Building Technology, Clean Grid Technology, Efficiency in Action, Renewables, Whole Building
Net Zero Energy Becomes Elementary in Arlington County, VA
Taylor Patterson, 4/6/21. Zero energy buildings are the future of sustainable living – be it commercial, industrial, or residential settings. Arlington County, VA embraced this future with the design and construction of their zero-energy public elementary school. The building is powered by over 1,700 solar panels, has a geothermal athletic field that funnels into a […]
arlington county, geothermal, Net Zero Energy, solar, Virginia
Building Technology, Codes & Standards, Programs & Policy, Whole Building
ICC in a Pickle After Developers Argue City Voting Rights
huffpost.com, 3/30/21. Kim Havey had a problem. Minneapolis was generating more and more of its electricity from renewables, dropping climate-warming pollution from power to record lows. But emissions from natural gas, which is used to heat buildings and stovetops, were climbing ― overtaking power plants as the city’s top source of carbon pollution in 2017. […]
building codes, cities, climate policy, green buildings, ICC, Minneapolis
Building Technology, Efficiency in Action, Markets & Business, Whole Building
Waste-to-Energy Plant Inspires Innovative Efficiency
Taylor Patterson, 2/3/2021. The clean energy and technology industry thrives on innovation to provide sustainable solutions to some of the world’s biggest efficiency problems. Amager Bakke, a waste-to-energy plant operating in Copenhagen, Denmark, is the epitome of this outside-the-box thinking. Construction of this 4.4-million-square-foot facility began back in 2013 and was completed in 2017, replacing […]
Amagar Bakke, clean energy, copenhagen, Denmark, waste, waste-to-energy
Building Technology, Energy Storage, Intelligent Efficiency, Whole Building
Building Technology Couples with EVs to Power Denver Facility
renewableenergyworld.com, 1/28/21. Today, The Alliance Center, a Denver-based organization, announced a partnership with Fermata Energy, a clean technology company based in Charlottesville, VA, to use the energy stored in an electric vehicle (a Nissan LEAF) and power its six-story, 40,000-square-foot office building originally constructed as a warehouse in 1908 (1536 Wynkoop St, Denver, CO 80202). This new […]
Building Technology, Programs & Policy, Whole Building
New Buildings Face Drastic Changes with Boston Zoning Plans
energynews.us, 1/18/2021. The initiative is among the most aggressive of existing or proposed strategies to cut energy consumption in buildings, which are responsible for 70% of the city’s carbon output. The city of Boston is laying plans to require newly constructed large buildings to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, a move supporters hope will help […]
Boston, buildings, carbon free, Eversource, net-zero, new construction
Building Technology, Clean Grid Technology, Whole Building
Energy Audit the First of it’s Kind, Brings in New Clientele
Alex Schultz, ERS Energy audits are commonplace in the efficiency services industry. Engineers and consulting professionals are frequently conducting audits in the industrial, commercial, and residential sectors to help clients assess where they are at and what improvements they can make in order to reach efficiency goals. However, December 2020 will stand as a monumental […]
audit, Electrification, energy audits, energy efficiency, heat pump, led lighting technology, north pole
Building Technology, Efficiency in Action
Rack Up Leftover Energy Savings This Thanksgiving
energy.gov, 11/19/20 In 1789, President George Washington issued a Thanksgiving proclamation calling upon Americans to express gratitude for the happy conclusion to the nation’s war of independence and ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Since then, Thanksgiving has become a favorite American holiday as family and friends reunite to feast and give thanks. The one drawback, […]
energy savings, energy star appliances, kitchen energy use, Lighting, temperature, Thanksgiving
Building Technology, Plug Loads
Ask the Expert: How Can You Slay Office Phantom Loads?
Max Ma and Amanda Gasse, ERS Question: Plug loads are one of the fastest growing sources of energy use in commercial buildings today. In offices, they account for 15%–20% of office electricity use. Due to COVID-19, commercial office building owners report that offices have not returned to normal occupancy levels. Yet tenants report that, while […]
building technology, commercial buildings, Halloween, office sustainability, phantom plug loads
Building Technology, Markets & Business, Markets & Trends
Virtual Audits: A New Era of Ensuring At-Home Efficiency
energyefficiencyday.org, 10/7/2020. Working from home, teaching children from your kitchen table, enrolling for classes online, and/or streaming more entertainment? COVID-19 means residential energy usage is higher than normal. Homes that are less efficient may lead to particularly high spikes in monthly bills. Energy audits that reveal the areas where energy is escaping are more important […]
COVID-19, energy assessments, energy audits, energy efficiency day, residential energy efficiency, virtual audits
Building Technology, HVAC, Intelligent Efficiency
Furnaces Continue to Waste Gas Under Trump Administration
aceee.org, 10/01/2020. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) moved one step closer today to blocking a future administration from cutting the amount of natural gas wasted by furnaces and water heaters. Two of the biggest energy needs in most buildings are heating the air and heating the water. According to DOE, they together account for 62% […]
furnaces, heat pumps, natural gas, Trump, U.S. Department of Energy, water heaters