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Energy Newsbriefs

Articles for June 18, 2012

ENERGY NEWSBRIEFS is a weekly current awareness service provided by the WSU Extension Energy Program Library and written by Angela Santamaria, WSU Energy Library Manager, to assist users in tracking developments in the energy field. To view past issues or to subscribe to receive an email notification of the publication of a new issue, go to the Energy Newsbriefs home.

Please be aware that although every URL is checked for accuracy prior to the publication of Energy Newsbriefs, URLs are, for various reasons, subject to change. Further, servers sometimes fail to connect to working URLs.



BUILDINGS

"Advanced Energy Benchmarking" was written by Joseph Aamidor and Jim Kummer, PE, both of Johnson Controls Inc.; it was published in the April 2012 issue of HPAC Heating/Piping/AirConditioning Engineering.  New, energy-benchmarking applications are available for the facilities manager to compare energy use between facilities and/or between one facility and the rest of the industry.  The authors describe what these new apps have to offer in the service of energy savings.

The following two, two-part articles were published by Building Operating Management; the first in the April 2012 (hard copy) issue of that journal, the second in the online edition of that same journal in April 2012:

  1. "Profile: Harry Hobbs, InterContinental" was written by Naomi Millàn, Senior Editor, Building Operating Management; it describes the work of the engineer in charge of a new hotel that was designed to be highly energy efficient:

    Part 1 is "Never Too Early to be Better at the InterContinental San Francisco." Six months after the hotel opened, the engineer began lobbying for a retrocommissioning because, as he knew, a new building usually does not end up meeting the stringent requirements included in its original design.

    Part 2 is "Energy Audit Leads to Further Energy Savings, LEED Gold." There are even more savings to achieve and LEED Gold certification is just another beginning.


  2. "Project: Unical Aviation Warehouse," was written by staff:

    Part 1 is "Unical Aviation, Inc.: Transforming a Non-descript Warehouse into a First-Class Workplace." This gives background information about the industrial park near Los Angeles and about the company that chose to repurpose one of the park's warehouses into a combination of offices and workshop areas.

    Part 2 is "Designers Focus on Color, Style for Interior." In this renovated space, attention to efficient lighting (T-5 fluorescents), efficient HVAC (programmable thermostats), and monitored water use for landscaping (smart-sensor irrigation) is the norm.

FUEL CELLS

"Fuel Cells Could Power Your Neighborhood" is a June 12, 2012, Northwest Public Radio report on research that may lead to small-scale, onsite, non-grid-connected, low-emission power from solid oxide fuel cells.  PNNL (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) scientists are working to develop effective fuel cells only eight feet in height.  Some other related fuel cell research is mentioned as well as planned (in the U.S.) and already realized (in Japan and Germany) fuel-cell applications.


HVAC/R (HEATING, VENTILATION, AIR CONDITIONING, AND REFRIGERATION) – LABS and INDUSTRIAL/COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS

The following two articles were published in the April 2012 issue of HPAC Heating/Piping/AirConditioning Engineering"

  1. "Induced-Flow Laboratory Exhaust-Fan Systems," by Anthony J. Rossi, Greenheck Fan Corp., is a discussion of the standards for critical exhaust systems for laboratories and of comparative efficiencies for those systems and for the different fan types they employ.

  2. "Tips for Troubleshooting Evaporative Coolers," by Paul Benich, Warranty Manager, Phoenix Manufacturing Inc., shows, through carefully-developed tips, how to keep evaporative coolers in warehouses and industrial plants in the best working condition.

SOLAR COGEN

"Solar Cogeneration: A Renewable Iteration of CHP" was authored by Gilad Almogy, Ph.D., Founder and CEO, Cogenra Solar; it was published in the March-April issue of Cogeneration & On-Site Power Production.  There is a great deal of waste heat with many solar photovoltaic systems. The author suggests that a solar-cogen hybrid system could incorporate that otherwise wasted heat in the process of making power.  He explains that such a hybrid system would be as suitable for hospitals, campuses, and other large applications as traditional cogen has been.  The technology is well-described and several examples of hybrid installations are shown.


INDUSTRIAL

"Energy Department Announces New Investments in Innovative Manufacturing Technologies" is a June 12, 2012, press release from the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office at DOE (U.S. Department of Energy). It describes the federal effort to invest, in partnership with the private sector, in emerging technologies that would dramatically increase energy efficiencies in manufacturing.  The 13 award recipients are listed and a link is provided for the reader to review each of their project descriptions.

The following two articles were written by Daniel H. Herring, President, The Herring Group Inc. and posted on April 18 and 25, 2012, respectively, on the Industrial Heating website:

  1. "Factors Causing Dimensional Change in Heat-Treated Parts" (part 1) shows that while it is not possible to predict the size change with complete accuracy, it is certainly possible to understand the many variables well enough to be able to make a useful estimate of it.

  2. "Factors Causing Dimensional Change in Heat-Treated Parts" (part 2) describes specific cases where, during heat treatment, parts have changed size.

WIND

"A Departure in Turbine Design," by Clayton Troxell, Senior Vice President, Air ® LLC; it was published in the April 2012 issue of Wind Systems.  The new design takes advantage of slower wind speeds, generating 11MW at 2.4 to 3.3 rpms and stands in contrast to even taller towers that catch the greater wind speeds that are further above the earth's surface.


WASTE-TO-ENERGY

"Waste-to-Energy Technology Options Increase but Remain Underutilized" was written by Stan Rosinski, Program Manager of Renewable Generation, Electric Power Research Institute Inc.; it was published in the April 2012 issue of Power (Business and Technology for the Global Generation Industry). It provides an excellent overview of the major WTE (waste-to-energy) technologies and where on the globe they are utilized. The economics of WTE are, also, addressed.


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© 2012 Washington State University Extension Energy Program. This publication contains material written and produced for public distribution. Permission to copy or disseminate all or part of this material is granted, provided that the copies are not made or distributed for commercial advantage, and that each is referenced by title with credit to the Washington State University Extension Energy Program. Copying, reprinting or dissemination, electronic or otherwise, for any other use requires prior written permission from the Washington State University Extension Energy Program.