Energy reporting and management in NYC

Were you aware that on May 1, 2011 buildings in New York city that are 50,000 square feet or larger will have to report utility usage?  This could impact property values in both a positive and negative way.  The one thing it will do is make a lot more people aware of energy usage and how to reduce consumption.  In addition, the demand for meters and energy dashboards will increase.  This is good news to me since CrunchEnergy® just released an energy management dashboard, the CrunchBox™. It makes it easy to monitor real-time usage as well as benchmark facilities.

This is a great time to take advantage of new technologies, government regulations and government incentives to get a jump on real-estate competition.  Buildings  that start making energy-efficient improvements could be perceived as a better investment. Will these new rules give the development corporations the incentive to make intelligent energy conservation decisions, save money and market themselves as a green company?  Or is it just another layer of bureaucracy that will stress our already tainted economy?

Let me know what you think.

 

Concerns About the Obama Better Buildings Initiative

On February 3^rd, the White House issued President Obama’s Better Buildings Initiative. One of the goals is to make commercial building space 20 percent more energy efficient by 2020.  Considering that commercial buildings consume about 20 percent of the energy used in the US, this could have a significant impact on our dependence on foreign oil and air quality.  However, I have a few questions:

1. How will this reduction be measured? Does the plan address how commercial buildings will be monitored before and after energy savings upgrades?
2. How are they going to quantify the improvements and validate the energy savings?

Energy dashboards provide benchmarking, monitor usage and account for seasonalization; thus giving the consumer the opportunity to act on energy conserving decisions in real-time.  Without the tools to measure, millions of dollars could be spent on initiatives that may not achieve the desired results.  Tracking and verification of any project is a necessary step to improving the process.  By not having a system in place to benchmark and validate the impact on energy savings, this could end up being a decision that was made with the best of intentions, but fails to deliver the anticipated results.  Today, most people use a 3-G network for communication, however, when it comes to analyzing energy consumption, we are in the Stone Age.

CrunchEnergy recently launched the CrunchBox™, a comprehensive utility usage reporting software that displays real-time information through a hosted client dashboard.

The CrunchBox™ dashboard provides a real–time snapshot of energy usage, trends, and energy loads.

Tools, like the CrunchBox, provide commercial businesses with an easy way to view energy consumption on demand, and get the data necessary to determine the return on their energy reduction investments. What do you think about the new Better Buildings Initiative? A good start? Half-baked attempt?  Please share your comments and ideas.

 

Converting Data into Energy Savings

The deployment of digital meters and energy monitoring technology are the building blocks for our nation’s smart grid.  Taking meter data and marrying it with web-based software can provide facility managers with the detailed data they need to turn technology investments into real dollar and energy savings.

A great article, What Energy Dashboards Can Do, discusses the emerging dashboard technology and how it can promote customer facing energy intelligence.  Providing energy intelligence in easy to understand graphs, in near real-time, are just a couple of the advantages of these tools.  The big benefit is that the purchasing power is put back in the hands of consumer and keeps power on the grid.

A related article mentions that “few of the real-time dashboards presently include common energy analysis tools, such as linear regression, load duration curves or tariff models.” This was good news for CrunchEnergy as the CrunchBox provides a host of analysis and reporting tools – including load level applications and peak demand alerts.

Will companies take advantage of energy dashboards as a key tool in energy conservation? The tools are new and, as with any innovation, there tends to be a learning curve.  Only time will tell.  Dashboards are also a great tool for utilities suppliers to monitor grid load in real-time.  Who will reap the benefits first?

 

Smart Meters for the US – A Bright Future

The United States has been living in the Dark Ages when it comes to electrical grid intelligence. As a result of the  $3.4 billion in smart grid investment grants from the stimulus bill, the US is beginning to finally see the light.  Smart electric meters are now standing at the forefront of the utility world’s move to a smarter electrical grid and being deployed at an accelerating rate.   These new high-tech meters replace the spinning dials models and utilize two-way communications to monitor and report energy use.  This could a big step forward in controlling energy usage, as well as create new opportunities in the areas of management tools, consulting and pricing plans.

There are three issues that come to mind:

1.    As the US expands its knowledge base and deploys smart meters that collect grid data, how will this information be shared? Will intelligent data be left on the table that could educate consumers, as well as drive awareness to reduce overall capacity?

2.    The  effort to put smart meters in homes should reduce energy bills and outages, as well as make it easier to utilize renewable energy. Will this be the case?

3.    Who should bear the brunt of the costs?

I guess the big question is whether or not smart meters will be the catalyst for increased consumer awareness of energy issues and spark conservation. Let me know what you think.

 

Will the juice for electric cars drain the grid?

The electric car and green movement are about to be put to the test.  The  focus in America has recently shifted to reducing emissions and striving for global leadership in renewable energy.  Our actions are now put to the test with emerging technologies, like the electric vehicle.

Electric cars have been around for decades, but only for a select few.   Anxiety about how many miles you can go, limitations on speed, where to recharge, and overall production has stalled the developing the market.  Now, we are at the forefront of what could be the next big environmental movement. Are we ready?

The technology is getting better everyday and electric cars are now in the hands of the larger auto manufacturers, but the big question is: can our current electrical infrastructure sustain the burden of charging multiple electric cars?  If not, who is going to pay for the enhancements to our power grid? Are we trading off one crisis for another?

PSE&G is making plans to prepare. Please share your thoughts and concerns.

 

Lead By Example – Solar Energy for the White House

As our economy staggers to get back on its feet after  months of an enduring recession, there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel.  Many White House officials believe renewable energy will be one of the drivers fueling the US economic recovery.  In fact, solar power will soon be utilized in the White House.

Today, more than two-thirds of our oil comes from the Middle East.  Becoming more energy independent and relying on our own renewable resources is simply a better approach to economic sustainability and climate control.

I like to think that our founding fathers would be proud of our nation to seek independence – energy independence, that is.  After all, wasn’t that the basic premise on which America was established?  It  will be interesting to see if the White House solar array will be viewed as an eye sore or provide a vision of encouragement? Tell me what you think.

 

NJ Municipalities Find a Win-Win from Energy Savings Programs

Here is a great article about developing a regional, holistic approach to energy conservation – and it is happening right here in NJ.  Usually, when someone thinks about going green, it means using solar power and a large investment.  However, right now, Burlington County NJ is in the process of making energy conservation and the NJ rebate system work for residents.

There are many programs available to assist municipalities with energy conservation efforts – especially in NJ.   These programs are not limited to solar, and when a reduction plan is developed in conjunction with the use of renewable energy, it is a win–win for everyone – the town, taxpayers and the environment.

Want to learn more? CrunchEnergy is offering a free webinar on How to  Execute a Municipal Energy Savings Program on Oct. 21st at 11 am.  Adam Zellner, Energy Advisor to Governor Corzine, will be leading the discussion.  Adam co-authored the State Energy Master Plan and was directly involved with the energy-saving improvement programs (ESIP).  Please share this information.

 

The “Car-bon” Controversy – Hybrid vs. Conventional

We have all heard the argument that gas-hybrid vehicles don’t really reduce emissions. The argument states that the manufacturing of hybrid vehicles, and their batteries, produce more greenhouse gases than conventional gas only vehicles. And, the hybrid vehicle batteries are more of an environmental hazard in landfills. Well, a recent study by Argonne National Laboratory found that, although making a gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle does emits a bit more heat trapping emissions than a gas only vehicle, when driving a hybrid vehicle, significantly fewer emissions are produced. This far outweighs the difference in manufacturing.  The battery used in most hybrids is a nickel-metal hydride (NiMH), which is less toxic than the lead battery used in conventional vehicles.   And now, even newer Lithium-ion batteries are being used which have less environmental impact, and provide increased storage.

So, if you hear someone stating that hybrids are not a step in the right direction, you can refute their argument. Hybrids are the better choice for the environmentally conscious!

This blog post was contributed by Janet Windeknecht, energy market communications consultant and planet advocate.

 

A Big Step for Renewable Energy

A 1,000-megawatt solar thermal power plant in California is close to becoming a reality.  Once approved by federal regulators,  it will be the largest solar plant in the world.  When fully operational, it will produce enough power for close to 800,000 homes.  This effort underscores the Obama Administration commitment to expanding renewable energy production across the country.  Referred to as the Blythe Solar Power Project, it will be a concentrated solar thermal electric generating facility with four adjacent, independent, and identical solar plants of 250 megawatt each (total 1,000 MW). It will use solar parabolic power trough technology to generate electricity and occupy approximately 5,950 acres.

Solar has a very bright future in the US and is becoming  an extremely hot market.  The opportunity to utilize a renewable resource, like the sun, is great.  However,  Americans continue to consume too much energy.  In addition to large-scale alternative energy projects, shouldn’t some of the funding go to educating the public about ways to reduce energy consumption?

Here is the article: 1,000-Megawatt Plant in California Marks New Milestone in Solar Expansion

 

The New DARPA is ARPA-E

If you remember DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), the government project that contributed to the development of the internet, then you will have insight to the potential for Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) .  This is an US government-funded research agency with a mission to find a renewable replacement for oil-based gasoline and diesel for our fuel tanks. This involves investing significant sums of money to finance high risk, high reward projects. For example, the Energy Department is putting $4.6 million into Agrivida.  Agrivida is an agricultural biotechnology company that develops energy crops to produce chemicals, fuels, and bio-products from non-food sources. This is the article that appeared in the New  York Times r=2&hp  http://nyti.ms/aX6HTM

If you are a start-up firm and think you can help find gasoline substitutes, you could be getting some serious funding from the government. Is this what we should have done 30 years ago to get the country off of foreign oil? Why did the government wait until the nth hour to focus on the critical need for alternative energy sources for cars? What are your thoughts?