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The End of the Light Bulb?
Last month Energy Ace reported on WalMart's program to push compact fluorescent lamps (CFL's) as replacements for incandescent lamps and earlier we announced EPA's "Change a Light, Change the World" CFL promotional program. Now, even Edison New Jersey may see the end of the lamp invented by its namesake. One of the inventions that put this central New Jersey town on the map could go the way of the typewriter and the horse and buggy if some lawmakers have their way. The incandescent light bulb, perfected for mass use by ThomasA.Edison in the late 19th century, is being supplanted by fluorescent lighting that is more efficient and longer lasting.
New Jersey Assemblyman introduced a bill that calls for the state to switch to fluorescent lighting in government buildings over the next three years.
"The light bulb was invented a long time ago and a lot of things have changed since then," said the State Assemblyman. "I obviously respect the memory of ThomasEdison, but what we're looking at here is using less energy."
This move is opposed by the curator of a museum that celebrates Edison's inventions in the town that has borne his name since the 1950s. However, even he acknowledges that, more than 125 years after its invention, the day may be approaching when the incandescent bulb takes its place alongside Edison's original phonograph in the pantheon of revolutionary-but-outdated inventions.
"It's a 19th-century invention that was perfected in the 20th century," said the curator. "That's part of the evolution of all inventions." |
More About WalMart
After one year of operating two "experimental stores" in Colorado and Texas, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is sold on at least one energy technology: LED lights. The company has already concluded that the solid-state lights, which use light-emitting diodes (LEDs), "use less electricity, contribute less heat, and have a longer lifespan" than traditional lights. Although Wal-Mart has already been using LEDs for all its building-mounted exterior lit signs for the last two years, the company has now decided to integrate these lights into freezer cases in new Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores nationwide, beginning in January 2007. The benefits of LEDs are multiplied in freezer cases, where heat generated by lighting adds to the load on the freezers. Replacing freezer lights can also be a difficult and energy-consuming task, so the LEDs' longevity is also a benefit. Wal-Mart has decided to integrate these lights into freezer cases in new Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores nationwide beginning in January 2007.
The company is much less certain about its wind turbines, which have suffered from mechanical problems. However, Wal-Mart hopes to correct the problems and will "continue with the plan to provide these and eventually other stores with renewable power."
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My Campus is Greener than Yours
Seldom has a week gone by recently without an announcement that a college has vowed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions or purchase only locally grown produce. As green building spreads, institutions are hiring sustainability coordinators to help facilitate environmental programs on campus.
126 college presidents have signed the Presidents Climate Commitment, a pledge to begin immediately reducing greenhouse gas emissions, perform a survey of present campus sources of CO2, and a promise to either (choose two) pursue LEED Silver for new buildings, buy Energy Star appliances, purchase green-e certificates to offset university travel, buy 15% renewable energy, provide access to public transportation or use the university endowment to invest in green companies. Visit www.presidentsclimatecommittment.org for more info.
On some campuses, like Middle Tennessee State University and Austin Peay State University, students are voting to assess themselves (or their parents) a "green fee" to purchase renewable energy or invest in energy efficiency improvements on their campus.
Other universities are increasing their committment to the environment: An alternative technology building is being constructed on the Florida State University campus by the Energy and Sustainability Center (ESC). The new facility will feature building-design and energy innovations developed by local architects and engineers, as well as students and faculty from ESC. Among its highlights, it will be completely solar-powered, with excess electricity being used to produce hydrogen for energy storage. It will make use of hydrogen appliances (hydrogen burns cleaner and more efficiently than natural gas). It is expected to be completed by December 2007. (courtesy aashe.org)
The photo above is of the West Quad student housing complex at the University of South Carolina. Spotlighted on www.aashe.org, USC recently opened one of the largest green residence calls in the country, a move which catalyzed the founding of the SC chapter of the USGBC, the LEED training and accreditation of over 200 South Carolina architects, the introduction of green building legislation, and numerous educational initiatives for students, faculty, staff and the greater community. Read article by Gene Luna, Associate Vice President for Student Development and University Housing.
Send for Energy Ace's factsheet on LEED and a description of our LEED services to Owners and Architects.
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School Energy News
The Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI)'s symposium on high performance schools in Phoenix in January was well-attended and well-organized. "LEED for Schools" was introduced by USGBC staff and Energy Ace made a presentation on "What you Need to Know about Commissioning." Send for Energy Ace's factsheet on LEED for Schools.
A training workshop on LEED for Schools will be held at the CEFPI conference in Louisville in a few weeks. See below.
In South Carolina, bills have been introduced in the State Senate to promote LEED in schools and public buildings. Says the sponsor, Senator Jim Ritchie, "Without raising taxes, S. 376 and S. 362 will implement aggressive sustainable construction standards for our public buildings and schools."
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Daylight Savings Time Comes Early
Did you wake up early this Sunday? Since 1966, most of the United States has observed Daylight Saving Time from at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of April to 2:00 a.m. on the last Sunday of October. Beginning in 2007, this changed to the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November. Why? Because the Energy Policy Act of 2005 mandates that in an effort to save energy. Then, the Department of Energy will study the effects to determine if savings really occurred, and the Congress will decide whether to continue the change.
How does it save energy? Studies done by the U.S. Department of Transportation show that Daylight Saving Time trims the entire country's electricity usage by a small but significant amount, about one percent each day, because less electricity is used for lighting and appliances in the evening. The idea for Daylight Saving Time is an old one, attributed to (or blamed on) Benjamin Franklin.
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Green Travel
According to a new report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), "Airlines in the U.S. throw away enough aluminum cans every year to build 58 new 747s. they also waste a lot of plastic and paper.
According to NRDC, the airline industry threw out 9,000 tons of plastic in 2004, and enough newspapers and magazines to bury a football field more than 230 feet deep. Yet the industry-wide recycling rate is 20 percent or less -- one third less than the U.S. average as a whole.
Savings can pile up quickly -- to well over $100,000 per year at each of the four airports in the study that have recycling programs. Officials at Seattle-TacomaInternationalAirport, perhaps the nation's leader in airport recycling efforts, say they are saving almost $180,000 annually -- with more yet to come. Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) cut costs by approximately $15,000 a month.
Seattle-TacomaInternationalAirport (Sea-Tac) uses both conventional and creative ways to cut its waste. For example, airport vendors generate up to seven tons of used coffee grounds each month (not surprising in America's coffee capital). Airport managers discovered they could cut costs 75 percent -- $60 a ton -- by sending the leftovers to a compost facility instead of the dump. Sea-Tac also sends 1,000 gallons of used cooking grease each month to a company which makes it into diesel fuel, saving the $100 a ton it cost for disposal at a rendering plant.
Source: Greenbiz.com
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Upcoming Presentations by Energy Ace Personnel
"What you Need to Know about Commissioning" will be presented at the March 27th meeting of the Savannah Chapter of the US Green Building Council. Contact TLinstroth@Melaver.com for information.
Larry Schoff and Wayne Robertson will conduct a three-hour pre-conference training workshop on "LEED for Schools" for the CEFPI Conference in Louisville on April 1st. Please contact carla@cefpi.org for information.
"Getting the Most from Performance Contracting" will be presented to TNAPPA, the Tennessee Chapter of the Association of Physical Plant Administrators on 16th at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. Please contact donohueb@outreach.utk.edu for information.
Wayne Robertson will present "What you Need to Know about Commissioning" to the Chattanooga Chapter of the US Green Building Council on May 30th. Contact anj.mcclain@tricycleinc.com for information.
Monica Mastrianni, President of BMW Architects in Savannah and Wayne Robertson will present an "Introduction to LEED" to the Sustainability Symposium at University of South Carolina, Beaufort campus, on April 27th. Contact suzanne.shelledy@bmwarch.com for additional information.
A LEED panel of developers, architects and contractors will be moderated by Energy Ace for the Georgia Economic Development Authority on April 23rd in Young Harris, Georgia. Contact thatcheryoung@gmail.com for details.
Contact Energy Ace about making a presentation to your group. |
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