Tag Archives: energy savings

U.S. Department of Energy Releases Guide for More Energy Efficient Office Buildings

A series of building guides, promoting the goal of reducing the use of energy in commercial buildings by 50%, were announced by the U.S. Department of Energy last month. The Advanced Energy Design Guides (AEDGs) are intended to assist architects and engineers in the design of energy efficient office buildings and will ideally increase demand for energy-saving products as well. These guides will provide unique and innovative recommendations detailing how designers can incorporate technology to achieve energy savings.

The “50 % AEDG for Small and Medium Office Buildings,” has just been released and is available online for download, is the first offering in a series of four guides to be released within the coming months. The “Advanced Energy Design Guide for K-12 School Buildings” will be the second guide to be developed.

The “Advanced Energy Design Guide” series is being developed through a partnership with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), American Institute of Architects (AIA), U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA).

Advanced Control Corporation is a member of USGBC and is a long-time developer of environmentally sound methods of building automation and management.  For 20 years, we have pioneered new green building solutions, like the first LEED certified building in Broward County.  Our commitment to energy management and conservation through the designing, installation and servicing of large commercial solar energy systems has reduced the carbon footprint of several thousand buildings throughout Florida.

To learn how we can make your building more energy efficient, call 954-491-6660.

 

Research Grant aids Building Automation and Energy Efficiency

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University received a three-year, $1.5 million grant to identify inexpensive ways to track consumption of energy in buildings.  Granted by the National Science Foundation (NSF), this project will have assistance from a variety of organizations, including Bosch Research and Technology Centre North America, which is the research and development branch of te international automotive, industrial, consumer goods and building technology supplier.

On a small level, this grant gives Carnegie Mellon the opportunity to explore energy consumption on various levels, which will lead to the eventual development of tracking tools to manage usage patterns and trends of individual buildings, case-by-case, allowing suggestions to be made on different ways to conserve energy.  On a large-scale level, this opportunity gives Carnegie Mellon the opportunity to make a large step in conserving the planet’s health.

Currently, the Carnegie Mellon team is creating an outline to get specific facts about energy consumption in homes and buildings.  Between 2000 and 2007, household energy costs increased by 70%.  Carnegie Mellon’s research team plans to evaluate different means to provide better energy management, energy monitoring and energy efficiency for consumers. 

About 40% of energy consumption in the U.S. generates electricity, and nearly three quarters of the electricity is consumed by residential structures and commercial buildings.  Lighting, air conditioning, heating and ventilation are amongst easy-to-control appliances that account for roughly 20% of the electricity use in those buildings.  By reducing the high demand of electricity use in residential and commercial buildings and implementing building energy management, a large amount of energy savings for the nation would occur.

For this research project, the researchers will be using a variety of residential buildings.  Some of the buildings are currently operated by Blueroof Technology to test components and tools that montitor electricity and energy usage.

The researchers’ goals include developing cost-efficient and user-friendly energy monitoring devices that track consumption from all electric appliances individually.  Appliance-specific data allows building managers and homeowners to understand energy consumption patterns, and optimize their use of electricity with various tactics including building automation systems.

Results of this research will help lower energy consumption and produce a variety of energy-saving appliances and monitoring systems.