Industrial Newsbriefs

December 2010

Welcome to this edition of Industrial Newsbriefs, produced by the Washington State University Extension Energy Program, and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). Please forward this issue to those of your colleagues interested in industrial energy efficiency. View archive 

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INDUSTRIAL EFFICIENCY RESOURCE OF THE MONTH

3rd Annual Northwest Industrial Energy Efficiency Summit

January 19th, 2011, Portland, Oregon

The 2011 NW Industrial Energy Efficiency Summit, now in its third year, is the premier annual gathering of regional industrial leaders. You’ll leave the Summit with actionable, practical, and successful strategies to control one of industry’s most important variable costs – energy. Sessions this year include: Strategic Energy Management; Quick Start to Energy Efficiency; Emerging Applications; and Energy Information Systems.

COMBINED HEAT AND POWER

EPA CHP Partnership presentations now available online
Presentations from the EPA 2010 Combined Heat and Power Partnership meeting, held last month in Austin, Texas, are now available online. The meeting provided a forum for industry representatives, government interests, utilities, and environmental advocates to engage in collaborative discussion about Combined Heat and Power (CHP) financing, marketing, and implementation.

Energy Star CHP Awards announced
Seven awards were granted by the Energy Star CHP program in recognition of effective and successful implementation of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems. A description of each winner’s CHP system and a breakdown of the energy savings achieved since implementation can be found on the EPA website.

Energy Empowers spotlights system for converting waste steam to power
Heated wastewater and steam is often a lost resource, and at times energy must be expended to cool and/or dispose of it. "A Spin on Technology: Extracting Value from Wasted Heat," posted on the Energy Empowers website, describes one innovative technology for producing energy from hot water and steam. The system, GEN4, was developed with the assistance of a Recovery Act tax credit.

INTEGRATED SYSTEMS

"Smart Decisions: How to Future Proof your Industrial Facility" was authored by Tom Pincince, President and CEO, Digital Lumens, and published in the September-October issue of Sustainable Facility. A plan for future proofing includes energy efficiencies that will pay off both in the near future and for the long-term. The plan begins with selecting energy efficiencies for the plant that will save a substantial amount of energy and will earn a strong return on the investment. What follows is the installation of smart integrated systems that can supply the plant manager and other employees the data needed to operate the plant efficiently. The systems should be able to analyze the data so it need not be done manually. The author discusses smart lighting as an example of future proofing. He ends the article with a checklist for energy solutions based on smart technologies.

POLICY AND LEGISLATION

Building energy efficiency to increase with 2012 international code changes
The International Code Council (ICC) has approved new measures for the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). The changes are designed to achieve a 30 percent improvement in energy savings over the 2006 IECC. For more information, see "DOE Announces Historic Strides in Energy Efficiency for Residential and Commercial Building Codes" on EERE News.

FERC proposes rule to integrate variable energy resources into grid
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on November 18 proposed reforms to its rules to lay the foundation for integrating the rapid growth of variable energy resources into the power grid. The proposal would allow more efficient integration of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and hydrokinetics into the grid while maintaining reliability. For more information, read the FERC press release.

SOLAR ENERGY

"Renewable Energy: Solar Thermal" provides an overview of solar thermal systems, describes how the technology can be used, and explains both the benefits of and potential barriers to its implementation. This article was written by Anne Vasquez and published in the November issue of Today’s Facility Manager.

NEWS

International energy management standard on the path to finalization
ISO 50001, an international energy management standard being put forth by the International Organization for Standardization, recently underwent one of the final steps necessary for adoption. Adoption will give participating countries and organizations a uniform global standard for the management of energy use by industrial plants, commercial facilities, and government institutions. ISO 50001 has the potential to significantly impact global energy use. The standard is expected to become final in mid-2011. For more information, read "Advancing on Schedule: ISO 50001 Shapes Up for a Summer Release" on the Alliance to Save Energy website.

Planning for ‘smart grid’ is underway in the Pacific Northwest
"Integrating Wind and Water Power, an Increasingly Tough Balancing Act," by Peter Behr, discusses the challenges faced by the Pacific Northwest in integrating various types of power into the grid system. In particular, the volatility of wind and hydropower will require a more sophisticated grid regulation system than is currently in place. The author quotes several utilities, industry, and policy representatives involved with the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project.

RESOURCES

Fall issue of Building E2 News now available
Building E2 News is the quarterly newsletter for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Building Technologies Program. This issue highlights the DOE Commercial Lighting Solutions Web tool and a new version of the EnergyPlus building energy flow simulator.

GRANTS AND FUNDING

Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers Program
NSF 10-595
Letter of Intent Deadline Date: January 2, 2011
Full Proposal Deadline Date: March 6, 2011
The Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers (I/UCRC) program develops long-term partnerships among industry, academe, and government. The centers are catalyzed by a small investment from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and are primarily supported by industry center members, with NSF taking a supporting role in the development and evolution of the center. Each center is established to conduct research that is of interest to both the industry members and the center faculty.

Materials Processing and Manufacturing (MPM)
PD 10-1467
Full Proposal Window: January 15- February 15, 2011
The MPM program supports fundamental research on the interrelationship of materials processing, structure, performance and process control. Analytical, experimental, and numerical studies are supported covering processing methods such as molding, forging, casting, welding, hydroforming, composite layup, and other materials processing approaches. Emphasis is placed on environmentally benign manufacturing and virtual manufacturing.

UPCOMING EVENTS AND TRAININGS

Defining Your Biomass, Wastes and Low Grade Fuels Firing Program – What You Need to Consider for Enhanced Clean Energy
Webinar: Tuesday, December 7, 2010, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM PST
Biomass (woodchips, switch grass, animal waste) and Municipal solid wastes is a renewable and sustainable energy resource. This webinar is aimed at sharing users' experience with storing, handling, preparing, and using biomass and wastes. Cofiring and stand-alone projects as well as the basic considerations will be covered.

Fundamentals of Compressed Air (Level 1)
December 14, 2010, Wenatchee, WA
This is a 1-day introductory workshop designed to teach facility engineers, operators and maintenance staff how to achieve 15% - 25% cost savings through more effective production and use of compressed air.

Steam System Improvement Workshop
December 16, Roseburg, OR
The Steam System Improvement Workshop covers the operation of typical steam systems and discusses methods of system efficiency improvement. The one-day workshop is designed for end users – at the energy manager, steam system supervisor, engineer, and operations level – who have steam system responsibilities in industrial and institutional plants.

EXPO 2011: NW Food Manufacturing & Packaging Expo
January 16 – 19, 2011, Portland, Oregon
The Northwest Food Manufacturing & Packaging Expo (Expo) is considered the largest regional food processing expo in North America. The event offers industry relevant sessions with industry relevant information featuring high level speakers to encourage a broad based attendance by food processor company personnel. Two workshops will be offered as part of an energy track: Saving Energy Costs with Refrigeration Systems and Cool New Things in Refrigeration.

3rd Annual Northwest Industrial Energy Efficiency Summit
January 19, 2011, Portland, Oregon
The 2011 NW Industrial Energy Efficiency Summit, now in its third year, is the premier annual gathering of regional industrial leaders. You’ll leave the Summit with actionable, practical and successful strategies to control one of industry’s most important variable costs – energy.

Winery Wise Presents: Fundamentals of Compressed Air Systems
Tuesday, February 8, 7:30 AM – 6:30 PM, Kennewick, WA
Presented during the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers 2011 Annual Meeting (see page 13 of PDF for details)
Facility engineers, operators and maintenance staff, energy managers, and anyone interested in improving industrial compressed air system performance are invited to this one-day introductory course designed to teach attendees how to achieve 15 - 25% cost savings through more effective production and use of compressed air. Participants will learn how to calculate the energy cost of compressed air in their facility, improve compressed air system efficiency and reliability, identify inappropriate uses of compressed air, establish a baseline by which they can measure improvements in compressed air performance and efficiency, match system supply to actual production requirements for pressure and flow, find and fix leaks, establish a leak prevention program, and better control compressed air to improve productivity and profitability.

Pacific West Biomass Conference & Trade Show
January 10-12, 2011, Seattle, WA
The Pacific West BIOMASS Conference & Trade Show will connect the area’s current and future producers of biomass-derived electricity, industrial heat and power, and advanced biofuels with waste generators, aggregators, growers, municipal leaders, utility executives, technology providers, equipment manufacturers, investors, and policy makers. Tracks include: Electricity Generation, Industrial Process Heat & Power, Biorefining, and Biomass Project Development & Finance.

Process Safety Management Audits for Compliance and Continuous Safety Improvement
January 25-27, 2011, Madison, Wisconsin
Learn how to conduct high-performance, effective process safety management systems audits. The course will enable you to understand a range of approaches for conducting PSM compliance audits; assess and allocate required resources to conduct the audits; use proven strategies and techniques for executing effective PSM audits; turn your audit results into PSM program improvements; and continuously improve the reliability and deliverability of "cold" as a result of conducting a compliance audit.

Achieving Energy Cost Savings for Ammonia Refrigeration Systems
February 9-11, 2011, Madison, Wisconsin
In this course, you will enhance your ability to deliver energy savings back on the job by understanding factors that influence system energy efficiency and energy costs, identifying methods for improving system energy efficiency, developing and action plan, and validating your efficiency improvements.

WEBINAR: Fundamentals of Compressed Air (Level 1); Four-Part Series
February 28 - March 21, 2011
This Web-based version of the popular Fundamentals of Compressed Air Systems training uses an interactive format that enables the instructor to diagram examples, give pop quizzes and answer students’ questions in real time. The curriculum will be organized into four 2-hour sessions: Introduction, Why Care About Air and Study Your Supply Side; Understand Your Demands & Are You On Base; Controls; and Maintain Systems Efficiency, Get with the Plan and Summary- Evaluation.

MORE TRAININGS IN INDUSTRIAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY

For a listing of other upcoming industrial energy efficiency trainings, visit the following websites:

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