Four leading industry voices took the time to talk with the
NAESCO newsletter staff about their advocacy priorities.
NAESCO posed the following questions:
2. What do you see as the key
policy failures of the Energy Independence and Security Act of
2007 and do you see any possibilities in 2008 to enact any of
the policy provisions that for one reason or another did not
make it into the final version of the bill?
We hope that a follow-up bill will be passed in 2008, when the
new president is likely to be more amenable to efficiency than the
current one. We are advocating that stronger provisions on
building codes be offered, empowering DOE to assist states with
funding and with technical information to adopt and implement more
stringent energy codes. Through climate bills, we are
advocating that states be required to implement strong codes in
order to receive emissions allowances.
3. Looking at the many state and
regional efficiency action plans in place or under development,
where does your organization plan to spend the majority of its
time in 2008?
NAESCO has firmly established itself as the national voice of the
ESCO industry through its national and regional advocacy efforts.
NAESCO has taken a leadership role in working with the US Department
of Energy to accelerate the ESPC project award pipeline, encourage
federal streamlining efforts, and expand federal organizational
capabilities to support the expected expansion of ESPC investment at
federal facilities.
NAESCO works to ensure that state initiatives focus on creating
verifiable energy savings and stimulate industry market
opportunities. In 2007, NAESCO provided written testimony in NY, CA,
MA, TX, NC and NJ state proceedings and participated as a witness in
Senate hearings on green job opportunities. NAESCO has also
strengthened organizational ties with the ESC, NASEO, BOMA, the
FPCC, the Apollo Alliance, ACEEE, and the NEMA CBTD Coalition.
NAESCO also participated in the national coalition to enact a
federal Efficiency Performance Standard, and in the Apollo Alliance
Clean Energy Investment Task Force to develop policies for the
investment of potential carbon cap-and-trade revenues into energy
efficiency.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) recently issued a
new study entitled "Estimating Demand Response Load Impacts:
Evaluation of Baseline Load Models for Non-Residential Buildings in
California." This study analyzes the performance of different
baseline load profile (BLP) models for commercial buildings
participating in a demand response (DR) program. Accurate BLP
estimates help ensure that individual participants in DR programs
are fairly compensated as part of settlement procedures.
The U.S. Department of Energy announced in December 2007 the
establishment of regulations that require new Federal Buildings to
achieve at least 30% greater energy efficiency over prevailing
building codes. These standards apply to new federal
commercial, multi-family high-rise residential and low-rise
residential buildings designed for construction that began on or
after January 3, 2007.
Three key distinguishing features of the new regulations include
the following:
As part of its broad-based Sustainability Initiative, Yale
University has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 17% or 43,000
metric tons since 2005. Yale President Richard C. Levin said
an additional 17% reduction would be achieved over the next several
years as a number of projects, including a new cogeneration power
plant on the campus of the School of Medicine, are completed. Levin
said Yale expected to achieve its overall emissions reduction goal
of 43% by 2020 at a cost of as little as one-half of 1% of the
University's operating budget.
New ACEEE Study Says Information and Communications Technology
is Net Energy Saver By 10:1 Ratio Across Economy
A new study by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient
Economy (ACEEE) has found a direct correlation between gains in
energy productivity and investments in information and
communications technology. The report suggests that use of the
technology leads to a dramatic increase in energy efficiency and
is actually a net saver of energy by a 10:1 ratio across the
economy. Server virtualization and more efficient disk drive and
flash technologies are examples of IT energy efficiency.
Entitled, "Information and Communication Technologies: The
Power of Productivity," the ACEEE report was commissioned by the
Technology CEO Council. The study states that data for the past
37 years indicate that the pace of energy efficiency gains has
increased significantly since 1996. Whereas U.S. energy
intensity declined 1.8 percent per year between 1970 and 1995,
it declined at a much more rapid rate of 2.4 percent between
1996 and 2006. According to the authors of the report, it takes
less than half the energy to produce a dollar of economic output
today as it did in 1970. U.S. energy consumption per dollar of
economic output has declined from 18 thousand Btus in 1970 to
less than 9 thousand Btus by the end of 2008. The report states
that approximately 75 percent of the new demand for energy has
been met through energy efficiency. To view a copy of the
report, go to
www.techceocouncil.org.
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What's New and Noteworthy
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The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
joined Chevron Energy Solutions to unveil the transit agency's
latest contribution to energy efficiency and sustainability: the
largest solar panel installation at a single site within the U.S.
transit industry.
The 498-kilowatt (DC) system, comprising 1,632 individual solar
panels, is now installed on the roof of the Carson bus division's
maintenance facility and six parking lot carport structures. Metro
estimates that the solar panel system will generate 600,000
kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, enough green renewable power
to save the division nearly $17,000 per month, or $200,000 per year.
To help offset the $4.2 million cost of the installation, Metro
applied $1.82 million in previous Southern California Gas Co. and
the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power incentives from its
first solar panel project in the San Fernando Valley. Metro also
anticipates receiving from The Gas Company incentives of about $1.2
million associated with the Division 18 project, which will further
offset the cost. The project should pay for itself within 12 to 14
years.
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Pepco Energy Services announced that it has signed a three-year
contract with the Maryland Aviation Administration to provide
operation and maintenance services to the Baltimore/Washington
International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) and Martin State
Airport.
Under the contract, Pepco Energy Services will be responsible for
the operations, maintenance and repair of all central utility plant,
HVAC, and controls system assets serving the airports, in addition
to performing all fire/safety system testing on site.
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Custom Energy announced that it has been selected to perform
guaranteed energy saving projects at Penn State Abington, Penn State
Brandywine and Penn State Great Valley. These projects will
help the campuses replace aging equipment and infrastructure with
new, more energy-efficient solutions, while improving the quality of
the indoor environment for teaching and learning.
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The University of Rhode Island (URI) has selected NORESCO to
implement guaranteed energy savings agreements with an expected
value of more than $18 million. The agreements between URI and
NORESCO will provide long-term sustainable reductions in fossil fuel
use, operating costs, and greenhouse gas emissions. Construction is
already underway at the Kingston campus for projects totaling $4.4
million at the Memorial Union and the athletic complex, which
includes four buildings.
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Intellidyne, LLC, is helping Levittown, known as the nation's
first suburb, go green in celebration of its 60th birthday.
Intellidyne is contributing to a greener Levittown by offering its
microprocessor-based IntelliCon®-HW+
Hot Water Heating System Fuel Economizer to 50 Levittown households
at no cost. The new computer-based controls will provide
energy savings while ensuring the continued comfort of Levittown
residents.
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The city of Tulare has launched a pilot project with Johnson
Controls that involves installing 30 kw photovoltaic panels on a
city 20 space carport which is generating energy for the municipal
wastewater treatment plant. Johnson Controls has also
partnered with the city to develop a $10 million comprehensive
program of significant upgrades to the city's domestic water
infrastructure, along with expanded energy services and capital
improvements – all financed through operational and energy savings.
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HP announced two new energy-efficient business desktop PCs,
including the industry's first to feature a solid-state hard drive
(SSD), which offers improved reliability. Both PCs include a
variety of environmental features that allow them to meet the
environmental requirements of the Electronic Product Environmental
Assessment Tool (EPEAT™) Gold registry.
The dc7800 Ultra Slim Desktop is loaded with energy-efficient
features, including preloaded Verdiem SURVEYOR™ network power
management software agent. These features help customers
reduce processor heat and energy costs, as well as manage power and
sleep settings more efficiently to increase the useful life of the
PC.
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Mervyns LLC, headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area,
operates 173 stores in eight states, each store averages 80,000
square feet. Seeking to make the most of this retail space,
Mervyns partnered with SYLVANIA Lighting Services (SLS) to design,
specify and install state-of-the-art lighting systems throughout
stores, distribution centers and corporate headquarters.
The initial investment of the lighting project was $11.5 million.
With an anticipated savings of $6 million, Mervyns can expect a
simple payback in less than two years. Energy savings alone of
28,995,471 kWh per year equal a projected $4.3 million per year,
while utility rebates will save an estimated $1.2 million. As
a result of new equipment and exclusive SLS lamp and ballast
warranties, Mervyns will benefit from a projected annual maintenance
savings of $1.7 million. The reduced energy usage also allows
Mervyns to take advantage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 tax
benefit for an estimated tax savings of more than $2.9 million.
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Honeywell has announced that Poway Unified School District in San
Diego, Calif. has awarded the company a solar project that is
expected to save the district more than $1 million in energy costs
over the next 20 years. Under the agreement, Honeywell will install
solar arrays at four of the district's schools and sell the
electricity the panels produce to the district.
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The Knox County School System will save more than $700,000 in
energy costs annually while improving students' learning environment
through one of the largest energy efficiency projects ever
instituted by a public school system in the state of Tennessee.
The Knox County School System will reduce its carbon dioxide
emissions by 16,629,086 pounds, sulfur dioxide emissions by 100,250
pounds and oxide emissions by 28,796 pounds annually. These
statistics are equivalent to saving 2,910 trees, taking 15 cars off
the road and saving 2,612 gallons of gas annually.
Infrastructure improvements in the schools include lighting and
water system upgrades, building automation installations and
heating, ventilation and air conditioning system replacements. The
project will be funded entirely by leveraging guaranteed energy and
operating cost savings through a performance contracting project
with Trane.
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Johnson Controls upgraded the municipal facilities and improved
the accuracy of water meters for Laurel, Montana. It is expected
that the $1.7 million contract will save the city more than $97,000
in annual utility and operational expenses.
Johnson Controls also is providing energy upgrades for 12 city
buildings which include highly efficient lights, lighting controls,
programmable thermostats, an energy management control system,
improved insulation and a new boiler for city hall. Johnson
Controls worked with city leaders and financing firms to negotiate a
tax-exempt municipal lease to fund the projects. It is one of the
first performance contracts under the state of Montana's new
legislation.
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Thompson Health is implementing a range of energy efficiency
measures to reduce energy costs by $300,000 annually, reduce its
greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent, and improve the quality of
patient care. The project will improve the air quality in
operating rooms and patient rooms and keep the hospital comfortable
even in extremely hot weather. Investment costs will be fully
offset by energy savings and grants from NYSERDA and Rochester Gas
and Electric.
The project, scheduled to be completed in January, 2008, includes
installation of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and energy
management systems, provided by Trane under a comprehensive,
performance-based contract.
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Honeywell and Kansas City Power & Light announced a contract
extension to the utility's Energy Optimizer program. Managed by
Honeywell, Energy Optimizer is designed to reduce peak energy
consumption from June to September, when air-conditioning use
reaches its highest levels of the year. The demand-response
program, which was launched in 2005, features the installation of
programmable thermostats in residential homes and small businesses.
The thermostats include a paging system that allows KCP&L to
communicate with the thermostats and cycle air conditioners off and
on for brief intervals.
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The Clyde, Texas Consolidated Independent School District has
completed a $792,000 project to lower its utility costs and improve
operations, comfort and efficiency at its facilities. The
Energy Solutions division of TAC accomplished the work as a
performance contract with the district. TAC guarantees that Clyde
CISD will reduce its utility costs by $57,000 annually.
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Evans Memorial Hospital and Glenville Nursing Home have entered
into a $1.84 million performance-based contract with Trane that will
fund much-needed renovations through energy savings. Energy
and operating cost savings will be achieved through redesign of the
mechanical and electrical systems; lighting and plumbing upgrades;
and installation of high efficiency heating, ventilation and air
conditioning units at Glenview Nursing Home; and a new chiller and
cooling tower with supporting systems; lighting upgrades; and
heating, ventilation and air conditioning upgrades at Evans Memorial
Hospital.
The improvements at the facilities are expected to result in a
kWh reduction of 17 percent at Evans Memorial Hospital and a 36
percent kWh reduction at Glenville Nursing home. This is equivalent
to saving 725 tons of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of
taking 143 cars off the road or eliminating 85 households'
electricity use for one year.
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People
Advance announces the appointment of Pieter de Haan as CEO of
Advance, effective January 1st, 2008. Since first joining the
Philips Lighting organization in 1982, de Haan has held successive
roles throughout Philips Lighting in Europe and Asia and has amassed
over 25 years of experience in manufacturing, supply, marketing,
sales, and general management. Prior to his appointment to CEO
of Advance, de Haan served as CEO of Philips Lighting East Asia,
based in Shanghai.
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Industry News
FMI forecasts that ESCO merger and acquisition activity will
remain strong despite an overall weakening in the M&A market.
According to the investment bank, the key macro drivers for ESCO M&A
are currently overpowering the drag caused by the tightening of
credit and potential for an economic slowdown, which are affecting
other areas of M&A. High energy costs, low project financing
costs, growing focus on energy efficiency, scarcity of experienced
ESCO staff, and strong growth and profitability of ESCOs are some of
the drivers that are contributing to a strong forecast for ESCO
M&A.
FMI is finding that all types of ESCO buyers remain engaged and
active. This group includes controls companies, energy
companies, large independent ESCOs, private equity firms,
international, and other alternative energy companies. FMI sees
established ESCO buyers as seeking acquisitions primarily to expand
geographic coverage, penetrate new vertical markets or customer
segments, acquire professional staff and management talent, and
accelerate growth. FMI sees new ESCO entrants, such as private
equity firms, as seeking a core position in one of the few areas of
the "new energy economy" that is currently delivering both
high-growth and profits.
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The Cambridge Energy Alliance announced the formation of its
Energy Service team and named five firms as its pre-qualified ESCOs.
Starting in early 2008, these five companies will be the primary
direct marketers and providers of services that will save
electricity, natural gas, heating oil, and water for the
residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial consumers in
the City of Cambridge, MA who participate in the CEA program.
Conservation Services Group was selected for Small and Medium
Housing (Properties fewer than 50 units); Ameresco and RISE
Engineering were selected for Large Housing (Properties of 50 units
or more); DMJM Harris Energy Services was selected for Small
Business (Properties with peak electric demand below 200 kW) and
Ameresco and
ConEdison Solutions were selected for Large Business and
Institution (Properties with peak electric demand at 200 kW or
higher).
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ConEdison Solutions was honored by The New York State Energy
Research and Development Authority for its significant work on
numerous cooling, motor, and lighting projects on behalf of energy
customers in the state.
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Ameresco was honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
with its Industry Partner of the Year Award during the 11th Annual
Landfill Methane Outreach Program Conference & Project Expo held
recently in Washington, D.C. According to the EPA's Landfill
Methane Outreach Program, the award was presented in recognition of
Ameresco's innovative project solutions and the company's
contribution to reducing emissions of harmful greenhouse gases.
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Retro-Tech Systems and RTS Water Solutions announced their
participation in Siemens' 2007 Project of the Year. In 85 days, they
completed a multi-million dollar installation in 23 different
facilities utilizing over 20,000 lighting upgrades, 2,000 lighting
controls, and 1,800 water saving installations.
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Royal Philips Electronics and The Genlyte Group Incorporated
announced that Philips has completed its acquisition of Genlyte and,
as a result of the merger, Genlyte has become an indirect
wholly-owned subsidiary of Philips.
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Veolia Energy North America, Inc. finalized the acquisition of
Thermal North America, Inc., the largest portfolio of district
heating and cooling networks in the United States. Operating
under the trade name "TRIGEN," Thermal North America, Inc. owns and
operates heating networks in Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore,
Atlanta, Kansas City, Trenton, St Louis, Oklahoma City and Tulsa and
several cooling networks in Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
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The proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2009 was recently
unveiled and it included a $25 billion request for DOE. Of that
DOE budget, $1.255 billion has been requested for the DOE Office
of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy .This is essentially
equal to the President's budget request for FY 2008 but about
18% lower than the actual FY 2008 funding not counting
congressionally directed funds. Compared to the FY 2008
appropriations, the proposed budget boosts funding for
geothermal energy, for research and development relating to
biomass and bio-refinery systems, efficient building
technologies, while keeping nearly level funding for the Federal
Energy Management Program, vehicle technologies, industrial
technologies, and wind energy.
The budget reflects shifting priorities, deferring hydrogen
production research to focus instead on hydrogen storage and
fuel cell technologies needed to develop a practical fuel cell
vehicle by 2015. The budget increases funding for state energy
programs and proposes $7.5 million in new funding for the Asia
Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate. It
eliminates funding for Weatherization Assistance Grants and
eliminates the Renewable Energy Production Incentive. The
proposed DOE budget also includes $3.2 billion for the
President's Advanced Energy Initiative and $225 million for the
President's Solar America Initiative.
The proposed budget includes a request for $19.9 million for
the administrative expenses of DOE's new loan guarantee program.
While the FY 2007 appropriations act authorized $38.5 billion in
loan guarantees, including $10 billion for renewable energy,
energy efficiency, and distributed energy generation, DOE was
only given two fiscal years to issue the loan guarantees. The FY
09 budget includes a request for an extension of its
authorization to issue loans through FY 2010 and FY 2011.
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