The US government has set up a special agency within the Department of Energy called the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) to promote “Disruptive and Innovative Approaches” to clean technology. ARPA has the following objectives (from the ARPA website): To bring a freshness, excitement, and sense of mission to energy research that will attract many of the U.S.’s best and brightest minds—those of experienced scientists and engineers, and, especially, those of students and young researchers, … read more
Tracking Energy Use
I’ve decided to write this blog in a somewhat different format than usual. I thought I should share some of my observations in tracking energy use since I’ve been involved for a little while now in installing, analysing, presenting and monitoring ‘real time tracking systems’ (or ‘carbonrealtime’) as we refer to it. I was actually really shocked to learn recently -when an environment officer at one of the councils posed the question to a small business audience, whether they knew how … read more
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The importance of correct commissioning in Buildings
Commissioning is a quality-assurance process designed to increase the likelihood that a newly constructed building will meet client expectations. Commissioning stretches over the entire design and construction process. It should ideally begin at the design phase, with selection of a commissioning provider who helps ensure that the building owners and designers’ intent is written into the project documentation. The design and construction of ‘green’ buildings pose problems similar to those … read more
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“Dry” evaporative cooler saves energy and eliminates the need for refrigerant based cooling
At the recent All Energy expo in Melbourne (early October) I came across the Coolerado cooler, distributed in Australia by Clear Solar. This is an ingenious, simple air cooler based on a combination of evaporative cooling and plate heat exchangers to deliver cooler air than is possible with conventional evaporative cooling but without the use of a refrigerant. It therefore has the energy efficiency of evaporative cooling, but with the performance of refrigerative cooling in dryer climates. For … read more
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What will make zero net energy office buildings affordable by 2020?
A zero net energy office building is one which consumes no net energy. Its an office that uses very little energy, then has some form of renewable energy to generate all the power it requires. With current off the shelf solar technology, presuming little or no shading, its possible to get around 100 kWh of energy per year per square meter of solar panels at latitudes of around 40 degrees, more in sunny locations at lesser lattitude. For a single storey building, with a roof covered with solar … read more
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Solar Air Conditioning – Cool Technology!
A recent Sustainability Assessment job took me to the corner of Victoria to the town of Mildura. A town of around 30,000 people, Mildura borders NSW on the Murray River. In summer the maximum temperature averages over 30 degrees and naturally there is a high demand for air conditioning and water. Conventional air conditioning systems contribute substantially to greenhouse gas emissions through the consumption of electricity (predominantly generated from burning coal) and water, for cooling … read more
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Voltage reduction could save 15 million tonnes of greenhouse gas – part 2
A few months ago I wrote a blog posting about how tighter regulation of electricity supply voltages could save Australia 15 million tonnes of greenhouse gas a year. However a comment on that posting suggested that voltage reduction may not result in any useful savings. Below I report on the results of an experiment we undertook to identify how much power can be saved, if any, by operating equipment at a lower voltage. We measured a variety of single phase loads at different voltages. A variable … read more
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How to cool for free
Free cooling takes advantage of cold outside air to cool a warm building. Strictly speaking “free cooling” isn’t free as energy is used by fans to move air from inside to outside. Free cooling is beneficial for any building where there are significant heat loads inside. Server rooms and data centres can benefit enormously from free cooling, and in fact is the main reason why Google’s major server rooms are located in cold climates. It’s also beneficial for large office buildings where … read more
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Energy saving opportunities in dynamic office spaces
During energy audits, our team often finds situations where walls or partitions have been moved or an extension has been added to a building and the electrical and mechanical services have not been considered. This leads to reduced occupancy comfort and energy wastage. The major energy saving opportunities lie in the duct design and the lighting layout. The following case study examines the opportunities brought about by re-examining duct design. (part 1) HVAC opportunities The following diagrams … read more
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HVAC Controls to save the Poles!
In almost all commercial buildings, the Heating Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC) system uses the largest percentage of power. Like lighting, the HVAC operates throughout business hours but its plant consumes much larger amounts of energy. Traditionally HVAC systems source heating from gas (oil in some cases) fired boilers, and cooling from electric chilled water or refrigerant plants. Reverse cycle package air conditioners produce heating and cooling via compressors within the unit. Most … read more
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