THE BUSINESS OF GOING GREEN

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Driven by unstable fuel prices, increased energy consumption and government regulation, the business of going green is soaring.

The Energy Independence and Security Act has set in motion green building technology implementation in federal buildings.  The bill includes provisions to improve energy efficiency in lighting, appliances, and equipment.  At the same time it pushes for renewable energy use, which will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  The bill set new appliance and lighting standards, while increasing the efficiency ratings on heating and air conditioning equipment.  These incentives are showing up on plans for every building which receives federal funds and of course, most local government buildings are following suit, whether they are federally funded or not.

Energy costs have been increasing: 30 percent of energy consumption is from office lighting, 30 percent from envioronmental systems (heat and air), and a staggering 55 percent of energy consumption goes to office computers, data centers and other IT equipment.  To make matters worse, many older buildings were not built for all the additional leads modern techonology is forcing on them–older A/C systems were not sized for the heat produced in the IT rooms of today.  The modern office has more people per square foot, as well as more electronic equipment per square foot.  This increased density on the electrical infostructure is opening opportunities to lower consumption, by installing:

• Energy Management Systems
• Retro-fitting with newer, higher SER, more efficient A/C systems
• Retro-fitting light fixtures with new energy-saving T-5 ballasts, and t-5 lamps (Advance Transformer has a new step-down T-5 ballast, which gives full power at start up and reduces after lamps are lighted reducing energy consumption
• Retro-fitting incandescent fixtures with screw-in florescent lamps
• Exploring alternate fuel sources (solar) for these buildings

Many electrical companies have taken on this new consulting role as energy managers and consultants.

Related Articles:

http://www.ecmag.com – New Green Building Initiatives, by Jennifer Leah Strong-Michas