January 2011

The Best of 2010- Top Rated Green Technology
#1. Amazing Brick Machine Rolls Out Roads Like Carpet:

Brick roads are beautiful and durable, but we don't see them too often due to the effort it takes to produce them.  What once was a labor-intensive, back-breaking job, has now become a snap with this automatic Dutch paver laying machine, called the 'Tiger-Stone.'  The device rolls out a beautiful and sustainable hardscape, creating an instant road anywhere it travels.  While the process may look magical, the secret lies in a smartly designed gravity-based system.

The machine consists of an angled plain that workers feed with paving stones or bricks.  As the electric crawler inches forward along a sand base layer, the bricks are automatically packed together by gravity.  A small telescoping forklift feeds the hopper, allowing the Tiger-Stone to lay out an impressive 400 square meters of road a day, and the span can be adjusted up to six meters wide. 

Brick roads have been around for centuries and they have been revisited lately by the green building community for a number of reasons.  Bricks are easy to procure and reuse, cement pavers last a very long time, and they are easy to repair and replace.  They tolerate water and freezing without forming cracks, and some newer systems actually absorb rainwater between the pavers and infuse it back into the ground again, reducing storm water run-off and helping improve the effectiveness of acquifers.  Not to mention, the roads look pretty great too.    

by Andrew Michler, via Gizmodo


Think you’ve had enough of retail after the holidays? Think again:

Discovering Automated Continuous Commissioning at Neiman Marcus
Mark Boraski, VP of Property Management with Neiman Marcus, has been in the business for over 30 years and has witnessed first-hand the energy management technical evolution. What’s been missing from these disparate data gathering systems, according to Boraski, is the ability to pull complex information into an easy-to-use format that detects, identifies and diagnoses system faults and anomalies in advance of major problems or outright failures. “Building automation systems(BAS) display variable information , but unless you have a process for this level of analysis, you just have raw numbers on a computer screen,” Boraski said.

After a 15 year search, Boraski’s team implemented SCIwatch, a software-as-a-service based Automated Continuous Commissioning platform from Scientific Conservation, Inc. to detect, monetize and prioritize system faults. To date, Neiman Marcus deploys SCIwatch across 21 of its facilities and intends to apply the platform for every property over the coming years. “For the first time, we have an automated process that continually checks our system assets across properties from a centralized dashboard to pinpoint which systems are performing outside of acceptable tolerances,” said Boraski. “This enables us to intelligently assign technical resources to address system issues on a prioritized basis.” It has proven to be an invaluable resource allocation tool.

To better understand the need for Automated Continuous Commissioning (ACC), Boraski offers the following analogy: “Let’s assume you build a facility and it’s designed correctly to run at optimal efficiency. It’s no different than a new car. As time passes, fuel injectors get clogged, exhaust systems degrade and oil gets dirty. It’s inevitable that you move away from that ideal place that you started because of entropy. After you commission a property for optimum efficiency, it immediately starts to degrade and there is drift away from the ideal. ACC allows you to always check against that base to see if there is meaningful change. And it allows you to isolate and pinpoint specific systems that have moved beyond acceptable levels so you can assign first line resources to resolve problems well ahead of outright failures.”    
Excerpt from Scientific Conservation- Finding a Solution to Complex Data Problems.


Massachusetts Sets 25% GHG Reduction Goal
Massachusetts' Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary, Ian Bowles, has set the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit at 25% below 1990 levels by 2020, the maximum authorized by the state's GLobal Warming Solutions Act of 2008.

Currently Massachusetts has policies that put them on track to reduce emissions by 18% and the remaining quarter of the targets will be realized through a "portfolio" approach.  The clean energy plan calls for: buildings energy GHG reductions of 9.8%, 7.7% reduction of emissions from the electricity supply; 7.6% reductions in transportation, and 2% reductions in non-energy emission, according to plan documents on the state's website.  While there are fresh policies included in the plan, the Boston Globe says it does not include sweeping new regulations that will deeply alter everyday life for most businesses and people.
    
In order to meet the new environmental targets, Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary-Designate Richard K. Sullivan, Jr. named four seasoned members to the EEA leadership team.  Philip Giudice as Undersecretary for Energy; Steven Clarke as Assistant Secretary for Renewable Energy; Frank Gorke as Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency; and Mark Sylvia as Commissioner of the Department of Energy Resources (DOER), according to the state's website.   
Environmental Leader, January 2011
    

Fireman's Fund Expects Bloom Boxes to Meet 60% of Energy Needs
Joining a prominent list of customers such as Bank of America, Coca-Cola, E-Bay, FedEx, Google, Staples and Wal-Mart, insurance company Fireman's Fund will install six high-tech fuel cells from Bloom Energy technology at its Novato, Calif. site.  The technology will allow the insurance company to produce 60% of its energy needs for that location, reducing the firm's carbon footprint by 15% according to the North Bay Business Journal.
    
The "Bloom boxes," the informal name of Bloom's Energy Servers, which turn fuel into electricity through a clean electro-chemical process, will cost the insurance company about $5 million, an expense that is expected to be offset by tax credits and lower energy bills.  Of the initial $5 million investment, $3 million will be covered by state incentives for self generation and with federal credits of about 30% for installation.

"The efficiency of the Bloom fuel cell gets us off the grid more effectively and with a much smaller footprint than solar.  If we covered the entire parking lot with panels, we'd still realize only 10 percent of the energy savings," Michael LaRocco, president and CEO said in the statement. "This solution is not only good for the environment, but it makes economic sense."

According to the report, the company aims to reduce carbon emissions by 25% by 2012.  Its efforts to cut energy use include such milestones as attaining an Energy Star rating of 92 at its Novato headquarters as well as LEED certification at that location and others. Fireman's Fund is one of the first carriers to widely introduce green insurance to the U.S. commercial market.  
12/22/10  Environmental Leader


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