Building Energy Modeling: An ASHRAE Certification Study Guide. While the best teacher of best practices is hands-on work experience, even the most seasoned professionals may want additional resources to support their knowledge bases.
Welcome. Performance results of registered lift and escalator contractors The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) announced the performance results of registered lift and escalator contractors for the past 12 months (i.e. from January to December 2013).
The EMSD together with the Lift and Escalator Safety Advisory Committee have completed a review of the Contractors' Performance Rating scheme. EMSD makes use of a new Star Rating System to present the safety and services quality performance of contractors, based on the inspection results of the past 12 months, for public reference. Besides, to facilitate the public to understand the performance of registered contractors, the user can select the name of any registered contractor on the webpage for immediate access to its information regarding the last CPR results, reported equipment fault incidents, warning letters issued to the contractors, records of prosecution and disciplinary cases.
Green Globes Life Cycle Assessment Features: The Green Building Initiative. Green Globes offers a practical and objective approach to resource evaluation and materials selection during new construction and major renovation of commercial buildings.
Internationally, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the most widely accepted method for materials selection, largely due to its research-based approach in evaluating environmental impacts. In contrast to the LCA method is the use of exclusionary or “de-selection” lists driven by non-systematic or single attribute approaches to materials selection—approaches that could result in less sustainable selections. Green Globes provides two paths for product selection in its New Construction environmental assessment program: the LCA method and a multiple attribute approach. For the LCA “Performance Path,” each product type is evaluated and benchmarked against five major indicator criteria: Embodied Energy, Global Warming Potential, and Effects on Land, Air and Water. How to measure the ROI of LEED. Editor's Note: To learn more about the financial implications of LEED buildings, be sure to check out VERGE@Greenbuild, November 12-13.
Owners considering LEED certification for their buildings often ask what level of financial return they can expect for their investment in green products and services. This starts with a measurement of costs. Owners should be certain their LEED consultant is able to audit their buildings and accurately calculate the cost of obtaining various levels of LEED, including both the implementation of improvements and the cost of the certification process itself. Estimating the financial gain is a trickier process, as market variables and qualitative benefits enter the equation. Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers.
International Initiative for a Sustainable Built Environment. BizEE Software Ltd - Business Energy Efficiency Software. Country Energy Profile: Russian Federation - Clean Energy Information Portal - reegle. Calculated Free-Cooling Savings. Buildings Energy Data Book. EcoScorecard. Argonne TTRDC - TransForum v10n1 - How Green is Your Grid. The carbon impact of the millions of electric vehicles that may soon hit the road will depend on the electric grids that supply them.
The odds are that your batteries won’t be recharged with solar or wind energy. In most places, grid power will come from the burning of fossil fuels, which generate their own emissions. So the question really is: “If you power a vehicle with electricity from the grid rather than with fuel from the tank, is that better or worse for the environment, particularly with respect to greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide?”
How do you compare a PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) that can recharge from wall current against a conventional gasoline car that consumes, say, 9.4 liters per 100 kilometers (25 miles per gallon)? In this case, using grid power to drive electrically emits fewer greenhouse gases per kilometer—under any circumstances. March 2010. Argonne's Sustainability Initiative. Taking 10 minutes to inspect your home for water leaks can lead to big financial savings.
By Peter Lynch, Environmental Engineer The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests that identifying and fixing plumbing leaks—often minor issues with quick and easy fixes—can save homeowners about 10,000 gallons of water a year. With the increase of water prices in recent years, this type of savings can have a very real and positive impact on homeowners’ pocketbooks. To give you a sense of how much you could be saving, it’s estimated that a leaking faucet can waste about 3,000 gallons of water per year, a dripping showerhead about 500 gallons per year and a running toilet about 200 gallons of water per day.
The EPA provides a set of online tools to help homeowners identify common water leaks, as well as what they can do to fix the problems. Argonne GREET Fuel Cycle Model. Hydrogen Analysis Resource Center. Buildings Energy Technologies. System Advisor Model (SAM) PNNL: FEDS - Facility Energy Decision System. The Facility Energy Decision System (FEDS) is an easy-to-use building energy efficiency software tool that quickly and objectively identifies energy efficiency improvements that maximize life-cycle savings.
The Windows-based program requires only minimal user experience and input to perform energy efficiency assessment screenings as well as detailed energy retrofit project analyses across a wide variety of building types, from single buildings to large multi-building campuses and installations. Requires only minimal user input yet is able to accept detailed building system parameters. FEDS estimates unspecified parameters based on typical characteristics for a building of the specified type, size, age, and location and other details. Models energy and cost performance of heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, motors, plug loads, refrigeration, building shell, and hot water systems, plus central plants and thermal loops.
Federal Energy Management Program: Building Life-Cycle Cost (BLCC) Programs. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developed the Building Life Cycle Cost (BLCC) Program to provide computational support for the analysis of capital investments in buildings.
BLCC5 Program Register and download. BLCC 5.3-13 (for Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux). BLCC is programmed in Java with an XML file format. Oak Ridge National Laboratory - Energy. Driven by the goal of reducing fossil fuel use and pollution, ORNL’s clean energy research plays a pivotal role in America’s energy future.
Scientists and engineers are applying the knowledge they gain from these studies to develop and deploy real-world solutions for energy security and protecting the environment. From exploring the genetics of poplar trees for use in biofuel production to uncovering the potential for using byproducts of this process in advanced materials for automotive and wind technologies, clean energy research spans ORNL disciplines including biological and environmental sciences, advanced materials, neutron sciences, nuclear sciences, and high-performance computing, and brings multidisciplinary teams together to address key issues. That means moving well beyond engine efficiency in studying the vehicles of the future, for instance. By embracing industry partnerships to advance clean energy technologies, ORNL is promoting domestic manufacturing and job growth.
LEED Software. A Smarter Planet Blog. 2011 Top Money-Saving Products. 2011 Top Money-Saving Products.