FEATURES AND NEWS
Peak load incentives for the expected surge in electricity demand this summer have been boosted by 60 percent over last year’s level in New York City. Energy services company ConEdison Solutions is telling developers, building owners and institutions to take advantage of major increases in the incentives offered to large ... Read more »
Johnson Controls is buying ventilation company Air Distribution Technologies from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for about $1.6 billion. Air Distribution Technologies produces a broad range of air distribution products under brands such as Ruskin, Titus, Hart & Cooley, Krueger, PennBarry, Tuttle & Bailey. Specific product lines include grilles, registers and diffusers; terminal units; ... Read more »
Two weeks after announcing the development of the Vernon Electric Community Solar Farm in Wisconsin, the 305 kW array was fully reserved. Reservations for the 1,001-panel array, being developed by Clean Energy Collective in partnership with Vernon Electric Cooperative, began March 22. Open to any utility member in the VEC ... Read more »
CalCharge announced the enrollment of Duracell, Hitachi, Volkswagen, LG, Eaton, Enovix, EnerVault, Farasis Energy, Halotechnics, Leyden Energy, and Primus Power as its first corporate members. CalCharge is a battery and electrochemical energy storage consortium of public and private organizations. Original members include Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the California Clean Energy ... Read more »
Solar variability from cloud cover causes fluctuations in solar energy output, which can strain the electric grid. To alleviate the problem, scientists from Sandia National Laboratories and the University of California, San Diego, have developed the Wavelet Variability Model: a simulation tool to more accurately predict solar variability throughout the ... Read more »
Partner Content
The Green Power Partnership has launched the On-site Renewables Challenge with a goal to double the use of on-site green power by Green Power Partners by the end of 2020. The partnership will track all participants’ annual combined on-site renewable energy use, which will be updated quarterly. The EPA has ... Read more »
According to data from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), five million square feet of building-integrated solar air heating collectors are now installed in North America. These systems represent 250 MW of thermal energy. Solar air heating systems work by heating incoming ventilation air before it is brought into a ... Read more »
SunTrac Solar and KMC Controls announced a joint venture in which KMC will be the exclusive manufacturer of private-label equipment controls for SunTrac. SunTrac’s solar-assisted air conditioning uses solar energy to allow air-conditioning systems to operate more efficiently. It combines an A/C system with a solar collector panel system that ... Read more »
More recently, the Ellen Macarthur Foundation and, McKinsey building on the Macarthur Foundation work, have been detailing business aspects of implementing the circular economy. The thesis is to move away from the “take, make, dispose” system and replacing it with restoration. The image below, from a McKinsey Quarterly Report, No. ... Read more »
Nearly 4.6 million children in 10,000 schools are located within a mile of a chemical facility, according to a group that is pushing new regulations. The Center for Effective Government released a report and an interactive map that shows one in 10 students attend such a school, The Hill reports. ... Read more »
Partner Content
Imagine a toothpaste tube that may be fully recyclable. That possibility is laid out in a series of sustainability commitments personal care products maker Colgate-Palmolive made to environmental nonprofit As You Sow. Colgate has committed to making 100 percent of its packaging for three of four product categories completely recyclable ... Read more »
A bill passed by the Vermont Senate would make that state the first to enshrine mandatory labeling of foods made with genetically modified organisms. Reuters reports the effort comes as the developers of genetically modified crops and the $360 billion packaged food industry push an opposing bill in Congress. Last week ... Read more »
The expansion of natural gas supplies will make truck and bus fleet operators increasingly look for alternative fuels to fulfill their needs at lower costs and with lower emissions. This means the market for medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses that run on natural gas will increase significantly, according to ... Read more »
Researchers from New Zealand has found a way to predict levels of cadmium – a potential threat to human health – in soil. The team from New Zealand’s Lincoln University, published Cadmium Concentrations in New Zealand Pastures: Relationships to Soil and Climate Variables in the Mar. 21, 2014 edition of the Journal of Environmental ... Read more »
Henkel and Ball have launched a new, lighter weight industrial aluminum aerosol can for the popular beauty care brand, Fa. Ball manufactures the new, lighter extruded aluminum can using recycled aluminum to create a metal alloy that exhibits increased strength and allows lightweighting of the container without affecting package ... Read more »
Axalta Coating Systems, a global supplier of liquid and powder coatings, Shanghai Kinlita Chemical and Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive, a joint venture between Beiqi Foton and Daimler, have agreed to a partnership for the supply of Axalta’s more environmentally responsible waterborne primer and basecoat, the companies said. Beijing Foton Daimler ... Read more »
Rexnord has acquired Green Turtle Technologies, Green Turtle Americas and Filamat Composites (collectively Green Turtle). Green Turtle serves the North American market and is based in Toronto, Ontario, and Charlotte, North Carolina. Green Turtle provides wastewater pretreatment solutions for commercial, institutional and industrial applications. Rexnord said that Green Turtle’s 20 ... Read more »
Over the last two years my company has had the privilege of talking with hundreds of building owners, managers, and project stakeholders through the Noesis community about energy efficiency in their facilities. Primarily we were looking to understand how they perceived their energy usage and if/how they could be helped ... Read more »
The Energy Department joined the non-profit Lighting Energy Efficiency in Parking (LEEP) Campaign to recognize 12 organizations that are leading the way in efficient parking lot and parking garage lighting. Combined, these winners are saving nearly 45 million kWh and $4 million per year by upgrading to high efficiency lighting ... Read more »
Analyzing publicly available building data, Retroficiency’s Building Genome Project mapped the characteristics of New York City’s 30,000-commercial-building portfolio to develop energy models. The Building Genome Project maps the hundreds of distinct markers that influence how a building consumes energy. These markers, composed of mechanical equipment, construction materials, fuel sources, operational ... Read more »
SchoolDude will leverage Urjanet’s energy data to support more than 6,000 educational institutions’ energy management initiatives. SchoolDude helps institutions better manage their facilities, IT and business operations by streamlining IT help desk management, scheduling preventive maintenance and maximizing facility use and utility consumption. Urjanet’s Big Energy Data services automate the collection, ... Read more »
The University of Texas at San Antonio and Microsoft have announced a three-year agreement to research and develop sustainable technologies aimed at making data centers more energy efficient. The multi-disciplinary research will focus on expanding business opportunities for new distributed energy technology that reduces energy consumption and emissions, improve reliability ... Read more »
Sol recently completed the installation of commercial solar outdoor lights along the Maria Ygnacia Creek Trail, a 3.22-mile path in Goleta, Calif., popular with pedestrians and cyclists. The solar LED lighting was installed by the County of Santa Barbara along a 1,750-foot portion of the trail. The latest installation brings ... Read more »
An innovative program to standardize investment protocols in energy efficiency programs is coming to Texas with the introduction of Keeping PACE in Texas. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) said it is dedicated to bringing property assessed clean energy (PACE) programs to the state. The do-it-yourself toolkit embeds energy efficiency protocols ... Read more »
The US Army is developing a solar array that will provide about 25 percent of the annual installation electricity requirement of Fort Huachuca, Ariz. This will be the largest solar array in the department of defense on a military installation, according to the Army. The Fort Huachuca Renewable Energy Project ... Read more »