“Greening” Your Travels

As we embark on spring break season our post on eco-friendly vacation amenities couldn't come at a better time. Many of us, such as myself, book their airfare and then look for the most reasonable hotel when planning a trip. We do not look into what eco-friendly amenities might be offered, since we are only worried about a safe hotel and a clean room. 

If you have traveled recently you may have noticed a note in the room stating that the hotel is saving water and resources by reusing towels and etc., but that’s not the eco-friendly standard that I am referring to. I am referring to the hotels that go out of their way to eliminate waste, charge electric cars, power down rooms and replant forests. Sure most of these items that I am talking about are not offered at your run of the mill hotels, but they are a reality.

In our day to day lives we try to make conscious changes to our life and or environment, but when we travel we throw caution to the wind. We don't think about how we lodge on vacation can change weather patterns and or affect the Ozone layer. [i] I know this may sound dramatic and doom and gloom, but it is the truth. When we stay at hotels we are offered plastic water bottles and we do not think twice about leaving on a light.

Water bottles have become a modern staple in most hotel rooms, since it is convenient. But, those convenient items have a pretty big environmental impact once they are discarded. Statistics show that more than 4 billion bottles end up in landfills and less than 20% of those are actually recycled. [ii] So to be more green hotels today are starting to offer aluminum water bottles that can be refilled at water stations and others are even offering “hydration stations” for their hotel guests.

When leaving hotel rooms we seem to forget and leave every possible light on. But, when we come back and notice we do not feel guilty, since we don’t pay the electric bill. It’s true we don’t pay the electric bill, but we do pay the price of generating that electricity. One hotel in Syracuse, New York cuts the flow of energy to guests’ rooms once they leave, but in case someone stays behind in the room the hotel leaves two outlets powered. This event is triggered by a key card energy management system. One such system is called ENTERgize. In the words of the company this system works by, “guests inserting their key card into the door lock to gain access to the room, once inside the room they perform an operation similar to entering the room by inserting their room key card into the illuminated Entergize Master Control Switch (MCS). As soon as the card is inserted and left in the master switch, the system automatically places itself in the “Occupied” mode. This causes the HVAC system to shift from economy to comfort settings and to promptly begin to heat or cool the room according to the guest’s desires.”[iii] 

Though this article highlights features that might seem too far-fetched for most chain hotels, but it is a growing trend. Next time you plan or take a trip keep your eyes peeled for eco-friendly amenities.

---

[i] “A Hotelier’s Take on Edo-Friendly Rooms,”Mar., 5, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/08/travel/a-hoteliers-take-on-eco-friendly-rooms.html

[ii] “The Social and Environmental Impacts of Bottled Water,” Mar., 5, 2015, http://www.responsiblepurchasing.org/purchasing_guides/bottled_water/webinar/CorporateAccountability_ProblemsWithBottledWater.pdf

[iii] “Patented Entergize Key Card Technology,” Mar., 5, 2015, http://www.entergize.com/keycardsystems.html

Energy Efficiency and Benchmarking

My experience with energy efficiency has been an interesting one. It all started back in 2006 while going to school and working as an usher for an historic movie theater in the Bay Area, where I would spend time every week finding and replacing burnt out light bulbs with a like-for-like replacement. I didn’t have a degree in mechanical or electrical engineering, but I knew that those incandescent bulbs needed to go. Unfortunately at the time, market forces weren’t strong enough to make LED or cold cathode fluorescent lights, those dimmable CFL-like bulbs, cost effective. I still have the very basic walkthrough audit that I did as part of an Urban Ecology course hosted at the EPA.

One of the slides I produced for my work and a class at the EPA office.

Now fast forward several years to my work here at SJVCEO.  One important part of my job is to benchmark the energy consumption of municipalities, both city and county governments, throughout the San Joaquin Valley.  Energy benchmarking consists of gathering a building’s energy consumption, along with a few simple variable inputs like number of employees, computers and operating hours, and compares it against a national survey of buildings.  Thanks to formulas and software, energy benchmarking is pretty straightforward--you plug in the numbers and the system does the rest.  And with California investor-owned utilities stepping up with their own systems to complement energy benchmarking, you’ll never have to enter in billing information, removing the possibility of sore hands from data entry, and headaches because of incorrect entries.

With businesses occupying a single building, benchmarking isn’t very difficult to do.  I even benchmarked my house from start to finish in about 10 minutes!  But imagine a business occupying 10 buildings, or multiple businesses occupying a 10-story building, and things get a little more complicated.  With cities, it’s just a matter of imagining hundreds, even thousands of “buildings.”

With local governments, we use energy benchmarking not only to compare against a national average, but also an easy (and more importantly, free) energy management system.  Using EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, a city can input every energy account it has and be able to analyze consumption every month.  You can easily see, using historical energy usage, how much previous energy conservation projects have made an impact, and whether or not energy consumption is drifting excessively.  It’s even able to normalize energy consumption based on weather, so you’ll be able to compare energy performance in a hot summer year versus a moderate summer year.

But why benchmarking?

Benchmarking is a cost-effective approach to prioritizing building audits and retrofits.  Why get a costly audit done if you don’t know how your buildings stack up?  If you were concerned that your car may not be getting the gas mileage you expect, wouldn’t you check to see how it stacks up?

The images above refer to a building, built in 2002 but too small to receive an ENERGY STAR Score. It has been consuming less energy every year—normalizing for weather—but it’s also consuming more energy per square foot than its peers do. If other buildings in the portfolio have smaller “drifts” from the median, then this customer may want to prioritize work on this building first, assuming that there have been no changes in operation that could account for the change in consumption.

Imagine being able to pull a report monthly, and seeing how energy consumption is changing, along with the weather. If something is drawing too much energy in a short amount of time, you'll have time to address the issue and potentially save a lot of energy and money.  And when you measure your energy usage, you can manage your energy usage.

Statewide LG EE Best Practices: Weekly Update

For those of you who know who Joseph Oldham is you likely are on his email distribution list and receive this update each week.  We are grateful that Joseph has agreed to allow our little blog to re-post his weekly update.  If you have an interest in the happenings of energy efficiency and local government throughout California this is the update for you! If you love the information here, but want more in depth features be sure to check out Joseph's quarterly newsletter, CURRENTS.


1.   Residential ZNE Characterization Report now availableGreat report!  If you don’t have time to read the entire report, at least read the Executive Summary.This E-mail serves notice to parties on service lists R. 13-11-005, R. 12-11-005, and R. 14-10-003 that the “Residential ZNE Market Characterization – Final Report”, by TRC Energy Services under contract to PG&E, is now posted to the CPUC’s EE public documents area. 

To locate the document, please:
1.     Visit the CPUC's EE Public Documents area: http://www.energydataweb.com/cpuc/home.aspx
2.     Select the "Search" tab on the upper left and use the “Search Text” option to locate this document by key title words
3.     Locate the document on the resulting list.

 If you have any questions about this Report, please contact:

 Derek Jones                      
CES Measurement & Evaluation Pacific Gas and Electric Company

Derek.jones@pge.com

2.    Benchmarking Goes Through Growing Pains

Good article with an important take-away comment in the last paragraph.  To read the full article and find out what that is, go here:  http://www.energymanagertoday.com/benchmarking-goes-growing-pains-0109780/

3.   Matching HVAC Performance to Its Potential

This is an interesting article in that it mentions some new technology that can provide real-time information about HVAC system performance.  To get more details, go here: http://www.energymanagertoday.com/matching-hvac-performance-potential-0109890/

4.   City of Berkeley Seeking Senior Building Plans Examiner

The City of Berkeley is currently seeking a Senior Building Plans Examiner with specific expertise in energy, green building, and sustainability. This position will perform highly skilled reviews of plans for compliance particularly with Title 24, Parts 6 and 11, and will work with building permit applicants, contractors, and city staff to answer questions and provide training and guidance to further increase green building practices in support of meeting our Climate Action Plan goals. Applications are being accepted though March 23, 2015, at http://agency.governmentjobs.com/berkeley.

And that is all for this week!  

Get Your RecycleMania On!

I remember hearing about RecycleMania when I was in college. Even though my school always had a green mindset, we didn’t join the RecycleMania tournament until 2008 or 2009 and while the school is doing wonders with waste minimization, there is a long way to go in other areas.

Photo Source: recyclemaniastore.com

RecycleMania is a competition among colleges and universities geared towards reducing waste and expanding recycling and composting programs. The participating schools measure and report the amount of recycling and trash collected each week for eight weeks. This competition has taken place each Spring since its launch in 2001 and it has the following goals (taken from the RecycleMania website):

• Motivate students and staff to increase recycling efforts and reduce waste generation
• Generate attention and support for campus recycling programs
• Encourage colleagues to measure and benchmark recycling activity in their effort to improve their programs over time
• Have a fair and friendly competition

Unfortunately, many of us – including myself at times – don’t know what can be recycled and what cannot. In addition, many cities, including college towns, don’t take certain recyclable items nor do they educate the public on what they do recycle. The RecycleMania program allows millions of students each year to learn about recycling and take the information back to their hometowns. It can also inspire a town or community to expand its recycling programs or start one if one doesn’t already exist.

Photo Source: blog.technet.com

Over 700 colleges and universities have participated in RecycleMania and over the years have prevented the release of so much carbon dioxide, it equates to take 7 million – that’s right, seven MILLION – cars off the road for a year. This program continues to gain momentum and has even motivated my own college to become carbon neutral by 2035.

If you are a college student, a faculty member or a staff member at a college or university, look into RecycleMania for your campus! You get national recognition if your campus wins and you get to help your school save the planet! One bin of recycling at a time. How cool is that?

The Link Between Gamification and Energy Savings

I know many will look at the title of this piece and ask what in the world is gamification? It may sound like a back to the future term to most, but in actuality it is leading us to an energy efficient future and I will explain how.

Before we go any deeper I would like to give you the technical definition of gamification. The definition reads as, "the application of typical elements of game playing (e.g., point scoring, competition with others, rules of play) to other areas of activity, typically as an online marketing technique to encourage engagement with a product or service."[i] But that sounds way too formal to me. So in my own words I think of it as making learning to make changes fun!

Now that I have covered what gamification is lets dive deeper into how and why I am talking about it in the first place. SAVING ENERGY!

Gamification is becoming a growing tool for many to create positive behavior changes in others. The reason why this type of thing works is human brains are wired to enjoy challenges, positive feedback and social bonding.[ii] We all enjoy stepping away from reality after long busy days at work, right? Well why don’t we make that step away from reality better ourselves and our environment.

One such example of an exemplary game that has modified energy behavior is Energy Chickens. Sure this game sounds like a kid’s game, but its actually an online office game. This online game gave players a virtual pet that they were to keep alive by making energy conservation changes within your office. Researchers who developed the game set a baseline plug load five weeks prior to launching the game. During the game office workers would log into the game and make a pledge to reduce energy consumption by 15%. Then each player would receive 5 virtual chickens to take care of. Each of those 5 chickens corresponded to one of their work appliances.

If players were to unplug, turn off and or reduce their appliances energy use their chickens would thrive and even lay eggs. While on the other hand if players did not improve their energy usage their chickens were knocking on death’s door as you can see in the picture below. The eggs that were laid by the healthy chickens during the game were used as currency at the virtual general store.Players were able to buy certain supplies to keep their chicken farms going. Besides knowing how their energy usage was doing by just looking at their chickens players were given graphs that charted their energy usage as well. Players were also able to see how the rest of their coworkers were doing on saving energy and turn it into a friendly office competition.

Results of this game are what truly show that it was a success. Researchers found that there was a 13% plug load reduction while the game was being played. Researchers also noticed that even on non-work days there was a 23% plug load reduction. And the final and most important part of it all the behavior modification results. Players stated that after playing the game they are more energy conscious at home and in the office. To me that sounds like a success in its self-right there.

These type of thing make many of us realize what bad energy habits we actually have. Though we do not want to be pointed out as an energy looser I think we need to be smacked around with reality of our habits. And more than anything I think gamification is helping to stir up the conversation around behavior modifications in energy. There are many games on the market right now that are free that can help you to change some of your energy habits. Take a look online or even on your app store and see what works best for you. 

Become an energy saver!   

---

[i] “Gamification”, Feb., 25, 2015, http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/gamification

[ii] “Gamified Energy Efficiency Programs”, Feb., 25, 2015, http://www.aceee.org/sites/default/files/publications/researchreports/b1501.pdf

To Save Energy or to Produce Energy That is the Question

Many homeowners and business owners a like look to solar as THE option to save energy once they receive a high energy bill. But listen here solar is not the end all be all solution. Not everyone who wants to save energy needs to resort to solar. For a normal American home 40% of energy consumption comes from a weak or poor home envelope, which includes insulation, windows and doors. With that percentage being so high it leaves a lot of opportunity for energy efficiency projects before going to solar. Many projects for properties are low in cost and easy to do. [i]

Your first step in assessing your homes energy efficiency would be to higher an energy auditor or conduct your own energy audit. Completing an energy audit will allow you to see where your property can improve. You will then have a clear picture as to see where you are losing energy, which in turn means you are losing money. If conducting an energy audit on your own make sure to visit Energy.Gov to see what is involved.

Your next step of action would be to implement those projects that are in within your means, which might  be installing energy efficient appliances or even behavior modifications. Many utilities have incentives and rebates for energy upgrades for homeowners. You can find the necessary information for each utility located here: PG&E, SoCal Edison and SoCal Gas.

Once you implement energy changes wait for your next bill to arrive and see the difference in the bill from past months. I am sure that you will be saving on that bill and many more to come.

But if by chance you receive your bill and you are still not happy with the amount due you can then turn to solar. Since you have implemented energy efficiency measures, or EEMS as we like to call them, before going solar you will be able to reduce your energy needs and solar system size. With reducing both of those items you will in turn save money.

Some solar companies will even insist that homeowners complete an energy audit before going further. If you are a resident of California Go Solar California requires an energy audit be completed before installing solar.[ii] By having this information a homeowner will be more informed on what they can do to save before looking into a solar contract.

---

[i] “12 Ways to Increase Home Energy Efficiency Before Installing Solar Panels”, Dec., 15, 2014, http://pureenergies.com/us/how-solar-works/12-ways-to-increase-home-energy-efficiency-before-installing-solar-panels/

[ii] “Think Energy Efficiency First”, Dec., 15, 2014, http://www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov/solar_basics/efficiency.php

The Green Teams Part III

See? It's just so pretty!
Photo Source: http://levisstadium.com/

I was in San Francisco for Super Bowl XLVII; it was devastating. I’ve never seen the city so depressed. There’s hope for 49ers fans, though, as well as a new, shiny stadium. Santa Clara is their new home and, boy is it beautiful. It’s crazy efficient, too! There is a 20,000 square foot green roof… I know, SO cool. The stadium is using reclaimed water for drinkable and irrigation purposes and has incorporated recycled materials into the design. The stadium is also partnering with local vendors to create farm-to-table options for ticket holders. How awesome is that? And in addition to these already ground-breaking inclusions, a local company called SunPower is partnering with the new Levi’s Stadium to supply enough solar panels to produce sufficient electricity to compensate for all the power used for home games each year. True story.

I think (I hope!) the publicity of this installment as well as the one at the Pocono Raceway will help convince solar-naysayers that this great country we live in CAN produce ample amounts of renewable energy and maybe we should start viewing it as a reliable and clean supplier of grid power. I understand there’s a high initial cost, but there are loan and third party programs out there, among others. If solar can be implemented and rewards can be reaped on such a huge scale AND in a setting we all enjoy and support daily as a united community, we should be able to incorporate it on a smaller scale, too, without so much backlash, don’t ya think?

Speaking of renewable energy on a large scale, Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians, installed solar way back in 2007 (the stadium was one of the first in the US to do so). The Indians have really been getting after energy savings through green initiatives. The stadium was also the first in the MLB to install a wind turbine. Installed last year, the turbine incorporates LED lights and kiosks for fans to learn about wind energy. See Mom, sporting events can be educational, too! Furthermore, staff attends an annual class about the stadium’s newest green practices, encouraging them to implement their knowledge at home and in their communities. Start on a small scale and cause a chain reaction… I’ve always believed this is the way to get people on board to save the environment!

The Indians also have some great ideas for future projects, which include following in the footsteps of the 49ers and building a green roof. I know I’ll probably be judged and condemned for saying this, but even though popcorn and hotdogs are the staple snack at baseball games, I am a sucker for fruit right off the tree and veggies right out of the ground. I would be more than happy to pay $20 for that and be able to pick it myself IN THE STADIUM than pay that kind of money for some processed meat and watery beer (sorry Keystone and Miller Light lovers! I’m really just not into it. The commercial above is more up my alley.).  Want to read more about the Indians and their energy-saving super powers? See pages 69-72.

NHL fans, I have not forgotten about you! Plus, even the NCAA is implementing sustainability programs. The big leagues aren’t the only ones who get to have all the fun! Stay tuned, loyal followers. More energy efficiency in sports to come!

Stay Up to Date with SJVCEO: February Update

SJVCEO is moving right along with steam for the month of February. We continue to work with our local government partners on energy upgrades as well as businesses with our energy efficiency energy challenge.

During the month of February SJVCEO launched our Municipal Energy Tune Up (METU) program which works with Fresno, Kern and Madera Counties.  METU will bring energy benchmarking services as well as municipal readiness plans for municipalities within the outlined jurisdictions. This program will collect measureable information from municipal buildings to show energy consumption as well as track energy changes and GHG emissions. Once energy data is collected and analyzed, local governments will be able to set priorities and targets for energy efficiency goals. Our team will also assist municipal staff throughout the life span of projects to make sure that projects are completed to satisfaction. Our staff will be working with two CivicSpark members Zenia Montero and Tommy Ta to speed our projects along. CivicSpark is a new statewide Governor’s Initiative for AmeriCorps, led by the Local Government Commission in partnership with the State of California along with a network of regional organizations to combat the effects of climate change by mobilizing 48 AmeriCorps Members annually to implement innovative local climate change projects in communities across the state.

We are also happy to continue to promote the VIEW Partnerships energy challenge, Kill-A-Watt Krackdown.  The Partnership is making meaningful connections with local business owners to help them improve their bottom line and save energy. We are currently working on setting up informational meetings with local chambers and small business associations. Keep an eye out for promotional information! If you are interested and or have any questions about the energy challenge please contact the VIEW Partnership.

As we continue to be a part of the Electric Vehicle Partnership we are happy to announce that we have updated information on our Facebook group as well as our Linkedin group. If are interested in what the partnership has going on stayed tuned to both pages for information as well as resources.

Stay tuned for next months update!

Statewide LG EE Best Practices: Weekly Update

For those of you who know who Joseph Oldham is you likely are on his email distribution list and receive this update each week.  We are grateful that Joseph has agreed to allow our little blog to re-post his weekly update.  If you have an interest in the happenings of energy efficiency and local government throughout California this is the update for you! If you love the information here, but want more in depth features be sure to check out Joseph's quarterly newsletter, CURRENTS.

1.   Future of Cities Conference - Feb 26

WRCOG is co-hosting the Future of Cities 2015: A Quest for Sustainability on Feb. 26 at the Riverside Convention Center.  For full details and registration information, please go to this link: www.futureofcities2015.eventbrite.com .

2.     Decoding Commissioning - Free Title 24, Part 6 Training

Energy Code Ace will be hosting four free webinars to help building department personnel and industry professionals understand the Title 24, Part 6 commissioning requirements.  This interactive event will review:

 - Preparing for the documentation process;

 - Implementing the commissioning measures;

 - Coordination and communication throughout design and construction; and

 - Available job aides and resources.

Space is limited, so register as soon as possible.  Sessions are available:

Date                                             Time

Tuesday, March 10, 2015            9:00 am - 11:00 am

Tuesday, March 10, 2015            2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Wednesday, March 11, 2015      9:00 am - 11:00 am

Thursday, March 12, 2015          9:00 am - 11:00 am

Register at: https://energycodeace.adobeconnect.com/decode-nr-cxr/event/event_info.html.

For more information on these free webinars, please contact: online.training@energycodeace.com.

This program is funded by California utility customers under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission and in support of the California Energy Commission.

Help With the 2013 Building Energy Efficiency Standards

For assistance with understanding or locating information in the 2013 Energy Standards, contact the Energy Standards Hotline at: (800) 772-3300 (toll-free in California); (916) 654-5106 (outside California); or via email at title24@energy.ca.gov.

For more information:

http://www.energy.ca.gov/title24/training/

(If link above doesn't work, please copy entire link into your web browser's URL)

3.     Report: How to Make Your Energy Retrofit Happen

Good report; well worth downloading and reading.  To get the report and some background, go to this link:  http://www.energymanagertoday.com/report-make-energy-retrofit-happen-0109300/

4.     How Does Energy Asset Score Differ from Energy Star Score?

The Asset Score is a free, web-based software tool developed by DOE and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) that assesses the physical and structural energy efficiency of commercial and multifamily buildings.  To learn more and find out about an upcoming webinar on how the score compliments Portfolio Manager, go here:  http://www.energymanagertoday.com/energy-asset-score-differ-energy-star-score-0109333/

That is all for this week! I will be traveling in Sonoma County and Northern California all next week, so the next Weekly Updates will be on March 6.    

Contains Solar!

Photovoltaic systems, more commonly known as solar panels, are a great way to hedge against future increases in fuel costs that ultimately drive up utility rates.  They’ve also been known to both increase the life of roofs, as well as property value.  In fact, the State of California wants all new homes to be net-zero energy (i.e. they generate as much energy as they consume) by 2020.  But what happens when all those solar arrays come online and start winding meters backwards?

The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) has actually thought about this question, and provided a chart with how they expect the future to look:

Source: CAISO.com

As you can see from the chart, beginning at 8am the net load (actual minus distributed generation like rooftop solar) drops.  While everyone is at work, our solar panels are beginning to generate electricity.  Since most of us aren’t at home, this energy goes straight to where it’s being used and you get a credit on your bill.  The “duck belly” indicates just that, and it only gets bigger as solar becomes increasingly commonplace.  This is fantastic, because when solar distributed generation supplies an abundant amount of electricity, more polluting power plants can be shut down or ramped down.  However, as the workday comes to an end and we all drive home, the sun goes down, we kick on our heaters and air conditioners, resulting in a big load that solar panels can’t support.  That sudden jump in demand around 6pm requires an orchestrated effort on CAISO’s side to ramp up massive plants to meet the state’s need.  But ideally, the demand curve should be flat, making the need to purchase energy very stable and thus reliable and cheaper. 

There’s been a lot of interesting ideas floating around on how to store the energy generated during the day, which would either smooth out or flatten the “duck’s head”.  Smoothing or flattening out the demand curve would presumably make purchasing energy a lot easier and thus cheaper, because electricity has to be consumed (or stored) when generated—if you purchase too much, then you must consume or store it; if you purchase too little, you have rolling blackouts.  Currently PG&E has a reservoir plant that pumps water from a lower reservoir to one higher when energy is in low demand (thus low costs) and feeds it through turbines when prices and demand are higher.  Other ideas include sending excess power to electric water heaters (storing in the sense that you won’t have to heat water as much when hot water is in demand), storing the energy in concrete in the form of heat, forming huge ice blocks that cool large buildings, and of course large-scale batteries.  With battery technology becoming more popular due to hybrid-electric, plug-in electric and all-electric vehicles, we could very well have our grid supported solely by renewables and stored energy technologies in the coming years.