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Energy Efficiency Standard for ‘Wall Warts’ (External Power Supplies)

Posted: February 4, 2014
Source: Energy Manager Today.com by Linda Hardesty

Following close on the heels of last week’s finalized energy efficiency standards for metal halide lamp fixtures, the US Energy Department yesterday announced the final rule for new efficiency standards for external power supplies.

The agency says external power supplies, commonly referred to as “wall warts,” are used in hundreds of types of electronics and consumer products, including cell phones, tablets, laptops, video game consoles and power tools, to convert power from a wall outlet into lower voltages. More than 300 million external power supplies are shipped in the United States each year and the average American home has five to ten external power supplies. These numbers are expected to continue growing as consumers and businesses purchase new types of personal electronics.
Continue reading Energy Efficiency Standard for ‘Wall Warts’ (External Power Supplies)

Let’s Talk Power Efficiency, Not Light Bulbs

Posted: February 3, 2014 By Vic Shao
Source: Energy Manager Today.com

Light bulbs sound like an innocent enough topic. And yet, during last week’s Congressional budget debate, light bulbs spawned a ferocious debate.  One side claimed that the government was “coming for your light bulbs” while the other side fought to pour millions into phasing out incandescent bulbs in favor of their more energy-efficient counterparts. Both sides are wasting their breath because energy efficiency is only half the battle.

We have changed light bulbs, weatherized homes and turned down thermostats for the past decade with relatively little impact. We will not solve the challenges of an aging grid, rising electricity demand and a warming climate with energy efficiency. But we might just solve them with power efficiency.

Power efficiency is the next frontier in efficiency savings. It requires sophisticated software and predictive algorithms; but if done right, power efficiency holds the promise of using software instead of copper to keep up with rising electric demands on the grid. And we can do it for three to ten times less cost than current upgrades.
Continue reading Let’s Talk Power Efficiency, Not Light Bulbs

NV Energy The 2014 Sure Bet Incentive Program

Posted: February 3, 2014
Source: NV Energy Sure Bet Incentive Program

Energy costs are the most controllable operating expenses for most businesses. The Sure Bet program offers cash incentives and technical assistance to commercial customers to help them improve energy efficiency and save money on power bills.

Incentives are available for NV Energy’s commercial electric customers in new construction, major renovations, existing facility project improvements, and NV Energy commercial gas customers in the Reno-Sparks area.

  • Sure Bet incentives reduce your initial project costs
  • Energy efficiency improvements reduce your energy use and produce long-term savings

Application Process

  • Submit pre-notification application.
  • Sure Bet team reviews the application; conducts pre-inspections as necessary and reserves funding for eligible projects.
  • Complete project within reservation period
  • 90-day reservation period will be strictly enforced. Contact the Sure Bet team if your project is delayed.
  • Submit project completion agreement when project is finished.
  • Sure Bet team reviews request for payment; conducts post- inspections as necessary.
  • Incentive check will be issued 4-6 weeks after NV Energy approval

Questions: Contact a Sure Bet Program representative at 1-800-342-6335 or
email us at SureBet@nvenergy.com

Metal Halide Lamps: DOE Updates Efficiency Standards

Posted: January 31, 2014
Source: Energy Manager Today.com

The US Department of Energy has finalized new energy efficiency standards for metal halide lamp fixtures.

Metal halide lamp fixtures include the ballast, which starts and regulates the electrical current for these lighting systems. They are commonly used for parking lots and streets, flood lighting, athletic facilities, big-box stores and warehouses. On average, one metal halide lamp fixture consumes about 2,210 kilowatt hours of energy per year.

The new efficiency standards update the 2007 standards for metal halide lamp fixtures. These standards incorporate feedback from industry, consumer and environmental advocacy groups and other stakeholders and will go into effect three years after publication in the Federal Register.

In November, the DOE proposed new and amended energy conservation standards for certain commercial and industrial electric motors, including a number of different groups of electric motors that DOE has not previously regulated.

Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) Releases Deep Retrofit Value Practice Guide

Posted: January 24, 2014
Source: Rocky Mountain Institute

Download: How to Calculate and Present Deep Retrofit Value: A Guide for Owner-Occupants

Highly energy-efficient buildings offer more than just a low utility bill. They also often promise gains in employee productivity, better retention, improved occupant health, lower maintenance costs, increased occupancy, and higher lease-up and sales rates, among others.

Yet real estate professionals often ignore many of these additional values—they tend to focus on energy cost savings alone to justify investment in new green buildings or deep energy retrofits of existing buildings. Meanwhile, building occupants like you and me often suffer in poorly lit, stuffy, and generally inadequate offices, supermarkets, stores, classrooms, and numerous other spaces where we collectively spend the majority of our time outside the home. But no longer.

RMI has released a new guide to provide practical guidance to enable company leaders and real estate professionals to incorporate all the benefits of deep energy savings in their decision making. The first version of this guide, How to Calculate and Present Deep Retrofit Value: A Guide for Owner-Occupants, presents RMI’s Deep Retrofit Value Model and details how owner-occupants (responsible for roughly half of U.S commercial buildings) can calculate property-specific deep retrofit value.
Continue reading Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) Releases Deep Retrofit Value Practice Guide

New Pig’s Forum Gets the Waste Out

Posted: January 22, 2014
Source: Environmental Protection.com

New Pig Corporation recently launched an online forum, The Waste Minimization Forum, with many resources to help plants minimize waste and save money through sustainability initiatives and lean manufacturing. Members can join the forum (www.wastemin.com) free, and the forum’s publisher, New Pig’s Andy James, is stocking it with interesting and useful posts, infographics, a guide to creating a waste inventory, and tools such as a waste minimization savings calculator (accompanied by a 12-minute explanatory video).

According to the company, the forum is dedicated to creating real, usable insights and information that plants can use immediately. No question is too large or too small to be discussed on the forum, and “no fluff or spin is allowed. No selling.”
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EPA Takes Important Step in Implementing the Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act

Posted January 17, 2014
Source: EPA

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today issued a final rule that is a crucial step in the development of a national electronic manifest (e-Manifest) system, which will upgrade the current paper-based system of tracking hazardous waste to an electronic one.

“Today’s action is a key step in bringing the oversight of these potentially dangerous materials into the 21st century,” said Mathy Stanislaus, EPA assistant administrator for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. “Once fully implemented, the national e-Manifest system will provide greater access for emergency responders to information about the types and sources of hazardous waste that are in transit between generator sites and waste management facilities.”

The final rule authorizes the use of e-Manifests to track hazardous wastes under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. This will allow the current process, which requires paper forms, to be streamlined and greatly reduce the millions of paper manifests produced each year.
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Philips Launches Energy Efficient Incandescent Bulb

Posted January 8, 2014
Source: Sustainable Business.com

Philips Lighting (NYSE: PHG) is launching a new line of incandescent light bulbs designed to meet federal energy efficiency standards that will take force in the US over the next few years.

While not as efficient as compact fluorescent or LED bulbs,  EcoVantage bulbs will likely appeal to people who are unhappy with the quality of light delivered by the more energy efficient technologies.

The new bulbs, which use halogen elements, provide energy savings of about 28% compared to conventional incandescents. That meets or exceeds efficiency standards established in the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007. Wattage options are as follows:

29-watt replaces a 40-watt incandescent
43-watt replaces a 60-watt incandescent
72-watt replaces a 100-watt incandescent
Continue reading Philips Launches Energy Efficient Incandescent Bulb