellent idea for suppliers, manufacturers and other home building industry professionals. When he is talking to a builder about energy-efficient mortgages and other incentives, the knowledge gleaned from the CGP coursework gives him a leg up. "As a lender I deal with hundreds of builders, real estate agents and other industry professionals. In these interactions, I often share industry best practices, and of course building green is at the top of the list," he said.

19 Jan, 2009

RealComm has a weekly advisory; it's not always great, but I try to check in every once in a while and catch up. The 12/5/08 installment provided some info from an early November tour (by "visionary real estate leaders") of smart buildings in Dubai. There's a video recorded, too (it'll cost you to see it).

Here's a slice from the article:

19 Jan, 2009

One of my clients is TED, "The Electrical Distributor," the official magazine of the National Association of Electrical Distributors. Just recently, TED launched www.TEDGreenRoom.com, a site for stuff about the intersection of the electrical industry and the green movement.

It's worth your time!

12 Jan, 2009

An 8-step plan for making existing buildings smart, written by a smart guy, can be found here. The 8 steps (for building owners -- although electrical contractors might pay attention, as they can be the implementers of such a plan, assuming they work closely with those owners):


Check it out. Building owners NEED to do these things; electrical contractors can be the trusted vendors who get the prime contract to get these projects done!

12 Jan, 2009

An article from the Sept/Oct ENERGYBIZ magazine (presented here as a 4p PDF, one page of which is an ad), called New Jersey "California East." Once upon a time, Maryland was "California East," but that was about being liberal, not using the sun's rays.

According to the article: "New Jersey's renewable energy programs are proving that solar will be built if prices are subsidized and reduced" (by government policies).

This is NOW a TIMELY article, isn't it? If we're about the spent trillions of dollars (printing most of them up from scratch) to stimulate the economy, wouldn't it be SMART for policy to encourage solar PV installation, solar PV manufacturing, and the whole shebang?

Sure, we need to fill potholes and built on-ramps to highways. But we can get to that LATER. Let's do something SMART now -- at least, that's the EleBlog take!

08 Jan, 2009

This is the subject of a post-GreenBuild story on RenewableEnergyWorld.com. The major trade mentioned is roofing. The heading on the item is "Video," but the video has disappeared. 

31 Dec, 2008

www.GlobeSt.com is a pretty neat website -- assuming you're interested in real estate, or buildings, or what building owners are doing and thinking, and info along those lines. The only problem (for me and perhaps you) is that stuff on the site "disappears" (behind a firewall) after a short period of time (at least, it has in the past).

So I'm hoping this link, to a Q-and-A with the chairman of BOMA, Dick Purtell, is useful. BOMA = Building Owners & Managers Association. The interview took place at GreenBuild in November. Here are two questions and answers:

GlobeSt.com: What is the biggest sustainability issue facing your members right now?

Purtell: What we’re always focused on is energy conservation and being efficient with our energy dollar. A year and a half ago, we announced a seven-point challenge to our members, and we now have over 100 companies and local associations that have endorsed that. The main goal is a 30% reduction in energy conservation by 2012, with an average building EngergyStar rating of 50. It’s about 20% of the total operating costs of our properties that we manage. When we’re talking industry wide, about a $24-billion annual expense what 30% would mean. That pressure is going to continue. We continue to have members endorse the challenge and all that goes with that.

GlobeSt.com: Are there any parts of the industry that could do some catching up in sustainability?

Purtell: Clearly what the USGBC has been doing is with, primarily, new construction. They’re leading that area. Our biggest focus is the existing building stock and educating that group and keeping ahead of that curve. We’re trying to stay ahead of that. I’m not sure that anyone is necessarily in front or behind.

EleBlog take: Purtell isn't being critical, but the EleBlog will be. New construction SHOULD be green -- and routinely green. But the greatest immediate challenge for the building industry, the green folks, the United States, an the world is reducing energy use NOW. Each year, 2% of the commercial building stock is replaced or built new (however you want to phrase it). That means if we make new construction 100% green beginning in 2009, we won't have a "fleet" of commercial buildings that is 100% green until about the year 2060.

Existing buildings are the key. They should have been USGBC's focus. They should be, now!

31 Dec, 2008

The title of this post is the title of the December "Bottom Line Energy Issues" column written for Buildings.com by Lewis Tagliaferre. This resonated with me for four reasons:

a. I like the idea of "smart" green buildings, I think the modifier (smart) is needed.

b. In 2007-08, Marty Riesberg (of the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Institute) and I collaborated to present three sessions (at three Natl. Assn. of Electrical Distributor regional meetings) on "Smarter, Greener Buildings."

c. Lew Tagliaferre was marketing services director at NECA when I got there the first time in 1979. He worked at NECA for 27 years. I learned a lot from him.

d. I liked what Lew said (which, given a-b-c above, should be not much of a surprise). Here's a slice (a bit long, but it makes important points):

24 Dec, 2008

Building Design & Construction has released annual white papers (going back to 2003) on GREEN. Now, the magazine offers free downloads of any or all six of the things (by chapter or whole). A neat deal: It offers you a chance to catch up, if you've not kept up, with this hot trend. 

16 Dec, 2008

While visiting the EcoBuild Fall show + conference last week, I picked up a great mass of paper. I do this at every trade show. I then find time (when I don't want to face a computer or a telephone) and leaf through the stuff. One thing I picked up was a paper copy of the winter 2008 issue of Buildings Inside & Out. This is the newsletter of the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council.

I can't find it online. I think it's a members-only benefit.

One page of the newsletter was devoted to 8 paragraphs (many of them long) under the headline, SBIC Partipates in Obama-Biden Transition Team Meeting at the U.S. Department of Energy. Here is some stuff I think worth reading (and worth re-typing):

1. Meeting leader: "Lucy Blake of the Transition Team." She's former CEO of the Apollo Alliance and founder of the Sierra Business Council

2. "Among the goals of the new President-Elect are the following"


3. Kyle Kempf (of the Natl. Small Business Assn.) "added that small commercial buildings [less than 10,000 sq. ft.] must also be addressed, since many small business owners are suffering as energy prices increase." Kempt said the ENERGY STAR for Small Business program has a $350K budget, but there are 17M such small businesses (and religious congregations).

4. "More than once during the meeting, the Transition Team staff stressed that they were looking for specific suggestions that could be implemented within their first three to six months in office, a positive indication that the new administration views energy efficiency as a critical component of its agenda."

14 Dec, 2008

The Consumer Electronics Assn. let loose last week with the news that it is partnering with "Green Life Smart Life." GLSL is "a custom green home building project." CEA and some of its manufacturer members "will be featured in real-life applications of green living."

To see the project, go to the GLSL site.

12 Dec, 2008

Sometimes it seems to me that I've been rooting for solar photovoltaics most of my life, and the headline "solar struggles" sums up the whole period (which dates back to when I first heard about it, in the 1970s).

Solar struggles with Congress, which puts into place time-limited tax benefits. Solar struggles with return-on-investment, which isn't that good. If we as a nation (or as a planet) funded a dramatic ramp-up in solar PV cell production, the price would drop, the return-on-investment for building owners and utilities would improve, and we'd have a lot more clean energy.

But we've not done that, we've never really discussed that, and we're not on course to even THINK about it.

What occasions these words? I went looking on the FORTUNE magazine site for articles I cut out of the physical magazine on "Solar Stocks for a Rainy Day" and other articles on "green investing" from the Nov. 10 issue.

Instead, I found "No happy new year for the solar industry" -- which included this:

After grappling with a shortage of polysilicon - the base material of conventional solar cells - for the past couple years, the industry now faces falling prices. The spot market for polysilicon has plummeted 35% since October, writes HSBC alternative energy analyst Christine Wang, who predicts prices will fall 30% next year.

That’s bad news for solar module makers who locked in long-term contracts at higher prices - which looked like a smart move when polysilicon was in short supply and prices rising rapidly. “The winners will likely be the companies with competitive cost structures, scale, good product  quality, strong balance sheets, and strong customer relationships,” according to Wang. “We believe that new entrants and small players will suffer the most as they lack brand recognition.”

What about the green investing section? I couldn't find it replicated on the web, and I could not figure out the FORTUNE site's layout to find each issue of the magazine (to get to the 11/10 issue). Therefore all I can give you is is this link to the solar stocks story.

12 Dec, 2008

A study from Good Energies reportedly has results that show "benefits of building green outweigh cost premium." Several notes before you go and read it:

12 Dec, 2008

A short news item on the site of Environmental Design & Construction talks (briefly) about "the next generation of LEED credentialing," with a link for more. 

08 Dec, 2008

My problem with the US Green Building Council and its LEED program is the priority that's put on NEW construction, and the almost total lack of attention to Existing Buildings. Folks, the Existing Buildings USE THE ENERGY. We add maybe (MAYBE) 2% to the nation's building stock every year.

In other words: If you're serious about green, you attack the buildings that are standing (and stress energy-smart retrofits, esp. including lighting -- which is widely considered to be among "the low-hanging fruit").

Instead, USGBC and its LEED program have stressed NEW buildings. The LEED-EB program exists, but is not emphasized.

Here's a fine fact to back all of that up, from a Q-and-A with a guy from CB Richard Ellis. He says:

Big frickin whoop! We've got millions of commercial buildings in existing, and maybe 1,000 have registered for LEED-EB certification.

30 Nov, 2008

Turner Construction, a subsidiary of an even bigger German company these days, is the largest general contractor in the U.S. It surveyed 754 "commercial real estate executives" for a Green Building Market Barometer, and found that -- surprise! -- these folks like green buildings.

The headline on the item (on the Building Design & Construction site) says "Turner: Credit Market Not Likely to Affect Plans for Green Buildings." But I've read the item three times now, and I can't find where the research says that, or where the quotes from Turner itself specifically make that claim.

26 Nov, 2008

More here, from Architectural Record, including a blog and a photo gallery. 

20 Nov, 2008

A principal of an electrical design firm in WA state wrote an op-ed piece talking about sustainability & the electrical industry. It's not very long and it is very important. Here are two important points with which the EleBlog agrees wholeheartedly:


AND


It's worth your time to read the entire thing.

18 Nov, 2008

Parks Associates claims "connected care technology" is going to be big in the future, as more and more of us grow old and need more and more attention. Find the release here.

17 Nov, 2008

The "Green Team" newsletter from Rosendin Electric reported recently that, in 2008, the company's "Wind Division continues to be extremely busy with close to 2,000 mW of wind turbines wired this year."

Why that's important:


The article from which the wind # came, by Jim Hawk, EVP of pre-construction services, also included this: "More and more projects we bid have a goal of Silver, Goal, or Platinum LEED certification."

17 Nov, 2008

Engineered Systems magazine (which is aimed at HVAC engineers and the like) apparently had a Green Intelligent Buildings supplement in November. One article was about "Accountegration" and intelligent lighting. Here are a couple of key paragraphs that ought to tick off at least some visitors to the EleBlog:


AND, two paragraphs later (I've bolded the sticky part)

07 Nov, 2008

Hillary isn't going away quietly. An 11/5 release from the USGBC says the Council "in partnership with" her, is running 3 webinars about Energy Efficiency Strategies for Schools. Details here (2p PDF). The webinars are to be 90 minutes long:

"Top 10 No-Cost Ways to Lower Your School's Utility Bills" -- held yesterday, 11/6.

"Top 10 Low-Cost Ways to Lower....." -- to be held 12/3

"Top 10 Investments to Lower....." -- set for 1/21/09.

Why send out a release 11/5 on a webinar to be held the next day? I don't know. The first one was free. The next two cost $15 each ($10 each if you are a member of USGBC). See the info here.

04 Nov, 2008

What makes this so hot right now? That's a question Grayson Evans (a home automation industry veteran) answered in an October column on HomeToys.com. Evans literally gushes about how great new technologies can be for solar photovoltaics -- on the residential level, mind you -- and then lets loose with this (something I've previous read about elsewhere):


Hit the link and read what Evans has to say. He's talking to home automation installers, custom electronic design/installation firms, and networking company execs on the HomeToys.com site. What he says goes, too, for electrical contractors!

02 Nov, 2008

CE Pro magazine ran "7 Products for the Connected Kitchen" recently, and Nation's Building News (which serves homebuilders) picked it up. If you follow the first link, you can continue to a web "slide show" that shows off the products. Here's how NBN summed it up in its write-up:

• Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) — Radio-frequency identification enables various products to “talk” to each other and share information.
  
  
• Touchscreen Computers — Computers with touchscreen control capabilities give home owners easy and convenient access to information from their kitchen counter or table.
  
  
• Westinghouse PT-16H610S Flip LCD — This and similar high definition televisions are designed to be installed on kitchen countertops or to hang beneath kitchen cabinets. This particular model can swivel 180 degrees, has built-in speakers, weighs 7.7 pounds and can display photos.
  
  
• Whirlpool Centralpark Refrigerator — Featuring a Wifi digital photo frame, iPod dock, hidden power port and Internet-connectivity, this refrigerator not only can eliminate the clutter of refrigerator magnets, it can upload and display photos and recipes and enable home owners to enjoy daily weather, sports and news updates with their morning coffee.
  
  
• Concierge Services — AMX, Crestron, Control4 and Criteria are connected products that enable home owners to order concierge services, such as ordering groceries or making restaurant reservations, or having a car waiting or washed. Concierge services are becoming popular in communities with multi-dwelling units.
  
  
• Miele's RemoteVision — This module features a small chip with wireless WLAN technology that can link appliances to a monitoring center that can notify the home owner via e-mail, a text message or phone call ― when the refrigerator is open, the oven is on or other mishaps.
  
  
• TMIO Intelligent Oven — This oven can be controlled remotely over the Internet and has the capabilities to keep food refrigerated during the day and enable the home owners to start cooking it before they get home.

02 Nov, 2008

Design kitchens, it says here, to help people who live in houses use them AS THEY USE THEM -- for multitasking. Here's a checklist for "the ideal digital kitchen" --

v A digital calendar. A calendar on a large screen that is easy to see and use and can be accessed remotely.

v A recipe-projection system. A wireless system that allows a cook to ask for a recipe or look one up online and have it projected onto a surface in the kitchen.

v Energy monitoring and control, so the homeowner can monitor peak energy use, diagnose waste and calculate costs.

v Home control, a system that manages heating, cooling and security.

v Universal charging station. Enough said.

v Wireless access. Nearly half of the respondents who were remodeling their homes said they will use a computer in the kitchen.

01 Nov, 2008

While reviewing stuff on "green," I came across a presentation from David Cohen, CPCU, of Fireman's Fund (the insurance company) -- from the June BOMA national shindig. Title: "Greening Your Existing Building: A Risk Management Primer." You can download the PowerPoint here.

In reading the thing, I became award of Green-Gard, a risk management program from Fireman's Fund for existing buildings. It's explained on this web page.

EleBlog take: Interesting concept. If the building owner obtains a premium discount on "certified green building coverage," he/she/it gets an additional return on the initial investment in the expense of "greening" an existing building.

ALSO OF NOTE: On slide #3, Cohen says that "the biggest risk of all" for the owner of an existing building in NOT going green is -- ob? By 2010, he said, there will be 100,000 LEED-certified commercial building. His question (on the slide): "Will the value of a 'traditional' building fall?"

29 Oct, 2008

McGraw-Hill Construction's "Outlook '09" conferences included segments I didn't cover in the earlier posts. For one of them (from Harvey Bernstein of MHC, on "Product & Player Trends") -- well, I just wasn't in the room.

I browsed the handout. I thought this slide worth thinking about -- the bigger the project, the more likely LEED (from the USGBC) will be in the specifications.

28 Oct, 2008

After touring the "Smart House - Green + Wired" in Chicago a few weeks ago, I searched for the biggest baseball bat I could find:

See the rest of it here.

 (More)

28 Oct, 2008

Parks Associates asked "executives managing multifamily properties in the U.S." -- in a "primary research project" -- what kinds of technologies they think wil "influence the sale and rental" of these things.

In other words, people who run apartment buildings said this:



More here.

28 Oct, 2008

A feature on EarthToys.com -- a sidebar to the site's coverage of the Solar Power International 2008 conference in San Diego -- carries the headline, "AZ Solar Contractor Sizes Up SD Conference."

I read it. The guy interviewed is Mark Holohan, president of Code Electric.

Code Electric? A solar contractor?

Well, yes. But first and foremost, the company is an electrical contractor. Here's some verbiage from the company's "About Us" page:

Who We Are: Code Electric, based in Tempe, is one of the top commercial electrical contractors in Arizona with roots dating back to 1962 and a reputation for quality work on a variety of projects.

What We Do: Code Electric has long specialized in electrical construction and service – and now also offers a wide variety of solar energy applications and services.

Who We Serve: Primarily commercial and institutional customers. Our specialty is large jobs. We are the exclusive provider in Arizona for commercial solar energy products made by SunPower, one of the nation’s most innovative technology companies.

The headline wouldn't have been as good for EarthToys.com, apparently, if it said "AZ Electrical Contractor Sizes Up SD Conference."

But it would have been accurate. To see what Mark Holohan said, go here and page down.

26 Oct, 2008

Rick is the founder and boss of the U.S. Green Building Council. I sat through a presentation from him at the 2007 McGraw-Hill Outlook conference; they limited him to 30 minutes, and he filled it admirably.

This year, they gave Rick a full 60 minutes. I listened carefully. He spoke at greater length (obviously) -- and with the same passion, But I struggled to identify anything NEW in his talk. Several notes, then a look at the ONLY new thing I heard:


ONE BIT OF NEWS: Rick addressed the thought on some minds -- will the recession, contracting, depression, or whatever-it-turns-out-to-be -- as it is having an effect on construction -- work against the Green Construction movement in at least the short term? He said it wouldn't, but there's no evidence (either way) to discuss. It basically sounded as much like an assertion, or a prayer, as a fact!

03 Oct, 2008

This might be old news, as the release came out in March -- but I just found out, while doing some work on Honeywell. It's a Security Convergence Study -- about how IT and security are (or are not) coming together. From an article on the study:

03 Oct, 2008

In doing some work this morning, I discovered a page from which you can download back issues (free) of LonMark magazine. This publication is about Echelon's technology. I've read all of one issue; there was at least one must-read article. 

03 Oct, 2008

I went to Santa Clara in May to learn at ConnectivityWeek. I didn't learn. The conference was fine; I was exhausted, as I had spent the days immediately before at the NAED Leadership Summit (at which I hosted a session on Green).

So I never wrote up much from ConnectivityWeek. It deserves better. And it did get better, from Ken Sinclair (of AutomatedBuildings.com) -- who wrote up a neat ditty, "my 10 takeaways."

If Ken's piece turns out to whet your appetite, you can go to this page on the 2008 CW site, and go through the agenda. You'll find downloadable presentations (PDFs) on many of the pages.

25 Sep, 2008

Martin Wolf, a highly respected economist who writes regularly for the Financial Times, included this in a 7/9/08 column:


If you believe in global warming (or in the health of 1.3 billion people), this is tragic. Wolf noted that low-emitting technologies are "not fully diffused across the globe" and quotes an academic who said that "achieving this could . . . reduce emissions by between five and 10 gigatonnes per annum by 2030 (10% - 20% of 2005 emissions)."

Yow.

19 Sep, 2008

A page on the Energy Efficiency/Renewable Energy piece of the U.S. DoE's website provides model contract language for federal deals involving energy-consuming products and systems. Included: CFLs, exit signs, distribution transformers, motors -- and much more. 

10 Sep, 2008

From a presentation I ran across by someone from BuildingAdvice (which is really in the air business) --

• 98% of all buildings (in the U.S.) are under 100,000 sq. ft.

• Buildings of less than 100,000 sq. ft. consume 58% of all the energy used in commercial buildings.

29 Aug, 2008

State regulators in Florida found out that 80% of the $9.6 million that customers of Florida Power & Light voluntary contributed into the "Sunshine Energy" green program went to MARKETING. Only $1.8M -- kicked in by customers over four years -- "went to purchase renewable energy," according to The Miami Herald.

I went looking for the Herald piece, but it's no longer online.

The regulators shut the program down. From Jathan Skop, a member of the Public Service Commission: The FPL performance was "just appalling . . . it was clearly mismanaged from the inception."

Yep.

26 Aug, 2008

From the geniuses at Parks Associates comes the graphic below. A snippet from their propaganda:

"The smart home will help the elderly maintain a safe, healthy, and independent life," said Harry Wang, Director, Health & Mobile Product Research (at Parks). "Although the user population will be small initially, more people will adopt these new technologies in embracing the broader emerging eldercare model that promises a high quality of service, individual dignity, and the intelligence to monitor situations and act before they become critical." Adoption and revenue growth will be even greater than forecast if the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) embraces this model, Wang emphasized.

26 Aug, 2008

Not long ago, Rexel's POWER OUTLET published an expanded issue with 90 pages of info on green and the electrical construction industry. I've avoided mentioning it out of humility -- it is a VERY good issue, and I am the Editor of the thing.

Well, to heck with that -- there's a lot of good information in the thing. You can go here and download PDFs of various articles.

My favorite article, of all that I wrote and assigned for that issue: The "Green Primer," available in a 9-page PDF downloadable here.

18 Aug, 2008

Greening Your Building and Your Bottom Line is the title of a four-page whitepaper on green construction produced for owners, architects, engineers, and other customers by NECA. You can download a PDF of the thing here.

DISCLAIMER: One of my "gigs" as a freelance editor is as editor/coordinator of the EDLs. There are three a year. Yes, that means I work for NECA on this project. My boss on the job is Rob Colgan, director of marketing.

09 Aug, 2008

One of the more important things that's happened lately is the Energy Solutions Summit, convened by NECA. See the after-action report on it. Your humble reporter was aware of this ahead of time, but I was NOT invited (no journalist was). In fact, the event was a by-invitation-only thing (i.e., the size of the audience was limited).

Here's the net-net, if you don't want to click on that green link and read the official story:

21 Jul, 2008

Intel has launched its first-ever home medical device. Here's the Bloomberg write-up, as found on the LA Times website:

21 Jul, 2008

Randy Rema of Reese Electric (North Bend, Ore.) represented NECA the other day in testimony (that's a link to a PDF of what he said) on "The Role of Green Technologies in Spurring Economic Growth."

Here's NECA's release on the appearance. Look to the bottom for a link to ALL the testimony and a YouTube video of what went on.

13 Jul, 2008

What follows is labeled "propaganda" b/c the Katz person interviewed is Ashley Katz, communications coordinator for the US Green Building Council. Despite that label, it's worth a think, I believe:

The rest of this (not too much more) -- plus a bunch of other news about buildings -- is found here.

13 Jul, 2008

NECA posted to its site a month ago a summary of the Green Construction panel that I moderated in May. It is short, sweet -- and accurate.

On July 2, TEDMAG.com posted a column by yours truly that summed up the panel (very briefly, I hope accurately -- but not doing justice to all that was said and heard).

20 Jun, 2008

I'm reading and hearing a lot about Net Zero Energy buildings these days. I wrote about this stuff a while ago, when I covered the guy from CMU in Pittsburgh and his BAPP (Building As Power Plant). Here's a link to the EleBlog item(from March 2006).

Here's something more recent on a building in Dubai:

Imagine a 59-level building that has rotating levels, each one moving independently according to its occupants’ desire. Imagine also this building’s energy production capacity being enough to not only cover all its needs but also feed the electricity network with excess electrical energy and helping with the city’s energy conservation efforts.

Science fiction? Quite the opposite. Dr David Fisher’s design -creator of Dynamic Architecture- is going to start getting built soon -where else- in Dubai and a second tower is scheduled for Moscow. Energy generation is expected to be 10 times the amount required by the building itself (!!!!) and generation will take place by solar panels at the roof and 48 horizontally rotating wind turbines squeezed between floors. It is estimated that under Dubai wind and sun conditions the tower will annually produce 1,200,000 KWhours, 90% of which will be fed to the grid!

We're moving here from "net zero" energy buildings to BAPP!!! There's more, including an illo -- here.

18 Jun, 2008

A 1,500-word March article in Consulting-Specifing Engineer magazine tackled Submetering for energy profiling.  Here are functions submeters can perform:

• Electrical usage analysis and identification of peak demand levels
• Time-of-use metering of electricity, gas, water, steam, BTUs, and other energy sources
• Fair and equitable cost allocation for tenant billing
• Measurement, verification, and benchmarking of kW/kWh for energy initiatives
• Load comparisons
• Threshold alarming and notification
• Net metering
• Multi-site load aggregation and real-time historical monitoring of energy consumption patterns for negotiating lower energy rates

In years past, I've written and read about submetering as a strategy. But I'm pretty sure that few took it seriously (because it didn't happen in a tidal wave). Now, with electricity prices surging in many areas, this relatively simple-to-understand idea (which always made sense) is making a come-back.

04 Jun, 2008

I read through testimony from ASHRAE's President (5/14 - PDF here) to a U.S. House committee on "Energy Independence and Global Warming." It's a lot of words. The following consecutive paragraphs caught my eye for several reasons:


EleBlog take:

1 - I didn't know about the SF requirement on home transfers. It makes a lot of sense. You have the house inspected for termites, why not also mandate that the house someone is buying meet the various codes.

2 - The point made here about existing buildings really resonates. One of my BIG PROBLEMS with the green construction movement, as it has manifested itself so far, is the focus on New Construction. This is the case both in the USGBC/LEED and in the NAHB's housing stuff. Yes, we shouldn't add to the problems we have (which is what you do when you are stupid in the building of a new house or office building). BUT we have 5 million commercial buildings and 128 million dwelling units (or so I have read). That's where the problem lies -- and, as Kent W. Peterson P.E., the guy testifying above, points out . . . "the median lifetime of commercial buildings is 70 to 75 years."

Median. That means half of them LAST LONGER. Buildings built in 1990 could well still be in use in 2080. The green movement hasn't gotten the RETROFIT thing down yet. It's a mistake.
 (More)

01 Jun, 2008

My friend Jim Hayes sent me a link to an article on the Auto Week magazine website -- "How green is your ride." The article points out that "environmentally friendly" has different meanings, depending on the context (and, of course, on the speaker/listener).

You should read the whole thing (and you can -- here). But here's a long but thoughtful paragraph (which I subdivided to ease reading):


EleBlog take: As our national misadventure with ethanol perhaps has demonstrated, there's a LOT to think about in making green decisions. The key here, obviously, is that one has to THINK about this stuff to make good decisions.

29 May, 2008

10 Ways to Save Energy in Your Data Center is a story in Buildings. The graphic below, which isn't particularly pretty, comes from it. Here are the 10:

27 May, 2008

Four years ago at LightFair in New York I saw a product from a company I'd never heard of -- EnOcean. It was a wireless light switch; the power for the wireless transmission was provided by the energy you use to push the switch.

Yes, you push the thing to "on" and the tiny energy generated by flipping the switch would power the signal. Since learning about this, I've tried to follow both the basic idea (which is called "energy harvesting") and EnOcean itself.

Here's a recent release on the EnOcean Alliance. The mission: "To enable intelligent green buildings based on EnOcean energy harvesting wireless technology." 

24 May, 2008

From a blog post I stumbled over:


See the item here. "Moore" is a co-founder of Greenpeace.

For the record: The writer of the EleBlog is a pro-nuke (with conditions!) tree-hugger.

20 May, 2008

One of the things that's fascinating (at least to me) about the Green movement and energy efficiency is THE DETAILS. They are all over the place. For instance, in this Philadlephia Inquirier GreenSpace column, I learned about the advantage Revolving Doors have over the other kind:

16 May, 2008

This came out a month ago --  results of the 2nd annual Energy Efficiency Indicator Survey, paid for by Johnson Controls. There's a lot to read in the release, but this paragraph JUMPS off the page (be it print or web):

16 May, 2008

It's Green -- Now Find Out What That Really Means is the headline on a 2,100-word Buildings magazine article. The article covers details you'll need to know if you want to do some "holistic" green thinking. It includes this:

12 May, 2008

I wish it were true. An article on SeekingAlpha.com (4/27), Major Corporate Shift to Solar Energy and LEDs, can be found here. It includes the graphic below (and several others). From the promulgators of this (the folks at ChangeWave):

07 May, 2008

From a pretty good idea -- for folks to take up voluntarily and perhaps even improve upon -- to a mandate in a damn big city. Explanation here.

[This is filed under "Intelligent Buildings" -- but it ought to be there with a damn big ? mark!!!!]

01 May, 2008

A firm -- SolarCity Corp. -- has come up with a lease program to allow homeowners to lease solar photovoltaic installations. "We're expecting hundreds, if not thousands, of customers to adopt this," Lyndon Rive of  SCC said.

I hope this link (to the East Bay Business Times site) works. You'll probably get only a piece of the story, unless you are registered. According to the balance (which you probably won't see), Morgan Stanley backs the lease program. This is a lot better idea than flushing the money down the drain, as so many financial companies have done.

I also hope the program works! This is a REALLY good idea.

29 Apr, 2008

As it turns out, Green Retrofits are becoming my favorite subject. Green new construction is great -- and it is the main focus of the USGBC, LEED, the NAHB, and many more.

But retrofits are the main chance -- at the very least, to use energy much more efficiently -- in a country with 5M + existing commercial buildings (and 128M existing dwelling units).

Commercial Property News ran a Q-and-A with a Dallas-based company "that greens buildings at no cost" (& without forcing the building's owners to take on debt). I really, really, REALLY like this interview, including the answers to these two questions:

22 Apr, 2008

Electrical Contractor magazine (www.ecmag.com) recently emitted a press release that consisted of links to its recent articles on green power. Earth Times picked it up.

18 Apr, 2008

Can you  profit from a small wind turbine installation?  Earth Toys has posted one perspective.

18 Apr, 2008

The consulting people at McKinsey & Co. have issued a report on energy productivity. It's 1.8 MB, and you have to complete an online form to see it -- go here.

Or: You could take a short-cut. The blogger at GreenEnergyWar.com has written up three posts on the McKinsey report -- and (to my reading of the original report and his pieces) . . . he hasn't done a bad job. The relevant posts are from April 2, 3, and 4.

Here's just a tiny bit of the story here:

18 Apr, 2008

The home builders' weekly, Nation's Building News, carried an article 4/7 -- "Home Automation is a Smart Path to Going Green." A snippet:

With these systems, home owners can turn on water heaters and HVAC systems, have the house shutters and shades opened, the lights on and the house ready for their arrival by activating them by cell phone or computer. The home can be ready and waiting, as if they never left.  

None of this technology is new. Companies like mine have been connecting and installing these “green” features for nearly 15 years.

Yes, none of this is new. And yet, it still seems to be taking forever for this to catch on, doesn't it?

14 Apr, 2008

"Passive Ignorance on Power" is the headline on an interesting piece on NoJitter.com. Here's a slice:

My session at Voicecon, “Saving Money with Green VoIP” did not draw a large audience. However everyone stayed until I was finished. It can be difficult to get attendees to stay until the end of the Thursday sessions. I thought that the keynote with Vice President Al Gore, who won the Nobel Prize, would help set up the attendees for wanting to learn more.

None of the attendees had any idea there were techniques and products for reducing the energy costs. Several came up to me at the end of the presentation, enthusiastic that could make a real difference.

Most attendees agreed that it would impossible to discard their present equipment to improve the energy conservation. However, IT departments have about a four to five year refresh cycle for equipment. This is the opportunity to purchase energy saving equipment. Most IT departments do not change out all of the equipment at one time. The energy savings can begin relatively soon for most IT organizations with the refresh cycle of about 20% to 25% of their equipment.

The author's prediction: Green is going to be more important at the next Voicecon event (November in San Francisco).

14 Apr, 2008

My friend Frank Bisbee offers an observation on an attack by "commercial interests" on the U.S. Green Building Council. Here's a slice:

14 Apr, 2008

"How To Do A Green Move" is an article I discovered via Office Times, an e-mail newsletter.

01 Apr, 2008

NECA has joined the U.S. Green Building Council. 

30 Mar, 2008

A 3/24 article in TWICE (This Week In Consumer Electronics) talks about the custom installation business in consumer electronics -- specifically, A/V for homes. Here's a really interesting slice of the 929-word piece.

20 Mar, 2008

It's a bit troubling that cutting energy use is a major need of our country -- and (one would think) could be a "green" goal -- and yet electricity is undervalued a bit in the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program.

Now comes Paul Ehrlich, one of the gurus of building automation, to note (as part of an article found here) that Peak Electrical Demand Reduction is

(a) not a part of LEED

(b) pretty damn important, and therefore

(c) "the time has come to work with the USGBC to develop a LEED electrical demand limiting credit."

17 Mar, 2008

I didn't go to the spring Electronic House Expo in Orlando -- I wanted to, but I'm behind (again) on deadlines. Maybe you didn't? If so, we all missed some really neat education. CE Pro magazine (owned by EH Publishing, which also owns the EH Expos) offers an article, "21 lessons learned from the Residential Integrator School." Worth a quick scan.

17 Mar, 2008

An article from Colorado State U. (which I found on CleanLink) says the school plans to build eight new buildings "'green' in function but without the private industry certification." The article claims it woudl cost $240K to $400K to certify the 8 buildings -- a drop in the bucket, it would seem,a gainst the combined $300 million cost of the octet.

But here's a quote from the director of facilities: "We would rather see the money spent on more green features than on paperwork. $50,000 will buy 10 kilowatts of solar power."

EleBlog take: Not an unreasonable action, it would seem. CSU, at least, is already moving into the post-green-craze era!

17 Mar, 2008

The International Organization for Standardization -- the same group that was responsible (and still is) for the ISO 9000 + ISO 14000 standards that caused so much movement among manufacturers (and others) just a few years ago -- has emitted ISO 21930, Environmental declaration of building products.

It's an international green construction standard.

10 Mar, 2008

Office Times, a publication I've referenced here before, last month offered up "practical office tenant sustainability ideas." It's a short list of simple ideas, simply stated, for going green.

03 Mar, 2008

I have contented (in various roles) -- for more than a decade -- that electrical contractors CAN get into the home networking/automation/etc. business. Call it "home technologies." I've also learned, over these years, that the people who do this work, while NOT considering themselves electrical contractors, ARE doing work one might normally consider to be EC-type work (as in sophisticated and relatively simple lighting control for homes).

Here's what Parks Associates sees for the "high-end home entertainment system" market:




. . . and here's the verbiage:

Adoption of networking technologies will make installed home theaters and multiroom audio systems more affordable, opening up this market to more consumers at low-to-medium income levels, according to Parks Associates' new report High-end Entertainment Systems: Analysis and Forecasts.

Total U.S. revenues for installed home theaters and multiroom audio systems will grow from $6 billion in 2007 to more than $11 billion by 2012, and analysts forecast the number of new installations to grow 67% over the same period, from 166,000 per year in 2007 to 277,000 by 2012.

"The high-end A/V market is in a major stage of transition," said Bill Ablondi, Director, Home Systems Research, Parks Associates. "Digital content is approaching the performance and quality of analog media, with the added flexibility only digital content offers. Reduced costs coupled with advancements in wireless and powerline networking technologies are also growing the retrofit portion of the market, at a time when mid-market construction is slowing down. Soon PC-based systems from companies such as Dell, HP, and Cisco will compete for customers who traditionally purchased systems from JBL, Sony, and Yamaha."

. . . and here's my favorite part:

25 Feb, 2008

A report from PricewaterhouseCoopers - a consulting firm -- is titled "Going Green: Sustainable growth strategies." The thing is available as a 2.2MB PDF -- and you can listen to (or download) a 4.8MB podcast.

The 74p PDF includes a lot to think about -- whether you work for a corporation or just buy stuff. Consider this snippet:

25 Feb, 2008

Industry Week magazine posted earlier this month a 1,495-word "viewpoint" piece -- "The Secret Benefits of Energy Conservation." Keep in mind that this B2B weekly is aimed at the U.S. manufacturer. The article discusses SIX "non-utility" benefits (i.e., benefits of saving energy beyond the $$$ savings):

A. extended equipment life;
B. reduced maintenance costs;
C. reduced risk to energy supply price spikes; and
D. the ability to sell carbon credits.

E. enhanced public image; and
F. reduced risk to environmental/legal costs.

This article is worth reading, and worth calling to the attention of others.

22 Feb, 2008

I am a big fan of science publications -- a hobby. I read Scientific American (as much of it as I can understand), which is a monthly; I also subscribe to (and read all of) Science News and New Scientist (which is published out of England).

Back in June, I clipped an article: "Powering The Revolutin: Tiny gadgets pick up energy for free." It's about "harvesting" of vibrations to power small devices; I'd actually heard of this before I read about it, in one or more presentations about wireless devices.

The problem with wireless devices (I learned in those presentations) was that they needed power to work, and would eventually -- perhaps every 5 years -- need to have their batteries replaced. Proponents of such devices realized that was going to be BAD, as they hoped to have so many wireless items out in the world that replacing the batteries would become a major Pain In The Butt.

So . . . how about this? Many wireless devices are attached to walls. Walls naturally vibrate. How about harvesting the energy from the vibrations to power the devices? OF COURSE, there's not a lot of energy in those vibrations. But the devices didn't NEED that much energy!!!

Read this 2,159-word story, originally published 6/2/07 in Science News, for a lot more.

[Yes, this kind of "goes with" the knee-brace/energy story that ran a few days ago . . . that's what made me think of this article and go looking for it]

18 Feb, 2008

Here's another perspective on "green collar jobs" -- from a greenie, Jerry Yudelson:

Common sense wins -- all the time. BUT: Sometimes it takes a while for the final hand to be dealt. Here, Yudelson is jumping the gun. Bully for him!

17 Feb, 2008

Separate from its Green program, NAHB has been assembling interesting parties -- under the voluntary ANSI standards-making process -- and creating a Green home building standard. You'll find info on this here. The standard is not yet complete.

From my listening to the press event and other discussion of this, the standard-creation effort seems laudable. The idea is to have something better than the Guideline (see immediately previous post for a link). The further idea is to put in place something that municipalities (towns, cities, counties, and even states) can adopt as their requirements.

Apparently, more than 150 local governments have put some sort of green homebuilding regulations in place. Many seem to have used the LEED guidelines from USGBC . . . some of them adapting LEED-NC (which is about commercial buildings, I think) for homes. This led to the NAHB effort on the standard.

However, NAHB didn't rush into this. By choosing to use the ANSI process -- which is painstaking -- NAHB went about this "the right way." Supposedly, the standard will be finalized in Q2 (which means by June 30th).

Apparently, NAHB had 1,300 comments when it released a first draft of the standard, months ago. More recently, it took in 600 comments on the 2nd draft (roughly half of which came from the 42-member committee, which -- under the ANSI-specified process -- includes representatives of various concerned parties, including the public). Under the ANSI process, the committee has to take up each comment (ONE AT A TIME) . . . read it, think about it, and officially "react" to it.

As I noted -- laudable.

- - - - -

EleBlog side note: I try not to be morbid; being of Sicilian descent can lead to that, I've learned in 54 years on this planet. But during the press conference on the standard, I had a twinge of regret -- I am truly sorry that Brooke Stauffer, the former NECA executive (and friend of mine) is dead. I could really have used his input on whether the standard itself has value, and how well the NAHB people followed the ANSI process (in which he was expert). I'm sorry to interject this here . . . it isn't in my notes . . . but this is precisely the kind of thing with which one (me!) could rely on the intelligence of Brooke Stauffer.

15 Feb, 2008

I'm only 7 months behind on this one, but I found (via Construction.com) a TreeHugger post that includes this quote from a researcher:


Here's the original release (from the New Jersey Institute of Technology).

10 Feb, 2008

John Greenwell of Continental Electric's CEPORT LLC has penned an article for Automated Buildings on Realigning Where People, Space, Time & Energy Interact. Here's a graphic from the thing:




. . . it's a short, interesting read.

10 Feb, 2008

REIT = Real Estate Investment Trust. Accoridng to GreenerBuildings.com, there's a new one out there -- "one that hopes to make it easier to bring big money to green building retrofit projects."

26 Jan, 2008

A story in the Boston Business Journal (11/16/07) is headlined "Costs of going green keep businesses singing the blues." Here's a piece to think about:

Varian Semiconductor is one such company that has struggled with such a cost-benefit analysis. The ion implant manufacturer generated $730 million in revenue last year and has more than 1,500 employees.

Although the company recently received a $525,000 MTC grant to install two wind turbines at its Gloucester headquarters, the total cost to complete the project will run Varian around $11.5 million.

"It's tough to get it by your finance people," said Rick Johnson, Varian's director of facilities. "Six years is a long return on investment."

But Johnson said the investment will be well worth it; at today's rates, he plans on saving almost $2 million a year in energy costs.

EleBlog take: This is the kind of thing that can piss me off. Here's a quick look at what's wrong here:

1. Money not spent drops to the bottom line. Thus the saving of almost $2 million/year means a near-$2M profit increase for Varian.

2. That comes at the cost of an $11.5M investment. Varian can finance that. Or it can lease the project (via creative financing).

3. A six-year ROI = a 16.6% return on investment. What the F is wrong with that, I'm wondering? At a time when businesses can borrow money cheaply (check out the 10-year T-note rate) . . . a 16.6% return is pretty damn good. If the deal is structured as a lease, the payments are operating expenses (i.e., they don't show up on the balance sheet). If the deal is financed with debt, the interest on the debt is deductible.

4. Energy costs (including electricity) are going up over time. THerefore, it is LIKELY that -- sometime in those first six years -- rates will go up. The ROI will increase. Thus the 16.6% ROI is a minimal expression of the cash return.

5. Solar and wind installations can last a long time. Of course, it is NOT common for companies to figure out (and boast about) long-term ROI. But assuming the wind installation Varian is talking about lasts 25 years -- and assuming electricity rates and other energy costs keep going up (a probability, I would say) -- then the long-term return on this investment is going to be SPECTACULAR.

The quote from the Varian facility guy says "it's tough to get it by your finance people." I've heard this before. Thus, we are led to one simple conclusion:

19 Jan, 2008

From Honda: "This fourth-generation experimental unit is designed to provide fuel for a hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle, as well as heat and electricity for a home. The new system is more compact and efficient, with a lower operating cost than previous models. The announcement coincides with the world debut of the all-new FCX Clarity hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle at the Los Angeles Auto Show."



The claim:

Details (posted by H in November) -- here. Read it. We're talking here about Honda for the house, as well as an energy deal for a car.

19 Jan, 2008

Greensource magazine posted (back in November) a Q_A with a designer, Thom Mayne, on "what's wrong with LEED." It includes this:

TM: LEED should give performance requirements and let the architect solve the problem. The point system doesn't scale. A bike rack and air conditioning get you the same point. I'd much rather see BTU and CO2 requirements and let the professional community solve the problem. If you give proscriptive requirements, it stagnates new development and research. It's like taking a blue book test. You don't need to know the subject. Because architects deal in creative problem solving, some of that will be curtailed by proscriptive systems.

I also think the LEED point system is overladen in the construction phase versus lifetime energy consumption and secondary effects.

It's easy to criticize. It's easy to sit back, let someone else do something, and then slam it. My gut feeling about LEED is similar to that last sentence from Mayne . . . more emphasis on energy consumption is needed.

But the feelings of Mayne (an expert) and The EleBlog (not a standards-creating organization) should be seen as commentaries on a tremendous accomplishment, not knocking something cobbled together. LEED is an accomplishment. If critics like Mayne can help make it better, that's great . . . but please don't let criticism stray into the vicinity of a tear-down.

19 Jan, 2008

ASHRAE offers free downloads of any (or all) of three PDFs in the Advanced Energy Design Guide series. Here's the pitch: Each offers "a sensible approach to easily achieve advanced levels of energy savings without having to resort to detailed calculations or analysis. The four-color guides offer contractors and designers the tools, including recommendations for practical products and off-the-shelf technology, needed for achieving a 30% energy savings compared to buildings that meet the minimum requirements of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-1999."

Better yet, the guides are devoted to buildings you usually don't hear much about (in the energy-saving milieu) --


You fill out a form once, you get to download 1, 2 or all 3 of these.

17 Jan, 2008

With the assistance of a consulting firm, the American Solar Energy Society has fashioned an assessment of what renewable energy AND energy efficiency could do to and for our society -- given three levels of implementation. The 68-page PDF offers a lot of information; I've not yet made it thru the thing (I'm on the road right now, literally found the thing yesterday . . . and I wanna get home, print it out, and read it on paper).

Page 19 of the PDF features a table that shows the national revenues AND jobs in the year 2030 -- with renewable energy (RE) on one line and energy efficiency (EE) on another -- in the three scenarios. You must, of course, read the thing to figure out if the scenarios are realistic (even the "base case").

According to the most optimistic scenario, EE would employ 32.2 million people in 2030 and RE would amass nearly 8 million employees.

I don't know if the thing is realistic; I hope so, of course. But it IS something to think about. If we become a more efficient society that gets more of its energy from Non-Petroleum, Non-Imported (and renewable) sources -- and uses the energy more intelligently -- we would not only be able to tell the importers to screw off, we might be able to create jobs for our own people.

Sounds too good to be true? It probably isn't. Consider how much money we're putting into our daily energy bill these days -- and the huge (and ever-increasing) percentage of that tab which goes overseas.

17 Jan, 2008

Every reaction provokes a reaction. The "green" movement is undergoing a bit of a backlash. I've found attached in a business newspaper and magazines on both the Left and the Right! Deserved? I'll let you decide. Here are three places to see this "knock-'em-down-b4-they-get-too-big" reflex in action:

"Going green may raise construction tabs by more than 10%"-- a 12/17/07 story found in the Triangle Business Journal (a N.C. weekly). According to the article, it's expensive to get LEED certification. If you read the thing, it says that a project that sought to earn "LEED gold" certification "experienced a 9% to 10% budget increase." LEED proponents say the cost differential is minimal at the first two certification levels, and doesn't add up to all that much (certainly not 10%) at the gold level. From the piece:


- - - - -

FROM THE RIGHT: The Weekly Standard is, in my humble opinion, a magazine for dinosaurs who can read. A recent issue includes 1,394 words about "the nasty little surprise hidden in the new energy bill" beneath a headline that reads, "A Nation of Dim Bulbs." The article has a problem with the substitution of CFLs for incandescents.

Reading the article made me . . . uncomfortable. I never, ever want to agree with the nonsense in this magazine. But here was this article, saying stuff that I've said and written about myself (right here on The Eleblog) about CFLs. That's really "an inconvenient truth!" Here's a slice:


An interesting reference (in the jump of the article -- it appears on 2 pages) talked about Traer, Iowa, where half of the town's residents began using CFLs -- with electricity consumption bumping up by 8%. A direct result? I don't know; the article implies that it is. My problem with the Standard is crap like this. True? Verifiable? It's referenced in passing. Did the writer get this RIGHT or WRONG? Were there reasons for the 8% increase in power use (other than CFL installations).....?

Here's the question with someone who knows just a bit about electricity would ask: Did each of the 50% of citizens install ONE of the free CFLs for ONE incandescent? That wouldn't have ANY impact on electricity consumption, either way, that could be measured. This reference is supposed, I guess, to be potent . . . but it just reads (if one thinks about it for about a half-second) -- like yet more unthinking right-wing idiocy.

- - - - -

FROM THE LEFT: Slate.com, an online magazine, posted "It's Way Too Easy Being Green" at almost the same moment that the Standard ran the article referenced above. Slate is generally considered to be a liberal publication, although my personal politics are probably considerably to the left of this thing. Note: This one is also posted on 2 pages of its site.

Slate's article takes on the USGBC's LEED credential and references it (in the subhed) as a "decidely dupable system for rating a building's greenness." It offers one example and calls LEED "easy to game . . . has more to do with generating good PR than saving the planet." I have to admit to having had similar reactions to some of what LEED requires. For example, awarding points for $100,000 invested in "gray water" systems somehow seems to miss the point of using a lot less energy! The article notes that installing a $395 bike rack garners the same number of LEED points as "a $1.3 million environmentally sensitive heating system."

- - - - -

ELEBLOG TAKE:

1 -- all of these articles are worth a scan.

2 -- putting them here does NOT make me anti-green (or anti-LEED, or even anti-USGBC). There are thoughts worth thinking here.

3 -- if you trouble to read the three articles in sequence, you will note one thing: The smarmy, miserable, unfortunate attitude with which the Standard's article is written (compared to the two others). It reminds me of watching Tucker Carlson on MSNBC . . . an effort that, for me, doesn't last long if the remote control is within reach. My understanding of the right-wing attitude on the environment boils down to: If Al Gore is for it, we're against it.

These people went bananas when Gore -- an American, remember -- took home a Nobel prize. No pride. No appreciation for what good things Gore has accomplished. Just more right-wing stupidity! The Republican Party used to be the home for conservation; Teddy Roosevelt must be spinning in his grave.

4 -- Finally: Yes, LEED has problems. I have personally written about them in the past! [and I received a strong e-mail in disagreement from people I like and respect]. I think that we can't take the focus off of saving energy, not for a moment (and yes, I know there will be water shortages in some place, and LEED is good on water conservation and such -- but I don't care. No one who sells a lot of water is also trying to knock down buildings in the city in which I was born, as far as I know).

Energy conservation, energy efficiency, and screwing the Arabs out of their huge daily tithe from the world is too important to me to be left to chance. If LEED (and the green movement in general) focused -- at least for the next few moments -- ONLY on energy, a lot of good things would happen. One of them would be that maybe we could accomplish a great reduction in energy use in the U.S. without the need to resort to strong government regulation (and intervention).

. . . if The Peak Oil Hypothesis is correct, and things chug along in the direction they've been going, we're going to see more and more regulation (and intervention). It's going to become a must, as oil goes from the present $90-$100 per barrel range on up to $125, $150, and $175!

Therefore, LEED needs to be improved. I think USGBC is trying to do that, and probably will get closer to what I might personalliy like to see over time. The key point here is: Rick Fedrizzi of USGBC (founder) was out there knocking on doors in the 1990s, talking about green buildings . . . when no one wanted someone like him, with such a nutty message, putting knuckles on their doors! These people (Rick and his members) don't need to be praised to the heavens and worshipped. They can be criticized, just like anyone else, of course.

But let's include, in that critique, at least a reference to the fact that USGBC is moving the ball down the field . . . and its work is leading to the accomplishment of many, many good things. I would even note here that the "false" folks, pursuing green certification by putting in $395 bike racks instead of million-dollar heating systems, are . . . PUTTING IN BIKE RACKS!

15 Jan, 2008

Matt Stevens of the Stevens Construction Institute has written a three-page article -- available free, but you have to request it -- Unwinding The Green Building Market for Construction Contractors. I've read it. You might or might not agree, but it's not a knee-jerk reaction; there's a brain and some thinking behind this.

Stevens has a blog on his site -- click here to read a bit about this piece; if you want more, you'll have to e-mail 'em and request it. Here's a slice:

15 Jan, 2008

Security Distribution & Marketing (SDM) magazine ran a December article titled, "What Technicians Need to Know about Cable & the NEC." NEC = National Electrical Code. It weighs in at 1,840 words. Some quotes of note:

• "One of the errors I see in this industry is people wiring in a hazardous or volatile location and not using the methodology that you need to wire in those areas."

• There's information about the fire ratings of riser and plenum cable, too.

• "If it's a fire alarm life-safety situation, and they use the wrong cable, they are opening themselves up to liability. If it comes out in court, they coudl be sued both criminally and financially."

• "Every industry professional should have a copy of the NEC, and be familiar with the requirements of the Code."

If you choose to click through, you might have to register to see the article (and much more) -- it should be Free.

08 Jan, 2008

With the Obama-like mania for "Green" in corporate America, there's a chance for everyone to call attention to himself, herself, or itself . . . for about 11 seconds. A company called TerraChoice grabbed this opportunity with a ditty called "The Six Sins of Greenwashing."

I'm not sure "greenwashing" will catch on as a new word. I don't know who TerraChoice is, or wants to be. But the thing is worth reading and thinking about.

02 Jan, 2008

Reading a 12/20 clip from The Arizona Daily Star on solar energy -- it referred to the idea that AZ is to become "the Saudia Arabia of solar energy" -- I came across this paragraph (near the end of the 1,100-word article) on a solar installation put in place by Tuscon Electric Power:


I'd like to know (the article didn't say) how many kWh the array has generated, and what the operating cost is WITHOUT the cost of cutting grass.

22 Dec, 2007

I've been doing a lot of GREEN BUILDING stuff lately. It's a long story. To be immodest, I'm writing stuff on Green and doing some speaking on Green topics (with more to come). To be frank, I'm goshdarn LUCKY. My background (6 years in the waste industry, founding editor of Recycling Times -- which is now defunct -- blahblahblah) was a perfect prep for the current popularity of green.

Along those lines, I think this graphic might be worth a "listen" . . .


 (More)

18 Dec, 2007

An item on Building Online summarizes (and provides a link to) a webcast featuring an EPA fella (a licensed architect) talking about energy efficiency, homebuilding, and myths.

18 Dec, 2007

CB Richard Ellis, which is a rather large real estate company (with 1,000 buildings under management), said in November (I'm playing catch-up here) that it would take 100 buildings and enroll them under the LEED-EB standard, under the LEED "Porfolio Program." There's some info here.

LEED = Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design. EB = existing buildings. LEED is a program of the U.S. Green Buildings Council.

According to the story linked, there were only 300 buildings registered LEED-EB by the end of last year, and only 600 as of 5/07. That makes a one-shot-deal for 100 significant, doesn't it?

18 Dec, 2007

Facility Care magazine is having an audio conference (1/17/08) on The Digital Hospital. I really am enamored of the concept, the three-word encapsulation of it, and the description that follows. Forgive me for regurgitating it here, but it's neat.

15 Dec, 2007

The 2007 Top 10 Green Building Products. "This sixth annual award, announced at the U.S. Green Building Council’s Greenbuild Conference in Chicago, recognizes the most exciting products drawn from additions to the GreenSpec Directory and coverage in Environmental Building News."

15 Dec, 2007

Energy Star Top 10 List -- the top 10 tools the EPA has developed/gathered "to make your lives easier (or at least make your facilities less expensive to operate)." -- from Industry Week.

12 Dec, 2007