Commercial Building Energy Alliance Members Collaborate To Reduce Energy Use
The Commercial Building Energy Alliance (CBEA) is transforming the way commercial buildings use energy. CBEA invites building owners, managers, and operators to work with the Building Technologies Program (BTP) and with each other to identify and implement best practices, key decision-making tools, and advanced technologies for significant energy savings in their portfolios.
Join CBEA today to start saving energy in your commercial buildings.
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Take Action to Save Energy in Commercial Buildings
Commercial building owners, operators and tenants can start saving energy today and use those cost savings for other critical parts of their businesses. The Building Technologies Program offers Commercial Buildings Resource Database andopportunities to partner with peers and technical experts.
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Blue Light Could Help Teenagers Wake More Quickly
October 30, 2012…The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says that almost 70 percent of school children get insufficient sleep—less than 8 hours on school nights. This type of restricted sleep schedule has been linked with depression, behavior problems, poor performance at school, drug use, and automobile accidents. A new study from the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute shows that exposure to morning short-wavelength “blue” light has the potential to help sleep-deprived adolescents prepare for the challenges of the day, more so than dim light.
The study was a collaboration between associate professor and director of the LRC Light and Health Program Mariana Figueiro and LRC director and professor Mark S. Rea. Results of the study titled “Short-Wavelength Light Enhances Cortisol Awakening Response in Sleep-Restricted Adolescents,” were recently published in the open access International Journal of Endocrinology. The full text is available at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ije/2012/301935/.
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Superstorm Sandy
We have decided to take a break from educating everyone on lighting today and making sure that everyone takes a moment to think of all those in the Northeast who have been devastated by Sandy. Please try and help by making a contribution to the American Red Cross.
To donate, people can visit
call
or text the word
REDCROSS to 90999
to make a $10 donation.
A gift of any size is a huge help!
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Inside a Fluorescent Lamp
The central element in a fluorescent lamp is a sealed glass tube. The tube contains a small bit of mercuryand an inert gas, typically argon, kept under very low pressure. The tube also contains a phosphor powder, coated along the inside of the glass. The tube has twoelectrodes, one at each end, which are wired to an electrical circuit. The electrical circuit, which we'll examine later, is hooked up to an alternating current (AC) supply. See diagram below.
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Buildings
The U.S. Department of Energy funds R&D to help commercial builders, businesses, and homeowners reduce energy use through energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. Learn about DOE programs for buildings, how to use efficient and renewable energy in buildings, and access information resources and financial incentives. See also DOE programs and resources for homes.
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New Ballast Energy Standards to Take Effect November 2014
In November 2011, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued new rules regulating the efficiency of fluorescent lamp ballasts, which take effect November 14, 2014. The rulemaking creates a new metric for measuring ballast efficiency and establishes a higher standard of efficiency that will impact many of today's fluorescent T8, T5 and T12 ballasts. Ballasts that do not comply will be prohibited from manufacture and import, but existing inventories can be sold until they are exhausted. The following ballast types are at greatest risk:majority of T12 electronic ballasts;
majority of outdoor-sign and residential-only ballasts; and T8 and T5 programmed-start ballasts lacking a cathode cutout design.
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New York Brings Energy Efficient Technologies to Market
September 26, 2012
New York announced on September 17 the launch of a $30 million initiative to accelerate the commercialization of emerging, cutting-edge energy efficiency technologies. The Energy Efficiency Market Acceleration Program (EE-MAP) is being implemented by the New York Power Authority (NYPA). The new initiative will fund research, market development activities, and demonstration projects to help leverage investments and promote business development opportunities for emerging energy efficiency technologies.
The program will focus on accelerating the market development of energy efficiency technologies by speeding their deployment and training engineers, contractors, and maintenance service providers in designing and installing energy efficiency products, among other efforts. To support the initiative, NYPA has teamed with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit collaborative research organization, to catalog state-of-the-art energy efficiency products and services, identify commercial trends, and screen and track emerging technologies. See the New York press release.
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T12 Lamps: Strategies For Successful Retrofits
Lighting systems in new commercial and institutional facilities account for 25-30 percent of the building's total electricity use. Energy use by lighting systems in older facilities that have not been upgraded in the past 15-20 years is even higher — typically, 40 percent of total electricity
Because lighting is such a large energy-conservation target with potentially high rewards, retrofits of lighting systems have been one of the most popular options for managers looking to improve the energy efficiency of their facilities. For those who have deferred such retrofits, now is the time to give the opportunity serious consideration.
Upcoming changes in federal regulations and incentive programs will have a major impact on the cost-effectiveness of retrofits. Managers who move aggressively can take advantage of these changes to minimize both the cost of implementing the retrofit and their lighting systems' energy use as utility rates climb. Those who adopt a wait-and-see attitude likely will incur increased costs in keeping existing lighting systems operating efficiently, and they will continue to miss the opportunity to realize significant energy savings.
Retrofit Kits Help Businesses Meet New DOE Lighting Standards By Ariel Brouillard May 21, 2012
For years, many businesses have relied on T12 technology to light their offices. But starting on July 14, 2012, the Department of Energy (DOE) will begin phasing out most T12 fluorescent lights and replacing them with energy-efficient T5 lights. Once the new rule goes into place, the DOE estimates that fluorescent lights – when combined with new lamps and ballasts – could cost 13 times more than current retail value.
Companies that need to switch out their lights may struggle with how much to pay in labor and fees to replace their whole lighting system.
The solution? Retrofitting.
To help make the adjustment to T5 lights easier, one company in the United States has begun making retrofit plug-and-play adapters. These adapters let companies save money by replacing their lights without having to buy new fixtures for them.
LUXADD, a Miami-based lighting solution provider, designed an Express T5 Retrofit Kit Series for linear fluorescent lighting systems. The lights can go in parking garages, office buildings, schools, hotels and warehouses. LUXADD’s 4-foot-long kit includes a replacement light and has a plug that snaps into T12 light fixtures. Each kit also includes an electronic rapid start ballast.
Priced between $29.95 for a single lamp and $55.95 for a double lamp, LUXADD says their products are more cost-efficient in terms of both labor and pricing.
“Our retrofit kit is the only one that has zero labor,” said Katrin Mehler, president of the company. “It’s the only snap-in, true plug-and-play where you don’t have to bridge or replace the old ballast.”
The kit reduces existing input wattage from about 48-52 watts to 23-31 watts and lamp wattage from 40 watts to 28 watts. The lighting solution can save up to 73 percent in lighting energy costs, the company says. The kit can also be used with any T5 lights on the market.
Mehler said the idea for the product originally came from Germany. Then, a U.S. inventor and lamp designer reinvented it for LUXADD in the United States. Now, LUXADD sells their products throughout the country and in Puerto Rico, South America and the Dominican Republic.
In addition to LUXADD, a couple of other companies have begun making similar products. Green Products Co. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., makes a T5 Retrofit Kit. Their solution promises to be a cost-effective complete conversion system design that will save energy, reduce cost and help the environment. A third company, Calex Global, produces T5 retro kits. However, Calex is based in the United Kingdom.
Retrofitting may be a good solution, but there aren’t a lot of manufacturers making kits in the United States. In fact, LUXADD says they offer the only linear fluorescent lighting conversion adapter specifically designed for the U.S. market.
Businesses that wait until after the July 14 deadline could have problems finding replacement lights if there isn’t enough supply. Light prices could also increase.
But even if company does choose to retrofit their lights now, it will still cost them money in the short term. However, the DOE thinks the new legislation will pay off in the long run. They say the new rules will in time help companies save money on their energy needs and contribute to overall energy conservation in the U.S.
“Despite purchase prices, the energy efficiency gains would result in lower energy costs that more than offset such higher costs for most,” according to statements made in a DOE report. “The energy conservation standards for these products would result in significant conservation of energy, and are technologically feasible and economically justified.”
Lighting is the single largest end use for energy consumption in the commercial buildings sector. Fluorescent lights are low-pressure lamps with a fluorescent coating that transforms ultraviolet energy into light.
Experts say the benefits of T5 fluorescent lights are that they’re newer and more energy efficient than T12 lights. T5 lights are shorter and use 28 watts compared to 40 watts for T12 lights. As part of the new legislation, the DOE considered phasing out T8 lights. In the end, they decided it was more beneficial to continue allowing them even though they are less efficient than T5 lights.
“The best lighting is T5 tubes,” Mehler argued. “They are the best replacements for T12 lights.” Why? Mehler said businesses can improve not just their energy costs but also their air-conditioning costs with T5 lights. Older fluorescent lights produce more heat, driving up air-conditioning costs.
The DOE estimates that new standards will save about 3.83 to 9.94 quads of British thermal units of energy in 30 years. They will also reduce greenhouse carbon dioxide emission between 175 and 488 million tons and reduce air pollution.
The new rules are part of the 2009 DOE General Service Fluorescent Lamp Legislation.
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