Montgomery County could face difficult decisions if the state doesnt help fulfill the school districts funding request for capital projects, officials said Monday.

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett has recommended approving the county school boards requested $1.74 billion fiscal 2015-20 Capital Improvements Program. Leggetts recommendation banks on the success of a state bill to direct more school construction money to the county.

The county wants to secure an added stream of state aid within the six-year capital program time frame, said county spokesman Patrick Lacefield. Theres no alternative to the continued efforts to get additional revenue, he said.

A meeting Monday between school officials and the County Councils Education Committee was part of an ongoing push for more state funding. County leaders want Maryland legislators to ramp up school construction dollars to support Montgomery projects that would add space amid rising enrollment and repair aging buildings.

County Councilman Craig L. Rice emphasized on Monday the countys reliance on state aid to fund the school district.

Its my hope that not only our representatives in Annapolis, but also our governor, certainly understands that the largest school system in the state, and one of the best school systems in the nation, is at risk, and its at risk of really losing ground when it comes to making sure that were continuing to be able to meet the need of our constituency, said Rice, the council committees chair.

If the Maryland General Assembly doesnt pass the school construction bill in the current legislative session, the county school district could face a cut of $213.3 million from its requested six-year capital program.

The school board has asked for an amended capital program totaling $1.74 billion. The boards request is $223.3 million higher than the previously approved program of $1.53 billion.

School board President Patricia ONeill said Monday that if the district doesnt get the capital money it requested, it might need to delay revitalization and expansion projects, additions and projects such as roof replacements and HVAC equipment.

In Annapolis, Leggett, ONeill and interim Superintendent Larry Bowers urged state lawmakers on Feb. 18 to support a bill to establish a Supplemental Public School Construction Matching Fund Program.

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Montgomery County officials continue plea for state school aid from state

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Town Finances released documents highlight capital improvement plans

WILMINGTON - Mondays annual Budget Presentation to the Board of Selectmen meeting was cancelled in the wake of the second major storm in as many weeks. Ice covered roads and snow accumulation closed schools and businesses and left commuters out in the cold.

Officials did post the budget online though, allowing residents to review the documents in advance of public meetings. The Town of Wilmington is scheduled to discuss a five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), for the purpose of identifying and prioritizing investment in the town's assets. The CIP is guided by town goals and policies, and reflects the needs and expectations for the management of infrastructure, buildings, vehicles, equipment and technology.

The CIP aids in communicating to the Board of Selectmen, the Finance Committee, and the public about capital investment needs and enables the town to anticipate and schedule larger capital investments and evaluate new needs.

Town departments submit anticipated investment needs in various types of assets including buildings, infrastructure such as roads and drainage, equipment, vehicles and technology.

Requested projects have been evaluated based on priority, need, and impact on the towns ability to deliver critical services to residents, businesses and schools.

Investments are expected to cover a broad range of needs including support of a 21st century education for Wilmington students, reduction of energy consumption through efficiency improvements in buildings and vehicles, and utilization of technology to improve service delivery to the public by providing infrastructure improvements including road and sidewalk improvements, resurfacing of the Shawsheen School parking lot, and various drainage and water related projects.

Building projects include replacement of the Shawsheen School heating system, replacement of the Public Safety Chiller, roof replacements at the Shawsheen and Woburn Street schools, demolition of the Whitefield Building, and a Facilities Master Plan study, which was originally proposed for FY2015. The Facility Master plan will be a critical step in developing the long-range plan for municipal buildings.

With the exception of the new high school, middle school, and public safety building, the remaining municipal facilities are all in excess of 40 years old, necessitating improvements to work space, accessibility, electrical, and HVAC systems.

Vehicle investments include large items such as replacement of two dump trucks for Public Works, replacement of police cruisers, and backhoe for the Water Department. Technology funding includes for a large-scale server and desktop replacement program, which is required to bring all staff onto a consistent and supported operating system and a consistent version of Microsoft Office to ensure more seamless communication.

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Budget presentation on ice

Wednesday, February 4, 2015, 12:03pm

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Bay Cove Human Services To Renovate, Acquire Facilities

Jeff Wilson replaced his HVAC system for the same reason most homeowners do: It broke.

Five years ago in the heat of summer, his air conditioner died and this was well before he embarked on an all-out Deep Energy Retrofit (DER) to green his 70-year-old Cape Cod. Still, he used this opportunity to upgrade the old, standard unit.

"We had to keep a little air conditioning on so we didn't have so much mold," Jeff says, describing a major pitfall of the home: high humidity that produced damaging condensation, causing woodwork deterioration and poor air quality.

Jeff got three bids for the HVAC project, ranging from $3,500 to trade the old HVAC unit for a comparable model to $12,000 for a state-of-the-art system. (These price estimates are from the time of installation in 2005.)

"We expected gas prices to go through the roof, which they did in 2008," Jeff says, weighing the options. "And we expected this new HVAC unit to last."

The 26-year-old unit Jeff replaced was 80 percent efficient not bad for 1979 technology. But we've come a long way since then. The standard option Jeff considered as a replacement would basically restore the system to status quo for $3,500. But Jeff was looking for more.

The midrange unit was priced at $4,200 and would boost the furnace efficiency to 90 percent, with a 16-SEER air conditioner. The lower the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating (SEER), the more energy it takes to cool the home.

The high-end system would cost Jeff $5,800, but for that $2,300 more, he got more features and optimum, 97 percent efficiency. Because the Wilsons mainly used their air conditioning to defuse the thick humidity typical in southeast Ohio during summer, a variable-speed blower was worth the investment. This mechanism allows Jeff to set the humidity level on his thermostat. "Instead of cooling your house down to get humidity levels low, you can do a bit of dehumidifying [with the blower] to keep the temperatures lower," he explains.

Jeff could get this feature plus 7 percent more efficiency on the gas furnace.

"We were looking toward the future," he says of the price tag and, when comparing systems, the estimated five-year payback.

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Replace Old Heating and Air Unit With New Efficient HVAC ...

Sometime in the next couple of years, the Thomas Jefferson statue, the Missouri Capitols south steps and the protective roof all will disappear so work crews can repair major problems with the Capitols foundation.

The $40 million project is just one of more than 200 approved Thursday by state senators to be paid for with the sale of bonds approved last year.

The Senate passed two bills detailing where $400 million of that money will be spent, by identical 31-3 votes.

Including the Capitol work, Mid-Missouri will get more than $119 million in projects.

Lincoln University and the State Technical College of Missouri will benefit from the higher education projects list.

In the bonding bills previously, we just let everybody put projects in there that wanted (them) and the first thing you knew, we were talking over billions and billions of dollars, Sen. Mike Parson, R-Bolivar, reminded colleagues. Last year, for the first time in over a decade, we actually raised our caps on our bonding authority for this purpose. But we didnt finalize the project list.

Parson said the list was put together using four criteria needs, safety, cost and economic impact on the state.

Missouris almost century-old Capitol will get $40 million for major repairs of problems Missourians generally dont see.

The whole front of the building has to be removed, Jefferson City Republican Sen. Mike Kehoe explained, so the lead (waterproofing) membrane can be replaced with a synthetic, rubber membrane.

If that isnt done, he said, deterioration in the foundation will continue as will mold growing in the basement.

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Senate approves $400 million in building repairs

Belleville, New Jersey (PRWEB) January 29, 2015

Golds Gym Paramus recently announced the renewal of its electricity and gas contracts through GREENCROWN Energy Advisors. GREENCROWN is a leading, full-service advisory firm specializing in energy cost-reduction and turnkey conservation measures.

We rely on and trust GREENCROWN Energy Advisors to educate and guide us in todays ever-changing energy market, noted Art Cahill, partner at Golds Gym Paramus. We want to obtain cost-effective pricing, but we also know that the lowest price isnt always the best deal. The devil is in the details, as the saying goes.

GREENCROWN, Cahill continued, has always given us excellent energy advice including pointing out a number pitfalls in our energy contracts about which we were unaware. We truly value GREENCROWN as a trusted energy partner for our business, and we highly recommend the company.

Founded in 1992, Golds Gym Paramus is well-known regionally for offering a wide range of effective and fun fitness programs designed for people of all ages and fitness levels.

In todays growing fitness market, client needs and expectations are continually changing, said Paul Errigo, director of energy projects at GREENCROWN Energy.

As Golds Paramus has grown its business to successfully meet those changing expectations, its energy usage has increased. Were proud to be tasked again with the responsibly of keeping the fitness facilitys long-term energy rates as low as possible by negotiating extremely advantageous electricity and gas contracts.

Errigo observed that Golds Gym Paramus has been highly forward-thinking in terms of its energy needs. Some companies try to take on the energy insiders themselves by negotiating their own electricity and gas contracts. All too often, however, these attempts result in less-than-favorable agreements that lock in the companies for years, and can ultimately cost a facility more money instead of saving them money.

To its credit, Errigo said, Golds Gym Paramus decided to leave the art and science of energy contract negotiation to the experts at GREENCROWN. That frees Golds to focus on what it does best: help people reach their fitness goals at a state-of-the-art facility.

One of the many major benefits of a properly negotiated energy contract is that it allows an organization like Golds Gym Paramus to more accurately forecast and budget for its electricity and gas needs. We take the time to completely immerse ourselves in a clients business so we have a total understanding of their energy usage, Errigo said.

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Golds Gym Paramus Renews Electricity and Gas Contracts Through GREENCROWN Energy Advisors

Boulder, CO (PRWEB) January 28, 2015

Arguably, the development over the past 12 months with the greatest potential impact is the emergence of viable LED tubular replacements for linear T8 fluorescents. Previously, these LED products suffered from a host of problems, ranging from low efficacies to exorbitant prices.

For LED tubular technology, 2014 was a watershed year. In the past, we strongly cautioned utilities against incorporating this technology into their programs, but recent tests by the US Department of Energy have demonstrated very strong performance for some products, says Spencer Sator, senior manager of the E Source Technology Assessment Service. There are still a lot of underperforming products out there, but this is a huge milestone for the lighting industry. Tubular fluorescents consume nearly 100 terawatt-hours of energy in North America each year, so even small improvements in efficiency can have huge overall impacts. We expect LED T8 products to improve further and gain market share.

The next important technology trend is Googles acquisition of thermostat company Nest. This takeover marked the beginning of a revolution in the connected-home industry. Soon after the acquisition, Apple, Samsung, Comcast, LG, and several other major companies rolled out their own smart home protocols, alliances, and products. According to the recent E Source report Home Energy Management Is Coming: Are You Ready? (available to members of the E Source Technology Assessment Service), home energy management is the latest frontier in the energy-efficiency industry and its rapidly evolving in the marketplace.

Rounding out E Sources top three trends are major innovations in laundry technologies. In 2014, ozone technologies appeared for residential laundry applications, liquid carbon dioxide systems were developed for commercial uses, and polymer beads were introduced. Additionally, Energy Star qualified its first-ever residential clothes dryers and manufacturers created a host of aftermarket retrofit devices that can boost laundry efficiency.

Overall, this was a remarkable year for efficiency technologies. We saw tremendous innovation on both the gas and electric side and across all sectors, says Sator. In addition to these top three developments, we saw advancements in organic LEDs (OLEDs), HVAC products, and building automation systems as well as improved utilization of Big Data. With ever-increasing pressure on utility demand-side management portfolios to perform, its comforting to know that the pipeline of exciting emerging technologies is well stocked.

The newly published report, Top 22 Technologies and Trends of 2014, is available to members of the E Source Technology Assessment Service. More information about some of the technologies in the report can be found in the blog post Top 5 Technologies and Trends of 2014 and in the E News article What 2014s Technology Trends Mean for 2015.

About E Source For 26 years, E Source has been providing unbiased, objective research and advisory services to over 300 utilities and large energy users. Our energy experts have answered more than 8,000 questions over the past 3 years. This guidance helps our customers advance their efficiency programs, enhance customer relationships, and use energy more efficiently.

Excerpt from:
E Source Names Biggest Game-Changing Technologies and Trends of 2014

When was the last time you changed the filters on your HVAC system? If youre like most people, it was probably ages ago. Its just such an easy thing to forget about, and unfortunately, not staying on top of it is likely siphoning a bit of money out of your wallet.

Old, clogged-up filters can cause a lot of problems:reduced air quality, higher energy bills, and can even contribute to A/C system issues and failures if ignored for long enough.You probably know all this already; the hard part is just remembering to change them every few months.

Thats where FilterEasy comes in. For a small subscription fee, thestartup (which just closed a $1.2 million funding round) will send you replacement filters on a recurring schedule, so you never have to think about it again.

Related:Why hasnt Nest thought of this? Keen shows off smart vents at CES 2015

To sign up, homeowners provide their personal information, select their filter size and type, and tell FilterEasy how often they want themshippedlike every three months, for example. The site currently offers air filters in over 40 different sizes and three different quality levels, which should cover most peoples home air filter needs.

Once youve submitted your info, youre done. No more setting reminders, no more driving to the store and spending half an hour hunting down the right filter type. FilterEasy takes care of everything for you, short of physically replacing the filters, of course.

And the best part? The filters dont cost any more than what youd pay in the store.Since partnering and co-locating with U.S. filter manufacturer Flanders, the startup is able to ship filters directly to homeowners at the same price.

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Keep your air clean with FilterEasys subscription-based HVAC filter replacements

Improvements at the micro level of power management have been slow but steady over the last few years, but the real action in power management is at the macro, big-picture level, where a number of long term trends are starting to make their mark.

Over the past few years, we've seen a market rebound, a move towards IGBTs at the expense of bipolar transistors, and a continuing consolidation in semiconductor suppliers.

Design-wise, we've seen a move towards lower voltages and higher switching frequencies, exemplified by the Intel FIVR (Fully Integrated Voltage Regulator) which made its appearance in the Haswell core in 2013 and supplies 1.1V to the rest of the IC with 90% efficiency at a switching frequency of 140 MHz. All in a 22 nm process, no less.

Regulations Worldwide Drive Energy Efficiency Improvements

The last few years have been relatively quiet in the US -- in 2014, for example, only 129 "Public Laws" (laws affecting society as a whole) were passed by Congress and signed by the president. But fear not - regulatory agencies also issued 3541 rules (27 per law) that also have the force of law.

Numerous regulations and updates cover energy efficiency across a broad spectrum of applications including refrigeration, consumer AC-DC power supplies, power distribution transformers, commercial HVAC systems, electric motors, and more. New standards are also being developed to cover computers and servers, portable air conditioners, and reflector lamps. In a worldwide trend, state and local governments have their own sets of regulations. For example, the 2012 Energy Efficiency Directive established a set of binding measures to help the EU reach its 20% energy efficiency target by 2020. Under the Directive, all EU countries are required to use energy more efficiently at all stages of the energy chain, and member countries were required to transpose the directive's provisions into their national laws by 5 June 2014.

Such directives are driving power management changes including increased use of BLDC motors, more sophisticated power supplies, solar panel research, introduction of new lighting technologies, and on and on.

The moral of the story: Before starting your next product design or update, take a closer look at the Code Of Federal Regulations: 175,496 pages as of the end of 2013. Probably pushing 200k today.

New Battery Chemistries Move Close to Commercial Introduction

The incursion of battery power into areas previously dominated by corded devices - or internal combustion engines - has been a consistent trend in power management over the last decade. Li-ion batteries, first introduced in the early 90s, still rule the roost, but they require precise control of charging and temperature to avoid fires caused by thermal runaway. Meanwhile, progress has been slow in developing commercially-viable batteries using other chemistries such as lithium-sulphur, zinc-air, and sodium-oxygen. Issues include availability and cost of the raw materials, stability or safety of the chemical combination, manufacturability, reversibility of the electrochemical reaction, dendrite formation, and operating temperature range.

The rest is here:
5 Power Trends Will Pay Off Soon