earth energy Solutions GROUP

… revealing and resolving the economics of energy efficiency

Tag Archives: Technology


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earth energy Group shares another energy efficiency tip to reduce expenses

Did you know you could be paying different rates for your electricity and / or natural gas in the same day?

Many utilities charge for Peak hours and Non-Peak hours based upon demand.

Take a look at your power bills or phone your Utility to learn when and if the rates changed.

Based upon what you learn MODIFY your use of Peak time energy as at all possible.

This simple strategy can mean hundreds or thousands of dollars each month.

Today’s Energy Efficiency Tip by your Energy Specifiers at earth energy Solutions GROUP.

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Why must businesses be so detailed, aware and willing to change to energy efficiency?

As the world turns, so must change, opportunity, growth, the unexpected, surprising new found technologies and very achievable solutions to more effectively managing energy consumption.

In simple terms, being more energy efficient reduces energy spend; puts money back into the bottom line for … You name it; what isn’t your company accomplishing due to reduced revenue and inadequate operating funds?

If you do not fully agree it is achievable, I suggest you have not been exposed to accurate data.  Not surprising as time is such a premium commodity and the fast changes represent a challenge in prioritizing how man-hours are allocated.  Consider outsourcing within the US where the applicable and required knowledge exists in abundance.  Beware of the typical ‘wanna be’ that is just getting into the ‘game’ minus the required knowledge to qualify or certify as an Energy Specifier.  This is not new, just relatively unknown; isn’t it always relative?

For over 40 years it was publicly announced and supported while equally ridiculed and remains highly debated today that we humans are causing environmental damage.  The term “Global Warming” equally debated and now we are embracing a more acceptable term “Climate Change” which is getting more attention.  Why are the first six months of 2012 in the books as the very hottest in recorded history?

So, it is our obligation to ‘fix it’, slowly stop and eventually reverse the negative effects we have shrouded over our planet earth.  We are turning around the perceived slow acceptance and strong reservations for businesses to search out the knowledge of current technology, proven energy (and CO2) reduction Case Studies along with accurate data on their own energy consumption since the Government in 2005 initiated energy efficiency incentives is changing. It also, as written, expires in 2013 if not sooner.

Businesses have been forced through the environmental and economic trends over the past four years to stand up, take notice and do something about it.  There are, and have been for decades, very reliable energy management / control products and services available.  They were and remain extremely resourceful in managing the largest of businesses in the US.

Small business now has a plethora of viable and sustainable alternatives to operate on a tighter budget and do it more effectively than pre-2008.  Further, the fabric of these alternative energy efficient solutions and the research and reporting guidance constitutes the education required for decision makers to conclude very comfortable and informed plans.

Facilities Managers are faced with automation and many feel threatened.  Instead, embrace the additional resources available to do a more effective job for your Employer or Contractor. Think and act outside the ‘traditional box’ you have worked in; the realm of sustainability requires an open mind and willingness to search out the impossible and deploy it.

The results are too effective to continue ignoring ‘what if’ and now is the time to get the facts and make sustainable decisions.  If you need direction, reach out to us … we serve our purpose.

… CSea Perkins, “mitigate indecision with accurate knowledge”

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earth energy Group sending grandious Birthday gratitude to America and all Patriots

Give Thanks for our Independence by Honoring our Troops for all of us Citizens having Freedom and Independence in these the United States of America. 

“We the people” choose to be responsible for our independence and that of future generations.

Receive, Believe and Achieve

At earth energy Solutions Group we foster a culture of honor, respect, loyalty and integrity.  We CELEBRATE our Clients’ reduction in CO2 and energy spend and all businesses that understand the benefits to their financial health and are doing something about it. We embrace and share more ways to honor our purpose through education and implementation which leads to a growing economic and environmental Independence.

“If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.”
…Henry Ford

If you take advantage of everything America has to offer, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish.  …Geraldine Ferraro

Relief of debt and energy consumption must coexist in a more unconventional way in order to lead toward sustainability and independence from foreign oil.
.. Christian Perkins

Sometimes people call me an idealist.  Well, that is the way I know I am an American.  America is the only idealistic nation in the world.  …Woodrow Wilson

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.  … Elmer Davis

earth energy Solutions GROUP and many businesses now have additional justification to take a serious look at reducing monthly energy spend through the properly designed LED lighting retrofit. 


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earth energy Group does building benchmarking and more to save you money

Responsible Steps Achieve Reduced Energy Spend

earth energy Solutions GROUP is doing the ‘grunt’ work most small businesses do not have the time or resources to devote; specifically related to the facilities within your organizations. We use Energy Star Portfolio Manager which is free to all businesses in the US (Canada by next year)

However, we are finding that ~6,000 buildings are Energy Star quality of the billions of office space in the US.  Many that have come to us for assistance simply do not know the alternatives available to them and don’t really want to figure it out themselves.

Compare the cost to take on the Portfolio Manager in-house vs. outsourcing to experienced Energy Specifiers, like earth energy Solutions GROUP or another highly skilled ESCO.  Regardless, you have a choice and need to act upon it urgently to mitigate rising energy spend.

  • Obtain Reliable Accurate Data from every Utility
  • Recover any billing errors and future savings from Utilities
  • Bid out Energy Efficiency Solutions, equipment and services
  • Guaranteed Energy Savings
  • Financing options, rebates and incentives
  • CO2 Reduction, improved Carbon Footprint
  • Extended Energy Management, Proper, Safe Recycling

energy efficiency reduced energy spend

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earth energy Group debates LED Lighting indecision with business owners

… especially in our Schools and Government Buildings.  OK, I stand corrected, every building with occupants.

When will intelligence, practicality and sustainability win over ignorance?  I’ve often heard that the definition of ignorance is taking a firm stand on something you know little or nothing about.  In today’s economic climate we cannot afford to take this position.  Does it make sense to stand strong on something that causes your business to lose even more money?

Are you aware that LED Lighting upgrades alone can reduce your entire energy bill from 10-16% or more and you can pay for the upgrades through the savings alone?  A wonderful byproduct of this action is reducing the CO2 and other toxic emissions (like PCB’s and mercury) and pollution inside and outside of the buildings.  Being Green may not be ‘your thing’ but it adds to your longevity regardless.

It is no wonder business owners today find it daunting to make decisions about retrofitting or replacing their lighting, upgrading their HVAC, placing reflective surfaces on the roof or leveraging geothermal technology.

Then we face rapid technological improvements, the Government ‘telling us’ we have to make a change by reducing energy consumption (which makes more sense than most policy decisions) along with little or no working capital available. How dare they?

This panic over the potential cost of doing business can easily be avoided with a bit of education and it need not ‘cost you’.

TIP … Analyze Cost vs. Price.  Cost over the lifetime of the energy efficient improvements begin to make sense.  The ROI (your actual return on the investment) and reality of saving money immediately as opposed to spending more than necessary for less quality, toxic exposure and health compromise which all cost the business money.

Sounds simple and it can be if you become properly educated on the economics of energy efficiency within your own facilities.

IT IS ALL ABOUT PERCEPTION,  we do not know what we do not know.  That can be very expensive at times.

Sometimes a helping hand creates a comfortable decision

Consider accepting a helping hand from earth energy Solutions Group to prove your expense reduction options.


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earth energy Group supports Good Energy Management through Energy Star Tools

EnergyStar leading energy efficiencyKnowing the facts about your energy consumption opens up the door to corrective measures that reduce your annualized energy spend.  Allow earth energy Solutions GROUP to uncover the inefficiencies and readily design a plan with corrective measures with on demand and automatic monitoring.

Reducing your energy spend while improving clean air, health and safety standards, inside and out.

ENERGY STAR Reveals 3 Findings About Energy Waste

and

earth energy Solutions GROUP offers Energy Cost Avoidance

ENERGY STAR reveals three key findings about energy waste in US organizations.

  1. Energy waste is widespread among organizations, regardless of type—commercial, education, and government entities are equally guilty of wasting energy.
  2. There is a 400% variation in building energy use in the United States. Statistically, this variation is not explained by factors such as weather, hours of operation, age of the building, technology, or square footage.
  3. Although “building components are 30% more efficient since 1980,” there has been little improvement of overall energy consumption. Buildings have become more efficient, but not less wasteful.

Source: Good Energy Management is Good Business, www.energystar.gov.

###

Comments of the American Council for an Energy-­‐Efficient Economy
on
The Clean Energy Standard Act of 2012, S. 2146

ENERGY EFFICIENT ECONOMY regulatory-comments-on-CES-S2146 <– click to open document

Submitted to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Steven Nadel, Executive Director
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
Washington, DC
May 17, 20 12

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Energy Conservation vs. Energy Efficiency: What’s the Difference?

The OPEC oil embargo and related energy shortages and gas lines in the 1970s…

The President of the United States sitting in a cardigan asking all Americans to turn down their thermostats and industries to run factories at partial capacity…being somewhat less comfortable…

Sacrificing…

These are such graphic images of energy and national security in the American consciousness that they often are the first thoughts that come to mind when the words “energy conservation” are heard.

But energy efficiency is a far cry from the energy conservation images and practices of old – of doing with less or doing without, of being uncomfortable or less comfortable. Not unlike the tremendous technological strides on the computer, electronics, and other fronts, energy efficiency takes advantage of advances in technology to provide significantly better, smarter services.

Energy efficiency means:

  • Using advanced and state-of-the-art technologies to provide better quality energy services      with less energy.
  • Getting the most productivity from every unit of energy.
  • Getting the desired energy services — comfortable homes, profitable businesses, convenient      transportation — with less energy use, less air pollution, and lower total cost.
  • Using energy wisely.
  • Eliminating energy waste.
  • Using technology to easily reduce energy use without having to daily “remember” to do it yourself

Energy efficiency means getting more in columns A and B below for less in column C.

Column A Column B Column C
comfort productivity money
heating affordability pollution
quality performance energy
jobs cooling hassle
lighting control waste

Energy efficiency is a valuable resource that creates a win-win solution on multiple fronts. One action = five major consumer and societal benefits. It saves consumers money, increases comfort, protects the environment, enhances the economy, and promotes national security.

When energy efficiency is combined with smart energy practices — like turning off lights, TVs computers, and electronics, that you’re not using — all of the benefits above are compounded.

http://ase.org/resources/energy-conservation-vs-energy-efficiency-whats-difference

earth energy Solutions GROUP is a proud and active Energy Star Partner.  Allow us to put you into the same standing … for free.


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Lightbulb comparison, calculate cost of LED vs Incandescent vs CFL vs MH vs HPS

CFLs have toxins; consider nontoxic LEDsearth energy Solutions GROUP recommends that all businesses (residents as well) know the cost over time between newer energy efficient lighting technology vs what we have known and used for a Century.

Patrick Mullins has for a decade been comparing such costs and incorporates the CO2 reduction in addition to cost savings over time.

The higher lumens offer better light; no toxins make them more desirable in all environments; their recyclability is all moving toward sustainability.  Oh, the reduced (diminished) maintenance expenses related with replacements go away.

The old inefficient lighting is not banned but why would you not leverage safer long term measures and be able to save money while reducing the toxic carbon released into our atmosphere?

We encourage your responses to that question.

Check out Pat’s CALCULATOR and decide yourself or give us a call at earth energy Solutions GROUP to help you make sense of it all.

KNOW your actual energy consumption and allow us to show you numerous alternatives to reducing your consumption and operating costs…  We do that for you at no charge.


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Be the difference in your Community, create Negawatts through energy efficiency

Thank you earth energy Solutions GROUP for participating in U.S. EPA’s January 18th webcast on “Making an Impact on Energy Use in Your Community: EPA’s Green Power Communities and Local Climate and Energy Program.” You are receiving this email because you indicated in our exit survey that you would like to learn more about our Climate Showcase Communities Program.

EPA’s Climate Showcase Communities Program helps local and tribal governments pilot innovative, cost-effective, and replicable community-based greenhouse gas reduction projects. Your community can learn from these pilot projects and replicate their successes.

There are 50 Climate Showcase Communities across the U.S. that represent a range of cities, towns, and tribal governments. These projects can help communities become more energy efficient and save consumers money through creative energy production, residential and commercial energy efficiency, waste management, transportation, and land use projects.

Each community is testing an innovative climate mitigation strategy. EPA awarded $20 million in grant funding to these 50 pilot communities, and provides peer exchange, training, and technical support to all communities interested in replicating Climate Showcase Community projects.

All communities can take action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution—and improve people’s health and quality of life by reducing air pollution, making communities more walkable, and reducing energy bills at the same time.

To learn what your community can do, visit: www.epa.gov/climateshowcase

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Key Energy Saving Activities for Smaller Facilities Webcast on Jan 10

U.S. Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Advanced Manufacturing Office

Join us for a webinar on January 10

Space is limited.
Reserve your webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/453056753

Many small- to medium-sized manufacturers do not have the access to the resources and capital that larger corporations enjoy. This webcast will focus on key energy-saving activities that small- to medium-sized manufacturers can implement in their facilities. The webcast, featuring Richard Feustal of Briggs & Stratton and an Industrial Assessment Center representative, will highlight strategies such as implementing no-cost energy saving measures, such as turning off machines and shutting down process operations when not needed; targeting “low-hanging” fruit; and building a business case for projects that require capital.

Title: Tuesday Webcast for Industry: Key Energy-Saving Activities for Smaller Facilities
Date: Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.5 or newer
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Seeking Patriots with energy experience

As earth energy Solutions GROUP grows so does the need for qualified Electrical Technicians, Engineers and Energy Efficiency Experts.

If you are searching for a home with integrity and purpose, a place that recognizes “business as usual” is NOT what America needs, consider joining us to make a substantial difference in the lives of others.

We champion the Energy Efficiency movement with our end users throughout the United States by analyzing their current and projected energy use.  Together we then determine what energy efficiency measures are practical for each end user.

We implement only the sustainable solutions, unique to each end user.

Please submit your BIO to Analysis@eeSGroup.US for consideration.


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earth energy Solutions watching Organic LED closely

European OLED100.eu research project celebrates successful conclusion
28 Nov 2011
A three-year OLED research project has ended with the demonstration of large-area lighting panels.
OLED100.eu, an integrated European research project to accelerate the development of organic LEDs (OLED)technology in Europe, has come to an end. The project received EUR12.5 million funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme and had an overall budget of EUR19.95 million. The program ran from September 1, 2008 to August 31, 2011.

As part of its overall goal of increasing the energy efficiency and lifetime of OLEDs for large-area lighting applications, the program partners demonstrated a large-area OLED luminaire that consists of nine 33×33 cm2OLED tiles.Fifteen companies and research institutes from six European countries (see below) have been working for the past three years to bring OLEDs closer to market introduction in general-lighting applications.

The OLED100.eu consortium has focused on five goals: increasing luminous efficacy; increasing lifetime; increasing the light-emitting area; reducing manufacturing cost by optimized processes; and measurement standardization based on application research.

Key results

The OLED100.eu consortium has demonstrated a number of significant results during its three-year lifespan, including:

• High-efficiency (60 lm/W) OLEDs based on Novaled’s PIN OLED technology and out-coupling materials;

• Long-lifetime (100,000-hr) OLEDs, comparable to inorganic LEDs

• Perception case studies on taste and acceptance of OLEDs as light source

• Industrialization scenarios and cost calculation of manufacturing processes with an emphasis on cost-efficient technologies like screen printing for substrate structuring

• Work on standardization of measurement procedures for OLEDs, which now serve as basis for work of the International Commission on Illumination (CIE).

Large-area OLED luminaire

The large-area OLED luminaire demonstrated by OLED100.eu contains 33×33 cm2 with a total light-emitting area of 828 cm2, and has an optimized luminance distribution for applications in shop lighting.

The drive voltage and current are 45V and 250 mA, respectively, and the luminance is 1000 cd/m2. The efficacy is 27 lm/W, and the lifetime is 10,000 hr (time to reach 50% of initial luminance).“The OLED100.eu research consortium has played a vital part in ensuring that Europe will play a leading role in OLED technology for lighting applications also in the future,” said Stefan Grabowski, senior scientist at Philips Research Aachen and project manager of OLED100.eu.

“The results of OLED100.eu will contribute to further increase the acceptance of OLED technology,” said Karsten Diekmann, who is responsible for OLED product and application development at Osram. “In the project we gained a better understanding of end-user preferences, a better comparability through standardized measurement procedures, and better OLEDs.”

Christian May, head of business unit OLED lighting at COMEDD, said: “The work to achieve the challenging goals of the OLED 100.eu project brought us to a higher level of our COMEDD pilot process line. We are really proud of the 33 x 33 cm2 large OLED panels, which are one of the largest worldwide and made at our pilot process line.”

OLED100.eu partners:

• Bartenbach LichtLabor GmbH, Austria
• European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC), France
• Evonik Degussa GmbH, Germany
• Fraunhofer Institut für Photonische Mikrosysteme (IPMS), Germany
• Microsharp Corporation Limited, UK
• Novaled AG, Germany
• Océ Technologies B.V., The Netherlands
• Osram, Germany
• Philips Technologie GmbH, Business Center OLED Lighting – Lumiblade, Germany
• Philips Technologie GmbH Forschungslaboratorien, Germany
• Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Germany
• Saint-Gobain Recherche S.A., France
• Siemens AG, Germany
• Technische Universität Dresden, Institut für Angewandte Photophysik (IAPP), Germany
• Universiteit Gent, Belgium
About the Author
Tim Whitaker is the Editor of LEDs Magazine.
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Learn How; Around the Building Technologies Program

Implementation of the ENERGY STAR® Commercial Kitchen Package

When: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. ET
Online registration
Summary: Strategies to implement EPA’s ENERGY STAR Commercial Kitchen Package in the retail and food service sectors will be presented. Participants will learn about the energy and cost-savings benefits and recommendations to successfully achieve them.
Speaker: Una Song, Program Manager, ENERGY STAR Program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Designing and Modeling HVAC Systems with SystemOutliner

When: Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 3:00 p.m. ET
Online registration
Summary: SystemOutliner, a new tool in the OpenStudio application suite used to design and model HVAC systems by leveraging the power of EnergyPlus, will be discussed. Key user features will be highlighted, including the assembly of custom HVAC systems through a drag-and-drop interface and rapid modeling of common HVAC system types using built-in templates. SystemOutliner, developed at NREL, is designed to complement the more mature, geometry-focused features of OpenStudio. The speaker will also demonstrate how to integrate this new tool into the OpenStudio workflow.
Speaker: Kyle Benne, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
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