More“The Trane PACT program has reduced our electric bill by one-third,” said Jim Jonas, executive vice president of the American Center. “The local utility sent a representative to check the accuracy of our property’s electric meters. They found the meters working properly. The large electrical savings were a direct result of the Trane PACT program.”
Trane guarantees that the site will continue to see at least $621,000 annual energy and operational savings for the next 10 years.
The American Center is more than 25 years old. Its aging systems caused high utility costs. Trane made several changes in the building. First, the lighting was retrofitted. Next, two 640-ton CenTraVac™ chillers were installed for cooling efficiency. Trane replaced electric boilers with six gas-fired modular high efficiency boilers. Extensive piping work was required to replace the electric baseboard heat with hot water radiation. Trane updated the building’s air distribution system and retrofitted the domestic water pumping system. Finally, a Trane Tracer Summit™ building automation system was installed to provide better environmental control.
Washington-Based LinkUp
Gaining Recycling Members
KING COUNTY, WA — MetaMorf, an ecodesign firm that uses 100% recycled consumer plastic to create stylized, durable and functional chairs, benches, tables and other accessories, is the newest member in the Kent (King?) County LinkUp program.
MetaMorf, with studios in Seattle and Portland, uses recycled plastic sheeting made from such common household items as milk jugs, shampoo bottles and food containers to create its colorful furniture line. The company creates its own tools and equipment to mold, twist and bend the plastic. MetaMorf will soon produce its furniture on a larger scale.
The LinkUp program encourages businesses and manufacturers to incorporate more recycled materials into their products. The King County Commission for Marketing Recyclable Materials sponsors the program. A team of specialists offers free information, technical expertise and promotional assistance to eligible businesses throughout Puget Sound.
15% Of Colorado Homes
Meet Built Green Standards
DENVER, CO — In 2001, 15% of the new homes built in Colorado will meet the standards to Built Green Colorado, a voluntary program launched in 1995 that encourages energy and resource efficient home-building practices.
“By the close of 2002, we expect that 10,000 Colorado homes will have been built to the standards of Built Green Colorado,” said Built Green Colorado Program Director Kim Calomino. Those homes will have a total market value of $2.5 billion.
Recently, the state’s largest privately owned home building company, Village Homes, announced that all of its homes will meet the Built Green standards. Built Green stresses environmentally sensible home building practices that improve energy efficiency, cut pollution, reduce water usage, improve air quality, preserve natural resources and reduce maintenance and operating costs.
Roger Reinhardt, executive vice president of the Home Building Association of Metro Denver said, “What we are experiencing is a shift in the culture of home building in Colorado. One day we believe that virtually every home in the state will be built to Built Green Colorado standards.”
One such community of Built Green Colorado homes is the Spirit Gulch development in Douglas County. Spirit Gulch has 114 sites ranging from 1.5 to 3 acres. The master plan calls for: sod on no more than 15% of each home site; each site to abut open space; wildlife corridors to accommodate native fox, deer and antelope; no gates or fences; and more than half of the space in the development to be dedicated to natural landscape.
“What happens when the dust settles is homeowners will live in a community that does not look disturbed,” said Ken Nakari, vice president of Sunshine Land and Development Co., developer of Spirit Gulch.
USG, Lencore Acoustics
Form Strategic Alliance
CHICAGO — USG Corp. and Lencore Acoustics Corp. have formed a strategic alliance to give architects and builders the ability to specify Leconre’s sound-masking systems with all USG acoustical ceilings.
Designed to reduce noise in both open and closed offices, Lencore sound-masking systems offers a means of enhancing employee productivity, efficiency and morale. They introduce an unobtrusive, ambient background noise into offices and other areas through special speakers installed just above the ceiling panels. The systems render speech unintelligible to those outside the vicinity while reducing interference from distracting sounds. The sound level can be adjusted to suit a variety of conditions.
Metallic Power Ships Its
Zinc/Air Fuel Cells For Testing
CARLSBAD, CA — Metallic Power, a developer of zero-emission, regenerative zinc/air fuel cells, has shipped the first of its 1.5kW portable sources for test and evaluation by a number of the company’s collaborators.
“This shipment represents another important milestone for Metallic Power as it is the first delivery of what we believe will be one of the most important power solutions of the future,” said Jeffrey Colborn, president and CEO of Metallic Power. “While still in its infancy, this technology offers a number of advantages over existing power sources: high efficiency; superior energy density; automatic regeneration of the fuel; cost-effective design; and near-silent operation so it can be used indoors.”
Zinc/air fuel cell-based products are rapidly refuelable (renewable?) power sources that use recyclable zinc fuel to provide emission-free electricity for a variety of purposes. Metallic Power’s zinc/air system does not require a high-pressure or high-temperature operating environment. Plus, zinc does not require costly fuel reformers.
Metallic Power will continue its preliminary field trials through the end of this year. Applications that are being tested include portable power; emergency backup for computers, networks and telecommunications equipment; and vehicular power.
Karl Stum Earns Benner Award
For Commissioning Excellence
DENVER — Karl Stum received the Benner Award for Commissioning Excellence at this year’s National Conference of Building Commissioning (NCBC.) The award honors the memory of Nancy Benner, founder of the NCBC.
Stum, a senior engineer with CH2M HILL’s Facility Services Group, was instrumental in the global and regional coordination and implementation of building commissioning services. His work has focused on developing and disseminating new and improved concepts and techniques for building commissioning services.
For example, Stum has delivered technical and programmatic commissioning services to utility, public sector and private sector initiatives that promote commissioning across the United States. He also designed commissioning requirements integrated into the US Green Building Council’s LEED certification program.
Natural Gas Air Conditioning
Can Reduce Electric Demands
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Systems that integrate natural gas air conditioning with electric equipment can offer the biggest rewards to energy consumers, according to American Gas Cooling Center Executive Director Anthony J. Occhionero.
“By installing natural gas air conditioning equipment, … facilities can achieve 25% or better reductions in their peak electric demand,” Occhionero said. “Hospitals, office buildings and commercial facilities around the country are successfully employing natural gas cooling for peak demand reduction and energy cost savings.
Adding to the appeal of natural gas air conditioning is the fact that many types of natural gas cooling equipment can be driven by “waste” heat generated by central steam boilers or by customer-sited power generation technologies such as microturbines and fuel cells.
“By recovering thermal energy and combining cooling, heating, power equipment in innovative ways, system efficiencies can more than double,” said Occhionero. “In applications such as data centers, with huge electrical and cooling needs, the combination of on-site power generation and natural gas cooling can obviate the need for the otherwise significant electric utility investment in generation and transmission facilities to serve such loads.”
Study Finds White Roofs
Help To Save Cooling Energy
FORT MEYERS, FL — Florida Power & Light sponsored a test project in cooperation with Habitat for Humanity of Lee County to compare the impact of roofing systems on residential cooling energy demand in Florida. The study confirmed that white roofing tiles reflect more heat than dark gray roofing tiles.
The study showed that dark gray roofs reflect 8% of the heat associated with sunlight, while the white shingle and terra cotta roofs reflect 25 and 34%, respectively. White concrete tile roofs and metal roofs provided the greatest savings, reflecting 66-77% of the sun’s heat.
Homeowners living in a 1,770-square-foot home could save 20% of their annual cooling costs if they had a white profile tile on their roof and 17% if they had a white flat roof.
All of the homes in the study were the same size and were operated identically to ensure the study’s accuracy. Six homes were studied. The following roofing tile colors were used: white profile tile, white flat tile, terra cotta profile tile, dark gray shingles, white asphalt shingles and white galvanized metal.
Cemstone Products, Reward Unite,
Plan To Expand Construction Markets
OMAHA, NB — Cemstone Products Co. Inc. of Minneapolis and Reward Wall Systems Inc. of Omaha have reached an agreement under which Cemstone will market and distribute Reward’s insulating concrete forms (ICFs) exclusively. The two companies have nearly 90 years of combined construction experience and say they plan to expand the construction market.
“Cemstone will inventory the complete line of Reward products and has permanently employed two ICF specialists to grow and educate both professionals and non-professionals in our market,” said Thor Becken, Cemstone president. “This is simply one more step we are taking to provide a superior level of value to our customers.”
Cemstone General Manager Patrick Kinsel said, “The ICF industry has been growing significantly in this country. After our recent, thorough review of all the ICF manufacturers at this year’s World of Concrete, we determined Reward to be the most dynamic of all the ICF producers. Not only does Reward provide top-of-the-line ICF products, it also provides the industry’s leading service and support.”
OSB Makes The Most From Wood,
Making It Responsible Product
TORONTO, ONTARIO — Oriented Strand Board (OSB) is made from wood strands bonded into panels with water-resistant adhesives.
“Compared to other non-engineered wood products, OSB has the highest yield from wood, which means it makes the most use out of the wood fiber and is an appropriate product for green buildings,” said Reg Sharpe, technical and marketing representative of the Structural Board Association. “Consumers don’t have to pay more for an environmentally sound structural panel because OSB makes the most of the environment at manufacturing prices that are the most competitive for consumers.”
OSB is made from fast-growing, small diameter trees that can be harvested from plantations, avoiding the need for cutting old-growth trees. OSB is made from renewable resources that can be managed for environmental purposes. All parts of a log are cut into strands for reprocessing into boards. Leftover particles and bark are used to fuel on-site energy systems of manufacturing plants.
J&J Industries Increases Its
Carpet’s Recycled Content
DALTON, GA — J&J Industries has increased its carpet’s recycled content from 15%to a minimum of 25% in its nylon fiber Encore R SD Ultima®. This is the second increase in recycled content since the inception of Encore SD Ultima in July 1999.
Other features of the carpet include a lifetime fiber performance warranty for stain removal, colorfastness, wear, and static protection; and eligibility for J&J’s carpet reclamation program.
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