Distributed Energy Issues

AIRIUS LLC The Air Pear is a turbine fan that is efficient in throwing air over long distances using minimal power. Engineered and sold by Airius, a series of Air Pears working in concert are used to balance temperatures from floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall. With a full installation of Air Pear fans there is greater comfort, increased air quality, and HVAC energy savings up to 35% over both summer and winter operation. www.theairpear.com     ALBER Albér is the most experienced and respected ...>... More >

Air Cycle Corp.           www.aircycle.com Airius LLC                  www.airius.us Alber               www.alber.com ASCO Power Technologies   www.ascopower.com Association of Energy Engineers    www.aeecenter.org Caterpillar/Electric Power   www.cat-electricpower.c...>... More >

By Gersil N. Kay Answer: all three. Being “green”, conserving energy, and reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are among today’s goals, but they must be appropriate for the particular application. Overly aggressive energy conservation without increasing productivity, quality, and acceptability will fail because people always find ways to circumvent unwanted or impractical restrictions. The “R” words could be simply mean a coat of paint, or total gutting and reinstallation, without regard for the init...>... More >

By Elizabeth Cutright “The cleanest and lowest-cost way to meet our energy needs is to consume less,” writes C. David Myers, president of Johnson Controls Building Efficiency in an op-ed piece for The Hill ’s “Congress Blog”. Myers goes on to propose that in order for efficiency to really take hold, we must commit to strong incentives and easily attainable financial paybacks. Myers believes we must “raise the game” and put “the right tools and policies in place to increase investment in energy efficienc...>... More >

What if we could have our cake and eat it, too? What if we could encourage business investments, facilitate opportunity, and create thousands of new jobs, all while protecting the environment and making sure our resources can sustain us now and in the future? What if, the definition of “success” could be modified so that our barometers of achievement relied less on dollars and cents, and more on efficient and effective use of our natural resources? What if we could use less energy and still sustain a vi...>... More >

By David Engle   A decade ago the combined-heating-and-power (CHP) industry was wrapping-up a multi-year heyday. Caterpillar dealer Kirk Fowkes recalls, “The ‘spark spread’ was very good” (referring to the difference between per-kilowatt utility charges and the potential savings from self-generation). “Gas prices were low, and you saw a lot of CHP activity back then,” he says. Fowkes, who is now general manager of Hawthorne Power Systems in San Diego, CA, was vice president of sales—until late 2011...>... More >

AHR Expo                  www.ahrexpo.com Alber               www.alber.com ASCO Power Technologies    www.ascopower.com Association of Energy Engineers        www.aeecenter.org Atlas Copco     www.atlascopco.com BHP Energy LLC       www.bhpenergysolutions.com Cummins Power Generation   www.cumminspower.com Enercon Engineering   www.enercon-eng.com Evans Coolin...>... More >

By Penelope B. Grenoble   From zero net energy (ZNE) buildings come strategies that can help make for smaller mechanical systems in a building’s interior and help reduce energy costs overall. While a net-zero energy building may not be your goal, adopting strategies from the ZNE template can go a long way toward energy efficiency and reducing costs. The Warren County, KY, Board of Education has collaborated on a number of successful sustainable schools over the years. Five of them have received the...>... More >

There’s more than one way to do anything, believes Larry Leetzow, president of Magnaray International, a division of World Institute of Lighting and Development Corp. in Bradenton, FL. One way to reduce absenteeism while increasing employee productivity is to provide workers with control over their environment through lighting. Employee productivity may be a “soft issue” that’s hard to quantify, but lowering electric consumption through energy-efficient lighting is clear cut. With quality lighting appro...>... More >

The movement is spreading. Last year it started with the Arab Spring: Citizens protesting in the street and accomplishing the unthinkable—toppling regimes and inspiring their neighbors to do the same. Then this fall, the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement sparked, and our nightly news was suddenly dominated with dispatches from tent cities and interviews with the disgruntled and displaced. Whether or not you agreed with the claims and complaints of the participants, one thing became crystal clear: empowe...>... More >

Energy efficiency and solid economics have made combined heat and power (CHP) technology an attractive choice for distributed energy projects, but the number of installations in North America have yet to reflect the technology’s value and potential. Realistically, the same is true on a worldwide basis, and, according to the International Energy Agency, the increased use of CHP could reduce power sector investments by $795 billion (USD) over the next 20 years, while reducing transmission costs and retiri...>... More >

ALTRONIC LLC The Altronic ECMD-100 is a full-featured, cost-effective system for monitoring critical parameters such as temperatures and pressures associated with environmental regulations including RICE-NESHAP. The ECMD is designed to cost-effectively assist operators of reciprocating engines facing strict guidelines specific to exhaust emissions monitoring and recording. Built around a proven and stable platform of Altronic and optional third-party products, the ECMD systems offer users flexible acces...>... More >

By Nick Ni, Samuel Sterling, and Xu Liu   Hydrogen is a very valuable alternative to fossil fuel for distributed energy generation, delivering a high-powered solution with minimal environmental and safety concerns. Green businesses, telecomm providers, governments, and renewable energy advocates can now produce on-demand energy for their assets, at minimal cost and using commercially available equipment.   Figures courtesy of Verde LLC Figure 1. Renewable energy-hydrogen-fuel cell solution &nb...>... More >

  By Dan Rafter       When officials with Houweling’s Tomatoes installed two 4.36-MW Jenbacher J624 natural-gas engines in their Camarillo, CA-based greenhouse, they made history. With installation of those engines, Houweling’s Tomatoes became the first greenhouse grower in the United States to unveil a combined heat and power (CHP) greenhouse that captures carbon dioxide and uses it to fertilize plants. But the installation wasn’t just about making history. Officials with Houweling’...>... More >

By Paul Hull   Let’s join the world’s leading companies and, without waiting for government action, start developing our own clean energy guidelines. As mentioned by the Editor of this magazine on several occasions, renewable energy is receiving diligent attention from the topmost global industrial leaders. Some have already set specific goals for renewable energy use; others are changing from buying short-term (purely temporary) strategies, to longer-term strategies like Power Purchase Agreements ...>... More >

By Penelope B. Grenoble   One fallout from the devastation Hurricane Sandy, caused on the eastern seaboard in Fall 2012, was the realization of a need for better systems to keep power up-and-running during natural disasters. “There’s been a new focus on microgrids,” says Rich Shaw, General Manager of Domestic Sales at UTC Power in South Windsor, CT. “And in Connecticut, there’s been a move to make fuel cells a major contributor because they can provide clean power close to where it’s needed, and th...>... More >

By David Engle Clouds, buildings, meters, grids—they’re all smart now, and, suddenly as if on signal, they’re pooling their brainpower to assume control of onsite energy usage on an unprecedented scale. Smart meters and smart grids are well-known; cloud computing complements them in the information technology (IT) space. The newcomer here, as the following report outlines, is the advent of more fully automated, energy-efficient buildings . Clouds, meters, and grids are all collaborating to take building...>... More >

By Penelope B. Grenoble The optimum word in the fuel cell industry these days is commercialization, followed closely by incentives . Among manufacturers, early adopters, and government agencies there is little doubt about the efficiency of the technology across a wide variety of applications, but the question remains how long before demand drives costs down. Meanwhile, a host of clean air initiatives backed by federal and state support for new technology and sustainable energy alternatives are driving i...>... More >

By Carol Brzozowski Perhaps nowhere is the relationship between buildings and energy efficiency more evident than in New York City, NY. Seventy-five percent of New York City’s carbon emissions stem from energy used in buildings. By 2030, existing buildings will comprise 85% of all real estate. One of the goals of PlaNYC—an effort by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to prepare the city for one million more residents through strengthening its economy, enhancing quality of life, and dealing with climate change—is t...>... More >

AIR CYCLE CORP. Air Cycle’s CFL Premium Bulb Eater is a new version of the award-winning lamp-crushing system. The CFL Premium crushes fluorescent lamps of any size into 100% recyclable material, freeing up valuable storage space, reducing handling and related labor costs, and cutting recycling costs by 50% or more. The system can hold up to 3,000 compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) or 1,350 4' fluorescent. www.crushinglamps.com ALTRONIC LLC The Altronic ECMD-100 is a full-featured, cost-effective system f...>... More >

Aegis Energy Services Inc. www.aegisenergyservices.com Alber www.alber.com ASCO Power Technologies www.ascopower.com Association of Energy Engineers www.aeecenter.org Crestchic Loadbanks USA/HPS www.crestchicusa.com Encorp www.encorp.com Enercon Engineering www.enercon-eng.com   Evans Cooling Systems www.evanscooling.com Girtz Industries www.girtz.com GT Exhaust Systems Inc. www.gtexhaustsystems.com Guascor Inc. www.guascor-usa.com Hotstart Mfg Co www.hotstart.com INDECK Power Equipment Co. www.ind...>... More >

By Carol Brzozowski Building envelopes are encompassing an increasing use of renewables as interdisciplinary cooperation between architects and engineers, and an emerging preference for outcome-based designs is ramping up. Addressing renewables and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, Joe Murray, a principle design architect with IDC Architects, a wholly owned subsidiary of CH2M Hill, notes that photovoltaic (PV) systems are being integrated into the building envelope to s...>... More >

Fewer options exist for exterior lights than are available for interior, believes John Noel, president and founder of Energy & Environment LLC, an Atlanta, GA-based company focused on energy audits and retrofits for increased energy efficiency. “You have the basics for roadway lighting: high-pressure sodium, which gives off an orange light and metal halide, which has a white light,” says Noel. Orange lighting is not as bright, but the sodium rates higher than halide on a foot-candle meter taking lum...>... More >

The Bradley Home and Pavilion in Meriden, CT, has been celebrating its 70th anniversary, so it’s no late arrival on the building scene. It needed to take a practical, lasting approach to its energy costs in the long-term care facility. The home provides 74 beds in residential care and 30 beds in the skilled nursing unit. In the winter, space heating and water heating come from three dual-fuel boilers (natural gas and #2 fuel oil), and, in the summer, the facility used three water heaters, with electric ...>... More >

By Elizabeth Cutright What will our energy landscape look like over the next decade? How about the next 30 years? We’ve all experienced first hand the quick and dizzying changes wrought by emerging technologies, and there’s no reason to think that our current energy infrastructure won’t look vastly different in the years to come. After all, the modern smart phone is only about five years old, and in that short amount of time we’ve gone from using our cell phones to make and receive calls, to a 20th cent...>... More >

By Ed Ritchie   Utilities across the country are getting smarter by the minute, and as a result, we’re seeing high scoring projects that capitalize on a triple play that combines distributed energy, thermal storage, and demand response (DR)technologies. As proof of those high scores, we’ll visit some examples showing how generating and storing energy onsite can be good for the bottom line of most any enterprise, and more than welcome as a method of DR for utilities that need to address their peak d...>... More >

By Paul Hull   For the Biotechnology Building at Cornell University, the goals were to reduce energy costs through conservation measures and the installation of an effective building automation system. Included were the commitments to improve safety for building and occupants and to maintain the ongoing laboratory operations during the retrofit project. Retrofit? Yes, Cornell University’s Biotechnology Building has a deserved reputation for excellence in advanced scientific research, but its buildi...>... More >

By Lyn Corum   The two universities and a public school system profiled here are taking command of their energy use in a way that reveals a phenomenal sophistication and innovation in their use of technologies to reduce and monitor campus energy demand, while integrating student education about energy use into campus infrastructure. They are installing solar systems to reduce peak demand, but these systems are a small part of the effort to submeter and monitor campus equipment and, in one case, to ...>... More >

AIR CYCLE CORP. Air Cycle’s CFL Premium Bulb Eater is a new version of the award-winning lamp-crushing system. The CFL Premium crushes fluorescent lamps of any size into 100% recyclable material, freeing up valuable storage space, reducing handling and related labor costs, and cutting recycling costs by 50% or more. The system can hold up to 3,000 compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) or 1,350 4' fluorescent. www.crushinglamps.com ALTRONIC LLC The Altronic ECMD-100 is a full-featured, cost-effective system f...>... More >

By Dan Rafter   It’s an amazing figure: $1 trillion. That’s how much energy that the owners of United States office buildings, storefronts, homes, and other buildings can save during the next 10 years if the US invests $279 billion in energy retrofits. This figure comes courtesy of Deutsche Bank and The Rockefeller Institute, which in early March released the results of a study on just how important it is for buildings, commercial and residential, to reduce the amount of energy they consume each ye...>... More >

By David Engle By broad consensus as well as by Congressional fiat, America needs to trim down energy consumption on a drastic scale. This is because at our current rate of growth we simply cannot build enough plants to keep up. Also, the cost of building runs as high as 16 times more than the cost of conserving , per unit of energy. Obviously, from the standpoint of good policy, anything we do to shave our usage is time and money well spent. In the US nearly one-fourth of our total electricity consumpt...>... More >

By Jeff Meyers and Lance Irwin Managing peak load is one of the most critical drivers in the utility industry today, despite slowed economic activity and correspondingly flatter load growth. But because of additional challenges like the need to cut carbon emissions, the increase in fuel and construction costs and the long lead time for planning and building new power plants, utilities will not, or cannot, rush to add new generation to their portfolio. Instead, many are turning to advanced smart grid tec...>... More >

It’s a question that’s often pondered—does the political will exist to transform our current inefficient, fossil fuel-based energy system into an efficient, clean tech energy future? Certainly the financial incentives for increased efficiency are there. At a basic level, we all know that lowering our energy use results in a smaller utility bill and a better bottom line. Unfortunately, the concept of efficiency (and its bedfellow, “sustainability”) can be hard to pin down. One of the biggest stumbling bl...>... More >

AHR Expo - International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition  www.ahrexpo.com Alber  www.alber.com Association of Energy Engineers  www.aeecenter.org Blue Star Power Systems Inc.  www.bluestarps.com Capstone Turbine Corp.  www.capstoneturbine.com Crestchic Loadbanks USA  www.crestchicusa.com Davidson Sales Co  www.davidsonsales.com Evans Cooling Systems  www.evanscooling.com GE Jenbacher  www.ge.com Girtz Industries  www.girtz.com GT Exha...>... More >

From reciprocating engines to fuel cells to photovoltaic cells, the choices for commercial scale distributed energy (DE) technology have never looked better. Nor has the economic argument for producing energy onsite at 1 MW and higher. In fact, though manufacturers are seeing solid sales growth, they haven’t slowed their drive for innovation and efficiency. And with the recent mergers and acquisitions by some of the world’s top manufacturers and energy companies, the investment in research and developme...>... More >

By Carol Brzozowski Today’s buildings—residential, commercial, and industrial—consume more energy than any other sector of the US economy, including transportation and industry, and are responsible for 40% of US carbon emissions at a cost of more than $400 billion. In achieving greater energy efficiency, what’s wrapped around a building through its envelope is just as significant to its operation as the inside mechanical and lighting systems. What has been considered exceptional will soon become commonp...>... More >

By Ed Ritchie   New products and expanding technology in the world of portable power generators are bringing great benefits to end-users. And it seems that the range of end users is also expanding. From utilities that need to boost weak transmission lines to commercial enterprises that can’t afford less than 100% reliability from the grid, portable power can offer a wide range of advantages. Then too, maybe you’re just throwing a weekend party for 20,000 of your friends, with catering, camping, and...>... More >

AHR Expo                  www.ahrexpo.com Alber               www.alber.com ASCO Power Technologies     www.ascopower.com Association of Energy Engineers        www.aeecenter.org      Atlas Copco                www.atlascopco.us      Avtron Loadbanks      www.load-bank.com   Baltimore Gas & Electric &nb...>... More >

By Carol Brzozowski   In 2001, Cornell University started an energy master plan to address a growing number of concerns. “We were faced at the time with significant load growth, the need for renewal, and deeper awareness of the environmental impact associated with greenhouse gas footprint,” says Tim Peer, P.E., Cornell University’s energy plant manager. Cornell entered a long-term study of different options to provide heat and power, including package boilers, solid fuel boilers, and a continuance ...>... More >

By Stefano Galli   The globally recognized need to reduce energy consumption is motivating the energy industry to create a new generation of energy management products and applications that will be delivered over smart grids. As utilities introduce these new technologies and services, they will need to motivate their customers to participate in the programs, change their energy-consuming behaviors, and support program costs. The purpose of this article is to discuss the importance of customers to s...>... More >

Alber www.alber.com APR Energy www.aprenergy.com Association of Energy Engineers www.aeecenter.org Atlas Copco www.atlascopco.com Avtron Loadbanks www.load-bank.com Enercon Engineering www.enercon-eng.com Evans Cooling Systems www.evanscooling.com Girtz Industries www.girtz.com Global Power Supply www.globalpwr.com GTI-Altronic Inc. www.gti-altronicinc.com Guascor Inc. www.guascor-usa.com Harco Manufacturing www.harcomanufacturing.com Hotstart Mfg Co www.hotstart.com INDECK Power Equipment Co. www.indec...>... More >

By Elizabeth Cutright Saving energy is as easy as turning back the clock, right? Every year during Daylight Savings Time (and sometimes again, upon the return of Standard Time), millions ponder the efficiency of resetting clocks and creating the illusion of an extra hour of daylight. In an attempt to assuage our gritty eyes and sleep-deprived souls, we console ourselves that the time change is important because it saves energy. But is that really the case? While studies disagree as to whether Daylight S...>... More >

By Dan Rafter At Washington state’s NetRiver, the power can’t go out—ever. If it does, this high-density data center located in the Seattle suburb of Lynnwood, WA, will lose its most important asset: its reputation among customers for providing reliable service. That’s why NetRiver works with manufacturers such as Eaton Electrical, manufacturers that provide the data center with the uninterruptible power supply systems—better known as UPS systems—that make sure power outages don’t happen. “If we have ca...>... More >

By Lori Lovely Data centers account for an increasing amount of power usage worldwide, according to Jeff Klaus, director of Data Center Solutions for Intel Corp. Describing the growth rate of data centers as "significant," he says, "Handhelds are everywhere; everyone has GPS...." The rapid growth of Internet connectivity has caused a sense of urgency in the data center field. The challenge, Klaus,   believes, lies in the “explosion” on the Internet that requires “more in the backroom. “Servers...>... More >

Lighting can represent as much as 35% of building energy use, according to Randy Dollar, vice president, systems marketing development, for Universal Lighting Technologies, a global leader in ballasts and controls for commercial lighting applications, with headquarters in Nashville, TN. Particularly in today’s economy, companies need to cut costs; however, there are limits where they can capture money without sacrifices. Dollar believes lighting is the “low-hanging fruit” that allows companies to simult...>... More >

By Carol Brzozowski Addressing the role of the interconnection between onsite power and the smart grid, E2America CEO Dara O’Neill says the ability for utility companies to connect to devices beyond the meter and gather consumption and usage patterns enables them to make recommendations and reductions beyond current capabilities. “Once onsite connectivity reaches a critical mass, it provides the utility companies with the ability to manage their generation requirements more intelligently,” says O’Neill....>... More >

With significant heating and hot-water requirements, the 364-room Philadelphia Four Seasons Hotel has turned out to be a great fit for a combined heat and power (CHP) retrofit over the past two years. The hotel features three onsite restaurants, an on-premises laundry, and an indoor pool and spa. Until 2009, the hotel relied heavily upon the city’s district steam utility and the local grid for hot water and electricity production, respectively. Management saw real potential for a dedicated CHP system to...>... More >

Nick Kottyan wouldn’t be able to run his two colocation data centers without the eight uninterruptible power supply systems from Mitsubishi. These UPS systems provide his clients—healthcare organizations, financial institutions, manufacturing companies, and accounting firms—with the confidence that they’ll also have access to their electronic data. With the 9900A and 9900B UPS systems from Mitsubishi, Kottyan's company, Winston-Salem, NC-based DataChambers never has to worry about losing power in its tw...>... More >