On May 29th the DOE issued a final clarification of energy conservation standards and test procedures for fluorescent lamp ballasts. The new rule reorganizes, reformats, and clarifies the scope of the energy conservation standards for fluorescent lamp ballasts. It includes establishing new active mode test procedures, standby and off mode test procedures, and revised active mode test procedures for fluorescent ballasts.
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration and a host of environmental advocates agree that light pollution should be addressed, but some are disputing parts of a proposed City Council bill.
Source: New York Plan to Save Energy May Mean a Dimmer Skyline
The Department of Energy (DOE) has extended the comment period for proposed energy efficiency standards for general service lamps (GSLs) until February 23, 2015. Documents associated with this set of standards are Docket No. EERE-2013-BT-STD-0051. There is a link on that page to submit comments.
You may recall that the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) set minimum efficiency standards for medium screw base (a.k.a. E26) general service lamps (a summary of requirements and exemptions is here). Those minimum standards were phased in by wattage and now cover GSLs from 40 to 100W. Decorative and other specialty lamps are excluded. A public meeting and webcast was held on January 20th to explain the new standards for consumer lamps. You can download a PDF of the presentation here. It’s a long presentation of 94 slides, so here’s a summary.
1. The DOE is considering establishing standards for the following lamp types:
2. The DOE is considering requiring the following lamps, which are currently exempted from EISA requirements, to comply with the new standards:
3. The DOE is also considering not setting standards for certain lamp types for reasons that include:
There are over three dozen identified issues that are open for comment. These standards will have a far reaching effect, so I urge you to look over the presentation and submit comments.
On September 26, 2014 the U.S. Department of Energy issued a determination that ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2013 would achieve greater energy efficiency in buildings subject to the code than the 2010 version. The DOE analyses determined that the energy savings would be:
As a result, all states are now required to certify that they have reviewed the provisions of their commercial building code regarding energy efficiency and, if necessary, updated their codes to meet or exceed the 2013 edition of Standard 90.1. States must submit certification of compliance by September 26, 2016 or explain why they cannot comply.
Why is this happening? The DOE is required by the Energy Conservation and Production Act (42 USC 6833) to review each new edition of ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1, and issue a determination as to whether the updated edition will improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings. If the determination is that the new version will improve energy efficiency, that standard becomes the new nationwide minimum requirement. States aren’t required to adopt Standard 90.1, but whatever standard they develop or adopt must be at least as stringent as Standard 90.1.
Some of the changes in the new standard are:
The DOE website contains additional information, including PDFs of the analyses they conducted.
Yesterday the DOE issued a Notice of Preliminary Determination that ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2013 would achieve greater energy efficiency in buildings subject to the code than its predecessor, 90.1-2010. The preliminary analysis estimates national energy savings of approximately 8.5% for commercial building energy consumption.
The evaluation of every new version of ASHRAE 90.1 is required by law. Now that the DOE has determined the level of energy savings the analysis is available for public review. A docket has also been established to accept public comments. Feedback is requested by June 16, 2014.
If this determination is finalized, States would be required to certify within two years that they have reviewed the provisions of their commercial building code regarding energy efficiency and updated their codes to meet or exceed Standard 90.1-2013. More information is available on the DOE website.
As much as I kick and scream about being strangled by tight LPDs, the recent climate related news, from the collapsing ice sheets in the Western Antarctic to atmospheric CO2 concentrations that are higher than ever recorded, has given me a reason to embrace adoption of 90.1-2013. I’ll have more to say on that soon.
Two frustrating items came across my desk this morning. The first is an attempt by two Ohio state senators (both Republicans) to pass a law (SRC25) prohibiting the use of LEED in all Ohio state buildings, including schools. This despite the fact that Ohio already has 100+ LEED school buildings that are saving tax payers tens of thousands of dollars on energy bills every year. What’s the rationale for the new bill? You can read the full text here, but essentially it claims that LEED v4 “fails to conform to recognized voluntary standard development procedures.”
Why is LEED, the largest and most successful green program in the world, being singled out? This is really just a smokescreen for an attempt to protect certain industries and manufacturers from divulging the contents of their building materials, which is new under LEED v4. The reason favoring disclosure is simple. Some building materials have chemical components that seep out of the product and into the indoor environment, a process called off-gassing. Without disclosure from manufacturers the architects and owners have no way of knowing what chemicals workers, students, patients, etc. are being exposed to. With disclosure they can make better choices that minimize any possible effects on building occupants. Some manufacturers have been very pro-active about reformulating their products to limit or eliminate off-gassing. Apparently some have decided that ignorance (on the part of architects, owners, and occupants) is bliss (for the manufacturer).
The second news item concerns an amendment to a bill working its way through the U.S. Senate. The Energy Savings and Industrial Competitive Act (ESICA), if passed, would be the first new energy efficiency related legislation passed in seven years. The problem? The “All-Of-The-Above Federal Building Energy Conservation Act of 2013” failed to pass last year, but is now part of ESICA. It calls for the repeal of Section 433 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), which mandates that the federal government eliminate fossil fuel-generated energy from new and renovated federal buildings by 2030. In other words, it would repeal the government’s commitment to the 2030 Challenge for carbon reduction. The AIAs response can be found here. Other organizations opposing the amendment include Architecture 2030 and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Not surprisingly, the sponsors of the amendment are from states where fossil fuel production is a major industry. It’s true that the U.S has enormous reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas that can supply our energy needs for many years to come. It’s also true that we’re changing the global environment by burning these fuels. We can decide to wait until our reserves are used up before we entertain making a change. However, in doing so, we are also deciding to allow Germany, Japan, South Korea, China etc. to develop the technologies that will power the future. Alternatively, we can decide to lead the energy revolution by developing the technologies, and the markets for them, here at home. Contact your senator and let him/her know which path you’d prefer to take.