Category: Energy efficiency

Energy efficiency, Illinois, Prairie Research Institute, Wastewater

Fine bubble lagoon aeration

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Read the full story at Water & Wastes Digest.

Air Diffusion Systems fine bubble diffusion has had a transformative effect on the treatment at Annawan, Illinois, Wastewater Lagoon System. With 90% of system funding coming from the Illinois EPA, Annawan has been able to provide improved water quality to the rural community at a fraction of the electrical cost to operate the aeration system…

In 2018, the Village of Annawan operator, Mark Crosby, contacted the Smart Energy Design Assistance Center (SEDAC), an organization that provides cost-free energy evaluations to wastewater treatment plants in Illinois for an assessment to identify improvement opportunities for the village’s lagoon system.

SEDAC recommended “fine bubble aeration with blower controls, and downsizing blowers.” This recommendation led the village to Air Diffusion Systems (ADS) for its wastewater treatment. Using these recommendations, village management applied for funding from the Illinois EPA (ILEPA) Wastewater Treatment Plant Energy Assessment Program, designed to fund energy-efficient projects at public-owned WWTPs. The ILEPA Office of Energy has partnered with the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) and SEDAC to provide funding solutions for improved wastewater treatment at a reduced cost to local municipalities. Due to the power savings associated with ADS technologies, there are many comparable federal and state funding opportunities for most ADS installations.

Energy efficiency, Gamification, Manufacturing

Manufacturers use games to save energy; Summer Study speaker explains how

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Read the full post at ACEEE.

What’s an innovative way to save energy? In recent years, as ACEEE has found, utilities have developed all sorts of games and competitions that motivate homeowners and other people to reduce their energy use. An upcoming analysis highlights how manufacturers are also using gamification as one way to crowdsource energy savings.

Energy efficiency

DOE to propose first efficiency standards for manufactured homes in almost 25 years

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Read the full story at Utility Dive.

The U.S. Department of Energy is considering new energy efficiency standards for manufactured housing, and plans to release a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNOPR) by Aug. 16 that will be based on the 2021 version of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The agency published a related notice on Wednesday, detailing plans to consider the air quality impacts of sealing manufactured homes more tightly.

Energy conservation portions of current manufactured housing regulations have not been adjusted since 1994, and according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), these types of homes use 70% more energy per square foot than traditional “stick-built” homes.

Roughly 7 million manufactured homes are in the United States, with the majority located in rural areas. “Energy bills can be very high and it’s a very low income population living in them,” said Lowell Ungar, who leads the federal policy program at ACEEE.

Energy efficiency, Publications

Clean Infrastructure: Efficiency Investments for Jobs, Climate, and Consumers

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Download the document.

Energy efficiency investments in an infrastructure bill could result in more than 4 million more people working for a year (job-years), nearly 4 billion tons of reduced carbon dioxide emissions, and more than $300 billion in net consumer savings, all while building the foundation for a clean economy. Following on a report from last fall, we analyzed the likely impacts from ten sets of energy efficiency investments in homes and commercial buildings, electric vehicles, transportation infrastructure, manufacturing plants, states, and cities. The analysis includes many new proposals, including for multifamily home retrofits, heat pumps and heat pump water heaters, industrial decarbonization technology commercialization, and industrial clusters.

Energy efficiency, Green building, Publications

Bring the outdoors in: The energy-efficient method for using 100% outdoor air in buildings

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Read the full story from Purdue University.

By now, it’s well known that circulating outdoor air in buildings is safer than recirculating indoor air. That point was driven home by the pandemic. Problem is, it’s just not cost-effective.

That may soon change. Purdue University engineers have proposed a system that combines new membrane technology with the latest HVAC systems to make 100% outdoor air systems more energy-efficient and economically feasible – especially in warm, humid climates. They say their system could save up to 66% in energy costs for large buildings that choose to use the safer outdoor air.

Data centers, Electronics manufacturing, Energy efficiency, Materials science

What’s the buzz? Magnetic properties for more energy-efficient computer chips

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Read the full story at Centered.

Magnetostriction is a property of magnetic materials that causes fluorescent lights and electrical transformers to buzz. This property causes the materials to change shape or dimensions as the magnetic field changes. 

Magnetostriction also plays a big part in a new material that could lead to more energy-efficient computing. The research team that developed the material is led by the University of Michigan, and researchers from the University of Wisconsin and Purdue University also are participating.

The new material is twice as magnetostrictive and much cheaper than similar materials. It could contribute to magnetostrictive chips, which would cut the energy consumption of a wide range of electronics from cell phones to huge data centers.

Colleges and universities, Energy efficiency, Events, Health care facilities, K-12, Local government, State government

Webinar: Becoming ESPC-Ready

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Jun 15, 2021 2-3 pm CDT
Register here.

Join this webinar to better understand the basics of Energy Savings Performance Contracting, or ESPC. This foundational training covers how state and local governments can facilitate energy efficiency investments through ESPC, and how facility managers can use ESPC to enhance their facility’s energy performance. Whether you are a stakeholder from a state or local government, university, K-12 school, or hospital, this webinar can help you become ESPC-ready.

This webinar is based on the Foundations of ESPC training offered by the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) and the Energy Services Coalition as part of the DOE-NASEO Return-to-Work Initiative.

Energy efficiency, Finance, Sustainable communities

Want tax incentives in Des Moines? Be ready to meet higher energy efficiency bar

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Read the full story at Energy News Network.

Midwest cities including Des Moines, Iowa, are increasingly linking tax-increment financing to sustainability requirements as they look for every tool possible to make progress on ambitious climate goals.

Energy efficiency, Regulation

​DOE begins ‘repairing damage’ done by Trump to energy efficiency program, say advocates

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Read the full story at Utility Dive.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) it says would “remove unnecessary obstacles” to setting appliance efficiency standards, in part by reversing changes to the “process rule” made by the Trump administration.

The process rule helps determine how appliance efficiency standards are set and updated. Clean energy advocates say changes approved by President Donald Trump’s DOE made the process more lengthy and complicated, and added “arbitrary” savings thresholds required to set standards. Appliance manufacturers argue the Trump-led changes ensured standards produced significant energy savings

The new proposal, issued Wednesday, would revert the process rule to “nonbinding guidance status,” allowing DOE some flexibility in its application, and would eliminate the minimum energy savings threshold for appliance standards. The agency will hold a webinar on April 23 to discuss the proposed rule changes

Energy efficiency, Regulation

Energy Dept. pushes to reverse Trump-era rule on efficiency standards

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Read the full story at The Hill.

The Biden administration is set to push for a reversal of Trump-era changes that made it harder to impose energy efficiency standards for commercial products and industrial equipment.

The Energy Department sent out a notification late Wednesday of a proposed update to a regulation, known as a “process rule,” that deals with energy-saving standards.

The Trump administration had implemented an energy savings threshold in order to set energy efficiency standards. The proposal posted to the Energy Department’s website would remove that threshold.

It also aims to restore the department’s ability to diverge from the process rule, which the Trump administration made binding.

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