One of the main focuses of modern architecture is energy efficiency, and predicting how much energy a facility will consume can be done from the early planning stages. These days, energy modeling is done with computers, and it gives designers the advantage of being able to analyze different energy options and remove much of the guesswork.
Tag:
efficiency
Today, back to back, I experienced two different sides to an important argument that I hope readers will find interesting. I had a meeting this morning with Richard Stuebi, a gentleman who’s been in and around the game of raising capital for cleantech start-ups long before I had the idea. He’s a believer in the importance of the development of technology from the standpoint of
The water-energy nexus has been in the news since the California Energy Commission’s landmark finding in 2005, that water related energy uses account for about 19% of all electricity use and 30% of non-power plant natural gas use in the state.
What does this mean for energy efficiency and
As the world becomes more and more environmentally aware, several industries are increasing their focus on improving their ‘green’ factor, including the construction sector. LEED is helping to lead the way.
What is LEED?
LEED – or Leadership in Energy & Environmental
Like home heating in the winter air conditioning usage in the summer uses up a lot of energy. The difference is that while heat can come from burners and radiator systems most air-conditioning is run on electricity.
In the big picture that means that on the hottest days power plants in large urban centers generate a lot of
If you’re ready to take the plunge and set up a solar panel array on your home’s roof, your family is on the cusp of a brighter, more energy efficient future. Of course, the process of purchasing and installing a rooftop solar array isn’t quite as simple as buying a new backyard grill or choosing new blinds for your living room. Before you make a lasting investment in your
Most people don’t realize it, but their relationship with electricity is odd.
Ed White, vice president of customer & business strategy for National Grid US, summed it up in a recent interview by relating a vignette from a colleague with a 13-year-old son. The boy ran from the house one day shouting, “We don’t have Internet. We don’t
It appears that another one of my wishes was just granted: a progressive force in the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. If FERC chief nominee Ron Binz lives up to what I’ve read about him, he really is the man for the job, as he appears to be both willing and able to rewrite the way utilities are regulated, paving the way for a far more
Vote Solar helped score a victory for solar customers in Arizona. The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), which is the entity that oversees the state’s utilities, recently approved a rate case for the state’s 2nd largest investor owned utility – Tucson Electric Power (TEP).
Quantum leaps in automotive efficiency are often said to be just around the corner—only pending an imminent breakthrough in battery technology…or the discovery of an enzyme for making biofuel…or the development of a new economic model for hydrogen distribution. But the sleek two-seat car I drove yesterday—which can travel 110 kilometers on a
President Obama unveiled yesterday a long-awaited national strategy to tackle climate change, a sweeping plan that will include cutting carbon emissions at power plants, protecting the coastline from rising seas, and a greater U.S. role in global climate talks. Calling the need to address climate change a “moral obligation,” Obama asked the U.S. Environmental Protection
Several corporate leaders have volunteered to reduce energy use 20 percent by 2020 as part of a challenge initiated by President Barack Obama. But that’s not the big deal.
The big deal is that they have agreed to publicly disclose how they’re doing it.
The city of Houston has agreed to purchase half its electricity from renewable energy sources, a step that makes the Texas city the nation’s largest municipal buyer of green energy.
In a contract signed with Reliant Energy, Houston committed to buying more than 140 megawatts of
Part 1 of this series provided a brief retrospective of some of the antecedents of today’s discussion of residential rates in California. We discussed AB 1x and its role in capping rates for consumption below 130% of baseline, we defined baseline, and saw an example of baseline allowances from San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E). In the previous entry, we left off