Project pre-approval is where a customer submits a prescriptive or custom rebate application before the project is started. This allows the implementer a chance to assess compliance with program rules
Read More
A year and a half ago, I ranted about the media’s nuclear ignorance and hype while covering the Fukushima tsunami and damage to the Daiichi reactor cores. I always like to follow up on my rants with new news on the fallout, pun intended. Dr. Richard Muller of the UC Berzerkeley does a nice job of putting things in perspective in his recent article published in The Wall Street Journal. He also saves me the pain of reeducating myself on radiation energy and cell damage. The REM (Roentgen Equivalent Man – go ahead, dazzle your coworkers) is the unit of…
Read More
Jeff Erickson of Navigant Consulting presented an interesting paper at last week’s American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) Summer Study for Buildings. The title was, “Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party Battle over Energy Efficiency.” I thought it was just clever (aka bait and switch) advertising, but the presentation featured, almost exclusively, how the free market, small government tea party and the profit-bad, regulation-good occupiers might view energy efficiency. The tea party would favor consumer choice for incandescent light bulbs and gas guzzlers over government regulation of these common, and other uncommon for that matter, consumer goods. …
Read More
Michaels Engineering named a "Best Firms To Work For" Winner La Crosse, WI - August 14, 2012 - Michaels Engineering was named one of the winners of the annual "Best Firms To Work For" ranking conducted by ZweigWhite, publisher of CE News and Structural Engineer. Winners were announced and celebrated at The Best Firms To Work For Summit held July 19-20, 2012, in Seattle, Washington. This prestigious ranking is based on comprehensive evaluations of firm culture, workplace practices, employee benefits, employee retention rates, professional development, and more - both from the management and staff's perspectives As a "Best Firm" winner,…
Read More
Michaels Presents at ACEEE Summer Study We hope to see you at next week's 2012 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings at the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove. While you are there, be sure to consider attending panel discussions by Michaels Energy's Jeff Ihnen and Gary Ambach. Jeff Ihnen - Panel 3 Tuesday, August 14, 8:30am “Rescuing New Construction from Widgetitis with Simple HVAC Design” Gary Ambach - Panel 5 Thursday, August 16, 8:30am “Energy Efficiency Investment: Turning Utilities from Reluctant to Eager” We look forward to seeing you there! ABOUT ACEEE The American Council for an…
Read More
Chilled beams and radiant heat actually provide comfortable, quiet, cool sea breezes and toasty, warm comfort like the sun on a cool October day – and with fantastic energy efficiency.
Read More
E Source reported last week that green house gas (GHG) emissions are falling fast in this country, as shown in the chart nearby. Emissions tanked with the economy in 2009, and as I recall, the summer of 2009 was also cool, resulting in lower electricity sales. Even so, when adjusted for economic output, GHGs are falling fast. The reason for this is rather obvious if one follows the electricity market. It is much easier to get a natural gas power plant approved for construction as compared to a coal-fired plant. I have not done the analysis myself, but it is reported…
Read More
The widget world of energy efficiency is governed by the Technical Resource Manual, or TRM. A technical resource manual includes energy calculations requiring baselines and efficient equipment specifications, hours of use, and duty cycles. It also includes cost differences for baseline and efficient equipment. Costs and savings from TRMs are used across the board for mass market, and even in some cases large, far too large in my opinion, equipment. Technical resource manuals may be held at the state level, which may apply to all programs/utilities in the state, or at the utility level. Some in our industry are advocating…
Read More
No matter where you are, there are typically times throughout the year when economizing, or "free cooling", is possible for commercial space conditioning, process cooling, and certainly data centers.
Read More
