CSE Pure Power - Fall 2008 - (Page 2)

❯❯ 2 PURE POWER // FALL 2008 contacts [PURE POWER STAFF] SCOTT SIDDENS Senior Editor ssiddens@reedbusiness.com LESLIE PAPPAS Manager, Creative Services lpappas@reedbusiness.com MICHAEL G. IVANOVICH Editor-in-Chief michael.ivanovich@reedbusiness.com AMARA ROZGUS Senior Editor & Manager of E-Content amara.rozgus@reedbusiness.com MELISSA HILLEBRAND Associate Editor melissa.hillebrand@reedbusiness.com PATRICK LYNCH Editorial lntern patrick.lynch@reedbusiness.com SOMAC ROY Editorial lntern somac.roy@reedbusiness.com WEB EXCLUSIVES at www.purepowermagazine.com TEACHING AN OLD GRID NEW TRICKS While power transmission lines have remained largely unchanged, investments are ﬂowing into various power grids all over the country. Seen as a more proﬁtable venture by investing companies, the nation’s power grids are being restructured. The ﬁrst “Smart Grid City” is set to be built in Boulder, Colo., by Xcel Energy, Minneapolis, with the help of its Smart Grid Consortium partners. U.S. DOE SEEKS TO INVEST UP TO $90 MILLION IN GEOTHERMAL ENERGY The U.S. Dept. of Energy has issued a funding opportunity advancement of $90 million for research and development in the ﬁeld of geothermal energy technology. Opportunities to receive funding are open to both industry and academia. More than $10 million is available immediately for the 2008 ﬁscal year. Another $30.5 million in 2009 and $49.5 million in 2010 are subject to congressional approval. SOME U.S. SCHOOLS MOVE TO FOUR-DAY SCHOOL WEEK Following Utah’s mandated four-day work week, some U.S. schools have moved to a four-day school week with good results. Rural schools have especially beneﬁted from the new system as school buses in such areas often tend to travel more than 100 miles round-trip. One school district in Minnesota has estimated savings of $85,000 over the course of a year. Teacher salaries are to remain unaffected by the change. [PUBLICATION SERVICES] 2000 Clearwater Drive Oak Brook, IL 60523 phone: 630-288-8780 fax: 630-288-8782 Jim Langhenry Publisher jlanghenry@reedbusiness.com Trudy Kelly Assistant to the Publisher tkelly@reedbusiness.com Elena Moeller-Younger Marketing Director elena.younger@reedbusiness.com Karen Ruesch Group Production Supervisor kruesch@reedbusiness.com commentary by Scott Siddens Senior Editor Commissioning and CHP Without worrying about chickens and eggs, the buildings industry largely insinuates that commissioning relates almost entirely to HVAC. Yes, commissioning purportedly saves energy, improves IAQ, and helps untangle energy management and controls systems. And, yes, energy savings are looked at to provide the “return” on return on investment studies of commissioning, partially because we know to look for them and partially because they’re measurable or calculable using models. Perhaps for these reasons, the ﬁeld of commissioning got a huge boost when adopted as a prerequisite into the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system for new construction. But what about other building systems, such as electrical distribution and on-site power systems? These systems are becoming more complex all the time, more integrated, and more relied upon for availability. Commissioning electrical and power systems for safety also is important. These facts have not been lost; commissioning for non-HVAC systems is on the upswing. And that’s all very well and good. But what about commissioning combined cooling, heating, and power (CHP) systems? CHP systems integrate aspects of HVAC, electrical distribution, and stand-by power generation. If the complexities and sensitivities of individual systems are enough to warrant the extra assurance that commissioning provides, then CHP systems have triple the requirement for commissioning because of the consequent integration issues. Pure Power is happy to present a detailed article on CHP commissioning in this issue, and we thank PECI, a nonproﬁt engineering and management services ﬁrm based in Portland, Ore., for collaborating with Pure Power to publish the article, which is based on a paper delivered by the author, Richard Sweetser, president, EXERGY Partners Corp., Herndon, Va., at PECI’s National Conference on Building Commissioning in April 2008. Pure Power is published quarterly by Reed Business Information and is mailed as a supplement with Consulting-Specifying Engineer, Plant Engineering, and Electrical Contractor magazines. Reed Business Information is a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright 2008 by Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Editorial ofﬁces are located at 2000 Clearwater Dr., Oak Brook, IL 60523. Phone 630-288-8000. www.purepowermagazine.com http://www.purepowermagazine.com http://www.purepowermagazine.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CSE Pure Power - Fall 2008

CSE Pure Power - Fall 2008 In the News Commissioning CHP Enhancing Emergency Lighting Data Centers for Uncle Sam Handling a Nuisance Trip Sustainable Projects and Partnerships New Products Ad Index

CSE Pure Power - Fall 2008

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