Explore trends and issues impacting our industry
Many organizations today are working to identify ways to meet decarbonization goals, reducing their dependence on carbon-rich fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, oil, and propane. Their goal: to dramatically reduce their emissions of the greenhouse gases implicated in climate change, while, hopefully, also decreasing their energy costs and bolstering organizational reputation at the same time. For
For vessel owners interested in reducing fossil fuel consumption to meet IMO 2020 international marine emission standards, hybridization and electrification technologies complement or offer an effective alternative with many benefits. A basic definition of hybridization is any system with two or more sources of energy acting together to accomplish a task. In the automotive world,
The search for refrigerants that perfectly balance environmental, economic and safety concerns is continuing. Unfortunately, this quest throws customers and end-users off balance. Planning is stressful when the future is subject to change. Fortunately, in recent years, technology has developed to the point that it is possible to build a long-lasting platform for low-GWP commercial
If you’ve been in facility management long enough, you’ve encountered a few of these problems before: variable speed pumps that run close to 100% much of the time; a chiller that labors with low Delta T; or, worst of all, complaints of hot and cold spots in occupied spaces. So, what do you do? Look
Henry Ford once said, “You can have any color you want as long as it’s black”—a slogan that launched the early industrial model. And still today industry relies on economies of scale—and scaling means as little product differentiation as possible within a product line. Industrial efficiency thrives on product commoditization, but in a competitive global
In a previous post, we considered the incremental efficiency improvements possible for supermarkets through existing technologies. However, even bigger energy savings can occur when technologies and services make connections outside the store. In fact, managing multiple stores across the enterprise multiplies the energy savings. Option 2: Efficiency improvements through connectivity To get actionable, real-time
Over the last two decades, residential HVAC systems in the US have gone from 10 SEER to 15 SEER — a 25% improvement. For commercial buildings, the source and site-energy-use efficiency improvements in ASHRAE 90.1 standards have increased more than 40% — with corresponding reductions in CO2 emissions. But, HVAC and refrigeration equipment use 50-60%
As the world population increases and people pursue higher standards of living, more water is needed in homes and for production of food and products. In fact, by 2050, the UN projects global water demand will increase by 55%. However, fresh water supplies are limited, and groundwater, which is the source of drinking water for
Over the past few years, it seems I’ve been able to increasingly recite what has become one of my favorite mantras: “variable speed everything.” This is in part because, on a national level, there has been a growing conversation around doubling U.S. energy productivity by 2030. Reaching that goal will undoubtedly require a strong focus