ASHRAE Journal - July 2013 - 10

INDUSTRY NEWS

RICHLAND, Wash.—A single advanced building control
now in development could slash 18%—tens of thousands of
dollars—off the overall annual energy bill of the average large
ofﬁce building, with no loss of comfort, according to a report
by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Paciﬁc Northwest
National Laboratory.
“An 18% boost in building energy efﬁciency by modifying
a single factor is very, very good,” said team leader Michael
Brambley, Ph.D., Member ASHRAE. “The savings were much
greater than we expected.”
The report is based on extensive simulations of the impact
of one type of advanced building control now in the ofﬁng in
the building industry. The device is capable of customizing the
level of ventilation by sensing the number of people in different
areas or zones of a building and then adjusting fan speed and
air movement accordingly.
That’s a big change from the way most sensor-based ventilation systems operate. Currently, if there is even a single person
in a room, ventilation runs full blast, as if the room is full.
Current occupancy sensors have helped the nation save signiﬁcant amounts of energy by automatically turning off lights
when they’re not needed. But the team estimates that the more
advanced versions still to come—which count the number of
people in rooms—will save approximately 28 times as much
energy, when used both for lighting and ventilation, compared
to current sensors. Source: PNNL

Report: Energy-Efﬁcient HVAC Revenue to Double

BOULDER, Colo.—Annual revenue generated by global sales
of energy-efﬁcient HVAC systems is expected to surpass $33
billion by the end of the decade, according to a recent study from
Navigant Research. The “Energy Efﬁcient HVAC Systems” report concludes that annual revenue from energy efﬁcient HVAC
systems is set to nearly double from $17.2 billion in 2013 to
$33.2 billion by 2020. “In the wake of the global recession of
2009, developed markets for efﬁcient HVAC... remain sluggish,”
said Navigant senior research director Bob Gohn. “However, the

Courtesy of Seattle.gov © NBBJ/Studio 216

Device Could Reduce
Energy Bill by 18%

Rendering of Amazon three-block tri-sphere biodome.

Amazon Headquarters to Be Biodome
SEATTLE—For Amazon’s new three-block headquarters
planned for downtown Seattle, architecture ﬁrm NBBJ has
submitted a revision that would replace a six-story ofﬁce
building with a tri-sphere biodome that will host various
forms of plant life and provide a more natural setting for
employees to work and socialize.
The transparent, glass enclosure will be anchored by retail
stores and provide 65,000 ft2 (6039 m2) of work, dining,
meeting and lounge space, in addition to a variety of botanical zones modeled on montane ecologies found around the
globe. Each sphere will be made up of ﬁve high bay ﬂoors,
capable of fostering a mature tree. Source: Archdaily
North American market will revive during 2013 and begin to
experience more substantial growth during 2014. Europe will
follow a similar trend, but recovery will likely not occur until
mid to late 2014.” Source: Navigant Research

BITZER Opens North American Headquarters
OAKWOOD, Ga.—BITZER, a manufacturer of compressors
for commercial refrigeration and air conditioning, opened its
new 95,000 ft2 (8825 m2) North American Headquarters and
production facility here last month. The new facility doubles
the size of the plant that opened in 2005. Source: BITZER

STOCKHOLM—Facebook has opened
a new data center in Luleå, Sweden, a
place that offers plenty of water and
a cool climate, as the social network
seeks to lower its costs and improve its
environmental friendliness.
The new data center is Facebook’s
ﬁrst outside the U.S., located about 600
miles (966 km) north of Stockholm at
the edge of Arctic Circle. It is also the
10

ASHRAE Journal

Photo: Facebook

Facebook Turns On
Arctic Data Center

Chilly outdoor air cools thousands of servers.
ﬁrst to rely exclusively upon servers
designed by the company itself. Facebook says the city’s “chilly Nordic air”
ashrae.org

can be used to cool the thousands of
servers in the 290,000 ft2 (27 000 m2)
facility. Any excess heat that the servers produce can be used to warm the
ofﬁce. Also, the facility is powered by
locally generated, 100% hydroelectric
energy, which is so reliable Facebook
has been able to reduce the number of
backup generators by more than 70%.
Sweden’s dense f iber optic network
is another reason Facebook chose the
Nordic nation to build its ﬁrst foreign
data center. Source: Facebook
July 2013

ASHRAE Journal - July 2013

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