Efficiency

Save Energy with Natural Gas Upgrades

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Natural gas is an efficient, safe, and reliable fuel source. It costs less than heating oil, and is one of the cleanest-burning fuels available. If you are not currently using natural gas in your building, converting to natural gas is a wise choice for property owners who want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the air quality in your community.

For buildings already using natural gas, there are ways to minimize equipment replacement costs, lower operating costs and enhance the overall value and infrastructure of your property. One way is to commission an energy efficiency study to evaluate your property’s energy use and learn how to increase its energy efficiency. Regular maintenance and tune-ups to natural gas heating systems, as well as upgrading to high-efficiency furnaces, boilers and controls are often worthy investments. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 10, 2012 at 8:30 AM

An Unlikely Energy Leader: Maryland Makes A Splash

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Downtown Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

When Americans think about the states that lead in energy, they conjure up Texas, California, perhaps Alaska or West Virginia and – with fracking – now Pennsylvania and Ohio. Maryland isn’t an obvious choice. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 22, 2012 at 12:05 PM

Two Billion Square Feet Of LEED-Certified Commercial Space

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How successful has the U.S. Green Building Council‘s (USGBC) LEED program been in bringing green building to the commercial sector? Exactly two billion square feet of successful, according to a recent announcement [PDF] – with seven billion more coming down the pike.

A number of factors converge in LEED’s popularity with the commercial sector – among them, energy efficiency and publicity. Because commercial buildings leave the lights on longer and require more of their HVAC systems than residential structures, green building systems can pay for themselves in short order (and serve to lower operating expenses thereafter). Also, that lovely glass plaque announcing a building’s LEED status to the world has proven attractive to many companies looking to build a brand and gain favor with green-minded customers. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 22, 2012 at 10:15 AM

Bill Clinton Urges Focus on Clean Energy While Musk Admits to Tough Times at Tesla

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Energy efficiency and solar are the low hanging fruit for American companies both at home and overseas, former President Bill Clinton said yesterday.

“We should pick the low hanging fruit. It always begins with efficiency. We’re much more energy efficient than we used to be but we have not made a serious attempt to get it to scale,” Clinton said in the closing keynote of the National Clean Energy Conference in Las Vegas last week. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 13, 2012 at 8:30 AM

To Save Energy, Hit The Pub For Olympics Viewing

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Forget about the LED lighting and the R-38 ceiling insulation. The way to drive down electricity use is to put on massively popular sporting events that draw people together to watch in large groups, and to time the events to take place when folks would typically be doing stuff around the house.

That’s the slightly tongue-in-cheek – or maybe it’s hopeful – message from Opower, the energy report and analytics company. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 10, 2012 at 11:00 AM

Breakthrough Cooling Technology Rolled Out for Data Centers

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Data-center consumption of energy and water for server-cooling has reached astonishing volumes, but a pair of innovative companies is applying the brakes to this runaway train.

The ambitious partnership and its technologies were presented during a July 25 “analysts day” at the Danbury, CT headquarters of Inertech, which designs, engineers and manufactures modular data pods and energy-efficient cooling systems for a wide range of industries. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 31, 2012 at 8:30 AM

Technology Improving Geothermal Energy Economics

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Geothermal energy technology is moving beyond volcanos, and popping up in unexpected spots like oilfields.

The technology developed in the last century to tap the earth’s heat has been most productive in regions where hotter layers are closer to the earth’s surface, like hot springs and active volcanic formations. Steam produced in those layers is used to generate electricity. Keep reading →

 /  Published May 29, 2012 at 11:30 AM

Utilities Engaging Customers in Sustainability

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As advanced information technology continues to permeate the power sector and the two-way data flow between utility and customer deepens, countless opportunities to streamline the delivery and consumption of electricity arise. Across the US, utilities are taking innovative approaches to fostering energy efficient behavior by working with customers to build sustainable practices, programs and business models.

The key is to use all available channels – including social networking – to engage customers with a simple message, you need to “keep [customers] informed and show [them] results,” Bill Andrew, President and CEO of the Delaware Electric Cooperative told audience members at last week’s DNV Kema Utility of the Future Leadership Forum in Washington DC. Keep reading →

 /  Published May 23, 2012 at 11:30 AM

Power Regulators Need New Thinking for Historic Investment, Report Says

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U.S. electricity regulators face historic challenges over the next 20 years in helping to guide an estimated $2 trillion in investment to renew or replace aging infrastructure, ensure industry compliance with increasingly stringent environmental regulations, and adopt smart-grid technologies, according to a new report from the sustainability think-tank Ceres.

With the enormous investment by both investor-owned and public utilities, regulators should take a new approach to managing the risks of both the costs of new infrastructure and the time it takes to install it, the report said Thursday. Keep reading →

 /  Published April 19, 2012 at 10:30 AM

Smart Meters Make Customers Smarter: Infographic

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For the average residential customer, there’s a lot of confusing information out there about smart meters. Much of the discussion around the smart grid focuses on how advances in technology will benefit utilities.

While it’s true that a self-healing grid will bring shorter, less frequent outages and that smart meters can help make the electrical grid more efficient, most customers view reliability of electrical service as a given, not a benefit. In order to increase customer acceptance and adoption of advanced metering technology, the personal benefits need to be framed in ways that resonate with residential customers. Keep reading →

 /  Published March 27, 2012 at 1:00 PM
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