U of I at Champaign-Urbana Cutting Energy Use by 10%

Illinois' flagship campus is ahead of schedule to cut energy usage by 10% this year. The university expects the reduction in usage to save a very significant $5 million in energy costs. Wow...

“We’re heading toward a 10 percent reduction this year, and I don’t think we could have done that without the campus units getting on board,” said Terry Ruprecht, director of energy conservation at Facilities and Services. “Folks out there are doing whatever small things they can do. It really is one of those nifty things where a whole bunch of people are putting their shoulders to the wheel and making it work.”

The University has by no means settled on their accomplishments thus far. Future projects look to continue the trend of using smart investment to lower energy costs. The programs will be able to recoup the retrofit costs with energy savings and through local and federal incentive programs.

For further detail and information check out this Illinois Energy News article.

Sears Tower Plans $350 Million Upgrade

The tallest building in the United States is getting a $350 million renovation that will ultimately cut its electricity consumption by 80%. The ambitious plans include wind turbines and solar panels for an extra bit of appeal in the public eye. The rest of the savings will be achieved through upgraded efficiency in most everything a building needs to operate.

An improved glass exterior will help maximize the use of natural light while limiting passive solar heating within the office space during hot summer months. The new windows will be accompanied with an improved indoor lighting system to lower the necessary watts to illuminate the office space while insuring that lights are only used when necessary.

The internal systems will also be overhauled. Energy efficient heating and cooling will lower the building's burden on the grid. Alongside these traditional improvements will be a new elevator systems design. This sounds like a small task until you consider that 102 elevators cover the 4.5 million square foot, 110-story building.

This is quite the task for the architects and builders to achieve, but it will be a sterling example of what smart renovation can achieve. A portion of the cost will be covered by its own energy improvements, not to mention a boost in tourism and the upgrade in desirable office space.

For more information:

The Chicago Tribune
The New York Times
Treehugger

Ameren's Energy Saving Toolkit

Take advantage of Ameren's online tools to help you save on electricity. The Energy Savings Toolkit will provide you with detailed information about your home energy usage. They will even give you an idea of how much you personally could save if you decided to take advantage of energy savings tips.

The ActOnEnergy website is constantly updated with the newest opportunities for Ameren Illinois customers to save on their electricity through conservation, and in some cases you can get rewarded with a credit on your bill.

Keep an eye out for an upcoming e-thermostat program that will allow you to control your household thermostat through the internet. This will give you the most control over your energy usage during a high priced time.

For more from Ameren's energy efficiency programs go to www.ActOnEnergy.com.

U of I Prepares for Solar Decathlon in Washington, DC

The University of Illinois at Champain-Urbana is set to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon. Architecture graduate students are entering the competition with a building that can be heated with the energy it takes to run a hair dryer.

The home follows the Passive House model that has been discussed a few times on this blog (here and here). The goal of this design is to conserve energy and maximize the benefits of passive solar heating, skylights, and a highly energy efficient heating and cooling system.

It has been constructed using renewable materials and salvaging wood from other places like unused barns. Steve Venden of Homeway Homes said the building costs about $130 per square foot, about 10 percent more than its standard modular of that size

A roof will be installed on June 24, followed by solar panels on the south side.

The team plans to have an open house as a fundraising event, perhaps based on a dinner party theme with input from the UI culinary students at the Spice Box in Bevier Hall.

Come October the house will be moved to the National Mall in Washington, DC for the competition.

Here is an article about the team and the competition in The News-Gazette.

Photo credit: Heather Coit, The News-Gazette

Watch the PSP Summer Readiness Workshop

The 2009 Summer Readiness Workshop presentation is now online for your viewing enjoyment. If you could not attend one of the workshops, this post will fill you a little on the information that we presented. As always, if you have questions from anything you saw here please send us an email info@powersmartpricing.org or a call at 1-877-655-6028.

This May the Power Smart Pricing team hosted workshops to help Illinois households manage their summer electricity costs. The Summer Energy Saving Workshops presented the information you need to enjoy the summer and while keeping your electricity bills under control.

• Tips on managing your summer electricity usage and costs.
• No-cost and low-cost ways to save energy at home.
• How you can protect the environment by using energy efficiently.
• Learn about your electricity pricing options, including strategies for saving energy and money with Power Smart Pricing, an hourly electricity pricing option from the Ameren Illinois Utilities.

2009 PSP Summer Readiness Workshop

View more OpenOffice presentations from mgscallet.

Worldwide Electricity Demand Predicited to Fall

The International Energy Agency (IEA) this week at a Group of 8 (G8) Energy Ministers’ Meeting in Rome announced its projections that world energy demand would fall by 3.5% in 2009. This marks the first time since 1945, that worldwide electricity demand will be lower than the previous year. Experts attribute this drop to the global recession that has significantly cut manufacturing demand as most of the drop is predicted to occur within the industrial sector.

When considering all the energy related events in the past 65 years, its still quite astounding. Perhaps this is the surest sign that the global economy has become more integrated than ever. Any subsequent economic recovery should parallel a rise in energy demand. For now the lower prices will aide that recovery with lower operating expenses for worldwide industry.

Power Smart Pricing participants have been able to see this trend with lower wholesale market prices for electricity. Unseasonably cool summer temperatures in the upper Midwest along with lower worldwide demand have attributed to lower than normal electricity prices throughout the first half of 2009.

As CNT Energy has carefully examined, Power Smart Pricing participants respond with lower electricity usage when prices rise. So as demand is lower, prices follow, but it should result in more usage, which will help the global recovery. When the price is not directly tied to demand, customers will continue to limit their usage as the price of energy rises as compared to the money coming in. The balance found within a functioning electricity market proves the value of real time pricing.

Comed to Conduct 141,000 Smart Meter Pilot

Comed filed a petition with the Illinois Commerce Commission to begin work on a 141,000 AMI smart meter pilot program within its Chicagoland service area.

ComEd proposes to install approximately 100,000 meters in a demographicallyvaried, yet operationally manageable, footprint that includes nine towns in its Maywood operating area: Bellwood, Berwyn, Broadview, Forest Park, Hillside, Maywood, Melrose Park, Oak Park, and River Forest. ComEd proposes to install approximately 30,000 AMI meters within the City of Chicago and approximately 10,000 in the City of Elgin.

The pilot will be designed to demonstrate the effect smart meters have on consumers. The goal will be to determine what set circumstances will lead to the greatest energy and cost savings. The results of this year long pilot will help the utility design a possible future deployment of AMI technology to the rest of their 3.1 million consumers.

Other smart meter pilot programs have found that a key contributor to maximizing cost savings is dynamic pricing. Like Power Smart Pricing, this gives consumers a financial incentive to shift their usage. The results of this pilot will certainly be influential around the rest of the state as well as the nation.

More from Earth2Tech on the AMI pilot.