In many U.S. cities, buildings emit more greenhouse gas emissions than even cars or factories. That's because powering and heating office towers and apartment buildings releases large amounts of climate-change pollutants, environmental officials say. But that may be starting to change.

Cities across the country are taking significant steps to reduce energy and water waste in commercial buildings and to install rooftop solar panels and other clean energy technologies. Leading the way is Washington, D.C., which ranked first on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys latest list of the top 25 energy-efficient metro areas.

The EPA rankings are based on the number of Energy Star-certified buildings each city added over the past year. The federal Energy Star designation goes to buildings that use 35 percent less energy and cause 35 percent fewer emissions than other buildings of a similar size and use. More than 25,000 commercial buildings have been certified since the program began in 1999. Theyve saved more than $3.4 billion on utility bills and prevented greenhouse gas emissions equal to the annual electricity use from nearly 2.4 million homes, the EPA wrote on its website.

The agency began ranking cities in 2009 after noticing a growing number of Energy Star buildings in cities, the EPA said. Washington is the first metro area to beat out Los Angeles for the top spot since the competition began. The agency also ranks the top midsize and small cities.

The District of Columbia is proud to be a national leader in energy efficiency, Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a statement this week. Investing in our green economy is good for our environment and good for business. We are fully committed to working with our local business leaders to lower energy costs, reduce our carbon footprint and employ residents with good-paying jobs in the rapidly expanding sector.

The district added 480 certified buildings last year, while Los Angeles added 475 buildings. L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti credited the citys Department of Water and Power with taking the lead on energy-efficiency initiatives. To get buildings certified, a typical upgrade involves reducing lighting loads, sealing leaky windows, adding new insulation and improving heating and cooling systems.

We will go into any business and not only do the assessment of your businesss energy use, but we will help implement the changes, Garcetti toldradio station KNX-AM about the process.

Originally posted here:
America's Cities Are Getting Greener Thanks To Energy-Efficient Buildings: EPA Rankings

LAS VEGAS -Energy auditor Bill Douglas is on the hunt - looking for ways your home wastes energy.

Everywhere there is something bolted or screwed to the wall or ceiling, there is the potential for air leakage, he said.

That's costing you money and robbing you of the comfort you deserve.

Lisa Weatherman and Andy Kirk have owned their 2,400-square-foot home for approximately 15 years. Even after some remodeling and upgrades, they say they can still feel some energy aches and pains in their older house.

I knew it was drafty in here, and I'm always cold in the winter and hot in the summer, Weatherman said.

The eco-minded couple says they felt their power bills were high.

To some extent, our bills don't reflect our thriftiness and our sense of efficiency, so we knew that things were not perfect, Kirk said.

They called Marc Hale, a contractor who specializes in home energy performance. He investigated why Lisa was freezing and helped satisfy Andy's frugal spending habit.

Hale and Douglas discovered a lot air coming through plumbing fixtures below the sink.

A visual inspection showed the aging 50-year-old home was letting air in and out in unsuspecting places.

See the original post here:
Living Green: Energy audits can find home inefficiencies

by Megan Hopps

SUN PRESS Newspapers

The city of Rockford met with architect Steven Binnech to review the plans for the new shelter to be built at Riverside Park.

Binnech presented the final design of the project to the council with alternate line items that may be pulled from the project if necessary due to budget restrictions. The council expressed interest in installing heating and cooling capabilities, but City Administrator Dan Madsen cautioned against it for cost reasons. He added, however, that potentially adding heating and cooling units could serve as an opportunity for community groups to organize a fundraiser to assist with purchasing the needed equipment and in return would earn naming rights to the new facility.

Riverside Park Shelter

Last fall the city demolished the old park shelter at Riverside Park and began formulating plans to make improvements at the site. Binnech was hired by the city in December 2014 to design the new park shelter.

Weve worked through various challenges with flood plain designations, sought comment and review from the DNR, FIMA and cleared with the league that this building could be covered under insurance, Madsen said. Weve worked with the planning and zoning team and city planner to figure out what we need to do to have a building this size located on the flood fringe. After a lot of revisions and design changes, Mr. Binnech has a final design plan to review with us tonight.

Rockfords Park Board reviewed and approved the plan before it came before the council.

Their two requests were to, at some point, add heating and cooling to this building with installation of an HVAC or some sort of climate environment control, and also to try to construct the entire shelter and not do it piece by piece in two or three steps, Madsen said.

Madsen added that if the plan is approved by the council, the project would open for bids April 9, with construction to tentatively begin April 20.

See the original post here:
Rockford approves bids for Riverside Park Shelter construction

Gov. Jerry Brown discusses his proposed 2015-16 state budget at a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, Jan. 9, 2015. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

If you thought the Obamacare rollout was fun, just wait until your furnace dies.

Californias new energy efficiency regulations, which started being enforced last summer, dramatically boost costs for owners of older homes when they need major maintenance on their systems for heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Thats because ducts must be R-8 insulated and certified to be free of leaks, a standard that can force total replacement for many houses built before 2008.

Consider my instructive tale. In 2011, I paid $8,100 for a new, super-efficient heating and cooling system, complete with new ductwork, in a house we renovated in Valley Center.

But this month, a nearly identical HVAC system cost $12,758 to buy and install. Thats because the job required more labor, permits and testing in my vintage 1969 home in South Oceanside.

Both systems had identical efficiency ratings. So the new regulations added 57 percent to my costs a whopping $4,658 that wont go for investing, spending with local merchants or funding other efficiency improvements.

And remember, this extra cash didnt buy the planet a molecule of carbon reduction.

Now, to be fair, Obamacare is more expensive, because its regulations can raise consumer costs forever with little evidence of improving health, versus my one-time HVAC lump.

For example, my best friends health insurance premiums tripled in 2014 after the federal government outlawed her previous basic coverage. In this context, I got off easy with a 57 percent hit, courtesy of the California Energy Commission.

Of course, not everybody saw their health premiums triple, in part because many qualified for cash subsidies (have fun with those tax returns).

Original post:
Energy Obamacare hits California homeowners

A Dutch utility is inviting five families to use radiator-sized servers to heat their living rooms for free.

In a trial organized by local utility Eneco, Nerdalize will install its server radiators in five homes, using them to deliver cloud computing services to its clients.

The households using the heater could save 400 (about US$440) on their annual heating bill, said Eneco spokesman Marcel van Dun .

Nerdalize pays for the electricity, but doesnt have to deal with the space and cooling costs of conventional cloud and co-location data centers, allowing it to sell its services for 30 to 55 percent less than more conventional cloud-providers, it said.

Because the same energy is used for computation and heating, there are also environmental benefits, according to Eneco and Nerdalize.

A radiator server running at full capacity would use over 8,000 kWh each year, Van Dun said, but Eneco expects actual consumption to be less.

Nerdalize CEO Boaz Leupe said the servers will perform complex calculations for companies and research institutes, including Leiden University Medical Centre.

The radiators heat water in a closed system to between 45 and 55 Celsius. A knob on the side of the radiator controls the heat fed into the room, while excess heat can be dumped by circulating the water through a heat expeller outside the house, Leupe said. For now this means making a hole in the external wall on which the radiator is mounted, but in future the company might use longer pipes to carry excess heat elsewhere..

When there is no demand for computation but someone wants heat, Nerdalize will donate computing power to other causes such as research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Leupe said. If the Internet connection fails, the servers will revert to solving dumb calculations so people will still be able to keep warm, he added.

Households wanting to participate in the trial will need to be Eneco customers with an external wall they can pierce to mount the radiator, and a fast Internet connection.

View post:
Server heating startup teams with energy company to heat Dutch homes

Residential Heating and Cooling Installation

If youve skimmed through any of the why choose us pages on our website, you probably already know that at Dominion Service Company, we are very much a service first heating and cooling contractor. We always focus first on how we can extend the life and improve the efficiency of your current heating and cooling system first, before we ever recommend you install a new system.

That being said, we are very well aware that at some point, all systems break down. This is generally after 12-15 years, but sometimes earlier than that or sometimes much longer (15-20 years). Even though we focus on service first, we take great pride in our technical prowess in heating and coooling installations, and stand behind every installation with a 100% satisfaction guarantee!

If your current system is broken down right now, consider choosing us for an emergency heating and cooling service call before you choose a new system installation. Most contractors will work hard to convince you that you need a new systembut we will work hard to show you that you dont need a new system. That is a key difference between how we do business and how most heating and cooling companies operate.

As with all our commercial and residential services, we deliver on three key points of differentiation for residential heating and cooling system installations:

1: Honest Recommendations

2: Timely Service

3: 100% Satisfaction Guarantee

On top of these three key pillars of our business, were also authorized to install nearly every brand of heating and coolingequipmenton the market. Even though we have our brand preferences and recommendations, our versatility affords our homeownerswith the flexibility to make educated decisions, based on their particular need, budget and goals. We dont push any particular brand. Instead, we focus on what makes the most sense for you. We find that many of our new homeowners whove enjoyed a nice experience with their previous system want to stick with that particular brand. That works for us! Just let us know upfront what you have in mind, and we will work diligently to prepare quotes and recommendations to best suit your needs.

See original here:
Heating and Cooling Installation | Dominion Service Co ...

Barcelona, 23 March 2015 ADELTE recently secured two contracts for the design, manufacture and delivery of a total of 62 innovative Preconditioned Air units: 42 will be installed at Incheon International Airport and 20 more at Palma de Mallorca Airport.

After the launch in 2014 of a new version of the ZEPHIR Preconditioned Air Series (PCA), improving heating and cooling performance for a wide variety of stationed aircraft in all climatic conditions, ADELTE kicks off 2015 by introducing a complementary line of PCAs featuring cutting-edge full Inverter technology, engineered to deliver optimum airflow with an increased efficiency of up to 35% while consuming the minimum energy.

AENA commissioned ADELTE to engineer and install 20 ground-mounted PCAs with Inverter technology at Palma de Mallorca Airport. Distributed in 10 units of 30Tn, 6 units of 40Tn and 4 units of 70Tn, these GSEs are to be delivered in two phases, starting this summer, and will ensure a significant decrease of operational costs, refrigerant load and CO2 emissions and will contribute to improving the sustainability of the Balearics first airport.

Constant dedication to R&D&I is crucial for providing better service and delivering the most advanced gate solutions to clients around the world. With this totally new Inverter Technology, ADELTE is definitely pushing the GSE sector to the next level and accelerating the process towards green airports. comments Jordi Floreta, Vice-President & Commercial Director at ADELTE.

ADELTE was also awarded a contract by Incheon International Airport for the delivery of 42 PCAs, all ground mounted as well. The 27 units of 100Tn, 13 units of 45Tn and 2 units of 60Tn are scheduled to be supplied in the second half of 2016 for phase III of the airport extension. High quality pre-conditioned air, environmentally-friendly R-410A refrigerants, smart PLC control, durability and ease of maintenance are among the many advantages of the South Korean new GSE acquisition.

The ZEPHIR Series include 7 models: PCA 25, PCA 35, PCA 45, PCA 60, PCA 75, PCA 90 and PCA 100. The ZEPHIR Inverter Series include 3 models: PCA-Inv 30, PCA-Inv 40 and PCA-Inv 70.

Link:
ADELTE To Deliver 62 New PCAs In South Korea And Spain

This guide was last updated in March 2015

The Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014 are UK-wide regulations implementing some of the requirements of the EU's 2012 Energy Efficiency Directive, and apply to anybody who is a 'heat supplier'. A heat supplier is a person who supplies and charges for the supply of heating, cooling or hot water through either:

The regulations will have a far-reaching impact that many landlords may not have appreciated, as they will apply to many multi-let buildings where the landlord recharges the cost of heating, cooling or hot water supplied through a DHN or CH to at least two final customers.

The aim of the regulations is to allow users of heating, cooling and hot water supplies to be aware of the level of their consumption and as a result be incentivised to reduce that consumption. The largest share of CO2 emissions from UK buildings come from space heating and water heating.

Landlords' main duties under the regulations

Duty to notify by 30 April 2015

Heat suppliers must provide certain detailed information in relation to each of the DHNs and CHs that they operate to the National Measurement Office (NMO) by 30 April 2015. The information then needs to be updated every four years.

Required information includes the estimated total, per calendar year, of the installed heating capacity, heat generated and heat supplied; the number and type of buildings supplied by that system; the number of final customers supplied by that system; and the number and type of meters or heat cost allocators installed in the buildings supplied. There is no charge for making this notification but the NMO can impose civil sanctions for non-compliance with the notification requirements. These sanctions may include compliance notices or enforcement undertakings, and financial penalties for non-compliance with these notices.

Duty to install meters by 31 December 2016

Where there is more than one final customer, heat suppliers that operate DHNs or CHs must ensure that meters are installed in that building to measure the consumption of heat, cooling or hot water by each final customer by 31 December 2016, unless it would not be technically feasible or cost effective to do so. This assessment has to be repeated every four years.

Link:
The Heat Network Regulations: what landlords need to do now

A man hired to install a furnace at a Louisville woman's home faces charges after police said he took her money and never performed the service.

According to an arrest warrant, the woman paid James Jarvis Jr., of Jarvis Heating and Cooling, $1,250 on Nov. 1 to install a furnace at her home near Fairdale.

After receiving the check, the victim said Jarvis, 53, never returned to perform any of the work and never provided any of the materials to the victim, according to the warrant.

The woman told police she didn't have heat in her home all winter.

Police said Jarvis and the woman had known each other for more than 10 years.

Jarvis is charged with theft by deception under $10,000 and knowingly exploiting an adult more than $300.

Jarvis was previously served a warrant in a similar case.

The rest is here:
Police say man accepted money, never installed furnace

EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. (PRWEB) March 16, 2015

Although Spring is around the corner, frigid temperatures remain stagnant across the state of New Jersey. Gold Medal Service, an award-winning heating, cooling, plumbing, waterproofing, and electrical home service company, offers energy efficient tips to make sure New Jersey homeowners HVAC systems dont go into hibernation early, leaving you in the cold.

By making some simple habit changes and opting for energy-efficient products, you and your family can reduce your annual energy bill, and subsequently your greenhouse gas emissions.

Investing in more energy efficient systems can save you a ton of money over time, said Mike Agugliaro, co-owner of Gold Medal Service. Up to half of your utility bill can be from heating costs, especially if the HVAC system is older than 15 years, because it costs more to run. You can save nearly 25 percent every month by investing in a more energy efficient heating and cooling and water heater system.

One way to cut down? Turn down the temperature of your water heater. A second option is the ENERGY STAR Tankless Water Heater. Unlike its traditional counterpart, the tankless water heater only heats the water as its needed and goes into standby mode when the demand for hot water ceases, so it uses less energy, and produces an endless supply of hot water.

Other factors that determine what your annual heating costs are:

If youre not ready to invest in a new system, here are a few more tips to keep your home warmer this winter:

We can also use products like AEROSEAL to seal duct work in old homes to improve efficiency, or if temperatures are uneven and youre not ready to put in a new unit we can install a split system by Mitsubishi to resolve the problem, said Agugliaro. Its reassuring to know that your home is safe and comfortable, and we are committed to providing that for you and your family.

About Gold Medal Service Gold Medal Service, rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau, was founded in New Jersey in 1994 with just two employees. Their vision was to provide homeowners with a reliable and trustworthy home service company customers could count on to fix just about anything that could go wrong in a home. Since then, Gold Medal has grown to include more than 120 employees and technicians solving plumbing, heating, cooling, electric, drain, waterproofing, and sewer issues for homeowners across the state of New Jersey. Gold Medal Service is an Angies List Super Service Award recipient. For more information, call 800-576-GOLD or visit http://www.goldmedalservice.com.

###

Read more:
Gold Medal Service Provides Efficient HVAC Tips and Tricks