Tag: <span>energy saving</span>

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ABSTRACT

Utility Bill Tracking systems are at the center of an effective energy management program. However, some organizations spend time and money putting together a utility bill tracking system and never reap any value. This paper presents three utility bill analysis techniques which energy managers can use to arrive at sound energy management decisions and achieve cost savings.

INTRODUCTION

Utility bill tracking and analysis is at the center of rigorous energy management practice. Reliable energy management decisions can be made based upon analysis from an effective utility bill tracking system. From your utility bills you can determine:

– whether you are saving energy or increasing your consumption,

– which buildings are using too much energy,

– whether your energy management efforts are succeeding,

– whether there are utility billing or metering errors, and

– when usage or metering anomalies occur (ie. when usage patterns change)

Any energy management program is incomplete if it does not track utility bills. Equally, any energy management program is rendered less effective when its utility tracking system is difficult to use or does not yield valuable information. In either case, fruitful energy savings opportunities are lost.

Many practical energy managers make the smart choice and invest in utility bill tracking software, but then fail to recover their initial investment in energy savings opportunities. How could this be?

This paper introduces three simple and useful procedures that can be performed with utility bill tracking software. Just performing and acting upon the first two types of analysis will likely save you enough money to pay for your utility bill tracking system in the first year. The three topics are Benchmarking, Load Factor Analysis, and Weather Normalization as shown in Table 1.

BENCHMARKING

Let’s suppose you were the new energy manager in charge of a portfolio of school buildings for a district. Due to a lack of resources, you cannot devote your attention to all the schools at the same time. You must select a handful of schools to overhaul. To identify those schools most in need of your attention, one of the first things you might do is find out which schools were using too much energy. A simple comparison of Total Annual Utility Costs spent would identify those buildings that spend the most on energy, but not why.

Benchmarking Different Categories of Buildings

When benchmarking, it is also useful to only compare similar facilities. For example, if you looked at a school district and compared all buildings by $/SQFT, you might find that the technology centers administration buildings were at the top of the list, since administration buildings and technology centers often have more computers and are more energy intensive than elementary schools and preschools. These results are expected and not necessarily useful. For this reason, it might be wise to break your buildings into categories, and then benchmark just one category at a time.

Different Datasets

You can benchmark your buildings against each other (as we did in our example) or against publicly available databases of similar buildings in your area. Energy Star’s Portfolio Manager allows you to compare your buildings against others in your region. Perhaps those buildings in your portfolios that looked the most wasteful are still in the top 50th percentile of all similar buildings in your area. This would be useful to know.

Occasionally, management decides that their organization needs to save some arbitrary percentage (5%, 10%, etc.) on utility costs each year. Depending upon the goal, this can be quite challenging, if not impossible. Energy managers can use benchmarking to guide management in setting realistic energy management goals. For example, our school district energy manager might decide to create a goal that the three most energy consuming schools use only $0.80/SQFT. Since this is about as much as the lowest energy consuming schools are currently using, this could be an attainable goal.

If you can find a dataset, you may also be able to benchmark your buildings against a set of similar buildings in your area and see the range of possibilities for your buildings. In any case, benchmarking will focus your energy management efforts and provide realistic goals for the future.

Rules of Thumb

New energy managers often search for a “rule of thumb” to use for benchmarking. An example could be: “If your building uses more than $2/SQFT/Year then you have a problem.” Unfortunately, this won’t work. Different types of buildings have different energy intensities. Moreover, different building locations will require differing amounts of energy for heating and cooling. In San Francisco, where temperatures are consistently in the 60s, there is almost no cooling requirement for many building types; whereas in Miami, buildings will almost always require cooling. Different building types, with their characteristic energy intensities, different weather sites, and different utility rates all combine to make it hard to have rules of thumb for benchmarking. However, energy managers whose portfolios are all close by, can develop their own rules of thumb. These rules will most likely not be transferable to other energy managers in different locations, with different building types, or using different utility configurations.

Benchmarking Buildings in Different Locations

There are some complications associated with benchmarking. Suppose you were the energy manager of a chain store, and you had buildings in different national locations. Then benchmarking might not be useful in the same sense. Would it be fair to compare a San Diego store to a Chicago store, when it is always the right temperature outside in San Diego, and always too hot or too cold in Chicago? The Chicago store will constantly be heating or cooling, while the San Diego store might not have many heating or cooling needs. Comparing at $/SQFT might help decide which store locations are most expensive to operate due to high utility rates and different heating and cooling needs.

Some energy analysts benchmark using kBtu/SQFT to remove the effect of utility rates (replacing $ with kBtu). Some will take it a step further using kBtu/SQFT/HDD to remove the effect of weather (adding HDD), but adding HDD (or CDD) is not a fair measurement, as it assumes that all usage is associated with heating. This measurement also does not take into account cooling (or heating) needs. Many thoughtful energy managers shy away from benchmarking that involves CDD or HDD.

Different Benchmarking Units

Another popular benchmarking method is to use kBtu/SQFT (per year), rather than $/SQFT (per year). By using energy units rather than costs, “rules of thumb” can be created that are not invalidated with each rate increase. In addition, the varying costs of different utility rates does not interfere with the comparison.

Benchmarking Summation

Benchmarking is a simple and convenient practice that allows energy managers to quickly assess the energy performance of their buildings by simply comparing them against each other using a relative (and relevant) yardstick. Buildings most in need of energy management practice are easily singled out. Reasonable energy usage targets are easily determined for problem buildings.

LOAD FACTOR ANALYSIS

Once you have identified which buildings you want to make more efficient, you can use Load Factor Analysis to concentrate your energy management focus towards reducing energy or reducing demand.

What Load Factor is

Load Factor is commonly calculated by billing period, and is the ratio between average demand and peak (or metered) demand. Average demand is the average hourly draw during the billing period.

What Load Factor Means

High Load Factors (greater than 0.75) represent meters that have nearly constant loads. Equipment is likely not turned off at night and peak usage (relative to off peak usage) is low.

Low Load Factors (less than 0.25) belong to meters that have very high peak power draws relative to the remainder of the sample. These meters could be associated with chillers or electric heating equipment that is turned off for much of the day. Low Load Factors can also be associated with buildings that shut off nearly all equipment during non-running hours, such as elementary schools.

Load Factors greater than 1 are theoretically impossible , but appear occasionally on utility bills. Isolated instances of very high or low Load Factors are usually an indicator of metering errors.

One school, Tyler MS, consistently has a much lower Load Factor than the others (hovering consistently around 20%). Low Load Factors can be ascribed to either very high peak loads or very low loads during other hours. In this case, we cannot blame the Load Factor problem on “peaky” cooling loads, as the problem exists all year. A likely cause can be that Tyler MS is doing a better job at shutting off all lighting and other equipment at night than the other schools. One school (Jackson MS) typically has higher Load Factors than the other schools. One reason may be that lighting, HVAC and other equipment is running longer hours than at Tyler MS.

A good energy manager would investigate what building operational behavior is contributing to the low Load Factor values (and consequently relatively high demand) for Tyler MS, and would investigate whether the demand could be decreased. Inquiring about whether Jackson MS is turning off equipment at night is also advisable.

Load Factor Rules of Thumb

Load Factor analysis is an art, not a science. Different building types (i.e. schools, offices, hospitals, etc.) will have different Load Factor ranges. Since hospitals run many areas 24 hours a day, one might expect higher Load Factors than for schools, which can turn off virtually everything at night. Also many things contribute to a particular building’s Load Factor. A building left on 24 hours a day can still have a low Load Factor if there are large peaks each month – for example, a 20 bed hospital that has a scheduled MRI truck visit once each month. The MRI demand is large, and can greatly impact the Load Factor of a small facility.

Like Benchmarking, you can determine your own rules of thumb for your buildings, however, your range of acceptable Load Factors will vary based upon building type and climate. Rules of Thumb may not be that helpful though. Like Benchmarking, just identifying the buildings with unusually high and low Load Factors, relative to the other buildings in the portfolio, should be sufficient.

Load Factor Summation

Load Factor can be used to identify billing and metering errors, buildings that are not turning off equipment, and buildings with suspiciously high demands. While Benchmarking can identify buildings most likely to yield large energy efficiency payoffs, Load Factor Analysis can point to easily resolved scheduling and metering issues.

WEATHER NORMALIZATION

Another important utility bill analysis method is to normalize utility bills to weather. Weather Normalization allows the energy manager to determine whether the facility is saving energy or increasing energy usage, without worrying about weather variation.

Suppose an energy manager replaced the existing chilled water system in a building with a more efficient system. He likely would expect to see energy and cost savings from this retrofit.

A quarter-million dollar retrofit is difficult to justify with results like this. And yet, the energy manager knows that everything in the retrofit went as planned. What caused these results?

Clearly the energy manager cannot present these results without some reason or justification. Management may simply look at the figures and, since figures don’t lie, conclude they have hired the wrong energy manager!

There are many reasons the retrofit may not have delivered the expected savings. One possibility is that the project is delivering savings, but the summer after the retrofit was much hotter than the summer before the retrofit. Hotter summers translate into higher air conditioning loads, which typically result in higher utility bills.

Hotter Summer -> Higher Air Conditioning Load -> Higher Summer Utility Bills

In other words, the new equipment really did save energy, because it was working more efficiently than the old equipment. The figures don’t show this because this summer was so much hotter than last summer.

If the weather really was the cause of the higher usage, then how could you ever use utility bills to measure savings from energy efficiency projects (especially when you can make excuses for poor performance, like we just did)? Your savings numbers would be at the mercy of the weather. Savings numbers would be of no value at all (unless the weather was the same year after year).

Our example may appear a bit exaggerated, but it begs the question: Could weather really have such an impact on savings numbers?

It can, but usually not to this extreme. The summer of 2005 was the hottest summer in a century of record-keeping in Detroit, Michigan. There were 18 days at 90degF or above compared to the usual 12 days. In addition, the average temperature in Detroit was 74.8degF compared to the normal 71.4 degF. At first thought, 3 degrees doesn’t seem like all that much; however, if you convert the temperatures to cooling degree days, the results look dramatic. Just comparing the June through August period, there were 909 cooling degree days in 2005 as compared to 442 cooling degree days in 2004. That is more than double! Cooling degree days are roughly proportional to relative building cooling requirements. For Detroit then, one can infer that an average building required (and possibly consumed) more than twice the amount of energy for cooling in the summer of 2005 than the summer of 2004. It is likely that in the Upper Midwestern United States there were several energy managers who faced exactly this problem!

How is an energy manager going to show savings from a chilled water system retrofit under these circumstances? A simple comparison of utility bills will not work, as the expected savings will get buried beneath the increased cooling load. The solution would be to apply the same weather data to the pre- and post-retrofit bills, and then there would be no penalty for extreme weather. This is exactly what weather normalization does. To show savings from a retrofit (or other energy management practice), and to avoid our disastrous example, an energy manager should normalize the utility bills for weather so that changes in weather conditions will not compromise the savings numbers.

More and more energy managers are now normalizing their utility bills for weather because they want to be able to prove that they are actually saving energy from their energy management efforts.

In many software packages, you can establish the relationship between weather and usage in just one click. Because the one-click “tunings” that the software gives you are not always acceptable, it does help to understand the underlying theory and methodology so that you can identify the problem tunings and make the necessary adjustments. The more you know about the topic the better. The section that follows explains in a little more detail the basic elements of weather normalization.

How Weather Normalization Works

Rather than compare last year’s usage to this year’s usage, when we use weather normalization, we compare how much energy we would have used this year to how much energy we did use this year. Many in our industry do not call the result of this comparison, “Savings”, but rather “Usage Avoidance” or “Cost Avoidance” (if comparing costs). Since we are trying to keep this treatment at an introductory level, we will simply use the word Savings.

When we tried to compare last year’s usage to this year’s usage, we saw disastrous results. We used the equation:

Savings = Last year’s usage – This year’s usage

When we normalize for weather, we use the equation:

Savings = How much energy we would have used this year – This year’s usage

The next question is how to figure out how much energy we would have used this year? This is where weather normalization comes in.

First, we select a year of utility bills to which we want to compare future usage. This would typically be the year before you started your energy efficiency program, the year before you installed a retrofit, or some year in the past that you want to compare current usage to. In this example, we would select the year of utility data before the installation of the chilled water system. We will call this year the Base Year .

Next, we calculate degree days for the Base Year billing periods. Because this example is only concerned with cooling, we need only gather Cooling Degree Days.

Base Year bills and Cooling Degree Days are then normalized by number of days. Normalizing by number of days (in this case, merely, dividing by number of days) removes any noise associated with different bill period lengths. This is done automatically by canned software and would need to be performed by hand if other means were employed.

To establish the relationship between usage and weather, we find the line that comes closest to all the bills. This line, the Best Fit Line, is found using statistical regression techniques available in canned utility bill tracking software and in spreadsheets.

The next step is to ensure that the Best Fit Line is good enough to use. The quality of the best fit line is represented by statistical indicators, the most common of which, is the R2 value. The R2 value represents the goodness of fit, and in energy engineering circles, an R2 > 0.75 is considered an acceptable fit. Some meters have little or no sensitivity to weather or may have other unknown variables that have a greater influence on usage than weather. These meters may have a low R2 value. You can generate R2 values for the fit line in Excel or other canned utility bill tracking software.

This Best Fit Line has an equation, which we call the Fit Line Equation, or in this case the Baseline Equation. The Fit Line Equation might be:

Baseline kWh =

(5 kWh/Day * #Days ) + ( 417 kWh/CDD * #CDD )

Once we have this equation, we are done with the regression process.

Base Year bills ~= Best Fit Line = Fit Line Equation

The Fit Line Equation represents how your facility used energy during the Base Year, and would continue to use energy in the future (in response to changing weather conditions) assuming no significant changes occurred in building consumption patterns.

Once you have the Baseline Equation, you can determine if you saved any energy. How? You take a bill from some billing period after the Base Year. You then plug in the number of days from your bill and the number of Cooling Degree Days from the billing period into your Baseline Equation.

Suppose for a current month’s bill, there were 30 days and 100 CDD associated with the billing period.

Baseline kWh =

( 5 kWh/Day * #Days ) + ( 417 kWh/CDD * #CDD )

Baseline kWh =

( 5 kWh/Day * 30 ) + ( 417 kWh/CDD * 100 )

Baseline kWh = 41,850 kWh

Remember, the Baseline Equation represents how your building used energy in the Base Year. So, with the new inputs of number of days and number of degree days, the Baseline Equation will tell you how much energy the building would have used this year based upon Base Year usage patterns and this year’s conditions (weather and number of days). We call this usage that is determined by the Baseline Equation, Baseline Usage.

Now, to get a fair estimate of energy savings, we compare:

Savings = How much energy we would have used this year – How much energy we did use this year

Or if we change the terminology a bit:

Savings = Baseline Energy Usage – Actual Energy Usage

where Baseline Energy Usage is calculated by the Baseline Equation, using current month’s weather and number of days, and Actual Energy Usage is the current month’s bill.

So, using our example, suppose this month’s bill was for 30,000 kWh:

Savings = Baseline Energy Usage – Actual Energy Usage

Savings = 41,850 kWh – 30,000 kWh

Savings = 11,850 kWh

SUMMARY

Utility Bill Tracking is at the center of a successful energy management system, but the bills must be used for sound analysis for any meaningful reduction in energy usage. By applying three analysis methods presented here (Benchmarking, Load Factor Analysis, and Weather Normalization), the energy manager can develop insight which should lead to sound energy management decisions.

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Source by John Avina

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Modern day computer can generally perform some energy saving tasks but finding the right applications could be a problem. However, if you are searching online you can find PC Energy Guard that will help you to save money and valuable time. It is possible to download this program easily and take advantage of the service for as much as 15 days.

Some auto-pilot features of PC Energy Guard:

Can schedule shut down, hibernation, stand by, restart and even log off activities.

It is easy to set schedules to run daily, every week on specific days or on specific days each month.

Notify your own PC to hold back while various other important applications such as anti-virus scans and data backup programs run until completed before the computer fully shuts down daily or on the weekend.

The majority of the laptops use approximately 15 to 60 watts, which is much less when compared with desktops. Generally devices might provide information on the label for you to determine the amount of energy they will use, yet it doesn’t work effectively with computer systems since the label provides the theoretical level instead of the regular amount to be used. As an example, a computer power supply or label which states 300 watts may only make use of around 70 watts if it is in fact operating and just 100 during peak times with significant drives running and number crunching.

Provided that your PC switches into sleep or standby if you are not using it, you will get to save electricity in comparison to other items in the household. For most of us, the amount of the energy the computer use will not be a substantial percentage of their overall usage, even when the PC is used a great deal. Needless to say, you need to absolutely ensure that your computer is scheduled to sleep instantly if you are not working on it, since it is unwise to waste electricity, even though your computer might not be the item requiring energy saving measures in the house.

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Source by Colin Scott

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How to Conserve Energy and Water through Your Plumbing

Whether you’re looking to lower your utility bills or preserve our earth’s natural resources, maintaining an energy and water efficient home is a top priority for many families. There are a number of different ways you can reduce your home consumption, including improving your plumbing or modifying your water use. Check out these strategies that you can use to make your plumbing more efficient.

Avoid Letting Water Run

Do you leave your tap or shower running as you wait for the temperature of the water to change? If so, then you’re definitely wasting both water and energy in the process. If it takes too long for your tap to produce cold water, consider storing in your refrigerator in a pitcher or filter. If it takes too long for your shower to get hot, try turning up your water heater’s thermostat a few degrees or calling your plumber.

Upgrade Your Appliances

As appliances age, they become naturally less energy efficient, which means they demand more electricity, natural gas, or propane to perform the same tasks. Older appliances can also become less water efficient since factors like sedimentation and corrosion can impact water consumption. Upgrading your dishwasher, washing machine, and water heater to more energy- and water-efficient models will lower your costs and reduce the need for future plumbing repair services.

Have Plumbing Leaks Repaired

Leaky plumbing is a huge source of energy and water waste. Even small leaks, such as a dripping faucet or showerhead, can result in the loss of thousands of gallons of water every year. Leaks in hot water lines also waste energy by losing water that has already been heated. Hiring a plumbing repair service to inspect and repair your plumbing can help to reduce water and energy consumption, as well as avoid water damage and mold growth.

Insulate Your Plumbing

Insulating your hot water pipes (especially plumbing near outside walls) can help to reduce fluctuations in water temperatures, which means your water heater won’t have to work as hard to supply your needs. During winter months, plumbing insulation can also reduce the risk of pipes freezing, which means less plumbing maintenance in the spring.

The best way to conserve water and energy is by having your plumbing and appliances inspected and maintained by a professional plumber on a regular basis. Plumbers can help to identify potential sources of energy and water waste, and can perform the plumbing repairs and services you need to save money and resources.

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Source by Tyler John

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With the economy in tatters, and unemployment still hovering around 10%, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make ends meet. In some homes, 75% of the electricity used to power home electronics and small appliances is consumed when they are turned off; according to the Department of Energy website. There are lots of ways to save money through energy efficiency at home. But before you start storming through the house wildly unplugging things to save a few bucks you need to know what areas in your house are costing you money. Here are 5 tips on how to save real money just by keeping your house from using power when you’re not around.

1. Perform A Home Energy Audit

Do a home energy audit. This tells you the places in your home that you may be losing money. You can either hire someone to do this audit professionally or do it yourself. Seeing that you are looking to save money, you can do it yourself fairly easily. The Department of Energy website goes into all the details and tells you exactly how to give your home an energy audit, the link is below.

2. Install Green Switches

Cut your energy consumption by installing “green switches” in your home. A green switch is a device that controls the power to all electronics plugged in to the green switch outlet. All electronics use power even when they are turned off because they draw power from the outlet while they are plugged in. Just think about the TV, dvd player, stereo, and computer. Every night while you are asleep and they are powered down, they are still sucking electricity while they are plugged in. Think of a green switch as a light switch for your electric outlets. Just don’t use them for electronics that need power continuously to function. For example; your DVR or refrigerator.

3. Light Bulbs

Light bulbs are an easy way to save big money in energy costs. Switch to energy efficient light bulbs, they are a little more expensive than traditional bulbs but last up to 3 times as long and use far less energy as traditional bulbs. If you like the traditional bulbs you can still save money. Use less light bulbs than you are used to. Most kitchens, bathrooms, and dining rooms have multiple light sockets in their light fixtures. Instead of using two 100 watt bulbs in the kitchen, try using one 150 watt bulb. Four light bulbs in a dining room seems a little much, two will give plenty of light. The Department of Energy website says it is better to use fewer bulbs at a higher wattage than more bulbs at a lower wattage. Use motion sensor lights for the outside of your home rather than keeping an outside light on all night, or use solar powered outside lighting.

4. Digital Thermostats

You would be surprised at all of the millions of homes that still have thermostats over 15 years old. Digital thermostats now have all kinds of functions that, by design, save you money on your energy bill. They are more accurate in getting the proper room temperature which means the system runs only when it needs to. You can also give it specific times to turn on and off through out the day and night; which is more efficient than just setting the thermostat higher when no one is home.

5. Insulation and Drafts

Every spring and fall you should go around your house, inside and outside, and check your insulation and check for drafts. Replace any insulation that is rotting, falling out, or has been damaged. Use caulk and weather stripping to seal windows, doors, and any other areas that are not sealed properly. Check doors for drafts, the garage for holes or weather damage, and the basement and attic for possible damage.

There are dozens of ways to trim you energy bill. These will get you started on the road to energy savings. Green switches, digital thermostats, and energy efficient light bulbs may seem like small potatoes to you, but just give it a try, and watch how your energy bill shrinks in size. As an added bonus you will be also helping the environment by reducing your carbon footprint. Next time you are looking to save a little money, look around your house for more ways to reduce your energy costs.

Home Energy Audit: http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/energy_audits/index.cfm/mytopic=11170

Sources: www.energysavers.gov

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Source by Wil Chavis

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By implementing some energy-saving tips you can lower your electric bill and save more of your money for other things to buy. Taking care of these extra steps may seem like extra work on your part, but if saving money by increasing energy efficiency is your goal, these actions can bring you success.

These tips are intended to spur your imagination and set up an activity that might lead you into a situation where you could discover additional action-steps on your own. I hope they become a valuable asset for you.

Conservation through High technology

Many simple purchases such as (1) Smart Strip LCG4 Energy Saving Power Strip with Auto-switching Technology and (2) P3 International P4400 Kill-A-Watt Electricity Usage Monitor can help you dramatically reduce your costs over time. These products represent only two of many similar high-tech devices that contribute to saving electricity usage and will ultimately help you keep more of your money.

Air-Conditioning Inspections

Nearly every condensing unit will require cleaning. If heavily impacted coils are discovered this will require time and chemicals that go beyond normal, routine maintenance. This is why it is prudent to contact a professional representative to get the job done. Once you get the coil cleaned, it’ll be considerably cheaper for you to have them come out every year and keep it clean.

Air-Tight Home

Check all seals around all windows mounted on your home. Cutting down on the amount of cold air entering your living environment will keep your furnace in a better state of efficiency by eliminating the number of on and off cycles of operation and thus less draw on the current grid.

Attic and Wall Insulation

Does your home need more insulation? Unless your home was constructed with special attention to energy efficiency, adding insulation will probably reduce your utility bills. Much of the existing housing stock in the United States was not insulated to the levels used today. Older homes are likely to use more energy than newer homes, leading to higher heating and air-conditioning bills.

Quick Action Tips

(1) Reduce the temperature setting of your hot water tank to save energy. (2) Turn off lights and all that other devices that are not in use. (3) Since older electrical appliances use more energy then newer ones it is wiser to replace them then to fix them. It is also a smart move to look for an energy star on the new appliance to further your effort to save energy.

Put these tips into immediate action and you will discover improvements in the costs associated with your home’s energy consumption.

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Source by Brian G Knight

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The essence of our world’s existence in this Universe is none other than energy. Every single particle is a manifestation of energy and all that plays in nature comes with adjustments along with transformations of it. As we know that there are several types of energy and some of the most frequently heard forms are as follows:

• Gravitational
• Electrical
• Chemical
• Mechanical
• Nuclear

The basic law of energy states that “energy could neither be created nor it can be destroyed but could be transferred from a single body to the other” and it is going to rule all of the basic process of life on earth. Individuals who possess basic knowledge of science should recognize that the heat or simply thermal energy is a form of kinetic force as a result of the motion of molecules in a system.

The force coming from the Sun is referred to as radiation and whenever it reaches the Earth, it is actually then called heat. That had been in a higher level of explanation. Thermal used at home is called home thermal energy which is the basic level of energy that can be created in a lot of aspects of our day to day life. Burning, as an example, is a very simple form of heat producing reaction, which happens to be implied at home and is also known as home thermal energy. The forces within the nuclear reactions and also the motion of the electrons in electrical circuits are some of the cases where thermal energy is created in the process. Geothermal can be another form of thermal energy that is being generated from the interior of the Earth.

The solar thermal power is likely one of the most popular kinds of home thermal and its energy is being made use in solar panels, evaporation systems, and many other systems to harness the solar energy. Solar energy is the most brilliant among home thermal facts due to the development of new technologies. As a way to harness the opportunity of thermal energies, we will be capable of reducing the overall dependence on many forms of non-sustainable energies.

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Source by Tony Wilson Evans

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When you’re operating/working in a hospital and your primary focus is on the health of your patients and treating those who are sick &/or injured round-the-clock, it’s easy to place the importance of maintaining, and even improving your hospital on the back-burner. In particular, the lighting demand of any hospital is significantly high, roughly representing more than 10% of an average hospital’s energy consumption. This also leads to a higher demand in having to cool down the hospital because of the heat that is generated from every watt of electricity being consumed. The amount of heat and energy that is emitted from poorly thought out lighting systems in hospitals is a problem that is taking time, money, and energy away from other valuable aspects of a hospital. However, it is a problem with a rather easy solution.

Energy efficient lighting solutions are readily available to meet the lighting demands of any hospital, whether it’s a hospital newly in construction or one already in existence. Commercial LED lighting, while both cost-efficient and energy-efficient, also has a quick payback period and will lead to dramatic savings over little time.

Benefits of installing LED lighting in hospitals:

Energy efficient – LED lighting Uses less than a third of the energy consumed by fluorescents (140 kWh) and seven times less than incandescents (350 kWh). (Important when dealing with lighting that stays on round-the-clock, i.e., hallways, large rooms, bathrooms, cafeteria, even exit signs).

Lowers maintenance cost – The lifespan of LEDs is 50,000 hours, or around six years, when operated 24/7. Comparatively, the lifespan for fluorescent lights can last for about a year when used 24/7, and even less than a year for incandescent lights. Another great characteristic of LED lighting is that it does not burn out over time, but rather slowly lessens in brightness. (Time and money can be better spent elsewhere than having to worry about replacing burned out light bulbs).

More money in your pocket – Because of the quick payback, savings can be allocated elsewhere. Below is an example of how simply switching the light bulbs in a hospital’s exit signs can be extremely beneficial.

ex: When a hospital (600 beds and 300 exit signs), replaces its 36 W EXIT signs with 5 W LED signs, it will yield an annual savings of $14,755. That’s incredible savings, especially since the project cost of doing this would be about $17,000, with a payback period of 1.15 years.

Hospital happiness, health, & safety – LED lighting casts a minimal to no shadow. There is also no flicker, and no delay when these LED lights are turned off and on. Last but not least, studies have shown that the light from LED bulbs can improve one’s overall mood and health because of their ability to create light in multiple colors. This is revolutionary because the type of color in your lighting can help your staff feel more alert, while also helping your patients feel more calm or sleepy. When your hospital’s staff and patients are happier, the overall hospital will function significantly better.

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Source by Mona Chagala

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Energy Saving Posters in the Workplace

Often even the most environmentally conscious people forget to conserve resources in the workplace. But earth friendly habits are important to foster in the workplace, and it is important that managers and business owners put the right tools in place to make green habits easy to adopt at work. Besides being good for the earth, green habits improve a business’ bottom line.

When employees consistently turn off lights and unplug appliances, less energy is required to operate the office. When there are policies in place that require them to turn off screensavers or use sleep modes on their computers, a huge amount of money is saved on electricity bills.

Energy saving slogans are a fun way of gently teaching “old dogs new tricks”. Often people operate on autopilot with bad habits that could easily be replaced by earth friendly practices. This is especially true if the managers or owners of the business do not set eco-friendly systems in place. For example, if no recycling bin is provided, everyone will more than likely throw their recyclables into the trash rather than taking them with them to a recycle bin off site. Almost every breakroom could benefit from a recycling bin and appropriate recycle sign. Another great suggestion to post in breakrooms is the use of reusable utensils and travel mugs.

Almost every office uses paper, but not every office has a tree friendly policies like recycling paper, copying on both sides, and only print what you need. Simply posting these suggestions on the wall with a green sign will cause people to think twice about wasteful practices.

Energy saving posters are large enough to describe several ecofriendly practices, and are designed to cater to the needs of a certain area. There are posters that target breakrooms, copy rooms, lobbies, warehouses, and other common workplace areas. These posters often feature animated illustrations to demonstrate how to green the workplace. Green signs and posters can go a long way to help employees tread a little lighter on the earth.

Employees may feel it is the responsibility of the company to enforce environmental policies. These policies can be established by simply posting appropriate signage in the workplace. This simple step can be effective without even holding meetings or verbal reinforcement. Often employees are happy to participate in green programs, and just need these practices to be first suggested and encouraged by the supervisor. Greening the workplace doesn’t have to be more work. It is more about changing mindsets. The best way to remind people is to place signs in appropriate areas.

One of the most effective energy saving poster shouldn’t even be called a poster at all, because it measures just 5″ x 7″. It is a small sign that is placed beside a light switch that simply says “Turn Off Lights When Not In Use”. This message should be placed beside every single light switch in the workplace.

Don’t let greening the workplace overwhelm you. Start small and do what you can. Make it simple and others will follow. Order some energy saving posters today and you won’t even need to hold a meeting!

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Source by Lara Hill

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The act of a farmer working the land to produce food consistently without causing or creating irreversible damage to the well-being of our ecosystem is called sustainable agriculture. Farming in this method has three main goals:

1. Environmental stability

2. Farm profitability

3. Prosperous farming communities

These sets of practices have been identified by a variety of regulations by both the farmer and the consumer. For a farmer to excel at sustainable agriculture there are two main issues for the farmer to understand .

1. The long-term effects of various farming methods, such as harrowing or crop rotation, to ensure rich soil properties. Rotating the crop helps keep the soil from depletion of its nutrients by adding livestock manure or by growing alfalfa and adding it to the soil, it is high in nitrogen. Clover works also. In order for sustainable agriculture to work it depends on the farmer to replace nutrients back into the soil.

2. The long term ability of a farmer to gather information and manage resources like farm labourers is socio-economic.

Methods of working the field are partially understood. Excessive tilling with no proper irrigation could create field erosion or a high salt content in the soil. Experience will provide the best knowledge on what is better for soil properties while managing sustainable agriculture farms.

With sustainable agriculture being the leading growing method, a healthier environment would be ensured.

With the environmental crisis we are facing, sustainable agriculture is helping the environment . While we look for better alternatives we have found that growing organically using sustainable agriculture fits the world in our times. To eat healthy anyone could grow a sustainable vegetable garden on their property.

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Source by Jeffery N Conway

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Wall packs are wall mounted lights that perform some important functions when they are installed in the outdoor of a commercial complex. The main function of these wallpacks is to create general lighting for passers around outdoor structures and around buildings. They should offer enough visibility for enabling people to clearly differentiate between objects and they also play a crucial role in accent lighting as well. Since most of the mounted fixtures feature decorative and geometric designs, they make high contribution to the overall appearance of the building. In addition to beauty feature, they also offer safety to the building against intruders since they offer lighting to the entire area. Even with the help of these lights mounted in the corners, security personnel can get clear visibility.

Electric bills are turning out to be the biggest expenses for any commercial establishment and for saving some form of money from electricity bills, business owners can use LED wallpacks for their walls, which not only offers bright lighting, but also can save electricity bills. LED lights are highly popular for their energy efficiency and a well-designed LED circuit can approach 80% of efficiency, meaning 80% of electrical energy is transformed into light energy by these lights. The balance 20% of is lost as heat energy. On the other hand, in the case of conventional lights, 80% of light is lost as heat energy and they offer only 20% energy efficiency. LED lights are not only wallet-friendly, but they are also environment-friendly and therefore by using these lights, commercial establishment can make some positive contribution to the environment.

Another benefit offered by LED wallpacks is that they are more durable as compared to any other form of lights and therefore replacement cost to the users is also minimized. In addition, LED technology does not make use of any toxic chemicals in the process of manufacturing LED lights and they can also be easily disposed off as compared to conventional lights. These wallpacks also offer other benefits like longer hours of life, resistance to vibration and shock, easy installation and mounting. Also, they offer uniform light all through their life and manufactures are offering them with completely sealed packs for making them dust and water proof. So, select LED model for your wallpack plan and offer some form of help to the environment, thereby saving your electricity bill. You can also enjoy a well-illuminated surrounding in your office premises.

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Source by Jakob Luke