9/26 Energy & Environment Links

How Brad Pitt Could Spark a Green Building Revolution

Brad Pitt started the Make It Right foundation in 2007 to rebuild homes for residents in New Orleans who lost theirs to Hurricane Katrina. Which would have been plenty admirable if that was the extent of the mission. But the foundation figured, since all eyes are on the rebuilding of Katrina, wouldn't this be a fine chance to make an ironclad case for green building?

A123Systems Shares Jump 50% in Nasdaq Debut

A123Systems’ Nasdaq debut Thursday thoroughly justified the company’s confidence in its initial public offering, with the stock leaping more than 50 percent to close at $20.29 per share after pricing at $13.50 per share Wednesday.

Build a Better Bulb for a $10 Million Prize

The ubiquitous but highly inefficient 60-watt light bulb badly needs a makeover. And it could be worth millions in government prize money — and more in government contracts — to the first company that figures out how to do it.

GE Continues Smart Grid Push

GE has launched a new website called itsyoursmartgrid.com.  Ever since their very inventive "If I only had a Brain" Super Bowl ad GE has led an engaging marketing campaign informing the public on the benefits of a smart grid. I could go on, but no one says it better than our own Anthony Star, "The easily understood, educational content on itsyoursmartgrid.com provides information in a simple, straight-forward manner that I've yet to find elsewhere on the Web."

Anthony is the Director of Policy and Evaluation here at CNT Energy and much of his recent work has been centered around shaping future smart grid policy in conjunction with many of the leading professionals in this emerging field. Over the past week, this influential conversation has taken place at the premier smart grid conference called Gridweek in Washington, DC. Keynote addresses were given by Secretary of the US Department of Energy Stuven Chu, and Secretary of the US Department of Commerce Gary Locke.

While experts of energy and policy can discuss the finest elements of the smart grid for an entire week using the latest industry terminology, it takes an entirely different effort to communicate its potential to the average person. GE has continued to refine and enhance its message using the web to engage potential users of this technology about its many benefits. Check out the GE's video accompanying the launch of the website.



Learn (much) more at itsyoursmartgrid.com.
GE's official press release.

PSP in the Herald-Review

Tony Reid of the Decatur Herald-Review penned a great article about Power Smart Pricing. It includes some interesting quotes from a local participant and the Citizens Utility Board.

Read the full article here.

More on the Citizen's Utility Board here.

9/19 Energy & Environment Links

New feature: Energy and Environment Links -
This new feature will allow the PSP Blog to add more content without dedicating a whole post to topics that may not influence Power Smart Pricing customers to directly. Hopefully this will become a regular weekend feature.

Whole Foods Market® Helps Fund New Wind Farm, Makes Landmark Purchase of Wind Energy Credits

Whole Foods Market today announced the completion of its 2009 landmark 776 million-kilowatt-hour purchase of renewable energy credits (RECs) from wind farms.

The White House Takes Aim at LEED Certification

The White House is doing its part in leading the way to a more sustainable nation. Not only are they growing their own food on site with Michelle Obama’s garden, but now even they’re aiming for LEED certification!

Are ESL bulbs better than CFL or LED?

A novel design for energy-efficient lightbulbs can produce incandescent-quality light and does not contain mercury like compact fluorescents (CFLs), according to manufacturer Vu1.

Free E-Smart Thermostat As Ameren Customer

Through Ameren's Act On Energy website customers can receive a free internet enabled thermostat (a $250 value!). The E-Smart Programmable Thermostat can be accessed online so you can change the temperature settings in your home remotely. This is a great opportunity for Power Smart Pricing customers who check prices online.

The program will also automatically help you conserve electricity. During peak demand periods, times that will generally feature the highest prices of the year, the thermostat will automatically change its settings to cycle the central air conditioner on and off. This will lower its energy consumption, significantly aiding the utility to conserve its resources, and ultimately lowering your bills.

With other enhanced features, participants can easily program their house to take advantage of precooling their home in the summer and more freely respond to high prices. The online user interface provides a convenient way to navigate through all the features the thermostat provides without having to use the limited buttons and screen sizes of traditional thermostats. Sitting down for 5 minutes and programming this thermostat will save you tons of time and money later on. 

For more information, check out the FAQ page (pdf).

Update: This promotion is limited to certain zip codes around Champaign and Peoria in its initial offering. 

Design Concepts in Energy Displays

Arriving all the way from Brussels we can find a series of interesting design concepts to report and track household energy consumption. Most conventional products getting developed look more like traditional programmable thermostats, but this exhibition is anything but ordinary.

The Visual Voltage Exhibition at Design Vlaanderen is definitely pushing the envelope. The show hopes to provide information on electricity, energy consumption, and environmental issues. Whether or not you come to the conclusion that any of these concepts are practical, they at least give you an opportunity to think about it in an entirely different light.

With Power Smart Pricing getting price information to our customers in an easy way is of utmost importance. We are constantly seeking and examining the ways in which our participants want and currently receive their information. Since the price of electricity changes each hour, ease of access to the information becomes a high priority.

In the past we have incorporated a great tool called The Price Light. It is an orb that changes colors in a range of blue (for the lowest prices) to red (the highest). We have documented data that shows that participants using the Price Light shifted more of their electricity to lower priced times. Due to technology restraints, reliability concerns, and cost we had to discontinue its use, but since we have been eager to fill its void with another device.

No one would have guessed that a light that changed colors could do some much. Check out the designs from the visual voltage exhibition here.

New Energy Star Standard for TVs

Energy Star is revising its qualifications for televisions effective on May 1, 2010 and again in 2012. One of the key changes is that all tv's over 50" will be required to meet the same energy standard to achieve the coveted sticker. In past versions energy efficiency was measured as the amount of wattage per square inch of screen.

The version 4.0 Energy Star sticker, the standard set for May 2010, will require 40 percent greater efficiency, while the version 5.0 sticker will require 65 percent more efficiency than a TV sold today.

This is an interesting approach for the EPA. In most cases with the Energy Star rating the emphasis is placed how much output you can get for the amount of energy required to use the application. The shift towards putting a cap on the maximum amount of energy to receive the rating has conservation in mind.

Ultimately, consumer need will drive technology innovation. As long as shoppers continue to place energy standards at a high priority, the television makers will have to match. All for one little sticker...

For more from CNET GreenTech.
Straight from the source at Energy Star.

Home Energy Savings Can be Confusing..

Many people choose to enroll in Power Smart Pricing because it gives them a way to save money off their monthly bills by using their electricity more wisely. In essence it gives customers another way to save. However it is important to not overlook the many ways households can lower their bills through more traditional approaches. In most cases, lowering overall energy consumption comes from incorporating methods that are specific to each households situation.

People have a tendency to leaves lights, tvs, and computers on while they are not being used. All of this extra cost comes from the same type of behavior. Fixing this issue first takes the recognition that you are in fact doing these things. Leaving something on is often due to forgetfulness, and therefore it can be difficult to keep track of something you are forgetting to do. No worries, just sit and think about it for a minute...

Other than personal behavior changes sometimes the extra energy used each month comes from inefficient system of household appliances and insulation. The new heating and air conditioning does not help much if the windows are left open. The washing machine's cool settings may provide the same cleaning power as the hot water setting, but if you cannot help but do it the same way you always have... well your bills will be more like they have always been too.

I recently found an article that can help clear up some of the common misconceptions about home energy solutions. Whether or not each of these improvements apply to work you are thinking of doing around your home or not, they provide a good lesson in how to think about savings and where they really come from.

Check out this recent article from Earth2Tech.