Energy Efficiency - "The New Era"

History shows that every technical application from its beginnings presents certain unforeseeable secondary effects which are more disastrous than the lack of the technique would have been.— Jacques Ellul

America fails to capture some two-thirds of the power it generates, much of it through simple waste, according to federal data.

Even Canadian government reports unwittingly acknowledge the starkness of the problem while calling for more efficiency. A 2013 study on energy trends, for example, lamented that “Canada was producing economic values more efficiently” but each household was using “a greater number of energy‐consuming goods and services per capita than in 1990.”

Energy efficiency is one of the most powerful resources we have for meeting our energy and environmental goals. It is also an enormous economic opportunity.

Setting aside the significant environmental impact, this energy waste costs American businesses and households billions of dollars every year. In commercial buildings alone, where annual electricity costs are roughly $190 billion, about 30 percent of this energy goes to waste.

The Challenges Ahead are:
1- The magnitude of energy efficiency savings must be increasing dramatically;
2- The sources of energy efficiency savings must diversify;
3- Measuring and ensuring the persistence of energy efficiency savings must become commonplace;
4- Energy efficiency outcomes must be integrated with a carbon reduction framework, and
5-Energy efficiency must be understood and valued as part of an evolving grid, with utility-scale renewables, distributed energy resources (DERs), and significant load variability.

Energy conservation involves both reducing what we use and using it more efficiently. The terms energy efficiency implies that the activity or task can be accomplished using less energy, while energy conservation implies that there is less need for a particular activity in the first place. In other words, conserving energy means less activity thereby reducing consumption.

Both energy efficiency and energy conservation have an economic benefit because they lower energy costs by reducing demand, as well as reducing the environmental impact of harmful emissions. The issue here, of course, is not that we use or waste energy in our daily lives, it's about the type of energy we consume and the effects it has on other aspects of our lives, for example, our environment, our health and our general standard of comfort and living.

Sources:
Why Is America Wasting So Much Energy? - Article By Terry Sobolewski and Ralph Cavanagh Nov. 7, 2017
The Next Level of Energy Efficiency. Article By Dian M.Grueneich
August 2015.
The Curse of Energy Efficiency. Article By Andrew Nikiforuk Feb 2018.

SIGN UP

Thermography OR Infrared Scanning

Thermography OR Infrared Scanning 

Energy auditors may use thermography -- or infrared scanning -- to detect thermal defects and air leakage in building envelopes.
Infrared thermography (IRT), thermal imaging, and thermal video are examples of infrared imaging science. Thermographic cameras usually detect radiation in the long-infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum (roughly 9,000–14,000 nanometers or 9–14 µm) and produce images of that radiation, called thermograms.

Thermography measures surface temperatures by using infrared video and still cameras. These tools see a light that is in the heat spectrum. Images on the video or film record the temperature variations of the building's skin, ranging from white for warm regions to black for cooler areas. The resulting images help the auditor determine whether insulation is needed. They also serve as a quality control tool, to ensure that insulation has been installed correctly.

A thermographic inspection is either an interior or exterior survey. The energy auditor decides which method would give the best results under certain weather conditions. Interior scans are more common because warm air escaping from a building does not always move through the walls in a straight line. Heat loss detected in one area of the outside wall might originate at some other location on the inside of the wall. Also, it is harder to detect temperature differences on the outside surface of the building during windy weather. Because of this difficulty, interior surveys are generally more accurate because they benefit from reduced air movement.

Infrared scanning allows energy auditors to check the effectiveness of insulation in a building's construction. The resulting thermograms help auditors determine whether a building needs insulation and wherein the building it should go. Because wet insulation conducts heat faster than dry insulation, thermographic scans of roofs can often detect roof leaks.

Thermographic scans are also commonly used with a blower door test running. The blower door helps exaggerate air leaking through defects in the building shell. Such air leaks appear as black streaks in the infrared camera's viewfinder.

Sources:
Energy Saver is the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE).
Wikipedia - Thermography.

SIGN UP

GHG (Greenhouse Gas ) Emissions

GHG (Greenhouse Gas ) Emissions

Climate change is one of the most important environmental issues of our time. Climate change is caused by the increase in concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These increases are primarily due to human activities such as the use of fossil fuels or agriculture.

A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect.

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions are the carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) gases released into the atmosphere as a result of energy consumption at the property. GHG emissions are expressed in carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), a universal unit of measure that combines the quantity and global warming potential of each greenhouse gas.

Emissions are reported in four categories, each is available as a total amount in metric tons (Metric Tons CO2e) or as an intensity value in kilograms per square foot (kgCO2e/ft2):

Direct Emissions – Direct Emissions are emissions associated with onsite fuel combustion (e.g. combustion of natural gas or fuel oil).

Indirect Emissions – Indirect Emissions are emissions associated with purchases of electricity, district steam, district hot water, or district chilled water. These emissions occur at your utility’s plant, but they are a result of your property’s energy consumption and therefore contribute to your overall GHG footprint.

Biomass Emissions– Biomass Emissions are emissions associated with biogenic fuels such as wood or biogas (captured methane). Biogenic fuels are combusted on site but do not contribute to direct emissions.

Total Emissions – Total Emissions is the sum of Direct Emissions and Indirect Emissions.

Sources:
Natural Resources Canada NRCan
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency EPA
ENERGY STAR
Wikipedia

SIGN UP