Thursday, January 24, 2013
Salimando is a Fairfax, Virginia-based writer and contributor?to?energysolutions.necanet.org and?eleblog.com.
Reach him at ecdotcom@gmail.com
Green data still missing ? a USA Today story noted ?the lack of evaluation? in the results of construction new commercial green buildings. Included:
??????????? . . . government bodies, which have been the earliest and strongest supporters of green construction, seldom measure whether green buildings cost less to operate than conventional counterparts. Researchers and USA TODAY have found numerous green buildings that use far more energy than projected.
Only nine of the 35 states that require new state buildings to be green also require evaluations of the buildings after they?re occupied. Eight of the nine U.S. cities with populations above 1 million also have such building requirements; only New York City requires a follow-up evaluation.?
Electricity is getting cleaner ? see graphic below, from the U.S. DOE. The ?end product? electrical contractors sell has undergone a dramatic improvement! DOE?s headline on this item: ?Monthly coal- and natural-gas-fired generation equal for first time in April 2012.?
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What happened after April? Stay tuned.
Older is greener than newer? ? that?s the gist of a GreenBiz.com article. Comparison of two significant buildings in New York City:
- 7 World Trade Center building, built to LEED standards, scores a 74 in the federal Energy Star program (you need a 75 to be Energy Star-certified).
- The Chrysler Building, construction in the 1930s, scores an 84.
Lighting retrofit wonderland ? LD+A, official publication of the Illuminating Engineering Society, included these stick-in-your-throat numbers in a posted article about lighting retrofits:
- More than 430 million linear 4-foot T12 lamps (replacements banned now by law) are still in use.
- T-12s made up 30% of fluorescent lamp sales (4-foot linear) in 2011.
- A study (of 88 papers and case studies) claimed that ?popular lighting control strategies? produced 24% to 38% lighting energy savings in commercial buildings.
- DOE claims 70% of the lamps in commercial buildings ?are not controlled by a manual dimmer or automatic lighting reduction or shut-off device.?
In short, lighting retrofits STILL offer great opportunities for electrical contractors. And while the piece did mention LED retrofits, it did not dwell on them.
EV sales gain 100 basis points of market share in 2012 ? the Electric Drive Transportation Association (which is more than two decades old) now provides a monthly update on its website of EV sales stats. Here?s the final for last year:
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Bottom line in 2011: Market share of 2.23%.
Fuel cell progress ?like watching grass grow? ? a research firm?s brief (including graphic below) compared the hydrogen fuel cell market to this non-stimulating way to pass the time. However, it?s worth remembering; The grass always grows!
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Source: http://energysolutions.necanet.org/2013/01/solutions-news-roundup-post-holiday-edition/
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