A building doesn’t have to be new to be efficient. Today’s leading building owners are retrofitting buildings, converting existing buildings into models of sustainability. Building energy retrofits are investments in efficient technology during building renovation. While most building owners still pursue single technology improvements, market leaders bundle together energy saving technologies to get deeper savings in a more comprehensive approach. Energy performance contracting is one business model that enables building owners to implement whole building retrofits and significantly lower energy consumption and operating costs. Essentially, the upgrades are paid for through energy savings over time. Photo credit: Jack Amick/Flickr.
Amid debate about European Union climate and energy targets to 2030, an Institute for Building Efficiency Roundtable explored how investments in building energy efficiency could support a sustainable economic recovery. Attendees agreed that energy renovations would be a core driver of energy security. They cited research showing that doubling the rate of building renovations could create some 2...
An article in the September issue of Building Design + Construction magazine highlights a new book by well-known green building author Jerry Yudelson and co-author Ulf Meyer. The book profiles 55 high-performance buildings from around the world, including the Johnson Controls Corporate Headquarters in Glendale, Wis. and St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. One of the hardest parts of the...
Interest in green buildings – and green building rating tools – is a worldwide trend. From Australia’s GreenStar green building rating tool to Japan’s CASBEE rating system, building developers, designers, owners and operators are developing and managing a new class of efficient and environmentally friendly buildings. Individuals and organizations are using the latest...
A bold plan released on August 8th tells how Australia can upgrade all its existing buildings – including homes – to achieve zero carbon emissions in 10 years, and at only a modest cost difference from business as usual over 30 years.
Laboratories and clean rooms at universities, research labs and pharmaceutical companies waste significant energy, largely because they often ventilate at rates far greater than needed to protect the people and processes inside. Several strategies can be applied to save energy while maintaining safety and process integrity. They include:
The Johnson Controls Institute for Building Efficiency has been conducting the Energy Efficiency Indicator Study for three years in China and Australia. In 2013 Singapore was added. The first summary report on Asia reveals similarities and contracts between the three countries, and between Asia and other parts of the world. Respondents in Asia report that they are viewing and analyzing...
Financial innovation offers one of the best hopes for scaling the clean energy industry. But that doesn’t mean inventing a whole new class of complex tradable securities. States and cities are already showing how well established conventional tools, such as bonds, can help clean-energy projects access low-cost, long-term capital markets. That’s the conclusion of a report,
PACE finance programs allow property owners to pay for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and/or water efficiency projects through an additional assessment on their property tax bill over 5-20 years, depending on the lifespan of the equipment. There is no up-front cost to the building owner and the investment is immediately cash flow positive. If the property is sold, the benefit of the...
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation created the Demand Response Availability Data System (DADS) to evaluate the performance of demand response programs being used to stabilize the grid or reduce high wholesale energy prices. From summer 2011 through summer 2012, NERC collected data on demand response events dispatched by grid operators, and the actual reduction of load or...