Legend Power Blog

Now when you install Legend Power’s smart transformer, the Electrical Harmonizer-AVR, in your building it will contribute up to 5 points to your LEED certification. Kyle Anders, a Sustainable Design Specialist, states:

5 points is a very noteworthy contribution in my experience, it is rare that a single product/technology can have this high of an impact.  I don’t have experience with evaluating other voltage optimization technologies, but since LEED emphasizes reductions in energy cost (rather than just energy), Legend has the advantage over many other energy savings technologies since it impacts electricity (the more expensive portion of a building’s energy use), compared to other technologies that may generate heating fuel savings but not electricity savings.

Read the full press release.

According to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, is an internationally recognized certification system for green building. Originally developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, it certifies both residential and commercial buildings, providing third-party verification (through the Green Building Certification Institute) that a building is operating in the most sustainable way possible. 

As the Canada Green Building Council notes, LEED certification gives you recognition for your sustainability efforts and allows you to qualify for government funding incentives.

LEED measures a building’s performance in the following areas:

• Sustainable Sites – looks at where a building is built and its impact on the ecosystem.
• Water Efficiency – encourages smarter water use.
• Energy & Atmosphere – promotes efficient and clean energy use.
• Materials & Resources – encourages sustainable building products and materials.
• Indoor Environmental Quality – promotes improving indoor air quality and access to natural daylight.

According to USGBC, Building’s are rated out of a possible 100 points, with the potential for 10 bonus points. Certification requires 40+ points, Silver is 50+ points, Gold+ is 60 points and Platinum requires 80+ points.

LEED Rating Systems include:

• New Construction
• Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance
• Commercial Interiors
• Core & Shell
• Schools
• Retail
• Healthcare
• Homes
• Neighborhood Development

The first step to LEED certification is registering your building or project. To register in the US, visit LEED Online. Canada has adapted USGBC’s rating system to work within it’s own climate and building regulations. To register in Canada, visit Canada Green Building Council.

Commercial energy efficiency measures generally gain wide-spread adoption through utilities — either with their use of the technology or with their approval.

But how do utilities filter through all of the products and options available to decide on what energy efficiency measures to support? What do utility managers want to see when they’re considering new technologies?

In our experience at Legend Power, utilities look for technology that is proven to save energy and that won’t cause problems on the power grid (harmonics, poor power factor etc.). They also look at the cost effectiveness of the technology when making their decisions.

The following items help show a product is proven and won’t cause problems to the grid:

• UL approval. This may be costly but well worth the investment.
• Case studies & pilot projects with third party verification of energy savings.
• Well researched whitepapers.
• Patience. Many utilities often move slow and businesses like to move fast. It is possible to push a utility to move quickly, but a delicate approach is needed.

The key is that the technology must be able to be implemented by the customer. In terms of demand-side management (DSM) the utility may provide incentive funds that can be used to encourage or speed up adoption of DSM technology. It is important that the customer is able to implement the technology — if they can’t, then it doesn’t qualify as DSM.

The other key point is Measurement & Verification. Many utilities have to answer to a government body and have conservation targets to achieve, so the ability to verify the savings achieved is very valuable.

What are your experiences with utilities? Are they similar to ours or do they differ?

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seattlemunicipalarchives/ / CC BY 2.0

Science World

Energy efficiency may have been the green buzz word for 2009, but 2010, according to analysts, is the year for action.

“What we’re seeing is that more people are going green each year, and there is nothing on the horizon that will stop this trend,” explains Jerry Yudelson, the principal of Tucson-based green building consulting company, Yudelson Associates.

In the move towards more sustainable building, the option that makes the most sense is energy efficiency. As Nathan Rothman of Greener Buildings.com points out:

The concept of energy efficiency stands apart from other cleantech and green building initiatives in a very important way: It’s relatively cheap. If you think about it, the cleanest and cheapest kilowatt of energy is the one never used. So even if there is an upfront cost to put efficiency measures into place, the return is never-ending. That means within a few months or years, you’re putting money back into your pocket. That’s a form of green we can all agree on.

The experts seem to agree, too. Energy efficiency is a top trend for green building predictions for 2010. Here’s a collection of trends from the experts.

Green Building Trends for 2010

1. Green building will focus on greening existing buildings rather than new buildings. As Earth2tech.com’s Justin Moresco points out in his post Green Building Trends to Watch in 2010, McGraw-Hill Construction published a report that said nonresidential “green building retrofits” are a better opportunity for designers and builders than new construction.
2. Local government will develop and increase their mandates for green buildings. Last week, the governer of Washington announced follow up steps to Copenhagen, including $5 million in Recovery Act grants to help businesses, non-profit groups and government agencies pay for energy efficiency retrofits.
3. The green building movement will go global and more countries will create their own green building incentives. Green building has already become trendy in China, where they are adopting green building standards from the US. And India has just organized its First National Conference on Green Building.
4. The financial community will buy-in to green building.
5. Energy labeling and carbon calculation will become more popular. The industry is exploring ways to document, measure, and reduce greenhouses gas creation in building materials and processes. This effort will be heightened once a federal cap-and-trade mechanism is launched in the US.
6. Sustainable building education will increase. Demand for green building will present new learning opportunities for the entire building industry – designers, builders, real estate, finance, insurance.

For More Information

Green Building Growth Highlights Consultant’s Top Ten Trends for 2010

Green Building Trends to Watch in 2010

Earth Advantage’s Top Ten Green Building Trends to Watch in 2010 (pdf)