Energy Newsbriefs
Articles for November 5, 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
"Energy
Consumption: You Can't Control What You Don't Measure,"
by Chris Olson, Chief Content Director, Buildings, is a short article, carried in the September 2012 issue of that
journal, explaining the importance,
and national implications, of the release of New York City's first energy
benchmarking report based on data from reports required of the private owners of
buildings over 50,000 square feet in area.
A fuller description is in the
August 3, 2012, press release by New York's Mayor Bloomberg. The mayor's press release includes a
link to a Web page,
Benchmarking Scores & Reports: Private Sector with links to several important
aspects of the report and, also, to the full 36-page report, "
New
York City Local law 84 Benchmarking Report August 2012."
"How
to Use Building Energy Modeling Tools," by Erin McConahey, PE, Arup,
was published in the September 2012 issue of
Consulting-Specifying Engineer. This is a basic and informative
discussion of the tools – there are hundreds of them – including why,
specifically, they were developed, and suggestions for which type of modeling
software to use at what point in the life of the building.
DATA CENTERS
"Google
Throws Open Doors to Its Top-Secret Data Center,"
by Steven Levy, appeared in the October 17, 2012 issue of
Wired. This inside look at
a Google-owned data center in Lenoir, North Carolina, is interesting for a
number of reasons. The reason of
interest here is, of course, energy use and energy savings. Scroll about a third of the way down to
read about Google's contributions to new ways to design and operate data centers
for energy savings. These
contributions have been adopted by others in the industry after Google began
publicizing them.
LIGHTING
"Easy
LED Replacement," by Janelle Penny, Associate
Editor, Buildings, was published in
the September 2012 issue of that journal.
This article tells how the Zhaga Consortium of lighting manufacturers and
professionals is proceeding with its mission to develop LED interchangeability
standards for the following properties: mechanical, photometrical, thermal
electrical, and control.
"Engineering
a Successful Lighting Retrofit," by Michael Chow, PE, LEED AP
BD+C, Metro CD Engineering LLC; it was carried in the September 2012 issue of
Consulting-Specifying Engineer. This article includes discussion of the
interchangeability (or not) of different lamps in original lamp holders and the
maintaining of UL listings after the original lamp is replaced by a different
one, say a T-12 is replaced by a T-8 or after a T-12/T-8 lamp/ballast is
replaced by a tubular LED. Other
types of replacements are covered, as well, and the author includes discussion
of lamp recycling, lifecycle costs, color, and dimmability.
POLICY
"Energy
Efficiency Hits a New High in 2011"
(scroll to page 6) was written by staff of the Northwest Power and
Planning Council and published in the Summer 2012 issue of
Council Quarterly. The Northwest has been saving energy and energy
dollars since 1978. The article
reports that in 2011 alone, implementing energy efficiencies cost the Northwest
only 25% of the cost of building new (even though very efficient) power
generating plants. The article
follows with the numbers behind this assertion.
"More
Oil, Fewer Alternatives?" is an October 9, 2012 post by
Elizabeth Cutright in her Distributed Energy Editor's Blog prompted by the forecast, by the IEA (International
Energy Agency), that Iraq will be producing twice as much oil in 2020 as it is
now.
Oil: The Next Revolution – The Unprecedented Upsurge of Oil Production Capacity and What It Means for the World
was written by Leonardo Maugeri, Ph.D., Research
Fellow of the Geopolitics of Energy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School's
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. This is an 86-PDF-page, June 2012
discussion paper that is part of the work of the Energy Project; it includes an
Executive Summary on document page one (or scroll to PDF-page 11). The
paper discusses increases in conventional oil production around much of the
world and the explosion of shale/tight oil production in the United States and
Canada. It, additionally, reviews
the strong evidence that there is an enormous supply of discovered and
undiscovered oil to be found, undercutting arguments to defend against any
peak-oil crisis. The value (and
reality) of the concept of oil self-sufficiency is questioned as is the
likelihood of sustained political attention to environmental concerns.
RESIDENTIAL ENERGY STRATEGIES
"Alternative
Mounting Options for Solar: How to Install Solar Panels When Your Roof Isn’t an
Option," by Jennie Morton; it was carried in the September
2012 issue of Buildings. There are a number of reasons why a
roof may not be a good fit for solar panels.
The pitch of a roof, its square footage, and how much weight it can carry
are among the issues that may preclude a solar paneled, roof installation. The author discusses how to employ
perfectly effective alternatives.
WATER
"Moving
Water, Saving Energy: Pump Management, Maintenance, and Efficiency"
by Carol Brzozowski is a four-web-page article published in the September /
October 2012 issue of
Water
Efficiency.
It includes a number of valuable tips and cautions,
about technical matters and about how to finance new equipment, for the manager
of water or wastewater facilities.
It, also, covers some of the more important issues in some depth.
The following two articles appeared in two successive issues of
Water Tap: Washington’s Drinking Water Newsletter:
-
"Bremerton
Ranks 1st in State for Conservation Challenge"
(scroll to the middle of page six) is
a brief article published in the June 2012 issue discussing the results of the
National Mayor’s Conservation Challenge.
See the
rankings
for the top ten in each of three population-size categories for the West with
options to view the same for the Midwest, the South, and the Northeast.
-
"Funding
Water Projects with Energy Incentives"
(scroll to the top of page three) was
published in the September 2012 issue.
The article provides enough information to get facilities and resources managers
going in the right direction for project funding.
It includes the valuable sidebar "Incentive Funding for a Hypothetical
Leak Repair Project."
Past issues of Energy Newsbriefs are available here.
Generally, subscription information for the journals cited above can be found at the home page of their web sites.
© 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.
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