by Kristin Underwood, Sacramento, CA on 05.28.09
Science & Technology (solar)
On Tuesday, I wrote an article about how the PV system supply chain is going to explode over the next few years, bringing with it new jobs and new services. Hot on the heels of that article is a new device created to boot your PV system's output by 10-40%. Smart thinking, National Semiconductor.
For homeowners with less than ideal roofs - maybe your pitch is wrong or those panels had to be put on an east-facing roof, or maybe that tree that was once a sapling is now a towering pine - you may be forced to purchase fewer panels because some will be shaded. Even on a perfect system, over time things change and your system will lose performance. This is why National Semiconductor took existing technology, tweaked it a little bit, and voila, developed a product that helps current and future customers make the most of their solar performance with what they call SolarMagic.
What is SolarMagic?
SolarMagic was created in the labs at National Semiconductor as a way to maximize energy output for your system. Essentially these little boxes do the same thing as microinverters except that these do not do the DC/AC conversion function and are easy to retrofit into older, existing systems that have shade or other issues. Microinverters on the other hand require redesign and rewiring of the system. Not to get too technical, but whereby a typical solar array is connected in a series of strings and then works in parallel when its get to the inverter, if any portion of this string is shaded, the whole string loses power exponentially, not proportionally. This means major losses if you have even a small bit of shading on one panel. SolarMagic optimizers ensure that each panel is counted individually so one bad panel can't take down an entire string. This is perfect for areas that might have one string with partial shading or for areas that get intermittent shading from clouds on a regular basis. You only put the SolarMagic products on strings that you know will have shade. In addition, you will also need to purchase one diode per string to ensure that no energy is allowed to go back along the line, as energy will be fluctuating due to the SolarMagic optimizers.
National Semiconductor is even claiming that this allows engineers to design systems with different string sizes, panel wattages and orientation because SolarMagic will make up for the changes in voltage. By optimizing performance, roofs and areas that would typically be considered less than desirable can now be considered for installation because SolarMagic will make up for the losses, in theory. This gives engineers and system designers more flexibility.
Each SolarMagic box has a blue, flashing LED so you know when the box is performing correctly. The trick is to mount it on the rail so that you can see the LED without having to take each panel off to check it. Just like all the other parts of your system, this power booster has a 20 year warranty but costs way less than any of the other parts going into your system. The system can be installed on both commercial and residential applications.
Looks like this could be the start of a new solar business. While current customers can get SolarMagic systems on their new installations, existing customers could also call up a company and have them come out and give their system a turboboost. For a fee, a small crew could come out, turn off the system, add these maximizers and turn the system back on with virtually only a one day loss in production.
National Semiconductor makes power management technologies including energy efficient technologies and now SolarMagic power maximizing systems. Each SolarMagic optimizer retails for USD$199 and are available on the market now from solar distributors.:SolarMagic
More on Solar Technology
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South Africa Pioneers New Solar Technology
Get to Know: SMIT, Solar Power Ivy
Who Knew? The Amish Love That Fancy Solar Technology
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
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Showing posts with label retrofit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label retrofit. Show all posts
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
NYT - Schools Go Green
Mark Steiner/Agency New Jersey for The New York Times
ENERGIZED In Toms River, N.J., all of the schools, including the high school, above, have solar panels.
FRAN SILVERMAN
Published: October 10, 2008
SCARSDALE, N.Y.
G. Paul Burnett/The New York Times
Scarsdale High’s garden draws, from left, Sophie Black, Cara Nese, Ben Pullman and Ethan Paul.
THIS fall, students in the cafeteria line at Scarsdale High School are choosing among organic squash, peppers and fresh tomatoes grown on site. In White Plains, a new elementary school will be using geothermal energy and a new roof that can grow plants in 2009. In Toms River, N.J., every school building has solar panels. Sparked by a desire among educational leaders to set an example and squeezed by rising energy costs, schools across the region are going green.
New Jersey and Connecticut are among 10 states in the nation requiring schools to use renewable energy sources for new school construction and major renovations. But many school officials in the region say they have already started down the green path.
In Scarsdale, the school board approved a resolution two years ago to reduce the district’s overall energy consumption 10 percent below 1990 levels and appointed a sustainable energy coordinator.
The district is committing $7.1 million to contract with a company that will reduce energy waste in each of its buildings. It also gave elementary schools funds for renewable energy projects.
With a portion of the $15,000 given to the high school, students and teachers planted an organic garden that since the summer has produced more than 600 pounds of produce. Some of it is donated to food banks, especially during the summer months, when classes are not in session. Water fountains were replaced with energy-efficient units and students were given stainless steel bottles to reduce the use of plastic bottles.
And there is much more that the school wants to do, like replacing the windows in the 91-year-old building, expanding an indoor greenhouse, planting an apple orchard and purchasing solar panels, said John Klemme, the high school principal.
The schools’ green efforts have ignited a commitment among some students in the school to make other earth-friendly changes in their lives.
“I always tell everyone to turn off the lights,” said Ben Pullman, 17, a senior who worked in the garden. “This summer I ate totally locally.”
Environmental advocates say schools are in a unique position to serve as role models.
“You’ve got to walk the walk, not just talk the talk of what you are preaching,” said Steven Frantz, a retired school principal who is coordinating Scarsdale’s efforts. “You’ve got to teach students why you are doing that and how they can help out.”
Rachel Gutter, senior manager of the education sector for the U.S. Green Building Council, said 1,000 schools nationwide are registering for certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, or LEED, a green standard. Five schools in New Jersey, three in Connecticut and one in New York have qualified. About 115 schools nationwide have already been certified as meeting the standard, she said, and the number of those interested is growing every year.
A recent study by the American Federation of Teachers showed that the costs of renewable energy technology and energy efficiency programs are decreasing, coming in at $3 more per square foot, or 2 percent more over all, to build a green school.
“With new construction, the biggest challenge is not related to cost but the perception of cost,” Ms. Gutter said.
With energy costs skyrocketing, schools are increasingly looking to reduce waste.
“Electric rates in the state have gone up 70 percent, and in the last four years oil and gas prices have almost doubled, so that puts a huge burden on a school system,” said William M. Leahy, chief operating officer of the Institute of Sustainable Energy at Eastern Connecticut State University.
There is a variety of creative financing available now for schools that want to be energy efficient, advocates say. States are offering construction reimbursement grants. Some companies are offering energy performance contracts in which schools defray upfront costs, paying later through savings in energy costs. Some utilities are also offering lease agreements in which excess energy converted by solar panels is sold back to the company to defray upfront installation costs.
New Haven schools in Connecticut used state construction reimbursement funds to help defray some of the $900 million in costs to build 15 new schools that meet LEED standards. The state paid 80 percent.
Tom Roger, New Haven’s school construction program director, said the district decided five years ago that all of its new schools would have to meet energy-efficiency and sustainable-energy standards. Compared with the costs at older schools, the district has reduced operating expenses at each new school by 30 percent, totaling an estimated $100 million savings over the lifetime of all the schools built. Mr. Roger said that although New Haven receives more aid from the state than wealthier districts, other school systems should not be deterred from building green.
“It doesn’t cost as much today to make a building green and efficient as it did five years ago,” he said.
Toms River Regional Schools in New Jersey put solar panels on all district buildings in 2005; since then the panels have generated 2.5 million kilowatts of energy. School Superintendent Michael J. Ritacco said that each year since the panels were installed the district has made $1 million selling extra solar energy back to the utility company and saved $650,000 in overall energy costs. The district received $7.2 million toward the $20 million project from the State Board of Public Utilities and an additional $7 million in state school construction grants. It also applied for interest-free loans from the federal government. All of the aid reduced the cost to the district to $6 million.
The state is no longer offering the utilities grants because it cannot meet the demand, but Mr. Ritacco says he still encourages school officials to purchase solar panels through special financing or new rebate programs.
“We tell other schools that the panels are great,” Mr. Ritacco said. “Any way you can get them and put them in, you should.”
ENERGIZED In Toms River, N.J., all of the schools, including the high school, above, have solar panels.
FRAN SILVERMAN
Published: October 10, 2008
SCARSDALE, N.Y.
G. Paul Burnett/The New York Times
Scarsdale High’s garden draws, from left, Sophie Black, Cara Nese, Ben Pullman and Ethan Paul.
THIS fall, students in the cafeteria line at Scarsdale High School are choosing among organic squash, peppers and fresh tomatoes grown on site. In White Plains, a new elementary school will be using geothermal energy and a new roof that can grow plants in 2009. In Toms River, N.J., every school building has solar panels. Sparked by a desire among educational leaders to set an example and squeezed by rising energy costs, schools across the region are going green.
New Jersey and Connecticut are among 10 states in the nation requiring schools to use renewable energy sources for new school construction and major renovations. But many school officials in the region say they have already started down the green path.
In Scarsdale, the school board approved a resolution two years ago to reduce the district’s overall energy consumption 10 percent below 1990 levels and appointed a sustainable energy coordinator.
The district is committing $7.1 million to contract with a company that will reduce energy waste in each of its buildings. It also gave elementary schools funds for renewable energy projects.
With a portion of the $15,000 given to the high school, students and teachers planted an organic garden that since the summer has produced more than 600 pounds of produce. Some of it is donated to food banks, especially during the summer months, when classes are not in session. Water fountains were replaced with energy-efficient units and students were given stainless steel bottles to reduce the use of plastic bottles.
And there is much more that the school wants to do, like replacing the windows in the 91-year-old building, expanding an indoor greenhouse, planting an apple orchard and purchasing solar panels, said John Klemme, the high school principal.
The schools’ green efforts have ignited a commitment among some students in the school to make other earth-friendly changes in their lives.
“I always tell everyone to turn off the lights,” said Ben Pullman, 17, a senior who worked in the garden. “This summer I ate totally locally.”
Environmental advocates say schools are in a unique position to serve as role models.
“You’ve got to walk the walk, not just talk the talk of what you are preaching,” said Steven Frantz, a retired school principal who is coordinating Scarsdale’s efforts. “You’ve got to teach students why you are doing that and how they can help out.”
Rachel Gutter, senior manager of the education sector for the U.S. Green Building Council, said 1,000 schools nationwide are registering for certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, or LEED, a green standard. Five schools in New Jersey, three in Connecticut and one in New York have qualified. About 115 schools nationwide have already been certified as meeting the standard, she said, and the number of those interested is growing every year.
A recent study by the American Federation of Teachers showed that the costs of renewable energy technology and energy efficiency programs are decreasing, coming in at $3 more per square foot, or 2 percent more over all, to build a green school.
“With new construction, the biggest challenge is not related to cost but the perception of cost,” Ms. Gutter said.
With energy costs skyrocketing, schools are increasingly looking to reduce waste.
“Electric rates in the state have gone up 70 percent, and in the last four years oil and gas prices have almost doubled, so that puts a huge burden on a school system,” said William M. Leahy, chief operating officer of the Institute of Sustainable Energy at Eastern Connecticut State University.
There is a variety of creative financing available now for schools that want to be energy efficient, advocates say. States are offering construction reimbursement grants. Some companies are offering energy performance contracts in which schools defray upfront costs, paying later through savings in energy costs. Some utilities are also offering lease agreements in which excess energy converted by solar panels is sold back to the company to defray upfront installation costs.
New Haven schools in Connecticut used state construction reimbursement funds to help defray some of the $900 million in costs to build 15 new schools that meet LEED standards. The state paid 80 percent.
Tom Roger, New Haven’s school construction program director, said the district decided five years ago that all of its new schools would have to meet energy-efficiency and sustainable-energy standards. Compared with the costs at older schools, the district has reduced operating expenses at each new school by 30 percent, totaling an estimated $100 million savings over the lifetime of all the schools built. Mr. Roger said that although New Haven receives more aid from the state than wealthier districts, other school systems should not be deterred from building green.
“It doesn’t cost as much today to make a building green and efficient as it did five years ago,” he said.
Toms River Regional Schools in New Jersey put solar panels on all district buildings in 2005; since then the panels have generated 2.5 million kilowatts of energy. School Superintendent Michael J. Ritacco said that each year since the panels were installed the district has made $1 million selling extra solar energy back to the utility company and saved $650,000 in overall energy costs. The district received $7.2 million toward the $20 million project from the State Board of Public Utilities and an additional $7 million in state school construction grants. It also applied for interest-free loans from the federal government. All of the aid reduced the cost to the district to $6 million.
The state is no longer offering the utilities grants because it cannot meet the demand, but Mr. Ritacco says he still encourages school officials to purchase solar panels through special financing or new rebate programs.
“We tell other schools that the panels are great,” Mr. Ritacco said. “Any way you can get them and put them in, you should.”
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Empire State Building Going Green
By MIREYA NAVARRO
Published: April 6, 2009
Once the world’s tallest building, the Empire State Building is striving for another milestone: It is going green.
Windows, top, will have insulated film installed between the double panes.
Piotr Redlinski for The New York Times
Chillers in the cooling plant will be rebuilt. This and the insulation project will amount to about half the savings.
Owners of the New York City landmark announced on Monday that they will be beginning a renovation this summer expected to reduce the skyscraper’s energy use by 38 percent a year by 2013, at an annual savings of $4.4 million. The retrofit project will add $20 million to the $500 million building makeover already under way that aims to attract larger corporate occupants at higher rents.
Although the retrofit was specifically designed for the Art Deco office building at 34th Street and Fifth Avenue and its enormous features — 102 stories, 2.6 million square feet, 6,500 windows and 73 elevators — the energy-efficiency improvements are meant to serve as a model for other office buildings around the world, said Anthony E. Malkin, president of Wien & Malkin, which supervises the building on behalf of the owners, the Malkin family and the Helmsley estate.
He said upfront costs are often a deterrent for retrofitting older buildings, but the energy savings for the building , built in 1931, are expected to pay back those costs in only about three years.
“People associate greening with expense and compromise,” Mr. Malkin said. “We’re trying to prove: no compromise and payback.”
Mr. Malkin announced the details of the project at a news conference attended by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who has made sustainability a theme of his administration, and former President Bill Clinton, whose Clinton Climate Initiative program, which works with cities to develop large scale energy efficiency programs, helped facilitate the project.
People involved with the retrofit said the Empire State Building can offer an example of how older buildings can retrofit to the highest energy standards and effectively cut down their greenhouse gas emissions, a contributor to global warming. The largest share of New York City’s greenhouse gas emissions, 78 percent, comes from the city’s buildings, with commercial buildings contributing 25 percent, mostly from the use of electricity and natural gas.
By reducing energy use, the retrofit plan envisions cutting down the pollution the Empire State Building produces by 105,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, although the number of emissions currently emitted was not immediately available.
“They’re showing the rest of the city that existing buildings, no matter how tall they are, no matter how old they are, can take steps to significantly reduce their energy consumption,” Mr. Bloomberg said.
The largest energy guzzlers at the Empire State Building are lighting, cooling and heating, said Paul Rode, a project executive with Johnson Controls, the retrofit designer. The building has 302 office tenants but is occupied by about 13,000 people a day, including visitors to the observatories on the 86th and 102nd floors that are open to the public 18 hours a day, seven days a week.
The designers said that about half the reduction in energy use will be achieved in the first two years of the project as they retrofit the double hung operable windows, insulate behind radiators and rebuild chillers in the cooling plant in the basement.
To avoid transportation-related pollution, the windows will be redone on site, by adding a layer of coated film between two glass panes to increase insulation. at a rate of 50 windows a day.
In all, the retrofit consists of eight projects, including upgrades to the electrical and ventilation systems and installation of sophisticated electronic instrumentation.
The biggest challenge in planning the project, Mr. Rode said, was to figure out what was behind the walls and the ceilings of the 78-year-old skyscraper — in the absence of original drawings and specifications.
“It took a lot of investigative work,” Mr. Rode said.
The plan also calls for tenants’ involvement in monitoring their own energy use in their offices through a Web-based dashboard accessible from their computers, which keeps track of how much energy is being used and where.
Some tenants are already ahead of their landlord. Skanska, a Swedish construction company that took over the 32nd floor in November with 80 employees, renovated its 24,400 square feet of office space to green standards like daylight sensors to conserve energy and dual-flush toilets to avoid wasting water.
The company, which says it has cut its electric bill by one-third with the improvements, is seeking platinum certification, the highest level awarded by the United States Green Building Council, which certifies buildings and commercial interiors for energy, water efficiency and other green features.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency rates buildings for energy efficiency under its Energy Star program, and 6,200 commercial and institutional buildings have earned the label by achieving 30 to 40 percent greater efficiency than their peers. The Empire State Building is expected to fall in the top 10 percent of Energy Star office buildings when its renovation is completed, the project designers said.
While the energy-saving improvements will be substantial, no one visiting the building is very likely to notice them — most involve slight changes or will be hidden in the building’s innards. The night lighting that makes the building a distinctive part of the city’s skyline represents a small draw of energy during off-peak hours and will continue without changes, Mr. Malkin said.
He said the green features will be highlighted for visitors as an educational tool, and tenants may also see a mark-up on rents because of the desirability of green features.
Jacques Catafago, president of the Empire State Building Tenants Association, called making the building more energy-efficient “a laudable effort” but said that rent increases were a concern. Mr. Catafago, a lawyer whose firm has been in the building since 1990, said that “34th Street is not 57th Street — the rents are very reasonable here.”
But Mr. Malkin said he was looking at the larger goal.
“If we don’t change our unsustainable practices and the amount of energy we consume, if we don’t make our city more efficient, we’re toast,” he said. “We won’t be able to avoid the sort of changes that would spell a reduced quality of life.”
Published: April 6, 2009
Once the world’s tallest building, the Empire State Building is striving for another milestone: It is going green.
Windows, top, will have insulated film installed between the double panes.
Piotr Redlinski for The New York Times
Chillers in the cooling plant will be rebuilt. This and the insulation project will amount to about half the savings.
Owners of the New York City landmark announced on Monday that they will be beginning a renovation this summer expected to reduce the skyscraper’s energy use by 38 percent a year by 2013, at an annual savings of $4.4 million. The retrofit project will add $20 million to the $500 million building makeover already under way that aims to attract larger corporate occupants at higher rents.
Although the retrofit was specifically designed for the Art Deco office building at 34th Street and Fifth Avenue and its enormous features — 102 stories, 2.6 million square feet, 6,500 windows and 73 elevators — the energy-efficiency improvements are meant to serve as a model for other office buildings around the world, said Anthony E. Malkin, president of Wien & Malkin, which supervises the building on behalf of the owners, the Malkin family and the Helmsley estate.
He said upfront costs are often a deterrent for retrofitting older buildings, but the energy savings for the building , built in 1931, are expected to pay back those costs in only about three years.
“People associate greening with expense and compromise,” Mr. Malkin said. “We’re trying to prove: no compromise and payback.”
Mr. Malkin announced the details of the project at a news conference attended by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who has made sustainability a theme of his administration, and former President Bill Clinton, whose Clinton Climate Initiative program, which works with cities to develop large scale energy efficiency programs, helped facilitate the project.
People involved with the retrofit said the Empire State Building can offer an example of how older buildings can retrofit to the highest energy standards and effectively cut down their greenhouse gas emissions, a contributor to global warming. The largest share of New York City’s greenhouse gas emissions, 78 percent, comes from the city’s buildings, with commercial buildings contributing 25 percent, mostly from the use of electricity and natural gas.
By reducing energy use, the retrofit plan envisions cutting down the pollution the Empire State Building produces by 105,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, although the number of emissions currently emitted was not immediately available.
“They’re showing the rest of the city that existing buildings, no matter how tall they are, no matter how old they are, can take steps to significantly reduce their energy consumption,” Mr. Bloomberg said.
The largest energy guzzlers at the Empire State Building are lighting, cooling and heating, said Paul Rode, a project executive with Johnson Controls, the retrofit designer. The building has 302 office tenants but is occupied by about 13,000 people a day, including visitors to the observatories on the 86th and 102nd floors that are open to the public 18 hours a day, seven days a week.
The designers said that about half the reduction in energy use will be achieved in the first two years of the project as they retrofit the double hung operable windows, insulate behind radiators and rebuild chillers in the cooling plant in the basement.
To avoid transportation-related pollution, the windows will be redone on site, by adding a layer of coated film between two glass panes to increase insulation. at a rate of 50 windows a day.
In all, the retrofit consists of eight projects, including upgrades to the electrical and ventilation systems and installation of sophisticated electronic instrumentation.
The biggest challenge in planning the project, Mr. Rode said, was to figure out what was behind the walls and the ceilings of the 78-year-old skyscraper — in the absence of original drawings and specifications.
“It took a lot of investigative work,” Mr. Rode said.
The plan also calls for tenants’ involvement in monitoring their own energy use in their offices through a Web-based dashboard accessible from their computers, which keeps track of how much energy is being used and where.
Some tenants are already ahead of their landlord. Skanska, a Swedish construction company that took over the 32nd floor in November with 80 employees, renovated its 24,400 square feet of office space to green standards like daylight sensors to conserve energy and dual-flush toilets to avoid wasting water.
The company, which says it has cut its electric bill by one-third with the improvements, is seeking platinum certification, the highest level awarded by the United States Green Building Council, which certifies buildings and commercial interiors for energy, water efficiency and other green features.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency rates buildings for energy efficiency under its Energy Star program, and 6,200 commercial and institutional buildings have earned the label by achieving 30 to 40 percent greater efficiency than their peers. The Empire State Building is expected to fall in the top 10 percent of Energy Star office buildings when its renovation is completed, the project designers said.
While the energy-saving improvements will be substantial, no one visiting the building is very likely to notice them — most involve slight changes or will be hidden in the building’s innards. The night lighting that makes the building a distinctive part of the city’s skyline represents a small draw of energy during off-peak hours and will continue without changes, Mr. Malkin said.
He said the green features will be highlighted for visitors as an educational tool, and tenants may also see a mark-up on rents because of the desirability of green features.
Jacques Catafago, president of the Empire State Building Tenants Association, called making the building more energy-efficient “a laudable effort” but said that rent increases were a concern. Mr. Catafago, a lawyer whose firm has been in the building since 1990, said that “34th Street is not 57th Street — the rents are very reasonable here.”
But Mr. Malkin said he was looking at the larger goal.
“If we don’t change our unsustainable practices and the amount of energy we consume, if we don’t make our city more efficient, we’re toast,” he said. “We won’t be able to avoid the sort of changes that would spell a reduced quality of life.”
Friday, February 20, 2009
Houston, Tx to retrofit 271 buildings
Houston, TX, Mayor Announces Green Retrofits for 271 City Buildings
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 12, 2008
CONTACT: Jedediah Greenfield, 832-393-0993,Jedediah.greenfield@cityofhouston.net
Mayor Bill White has announced that the City of Houston has embarked on a project expected to significantly improve the energy efficiency of 271 City buildings. Mayor White and the Houston City Council have signed a contract with Siemens and T.A.C. committing these 271 City facilities, totaling approximately 11 million square feet, to the Clinton Climate Initiative’s (CCI) Energy Efficiency Building Retrofit Program.
“Energy efficiency building retrofits provide cities with an opportunity to address the catastrophic effects of climate change in practical and significant ways, which is a key goal of the Clinton Climate Initiative” said President Clinton. “I am pleased to work with Mayor White and the City of Houston in this large-scale retrofit of the City’s municipal buildings. Houston is not only positioning itself as a leader in energy efficiency and urban CO2 reductions, but is helping to raise the benchmark for cities around the world, and is setting a practical example for other cities working with CCI.”
CCI’s Building Retrofit Program brings together many of the world’s largest energy service companies, financial institutions, and cities in a landmark effort to reduce energy consumption in existing buildings across the municipal, private, commercial, educational, and public housing sectors.
Houston is a member of the C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group, an association of large cities around the world that have pledged to accelerate their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; CCI serves as the exclusive implementing partner of the C40. The City of Houston’s building retrofit program is currently the largest-scale project among the participating cities, and Houston is the first North American city to sign contracts and begin work on its City facilities.
“We’re committed to making these changes and institutionalizing best sustainability practices in the way we manage our city” said Mayor White. “It will improve our quality of life, protect the environment, save us money, and it’s simply the right thing to do.”
The following types of City facilities will be included in this project:
• 100 fire stations totaling 926,000 square feet
• 81 police stations totaling 2.4 million square feet
• 34 health facilities totaling 1 million square feet
• 5 Convention and Entertainment facilities totaling 3.9 million square feet
• 40 libraries totaling 1 million square feet
• 1 Municipal Courts facility totaling 104,000 square feet
• 10 general office facilities (e.g. City Hall, City Hall Annex, 611 Walker, etc.) totaling 1.6 million square feet
Such retrofit components and applications may include: lighting, space heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, building envelopes, heat recovery, energy and water management systems, environmental system controls, motors, domestic water heating, fuel switching, air distribution systems, water distribution/metering or other energy/water related improvements; e.g., utility rate improvements and renewable energy, to name a few.
The City anticipates a greater than 20 percent reduction in annual utility and operating costs through the implementation of this energy efficiency and utility conservation retrofit program. This is a multi-year contract that is expected to result in millions of dollars in savings over several years and eliminate 68,000 tons of CO2 from our air annually.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 12, 2008
CONTACT: Jedediah Greenfield, 832-393-0993,Jedediah.greenfield@cityofhouston.net
Mayor Bill White has announced that the City of Houston has embarked on a project expected to significantly improve the energy efficiency of 271 City buildings. Mayor White and the Houston City Council have signed a contract with Siemens and T.A.C. committing these 271 City facilities, totaling approximately 11 million square feet, to the Clinton Climate Initiative’s (CCI) Energy Efficiency Building Retrofit Program.
“Energy efficiency building retrofits provide cities with an opportunity to address the catastrophic effects of climate change in practical and significant ways, which is a key goal of the Clinton Climate Initiative” said President Clinton. “I am pleased to work with Mayor White and the City of Houston in this large-scale retrofit of the City’s municipal buildings. Houston is not only positioning itself as a leader in energy efficiency and urban CO2 reductions, but is helping to raise the benchmark for cities around the world, and is setting a practical example for other cities working with CCI.”
CCI’s Building Retrofit Program brings together many of the world’s largest energy service companies, financial institutions, and cities in a landmark effort to reduce energy consumption in existing buildings across the municipal, private, commercial, educational, and public housing sectors.
Houston is a member of the C40 Large Cities Climate Leadership Group, an association of large cities around the world that have pledged to accelerate their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; CCI serves as the exclusive implementing partner of the C40. The City of Houston’s building retrofit program is currently the largest-scale project among the participating cities, and Houston is the first North American city to sign contracts and begin work on its City facilities.
“We’re committed to making these changes and institutionalizing best sustainability practices in the way we manage our city” said Mayor White. “It will improve our quality of life, protect the environment, save us money, and it’s simply the right thing to do.”
The following types of City facilities will be included in this project:
• 100 fire stations totaling 926,000 square feet
• 81 police stations totaling 2.4 million square feet
• 34 health facilities totaling 1 million square feet
• 5 Convention and Entertainment facilities totaling 3.9 million square feet
• 40 libraries totaling 1 million square feet
• 1 Municipal Courts facility totaling 104,000 square feet
• 10 general office facilities (e.g. City Hall, City Hall Annex, 611 Walker, etc.) totaling 1.6 million square feet
Such retrofit components and applications may include: lighting, space heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, building envelopes, heat recovery, energy and water management systems, environmental system controls, motors, domestic water heating, fuel switching, air distribution systems, water distribution/metering or other energy/water related improvements; e.g., utility rate improvements and renewable energy, to name a few.
The City anticipates a greater than 20 percent reduction in annual utility and operating costs through the implementation of this energy efficiency and utility conservation retrofit program. This is a multi-year contract that is expected to result in millions of dollars in savings over several years and eliminate 68,000 tons of CO2 from our air annually.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
wtaer recycling is practical?
Yes, water is wasted in the average home by design, but designing a home to minimize water usage will not be easy. First, potable water will need to be piped through a water heater and then on to all the sinks and bathtubs/showers and kitchen appliances, most notably the dish washer. The drains from all these sinks and tubs and the dishwasher must then be routed to a central filtration/pretreatment tank before this gray water can be pumped through a second set of pipes to the toilets. The gray water must be filtered and pretreated before reuse, as it contains particulate matter and soap residues that will readily clog the water pipes, especially in areas with hard water. Finally, the toilets must be drained through a second set of drains to another collection point, where solids are separated for composting and any remaining wastewater must be either disposed of or collected for agricultural use, along with the solids.
As a contractor specializing in home construction for the last 24 years, I can easily state that the costs involved will be substantial. In new single family dwelling construction, plumbing costs will easily be three times the current cost, and that does not even include the costs of the various collection and treatment systems. Further, energy usage related to plumbing will probably double as well, since the gray water will not pump itself back through the house. Costs to retrofit these systems to existing homes will be far higher, and costs to retrofit multi-story and multi-family units, such as apartment buildings, will probably be prohibitive. In other words, these advanced ideas will only be usable on new construction homes.
These concepts are not new. Robert A. Heinlein discussed them in detail in his 1966 classic The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. In this novel, lunar colonists revolt against their Earth based overlords, a revolution which, at the heart, is based on the misuse and wastage of water. However, the requirements of a capital intensive, energy intensive, resource constrained non-Terrestrial environment do not translate back to present day Earth except in the most extreme circumstances. It would be far better to invest a small amount in more efficient farming practices than plan on rebuilding the planets housing infrastructure.
Scientific American, August, 2008
As a contractor specializing in home construction for the last 24 years, I can easily state that the costs involved will be substantial. In new single family dwelling construction, plumbing costs will easily be three times the current cost, and that does not even include the costs of the various collection and treatment systems. Further, energy usage related to plumbing will probably double as well, since the gray water will not pump itself back through the house. Costs to retrofit these systems to existing homes will be far higher, and costs to retrofit multi-story and multi-family units, such as apartment buildings, will probably be prohibitive. In other words, these advanced ideas will only be usable on new construction homes.
These concepts are not new. Robert A. Heinlein discussed them in detail in his 1966 classic The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. In this novel, lunar colonists revolt against their Earth based overlords, a revolution which, at the heart, is based on the misuse and wastage of water. However, the requirements of a capital intensive, energy intensive, resource constrained non-Terrestrial environment do not translate back to present day Earth except in the most extreme circumstances. It would be far better to invest a small amount in more efficient farming practices than plan on rebuilding the planets housing infrastructure.
Scientific American, August, 2008
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