Category: Whole Building

A unique software application created by the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) could improve the efficiency of commercial buildings by allowing occupants to interact with buildings more directly.

The NYSERDA Peak Load Reduction program is an innovative initiative that is intended to serve as a focused demand response or kW reduction enabling equipment installation incentive program.

These days, there’s an app for pretty much everything. From gaming to home energy management, tasks are done on handheld devices through the cloud. So why are energy audits still stuck on clipboards and pencils?

In an effort to achieve greater greenhouse gas reductions and energy efficiency, program planners are turning to combined heat and power (CHP) technologies.

Paul Torcellini of the National Renewable Energy Labs (NREL) gave a presentation last year on net zero energy (NZE) buildings to folks from NYSERDA, the NY Department of Public Service, consultants, and others who buzz about in New York’s efficiency circles.

Ninety percent of the buildings that will be here in 2035 have already been built. Buildings account for almost 80 percent of energy used in cities worldwide. Energy researchers in the Northwest and Northeast are focused on the same goal: finding ways to achieve deep energy savings in these buildings.

Net zero energy describes buildings whose energy consumption and emissions are fully offset by renewable energy, preferably generated on site. True to their net zero name, they generate as much or more clean energy as they consume.

The new addition to Calvert High School in Prince Frederick, Md., celebrates the sun, inviting daylight into virtually every corner of its multi-use media center. The addition features huge skylights that are 31 to 41 ft above the floor, more than 35 ft long, and pitched at a 16-deg angle. The skylights span 17,000 sq ft.