earth energy Solutions applauds DOE shift to energy saving lighting products
January 24, 2012
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released a report that documents the increased adoption of energy-efficient lighting products in the United States over the last decade. The 2010 U.S. Lighting Market Characterization examines the current conditions and broad trends in the U.S. lighting market, broken down by technology and sector.
The report also details specific products, including comprehensive and detailed estimates of the national inventory of installed lighting products, as well as their performance characteristics, associated energy use, and lumen production – a measure of brightness. The report helps chart progress made toward the goal of transitioning to more energy-efficient lighting technologies across four sectors: residential buildings, commercial buildings, industrial buildings, and outdoor applications.
The study shows that in 2010, lighting used approximately 700 terawatt-hours (TWh), or nearly19% of the electricity produced in the United States. Of the total energy used for lighting, the commercial sector consumed nearly half, or 349 TWh, primarily with fluorescent lighting products. While there are nearly 6 billion light bulbs installed in the residential sector, far more than the approximately 2 billion lamps in the commercial buildings sector, the mostly incandescent residential lamps were not used nearly as much per day, on average, as lights in the commercial sector.
Improve energy efficiency in U.S. industrial facilities with $3M from DOE
Program aims to improve energy efficiency in U.S. industrial facilities, spur global competitiveness
January 19, 2012
The Department of Energy (DOE) today announced up to $3 million to administer DOE’s Superior Energy Performance (SEP) program that will help American manufacturers continually increase the energy efficiency of their domestic facilities, boost their global competitiveness, and create jobs. The funding will support at least one organization to launch, operate, and promote the SEP program. When launched later this year, the voluntary program will provide a transparent, step-by-step certification process to help industrial and commercial facilities implement and validate improvements in their energy performance and reduce their energy costs.
The SEP program will be a key component of DOE’s efforts to improve energy efficiency throughout the nation’s manufacturing sector. The SEP Program Administrator selected for funding through this solicitation will be responsible for launching and overseeing the program during its initial stages. The administrator will develop and execute a sustainable business model to enable SEP to become a fee-based, self-sufficient program within three years of the award.
The SEP Program will address several fundamental challenges that energy managers face within both the industrial and commercial sectors. The program aims to improve awareness of energy efficiency opportunities within companies across both sectors, develop consistent models to evaluate the business merits of competing opportunities, foster commitments to energy efficiency from company leadership, and provide guidance to implement energy-saving upgrades. There are currently 35 companies in 20 states addressing these challenges by participating in SEP industrial demonstration projects. Eight SEP commercial pilot facilities have also been established to test the SEP program elements and overall scheme.
The funding is expected to be awarded to at least one entity over a period of up to three years and will be subject to an annual performance review to evaluate progress toward meeting program goals and deliverables. Eligible applicants for this funding opportunity include U.S. domestic entities or consortia composed of academic institutions, non-profits [except 501(c)(4) non-profits] and for-profit private entities.
For more information and application requirements, please visit the Funding Opportunity Exchange website. Letters of intent in connection with this opportunity are due February 21, 2012. Applications will be accepted through 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on March 21, 2012. DOE anticipates notifying applicants selected for awards by May 2012 and making awards by June 2012.
DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy invests in clean energy technologies that strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil. Learn more about how DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office is working to identify, explore, develop, demonstrate, and deploy new, energy-efficient processes, products and materials that can help U.S. manufacturers secure a competitive advantage in the global economy.
Winning Energy Efficient Light Bulb — What to Expect in 2012
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is offering a webinar on Wednesday, January 18, from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. EST, titled “The L Prize-Winning LED A19 Replacement—What Commercial Building Owners and Operators Can Expect in 2012.” Register now to attend this free webinar. Light emitting diode (LED) light bulbs are energy-saving lighting choices available today to replace some of the most inefficient incandescent bulbs.
In this webinar, Kelly Gordon of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will present an update on the status of LED A19 light bulb options for commercial businesses, provide an overview of DOE’s Bright Tomorrow Lighting Prize (L Prize) competition, and discuss the winning bulb. Todd Manegold, director of LED Lamps Marketing at Philips Lighting, will outline the best applications for the winning bulb in commercial settings, Philips’ plans for commercial distribution, and a financial calculator showing expected cost and payback.
In August, 2011, DOE named Philips Lighting North America as the first winner of the L Prize competition in the 60-watt replacement bulb category, one of the most widely used lighting types. Philips developed a highly efficient LED product to meet the rigorous requirements of the L Prize competition—ensuring that performance, quality, lifetime, cost, and availability met expectations for widespread adoption and mass manufacturing.
The winning Philips product excelled through rigorous short-term and long-term performance testing carried out by independent laboratories and field assessments conducted with utilities and other partners.
DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy invests in clean energy technologies that strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil. Learn more about DOE’s support of research and development of energy-efficient lighting, and visit our Energy Savers lighting choices website to start saving money by saving energy.
Join the clean energy conversation on Facebook at DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and Energy Savers pages.
earth energy Solutions supports local Community energy conservation actions
Webinar – Making an Impact on Energy Use in Your Community
January 18, 2012, 1:00 – 2:15 pm Eastern Time
EPA’s Green Power Partnership and State and Local Climate and Energy Program will co-host a webinar to highlight how municipalities from around the country are leveraging EPA programs to reduce the impacts of their communities’ energy use. EPA program managers will discuss the Green Power Community and Climate Showcase Communities programs as well as the tools and resources these programs offer participating communities. Representatives from two EPA Green Power Communities — Washington, DC and Corvallis, Oregon — will present information on their Green Power Community experience; Corvallis will also discuss its Climate Showcase activities.
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How to Evaluate Light Sources; LED or not to LED
Electrical Contractor recently published an article by Craig DiLouie about a simple methodology for evaluating light sources based on a basic series of questions:
• What is the distribution of the light? Distribution is measured in candelas (cd).
• How long does the lamp last? Service life is measured in hours.
• How much light does it produce? Light output is measured in lumens (Lm).
• How much electric power does the system require? Power is measured in watts (W).
• How efficient is it compared to others? Efficacy is measured in lumens per watt (LPW).
• What is the color appearance of the source? Color tone is measured in kelvins (K).
• How well does the source render colors? Color rendering is expressed on the color rendering index (CRI).
Check it out here.
Posted on December 20, 2011, 6:19 AM, by Craig DiLouie, under Craig’s Electrical Contractor Articles, Education + Resources, Lighting Design.
Image courtesy of Peter Ngai.
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