Standards & Compliance Briefing: IEEE Smart Grid, Hydro Turbines, AASHE

IEEE’s Smart Grid Interoperability Panel has approved IEEE 1901-2010, “IEEE Standard for Broadband over Power Line Networks: Medium Access Control and Physical Layer Specifications,” FierceSmartGrid says. The standard covers data rates above 500 Mbps in LAN applications, with transmission frequencies below 100 MHz. IEEE-SA strategic program manager Bill Ash says the approval underscores the importance of smart-grid expansion and advancement worldwide.

LucidPipe Power System in-conduit hydroelectric turbines are now NSF Certified, manufacturer Lucid Energy has announced. The LucidPipe 42-inch and 24-inch turbines were tested and certified by NSF International to NSF/ANSI Standard 61 and are now approved for installation in potable water systems.

Aggreko, a temporary power, temperature control, and oil-free compressed air system company, has been awarded ISO 14001 certification for environmental management. The certification by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance covers all of Aggreko’s service center locations across the US and Canada, the Financial Post reports.

Cornell University has received its second gold Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) score from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), the Cornell Daily Sun reports. Since 2010, the university has cut its greenhouse gas emissions by seven percent, as it seeks to become climate neutral by 2050.

The University of Hong Kong’s campus expansion has earned LEED Platinum, making it one of only three universities in the world to achieve that status, SmartMeters.com reports. The expansion features solar panels and vertical wind turbines, uses 30 percent less energy than typical buildings, and saves enough water each year to fill 30 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Monroe Community College’s Gleason Hall for Science and Technology, in Brighton, NY, has won LEED Gold certification, the New York Real Estate Journal reports. The project includes a vegetated wall and photovoltaic solar panels on the roofs of the main building and loading dock. The new building cuts energy use by 30 percent and water use by nearly 52 percent, compared to a baseline building.

The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center has earned LEED Gold certification, Skokie Patch reports. The 65,000 square-foot museum incorporates water-efficient landscaping, carbon dioxide monitoring and light pollution reduction techniques.