Energy Efficiency

From The Daily Transcript, writer Monica Unhold, "Ocean Beach offices county's first net zero building."

An Ocean Beach architecture firm’s new offices will be the first commercial building in San Diego County to qualify as net zero — meaning it generates as much energy as it consumes.

Architects Hanna Gabriel Wells converted the 54-year-old Ocean Beach Auto Repair shop into a modern office building expected to enjoy no monthly energy costs, said Jim Gabriel, principal at Architects Hanna Gabriel Wells.

The firm has called Ocean Beach home for the past 12 years and jumped at the chance of ownership when the auto repair property became available. The location at 1955 Bacon Ave. is ideal; situated near to the small beach community’s shops and restaurants, and just one block from the beach, Gabriel said.

In converting the building, architects added modern details while keeping 90 percent of the original building intact. Still visible are the steel beams used by mechanics for lifting engines, cinder block walls and polished concrete floors.

“The big auto repair bays they use for automotive work are actually perfect for what we do because we need a lot of space too,” Gabriel said.

The interior of the building is simplistic with large open space bounded by floor-to-ceiling windows on one side. The workspace exhibits obvious remnants of the building’s former use while offering creative modern details such as LED bar lamps hung at intersecting angles and window frames of varying-sized rectangles pieced together in a seemingly geometric yet asymmetrical fashion.

Now completed, the building is 49 percent more efficient than required by code and is expected to receive a Leadership in Energy Efficiency (LEED) Gold rating — the second-highest designation for sustainable design awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council. To achieve the rating, architects incorporated solar thermal water heating, low-flow plumbing fixtures, natural ventilation, a cool roof and took care to recycle 86 percent of construction waste. The building’s orientation will help to provide 90 percent natural light within the building.

Outdoors, pavement was replaced with drought-tolerant landscaping and a low-water irrigation drip.
The building’s greatest energy-saving component is its natural ventilation system that eliminates the need for air-conditioning, Gabriel said. Heating and cooling costs are typically the greatest source of energy consumption for commercial buildings.

The cost of the building was supplemented with $36,000 in grants from San Diego Gas & Electric meant to offset the greater cost of designing highly efficient buildings. The utility has $40 million in rebates available this year to local business customers for construction of energy-efficient buildings and renovations that increase efficiency.

Since 2004, SDG&E has provided incentives to 11 projects through its new construction programs, said Alex Kim, director of customer innovations for SDG&E. Buildings designed to be at least 10 percent more efficient than required by state building code are eligible for the incentive program.

The utility also leases space atop commercial rooftops where it installs and operates solar panels. SDG&E leases space surrounding a 16-megawatt photovoltaic solar panel system atop Architects Hanna Gabriel Wells’ offices. The system was installed by Escondido-based solar provider, HelioPower.

SDG&E also installed free of charge, a state-of-the-art monitoring system for the offices. The system will collect data relating to the building’s energy consumption, production and efficiency under different conditions. The system will help SDG&E better understand the performance of net-zero buildings, Kim said.

“We think this will help our other customers see the benefits of net-zero buildings,” Kim said. “Energy efficiency is definitely the future of buildings.”

For more information and project photos, click here.

Reporting from Environmental Leader and Bloomberg, "$500B Plan for U.S. Green Building Retrofits Touted."

The United States can build a low-carbon economy by retrofitting existing homes and businesses for energy efficiency, which would reduce waste and pollution, jumpstart an economic recovery, create good jobs and deliver energy cost savings, while reducing global warming, according to a new report. The report is calling on Congress and the Obama administration to ensure that investments will be made in weatherization and energy efficiency as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The $500-billion plan with public and private investment would retrofit 40 percent of the nation’s buildings within the next ten years, create about 625,000 full-time jobs, generate $32 billion to $64 billion in annual consumer energy cost savings, and reduce global warming pollution by 20 to 40 percent for 50 million homes and small businesses, according to a proposal released by the Center for American Progress and the Energy Future Coalition.

Rapidly improving the efficiency of existing buildings is essential to meeting clean energy and climate legislation recently passed by the House of Representatives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 17 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050, according to the report.

The report also identifies five key areas where focused national policy leadership is required immediately to launch a nationwide energy efficiency retrofit industry. These include technical assistance and capacity building, retrofit financing and cost recovery mechanisms, retrofit performance standards and quality assurance, smart codes and regulations and workforce development programs and job quality standards.

The plan to retrofit buildings, which consume 70 percent of all U.S. electricity and emit 40 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gases, will be discussed at an energy conference in Las Vegas, which is co-sponsored by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and the Center for American Progress, reports Bloomberg.

HelioEMS, Energy Management Solutions, will join representatives from leading energy related firms at the upcoming West Coast Energy Management Congress (EMC).  EMC is the largest energy conference and technology expo held on the U.S. West Coast specifically for business, industrial and institutional energy users.  The event will be held in the Long Beach Convention Center, June 10-11, 2009. 

TR Bietsch, Managing Director and Michael Murray, Director/LEED AP, will be on hand in the HelioEMS booth #446.  Operating from the principal "you can’t save what you don’t measure," HelioEMS provides intelligent monitoring technology.  The company's advanced, real-time energy use analytics and alerting service empowers clients to optimize energy/load reduction and cost savings.

WC EMC brings together the top experts in all areas of the energy field to help attendees set a clear, optimum path to both energy cost control and energy supply security. EMC offers opportunities to explore promising new technologies, compare energy supply and alternative energy options, and learn about innovative project implementation strategies.

West Coast EMC's California Green showcase, co-presented by the U.S. EPA's ENERGY STAR®, will also be a prominent part of the event for 2009. The latest green / sustainable / environmentally friendly energy technologies will be on display for both new design and retrofit projects.

For more information, click here.

Fat Spaniel Technologies, the market leader in monitoring and reporting services for distributed energy systems and HelioEMS, Energy Management Solutions, recently announced a partnership to develop a Demand Side Monitoring Channel focusing on energy monitoring services.

“Since you can’t save what you don’t measure, monitoring the energy use of a building and selected systems within it, is the critical component to meeting energy efficiency goals.  Our breakthrough service is offered in partnership with Fat Spaniel to give building owners real-time actionable intelligence to understand energy use and proactively manage costs,” said TR Bietsch, Managing Director of HelioEMS.  “We are pleased to offer an intelligent energy decision service at a time when our country reaches for new and expanded goals in energy efficiency.  We are very  pleased to work with Fat Spaniel to bring real-time energy analysis and performance measurement to property owners and facility managers.” 

The technology gathers on-site energy information and delivers real-time energy  analysis via an online portal to make energy use decisions. The on-site set up, proprietary energy analysis and load management recommendations are provided by HelioEMS, Energy Management Solutions specialists.  The online technology delivery and portal user interface elements are powered by the industry leader, Fat Spaniel Technologies.

“Fat Spaniel has built a market-leading position based on our ability to deliver intelligent monitoring solutions to our renewable energy customers.  Ever-changing marketplace dynamics require methods to reduce installation costs for our customers,” said Chris Beekhuis, President and CTO of Fat Spaniel Technologies. “Combining the strengths of the two companies will aid that effort. Together with targeted industry leaders, we can meet our customers' solution needs.”

In today's news, Helio Energy Management Solutions, (HelioEMS), an energy services company, announced its Energy Efficiency contract with food ingredient manufacturer, Amoretti®, the Title Sponsor of the National as well as the World Pastry Team Championships since 2005.

To support Amoretti’s sustainable energy goals, the Energy Efficiency contract will implement lighting, HVAC and monitoring facility improvement measures based on the findings of an initial Energy Audit conducted by HelioEMS.  The company engineers and installs energy solutions designed to provide sustainable energy, improve facility efficiency and reduce energy costs.

“Amoretti manufacturers over 1800 ingredients for the food industry in one facility located in Oxnard, CA explained HelioEMS Managing Director, Thomas R. (TR) Bietsch.  “The Energy Audit we conducted revealed we could help them manage their energy usage more efficiently and reduce their overall energy consumption. The essential deliverables included using less energy, intelligently controlling the load and shedding load per the utility request in demand response. These objectives support both their company financial and environmental goals.”

The contract calls for the reduction of HVAC and refrigeration costs and related engineering including lighting improvements, monitoring and long term energy planning, aimed at reducing peak demand and developing a demand response strategy which will include load shifting and other strategies.

“Perfection is the mission we bring to our food ingredient preparation,” said Amoretti Chief Executive Officer, Jack Barsoumian.  “Working with the HelioEMS team, we are able to bring this same passion to our sustainable energy goals.”