I'm Back!!!

I finally solved the issues with my web hosting company. What an ordeal. Anyway, here is some information I recently shared with the Honolulu Advertiser...

Honolulu Advertiser Story

BUSINESS BOOMING FOR COMPANIES CONSULTING ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Not everyone is screaming about rising energy prices. For companies consulting on ways to lower energy bills, the jump in electricity prices has been a boon.
At Energy Industries, one of the largest locally based companies specializing in this, business is up about 40 to 50 percent, said Brian Kealoha, senior vice president.
He said many companies call after taking steps such as asking people to turn off lights in unoccupied rooms and putting in water-heater timers and compact fluorescent light bulbs.

"At that point they're stuck and they don't know what they can do," said Kealoha, who says consultants can come in and conduct audits to see where the best savings can be achieved. Usually this involves three areas — more efficient lighting systems, air conditioning and water heating.

New fluorescent T-8 fixtures with electronic ballasts can help reduce lighting costs by up to one-quarter, while use of more directed light and fewer fixtures may help achieve more light in needed areas at even lower costs, Kealoha said.
In terms of air conditioning the consultants can help decide whether systems with years of life left can be replaced. It may be that newer models can pay for themselves within a few years and produce a greater savings than keeping the dated technology, Kealoha said.

Then there are solar water heaters or heat pumps that can produce hot water for buildings and cut electricity bills, Kealoha said.
While photovoltaic systems have attracted a lot of attention, people should look first at efficiencies that can be achieved. Photovoltaic systems generally take longer to break even, while lighting systems are quicker. Kealoha said by making the efficiency changes first the amount of electricity needed from a photovoltaic system is lessened.
Businesses are "realizing they have to do more than what they can do on their own," Kealoha said. "We've definitely seen an upturn in people interested in seeing how they can reduce their energy costs."

Concentrated Solar Power Taking Center Stage

Solar electrical systems aren’t only being considered for homes and business buildings. Concentrated Solar Power or CSP is rapidly becoming the "other solar".

Concentrated Solar Power typically consists of a trough and a linear parabolic reflector that concentrates light onto a receiver positioned along the reflector's focal line. The reflector is made to follow the sun during the daylight hours by tracking along a single axis. A working fluid (oil, water) flows through the receiver and is heated to high temperatures before transferring its heat to a distillation or power generation system. Trough systems are the most developed CSP technology. The Solar Electric Generating System (SEGS) plants in California and Plataforma Solar de Almería's SSPS-DCS plant in Spain are representatives of this technology

CSP is evolving from large scale generation facilities like SEGS to small solar farms and eventually sited on commercial rooftops. One company leading this charge is Sopogy. Sopogy already is in the process of planning and building a 1-megawatt solar farm using its technology at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority on the Big Island.

Instead of employing photovoltaic cells that convert light to electricity, the system makes use of curved mirrors that intensify and focus sun energy on a pipe filled with a fluid. After being heated, the fluid can be used to drive turbines and generate electricity, for use in absorption electricity or steam creation. While the technology has been around for more than 30 years, Sopogy says it has a design that makes the process more efficient.

Pretty exciting stuff...the "other" solar may soon be mainstream.

2007 Energy Bill - Left in the dark?

It is pretty disappointing that the 2007 Energy Bill signed by President Bush at the end of last year did not renew solar and conservation tax credits for homes. While focusing on fuel standards for vehicles, it completely missed the boat on the extension of these tax credits.

Here are some home energy highlights, thanks to a summary of the bill by the Alliance to Save Energy:

Appliance energy efficiency. The bill establishes new external power supply efficiency standards, based on the standards of California and other states; updates and creates new appliance efficiency standards and test procedures and provides for a regular review of those procedures; updates boiler efficiency standards and creates an electricity use standard for furnace fans; creates regional, climate-specific standards for furnaces, air conditioners, and heat pumps; requires DOE to include consideration of energy consumed while in standby mode for appliances already addressed by efficiency standards in their active mode; and directs the Federal Trade Commission to require energy labels for televisions, personal computer monitors, cable and set top boxes, and digital video recorders.

Building efficiency. The 2007 Energy Bill directs DOE to set standards for manufactured housing that are at least as stringent as the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) national model code. There are also lots of provisions to increase the energy and water efficiency of government buildings and to create green building demonstration projects. The latter’s effect on housing? The government’s purchasing power moves whole industries—in this case it moves the building industry in the right direction.

Lighting. The Energy Bill directs DOE to set performance standards for general-service lightbulbs to achieve a 25%–­30% savings compared to incandescent bulbs by 2012–14. The bill also directs DOE to establish Bright Tomorrow Lighting prizes for the development of solid-state lighting.

Green jobs. The Energy Bill authorizes a Department of Labor energy efficiency and renewable energy worker training program, and establishes within the Office of Solar Energy Technologies a grant program to create and strengthen solar-industry workforce training and internship programs for installation, operation, and maintenance of solar-energy devices.

The bill also supports the recommendations offered by a group from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, including that of Home Energy Magazine Technical Editor Steve Greenberg, for greening the capitol complex, a set of buildings in Washington, D.C., including the Capitol, office buildings, and the capitol complex power plant. No mention is made of hot air energy recovery efforts from the chambers where Congress does its business.

First things First - Think efficiency before renewable energy

Before you start putting solar panels or wind turbines on your building, you should be sure you won’t be wasting that energy in your inefficient building. When it comes to spending money on energy projects, the efficiency side is where you really should spend it first. Consider these facts:

1. The return on investment on energy efficiency measures far exceeds those of any renewable energy system.
2. By making your building as efficient as possible first, you can minimize the size (and cost) of the renewable energy system you are interested in.
3. The saving of a kilowatt hour through efficiency has the same impact on the reduction of carbon emissions and imported oil as one created by a renewable energy system.

If your car has a leak in its gas tank, would you keep filling it up with premium gasoline only to let it drain out? The same goes for your building. You need to tighten up the energy leaks before investing in any type of generation system.

There are many opportunities for efficiency within commercial buildings. Advancement in lighting, air conditioning, and control technologies has resulted in large increases in efficiencies. This can provide significant dollar savings to your facility.

The fact is that the economics are in place for energy efficiency projects today. Energy prices over the past couple of years have increased significantly. Most utilities offer rebates for the installation of energy efficient technology. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 allows for tax deductions as well. This makes a typical return on investment for an energy efficiency project between 40 and 75%. If you finance these projects, you are able to create a positive cash flow situation from day one without any out of pocket expense.

Renewable energy is an important part of our future. How we get there is through a portfolio of energy efficient measures combined with renewable energy systems. Forming a comprehensive energy plan for your building will help achieve these goals. Having a strategy will ensure proper system integration, the most favorable return on investment and the need for less energy consumption.

So before you go out and purchase that solar system, take a look at your building and make sure you are as efficient as possible and you don’t have any energy leaks!

Na Oiwi Olino

For those of you who missed it, here is my interview energy efficiency and sustainability on the Na Oiwi Olino radio show with Brickwood Galuteria and Kimo Kahoano.

http://www.streamaudio.com/listen/cox.asp?station=KKNE_AM&streamtype=archiveaudio&filename=NOO_2007-11-02.mp3

Using the sun's free energy

A while back I discussed how solar attic fans can help cool your homes and avoid or minimize the use of air conditioning systems. Based on some of the feedback I received, I realized there was a more basic system I should have started with. For those of you blessed to live in the southern half of the United States, and especially for those of you who live in Hawaii, solar water heating is the first thing you need to install.

Solar water heaters use the sun's heat to heat the hot water for your house. This allows you to essentially heat your water for free, which is significant since this is one of the largest energy uses in your home. During the day when the sun is out, the water passes through the tubes in the panels and heats up, going into your water heater for storage. If the water isn't at the desired temperature, the electric/gas back up will kick in to ensure you always have hot water. However instead of heating your water all of the time with electricity or gas, its only a very small portion of the time.

A typical solar water heating system installed will run you between $4,500 and $6,000, depending on your location and the size of the system required. Typically a family of four in a good solar zone can get by with an 80 gallon system and two panels. Don't sweat the details, a reputable solar contractor can size the system for you.

The best thing about it is that solar water heaters represent a great return on investment. They qualify for a 30% federal tax credit, and many states also offer state tax credits, and some utilities even provide rebates. In Hawaii, a family of 4 will typically see about a 3 year payback on a solar hot water system. In California its about 4 years.

When selecting a contractor, make sure they are licensed and have an established track record of installations. You want to be sure they have been in business for a while and know how to do these installations. I also highly recommend bottom connect systems (where the piping from the panel goes into the tank). This prevents thermo-syphoning at night where the hot water on top connect systems run back through the panel and cool down when the check valves fail.

Good luck, email me if you want more info.

Can you be carbon neutral?

Carbon dioxide (CO2), the major contributor to global warming, is emitted every time we turn on the TV, drive to work, or jump on an airplane. If you have followed this blog for a while you know energy efficiency is one of the most cost effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Renewable energy systems, hybrid vehicles, and mass transit are also ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Doing all this already? Still not carbon neutral? There is an answer. You can purchase carbon credits. You can invest in an organization, activity, or event that reduces the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere. Carbon credits range from providing funding for solar farms in Arizona or wind farms in Oregon to planting tree seedlings since trees absorb carbon dioxide.

Many corporations are using carbon credits to become carbon neutral. While it may be more effective for them to actually make modifications in their business practices, they still should be commended for expending funds to help reduce carbon emissions. Plus, they love the good PR.

Many sites will calculate your personal carbon emissions based on where you live, how much your drive, where you get your power, etc, and then determine how many units you need to buy to become carbon neutral. Did you know you probably emit over 20 tons of carbon per year? Maybe you won't be able to purchase enough for the whole year, but start with your next vacation drive or flight.

Remember, buying credits isn't a substitute to being more energy efficient. However offsetting your carbon emissions with clean energy or more trees is a practical, meaningful way to fight global warming. Ready to purchase carbon credits? First check out this survey at Ecobusinesslinks.com that does a good job of showing the price, projects funded, and types of offsets (car, planes rides, etc.), plus whether the organization is non-profit or not.

I'm going right now to offset the electricity used for this post!

Five ways to green your workplace

Shut if off
Every night, computers and monitors display screensavers to millions of perfectly empty cubicles. While many of the newer Energy Star monitors shut off the monitor after 10 or 15 minutes of idle time, there are a lot of older monitors and computers that waste energy all night long. Today’s computers boot fairly quickly so save all those watts (and the cooling load required from the heat generated from them).

See the light
Utilize daylighting, or natural light as much as possible. This may mean reconfiguring the workspaces, but its worth it. Natural lighting is healthy and free and studies have show it to increase productivity and test scores in children. Consider decentralizing the way individual spaces are lit. Rather than ceiling fixtures, it may be smarter to install energy efficient lighting at each desk. When you are using lighting fixtures in the ceiling, make sure they are super T-8’s for those 4 foot lamps. Reflectors and delamping can maintain light levels while reducing energy consumption. Use CFL’s in task lighting at the desk. By the way, do as mom always told you too: turn off lights when you're done with them. Millions of watts are wasted each night lighting empty offices. You can significantly reduce your energy consumption by doing these simple things!

Lose the paper
In the age of scanning documents, going paperless is a lot easier and saves trees. Another benefit to saving all those trees is that most computers now feature search functions which drill deep into a document text's. This makes it easy to find documents with a simple keyword search, including the ability to find the author and the time. Paperless offices can save storage space and thousands of man hours each year, just by getting their data off paper and onto networks where people can access the information.

Share the ride
Carpooling is one of the easiest things we can do. Most people choose not to carpool out of convenience of having cars when they want it. Most cities have parking as a premium, so that can often be a great incentive to encourage carpooling. While the immediate personal benefits are obvious -- reducing employee impact on traffic while preserving our finite energy resources, reducing the cost of gas for employees -- it's a great team-builder, too.

Cheers to the Green Team
Want to build some traction on your efforts? Build a green team. There are many others who care about sustainability that you work with. Spread the word, you will be surprised. The team should meet regularly to brainstorm and implement green strategies. You would be surprised the impact a team of peers can have on reducing waste and being more efficient.

Kick the bottle

Finally, there has been a lot of attention focused on all the bottled water consumed in this country. The amount of bottles that have to be recycled is enormous. By many measures, bottled water is a scam. The crazy thing about bottled water is that it is usually just tap water, with an additive here or there to make it taste a bit different. Throughout the U.S., tap water is much more regulated than bottle water, going through testing and monitoring that bottle water does not.

No one complains about the cost of bottle water, yet it is more expensive per gallon than gasoline. If we had an option to fill our car with the same octane gas out of the tap, everyone would do it. So why do we buy so much bottle water?

Want to help make a reduction in your environmental footprint? Kick the bottle and drink tap water. You can make a difference in reducing the plastic that has to be made and recycled, plus the transportation of these bottles to the store.

Energy - Save Now, Save Later

I have been far too busy lately, I haven't had a chance to update this in almost a month. When I find the time to write a far better piece, I will. In the interim, enjoy this piece by Jason Ubay of Building Industry titled Energy - Save Now, Save Later

Take the Power Back

Every electric utility company in Hawaii tacks on a surcharge on every commercial electricity bill that funds an energy incentive program. The programs offer rebates or incentives for installing a number of energy-efficient products, essentially paying its customers to use less of its product, energy. Why would a business do such a thing?

According to HECO (Hawaiian Electric Co.), “The growth in our population and new uses for electricity result in a growing demand for electricity. Scaling back Oahu’s growth rate of energy use through energy-efficiency programs helps delay the need for new power plants in the future. Deferring that construction can save millions of dollars.”

The utility still wants you to use its product, but it wants you to stop careless consumption, too. “Their goal is to get rid of all the wasted power that’s being used by people unnecessarily. As a result, they’re encouraging you to use power wisely,” says Miles Kubo, president and COO of Energy Industries, Inc., HECO’s Trade Ally of the Year.

Since 1996, HECO has been offering rebates to commercial companies through its Energy$olutions for Business program and has doled out $20 million in rebates in the last 10 years. The Oahu electric utility company has aggressively pushed its rebate program recently, doubling its rebates and waiving minimum payback requirements in April 2006 and adding new rebates in April 2007.

The American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment (AIA/COTE) selected the Hawaii Gateway Energy Center (HGEC) as a top 10 green project of 2007. Located at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority (NELHA) at Keahole Point on Hawaii Island, the building is a zero-net energy structure, meaning it produces more energy than it uses. It does so through its building form, utilizing seawater air conditioning and using a photovoltaic array that produces 90 kilowatt/hours of electricity per day.

The $3.5 million project was designed by Ferraro Choi and Associates, Ltd. and opened in 2004. The 3,600-square-foot building is just one of 25 buildings to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) New Construction Platinum certification.

Every year, AIA/COTE receives electronic submissions for top green buildings from around the United States. Projects are judged by 10 metrics: intent and innovation; community; site; bioclimatic design; light and air; water; energy; materials; long life and feedback. Other winners of 2007 include a model single-family home, two nonprofit headquarters, a library, a school and a water treatment facility that doubles as a park.

“The whole industry is excited because there are more rebates now,” says Lily Koo, program specialist for the energy services department, HECO. The new rebates mostly include products that were under the customized incentive programs, but now can be found in the standardized worksheet. This makes it easier for commercial owners, especially small to medium-sized businesses, because calculations are easier.

Sister companies HELCO (Hawaii Electric Light Co.) and MECO (Maui Electric Co.) have similar programs but have not paid out nearly as much. In 2006, HELCO gave out $270,000 in commercial rebates.

Along with product rebates, HELCO helps fund its customers’ feasibility studies, which are done by a third-party consultant. “We try to share part of the cost with the customers because these studies tend to run pretty expensive sometimes,” says Mino Ceria, energy efficiency representative, HELCO. “That helps promote energy efficiency and shows that, as a utility, we have a genuine interest in helping people save at times.”

HECO, HELCO and MECO offer rebates after completing installation and verifying the energy savings. KIUC (Kauai Island Utility Cooperative), on the other hand, provides incentives based on pre-installation findings.

In KIUC’s Commercial Retrofit Program, the utility company differentiates potential customers and “free riders,” which are people who would have made a change whether or not there was an incentive or rebate. “We make that distinction because the money that we get, the money that we spend for doing this program basically is collected from the class that it serves,” says Ray Mierta, energy services supervisor at KIUC. Funds come from a surcharge on commercial customers’ bills. “The only way we can recover this money is to show that it is actually accomplishing what it has set out to do. What we set out to do, what we were asked to do by the commission, was create incentives to motivate commercial accounts to make these changes.”

The amount of incentives given out depends on the amount of money in the fund. In 2006, KIUC spent more than $500,000 in incentives, having exhausted its funds by mid-year.

The amount paid varies. For retrofit projects, in which usable equipment is replaced by more energy efficient ones, KIUC offers 50 percent for installation of the equipment or project. “We try to show them the savings benefit to do it now rather than waiting until the (equipment’s) end of life,” says Paul Daniels, commercial energy service representative.

For new construction and replacement of equipment that has reached its end of life, the incentive is 80 percent of the difference between the standard efficient equipment and the installed energy-efficient equipment. For example, a business needs to replace a motor. The standard efficiency model costs $2,000 while the most energy-efficient one costs $3,000. If the business decides to go with the $3,000 model, KIUC would pay 80 percent of the $1,000 difference, or $800. “What we want to do is make sure they get the most efficient equipment that we can identify,” Daniels says.

Initial costs for energy-efficient equipment tend to run on the high side up front. Ceria says, “If people were able to project the cost of energy efficient equipment over the lifetime of the equipment, they would find that they’d be saving more money even though initially it’s a little more expensive. There seems to be a real first-cost mentality here.”

In most cases, upfront capital isn’t even necessary. Energy Industries provides energy services from consulting to installation and monitoring, including financing. They’ve found that most people want to pay cash up front, but financing can actually turn cash flow into neutral or even positive. For example, in August 2005, the OHANA Waikiki Malia Hotel needed to replace 25-year-old mechanical systems near their end of life. Total retrofit costs approximately $750,000, but through an equipment lease, the hotel actually increased cash flow because its monthly energy savings are greater than its monthly equipment lease payments. With the addition of HECO rebates, savings from avoided repair and maintenance and energy savings before the lease payment began, the hotel increased its cash flow by approximately $100,000 in the first year.

It all sounds too good to be true, and “some people never get past that part,” says Kubo, making it difficult to convince people to “buy into” energy efficiency. However, positive cash flow is a result of rebates and overpaying the utilities by using inefficient equipment.

A variable refrigerant flow (VRF) air conditioning system by Fujitsu was installed by Honolulu Air Conditioning at Honolulu International Airport’s Kalitta Air Terminal. These three outdoor units connect to 16 indoor compact duct fan coils, allowing the building’s owner to cool only the rooms that need to be cooled at any given time. Admor HVAC Products was the distributor.

“I think HECO is doing a much better job than before and has made people more aware of the rebates they are offering,” says Drew Santos, president, Admor HVAC Products, Inc. Admor distributes a number of products available for rebates, including but not limited to central air conditioning units by Rheem, variable refrigerant flow (VRF), high SEER (seasonal energy efficiency ratio)-rated air conditioners by Fujitsu, heat pump water heaters, variable frequency drives (VFD), and Koolduct, a phenolic foam-based, pre-insulated duct system which is more efficient than typical fiberglass ducts. Santos adds that Hawaii is ahead of the curve in equipment using green products, phasing out air conditioning and heat pumps using R22 refrigerant, an ozone-depleting HCFC (hydrochlorofluorocarbon). By law, R22 cannot be used in new HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems by 2010, and R22 will no longer be manufactured by 2020.

It also should be noted that even though the equipment may be efficient, it might not be in the right application. “All technologies are not applicable to every situation,” says Duane Ashimine, executive vice president and chief technology officer at Energy Industries. He says he has seen cases where a customer has a VFD installed on a mechanical system, but it either isn’t in the right place or is used and maintained improperly. The customers then blame the technology and equipment, and not the installation. “What we’re trying to educate people on is you have to do the front-end work to get a true understanding of how your system works to apply it properly and maximize the capacity,” he says.

As Brian Kealoha, senior vice president, sales and business development for Energy Industries, says, “This is a limited window in terms of … the rebates and tax credits, and new technologies coming along. If people are thinking about it, this is the time to do it. It probably won’t get any better than this."