Energy Newsbriefs

Articles for October 4, 2010

ENERGY NEWSBRIEFS is a weekly current awareness service provided by the Washington State University Extension Energy Program Library and written by Angela Santamaria, WSU Energy Library Manager, to assist users in tracking developments in the energy field. To view past issues or to subscribe to receive an email notification of the publication of a new issue, go to the Energy Newsbriefs home.

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT – FREE WORKSHOP

Windows Volume Purchase Pacific Northwest Regional Workshop will take place on October 11, 2010, in Portland, Oregon. Its focus will be on opportunities for the low-cost purchase of highly efficient windows in bulk by the building industry, the non-profit sector, and state and local governments. It is jointly sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Energy Trust of Oregon, and Northwest Natural Gas.

BUILDINGS

"Breaking the Mold," by Robert Nieminen, Editor, Interiors & Sources, is a photo essay in the September 2010 issue of Interiors & Sources. It shows Starbucks' most recent venture into sustainability: the physical café. The Roy Street Coffee & Tea café in Seattle, which is LEED-certified, was designed with attention to energy efficiency with LED lighting, water efficiency (which also saves energy at the water pumping level), reused furniture and woodwork, and much more. This is the second of ten Starbucks stores to be developed in six months as part of the US Green Building Council's LEED Volume Certification pilot program.

"Energy Savings: Sweating the Details" is a two-part article by Naomi Millán, Associate Editor, Building Operating Management, published in the September 2010 issue of that journal:

Part 1 is Common Sense Strategies for Energy Efficiency. It describes Energy Star's National Building Competition and makes the point that energy efficiencies in buildings can be made without resorting to expensive, hard-to-find products. It is more than sufficient to develop strategies that involve technologies and products that have been around for a while and have been well-documented as energy savers.

Part 2 is Commissioning Systems, Evaluating Loads for Energy Savings. It describes the next steps for a facilities manager to take after attention has been given to the basic strategies outlined in Part 1, above.

The following four case studies appeared in the September issue of ED+C (Environmental Design + Construction):

1. "A Monumental Feat," by Colin Rohlfing, LEED AP, Senior Associate, HOK, is a case study of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia. It is the world's largest LEED-Platinum project. The article highlights the design of the densely positioned campus buildings and joining walkways, all of which are shaded by one fantastic, solar-paneled, cool roof designed with lattice work that allows hundreds of thousands of bits of daylight through large skylights. The roofing material is designed to remain cool in the desert sun and to hold up under a constant salt-water breeze.

2. "A Pioneering Spirit," by Troy Gibson, LEED Green Associate, Reward Wall Systems, is a case study of two new resident halls, designed for LEED-Gold certification, at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, near Minneapolis-St. Paul. The project relied heavily on the building envelopes of insulated concrete forms (ICFs) to achieve a high level of energy efficiency.

3. "A Recipe for Gold," by Eric Naslund, FAIA, Design Principal and Partner, Studio E Architects, is a case study of an administrative building for food and housing services on the University of California San Diego campus. LEED-Gold certified, this building had the same major challenge that other buildings on the campus have tried but failed to meet. In this case, designers found an aesthetically-pleasing way to achieve high energy efficiencies while an inviting glass façade faces west toward the Pacific Ocean.

4. "Yale’s Watering Hole," by staff, is a case study of Yale's Kroon Hall, the winner of ED+C’s 2010 Excellence in Design Awards. The grounds on either side of this LEED-Platinum building are two new courtyards bordered by two other science buildings, one on each side. One courtyard is also a green roof for an underground facility for deliveries and waste recycling. Koon Hall was designed for very high energy and water savings.

RESIDENTIAL EFFICIENCY STRATEGIES

EnergySavers.gov: Stay Warm, Save Money is a website, revised (and re-named) seasonally, from the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office of the U.S. Department of Energy. The site is now offering many tips for energy savings for the fall and winter.

WIND

The following four articles appeared in the September 2010 issue of Wind Systems:

1. "Composite Materials for Wind Blades" was co-authored by James C. Watson, Associate Director, and Juan C. Serrano, Engineering Associate; both of Fiber Glass Science and Technology, PPG Industries, Inc. The article includes a list of the several important changes in the manufacture of blades for wind turbines that have occurred in the past. The latest change involves the materials comprising the blades.

2. "Condition-Based Turbine Maintenance" was jointly written by Jianhui Xing, Lead Research Scientist, Siemens Ltd., China-Corporate Technology (SLC CT); and Klaus Hoei, Winergy AG. The authors define and discuss what, essentially, is a kind of preventative maintenance for wind turbines. It employs a computer-based monitoring of the condition of turbine parts and systems.

3. "Harnessing Digital Elevation Data," by Ken Goering, Senior Writer, Intermap Technologies, explains how such data makes it possible both to predict general wind patterns and velocities over large geographic areas and to determine in which relatively small areas are the best places to site wind farms.

4. "OPTI-mizing Wind Gear Production," by Michael Hayes, President, Hayes Marketing (representing Gleason Corporation), describes, in some detail, the machinery designed for gearbox production at a new plant in Indiana, near Indianapolis. Brevini Wind – a subsidiary of the Brevini Group, based in Reggio Emilia, Italy – offers the U.S. wind industry the advantage of securing these products within the country rather than exporting them from Europe.

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