News Updates for the Week of November 29

1. Will ESL Light Bulbs Beat LEDs? - New York City-based Vu1 Corporation would like consumers to think so with the announcement that after years in the making, the company’s R30 Electron Stimulated Luminescence energy-efficient reflector light bulb —or ESL bulb for short — has been granted final UL approval and will become available to consumers in early 2011. And if all goes as planned, the ESL will prove to be a formidable contender to the two existing, not-entirely-perfect incandescent alternatives: the CFL and the LED. http://www.vu1corporation.com/eslupdate 11/22 Forbes

2. MIT Study Finds Great Potential Energy Savings Through User-Controlled Efficient Lighting Systems - MIT Media Lab are aiming to provide sophisticated and continuous lighting control that could slash lighting bills by more than half. The experimental control devices being tested are about the size of a business card, and thin enough to slip in a pocket. They monitor the light actually falling on the user’s working space, and contain light sensors as well as controls to adjust both the intensity and the color balance of the light. In the current test setup, this information is used to control an array of LED (light-emitting diode) light fixtures. The tiny controllers not only measure the intensity of the light falling on the workspace from the LEDs, but can identify how much light can come from different fixtures while also separately measuring any ambient light coming in from the windows or spillover light from neighboring work areas. 11/22 Balkans News

3. Light at Night: The Latest Science - A panel of leading experts was assembled to explore what today’s science can tell us about light at night. While it remains unproven that typical exposures to outdoor lighting have negative health impacts, this cannot be ruled out without more empirical data and a standard metric for quantifying the relevant light exposures. LED technology holds tremendous potential for energy savings, but it is not yet clear whether its spectral characteristics will offer advantages over other light sources in terms of vision and circadian regulation. http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/ssl/ssl_whitepaper_nov2010.pdf

4. Seeing Heat: Utility Generating Thermal Images of Homes from High Up - Cedar Falls, Idaho residents will now be able to look at a thermal image of their home from a comfortable seat at their home computer. It will be possible because of two men who crisscrossed the skies over Cedar Falls through the night, carefully photographing every building in the city with a thermal imaging camera. Cedar Falls Utilities took advantage of a federal stimulus grant program ($3 million for the equipment), to create the thermal images. Homeowners and businesses will be able to look at the results and determine heat loss coming from rooftops. 11/20 Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

5. Automation Comes to LEED Green Building Program - The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), developers of the LEED green building program, has announced a new program designed to streamline and create capacity for the LEED building certification process. Called LEED Automation, the program enables users to submit documentation and certify LEED projects online through third-party technology platforms. http://www.usgbc.org/Docs/News/LEED%20Automation.pdf

6. UC Davis Turns On Smart Lighting to Save Energy, Be Model for Californians - The University of California, Davis, today turns on a new Smart Lighting Initiative to slash the amount of electricity it uses to illuminate its buildings and grounds. Working with the UC Davis California Lighting Technology Center, the UC Davis Facilities Management team already has installed lighting energy-saving projects including:
• LED overhead lights with two brightness levels, controlled by occupancy sensors, in campus parking structures;
• Bi-level induction lighting, also controlled by occupancy sensors, in campus parking lots and structures;
• Induction lights in streetlight fixtures on the north entry road (Howard Way);
• "Hybrid" bathroom lights that combine LED night lights with conventional lights and occupancy sensors in Emerson Hall and Webster Hall dormitories;
• Bi-level LED overhead lights in Bainer Hall corridors;
• Advanced compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) in Meyer Hall downlights;
• LED desk lamps and bi-level overhead lights controlled by occupancy sensors, daylight sensors and people in Mrak Hall offices; and
• A unique mirrored sunlighting device to bring daylight into interior rooms at the campus’s new winery, brewery and food-processing complex.

The UC Davis Smart Lighting program is expected to cost $39 million. The California Statewide Energy Partnership Program will fund $4 million of the total. The remaining $35 million will be paid for by energy savings of $3 million per year. 11/22 UC Davis News & Information

7. After EISA 2007 There's No Turning Back by Dan Carazo - Everyone of us who champions increased energy efficiency in America – and all its benefits – should lobby our U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator to declare January to be Energy Efficiency Month. A Republican president approved EISA 2007, and a Democratic president signed ARRA 2009, so regardless of our personal political viewpoint, the broad scope of Federal support for energy efficient solutions makes it clear that the current trend toward green electrical is sure to continue to spur further growth for many years. http://tedgreenroom.com

8. Feds Lowers Economic Expectations for 2011 - Top Federal Reserve officials expect the unemployment rate to remain around nine percent at the end of next year and eight percent at the end of 2012, according to internal forecasts that drove the central bank to take new efforts to boost the economy three weeks ago. The 18 top leaders of the central bank expect the U.S. economy to grow at a 3 to 3.6 percent pace next year. 11/23 Washington Post

9. October's Existing-Home Sales Decline - Following two consecutive months of increases, existing-home sales declined in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.43 million. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the 2.2% decline compared with September reflects an uneven recovery. 11/23 HCN

10. Acuity Brands Releases Series of LED Educational Videos - Acuity Brands, through its Lithonia Lighting unit, has announced the release of a series of five online instructional videos featuring insights designed to help answer the common questions about commercial ambient and other LED lighting design applications. http://www.lithonia.com/RTLED

11. Scientists Say They Have Solution to TSA Scanner Objections - A cheap and simple fix in the computer software of new airport scanners could silence the uproar from travelers who object to the so-called virtual strip search, according to a scientist who helped develop the program at one of the federal government's most prestigious institutes: the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. The fix would distort the images captured on full-body scanners so they look like reflections in a fun-house mirror, but any potentially dangerous objects would be clearly revealed, 11/22 Washington Post

News Updates for the Week of November 22

1. New Report on Street Lighting Technologies Available from The Lighting Research Center - The National Lighting Product Information Program (NLPIP), based at the Lighting Research Center in Troy, NY, recently released its latest Specifier Report, designed to provide objective performance information on existing street lighting technologies including LED, induction, and high pressure sodium streetlights. According to NLPIP, when replacing the pole-mounted HPS streetlights on a one-mile section of collector road with the LED or induction streetlights used in the study, it would take twice as many of the pole-mounted LED or induction streetlights to meet the lighting criteria as defined in RP-8-00. Complete performance results are published in Specifier Reports: Streetlights for Collector Roads, which is available online here.

2. DOE Launches New Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Advisory Committee - The U.S. Department of Energy today announced the establishment of the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Advisory Committee (ERAC). ERAC is a federal advisory committee whose members will report directly to the Secretary of Energy with advice on the portfolio of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The 19 members selected have experience in a variety of sectors and will bring a range of technical expertise and perspectives to the committee.
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/eereadvisorycommittee/

3. NEMA Publishes Brochure to Explain Transition to Energy-Efficient Lighting - To download: http://www.nema.org/prod/lighting/upload/Lighting_Options_for_Your_Home_brochure_4web.pdf For more information on lighting legislation and saving energy through lighting upgrades, visit www.nemasavesenergy.org

4. NEMA Announces 2011 Board of Governors Officers - For a complete listing of the NEMA Board of Governors, visit www.nema.org/about/org/board

5. GE Publishes Position Paper on Lighting Efficiency Laws and Industry Transformation - California becomes a test lab next year for how consumers nationwide may react to new federal lighting efficiency laws taking effect throughout the country on January 1, 2012. Under Title 20, the Golden State's energy commission has the authority to regulate lighting products used by consumers and businesses. As a result of the commission's actions, consumers in California will start to experience the phase out of the 100-watt incandescent light bulb this coming January, a year before the rest of the country. Californians will also deal with the phasing out of 75-watt, 60-watt and 40-watt incandescent bulbs on an accelerated schedule. GE Lighting's position paper, A Transforming Global Lighting Industry, provides perspective on lighting legislation and the energy-efficient lighting technologies that are available to consumers and businesses now and in the years ahead. It's available for free at www.gelighting.com/2012 11/17 BUSINESS WIRE

6. Lighting Upgrades by Loren Snyder -
Part 1: Increase Energy Efficiency with Lighting Retrofits
Part 2: Aim for Goals for Lighting Retrofits, Including Higher Productivity
Part 3: Lighting Product Showcase
http://www.facilitiesnet.com/lighting/article/Increase-Energy-Efficiency-with-Lighting-Retrofits--12077

News Updates for the Week of November 15

1. LEED Revision Tightens Energy-Efficiency Standards With New Credits, Categories - The first of two public comment sessions opened this week on changes proposed for the U.S. Green Building Council's rating system for sustainable and energy-efficient buildings. The update to the LEED rating system will build upon a 2009 revision. The proposed changes, put together by USGBC's technical advisory committees, include three new credit categories and a variety of reworked and new credits and prerequisites. They touch each of the rating system's sections, including building design and construction, operations and maintenance, and LEED for homes. 11/11 NY Times

2. Construction Market to Increase 8% in 2011- McGraw-Hill Construction recently released its 2011 Construction Outlook, which predicts an increase in overall U.S. construction starts for next year of 8% to $445.5 billion, following the 2% decline predicted for 2010. http://ecmweb.com/ezone/construction-outlook-20101109/?cid=nl_ezone&smte=wl

3. Emerging Lighting Technologies by Frost & Sullivan - This research service presents recent global developments as well as industry trends in the field of emerging lighting technologies for various applications. The following technologies are covered in this research:
• Light emitting diode
• Organic light emitting diode
• Fluorescent lamps (compact fluorescent [CFL] and linear fluorescent)
• High intensity discharge lamps
• Halogen lamps
• Incandescent lamps
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/product/fff9c6/emerging_lighting_technologies

4. Xcel Energy Offering Rebates for LED Lamps - Electric utility Excel Energy is now offering businesses rebates in Colorado and Minnesota for the installation of EnergyStar-approved bulbs. The rebates vary by state but information at the utility's website offers some insight into the types of rebates now available. Lighting Science Group, Satellite Beach, Fla., said in a press release that its Definity LED line meets the standards necessary for the Xcel rebate program because the company’s PAR38 LED received the LED lighting industry’s first EnergyStar label and that it recently received approval for use of the EnergyStar label for its PAR30 and MR16 LED bulb types.
http://enews.penton.com/enews/electricalwholesaling/green_biz/2010_november_8_green_opportunities/display

5. New Poll - Seventy-nine percent of U.S. federal government leaders charged with making recommendations or final decisions on agency purchasing believe that energy efficiency is among the most effective ways to meet energy needs, reduce energy costs and lower greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new Zogby International poll sponsored by the Alliance to Save Energy and Schneider Electric. www.schneider-electric.us/go/government

6. WI PSC Backs Bigger Investment in Energy Efficiency - Wisconsin's energy efficiency programs would receive increased funding from electricity ratepayers in the next four years under a proposal adopted Thursday by the Public Service Commission. Under the proposal, funding for energy efficiency programs would expand to $120 million in 2011 from $100 million this year, with the goal of expanding incentives aimed at reducing energy bills. Funding would then increase to $160 million in 2012, $204 million in 2013 and $256 million in 2014, under the PSC proposal. 11/06 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

News Updates for the Week of November 8

1. U.S. Army Steps Up Requirements for Greening Building, Lighting - Starting in fiscal year 2013, designs for new construction and major renovations are to incorporate the sustainable design and development principles contained in the ASHRAE Standard 189.1. The standard details strategies for siting, cool roofs, solar water heating, advanced metering, storm water management and energy and water efficiency that reduce the environmental impacts of buildings. A new lighting policy, also announced last week, is effectively immediately. As new lighting is installed or existing lights need to be replaced, light bulbs purchased for Army facilities are to meet the energy efficiency standards set by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. 11/03 Reuters

2. Ameresco Quantum Partners with Washington School Districts for Energy Saving Improvements - Ameresco Quantum, Inc. www.ameresco.com has partnered with 21 school districts and 8 community and technical colleges throughout Washington state to help them obtain $21 million in grants for energy conservation project costs valued at over $46 million. The state funding, which was part of the 2010 Jobs Act for Public K-12 and Higher Education, is for energy and operational efficiency projects that will create jobs and reduce costs. 11/ 01 BUSINESS WIRE

3. PECO Customers Save $68 Million in Energy Costs with PECO Smart Ideas - Since its launch in October 2009, PECO customers have saved more than $68 million dollars with PECO Smart Ideas, the company's suite of energy efficiency programs. In just about one year customers are estimated to have reduced their energy use by one percent, or 419 gigawatt hours (GWh). The programs are part of the company's support of Pennsylvania's energy efficiency and demand response targets under Act 129 which requires all state electric utilities to develop programs to help customers reduce energy use by 1 percent by May 31, 2011 and 3 percent by May 31, 2013. www.peco.com/SmartIdeas

4. Madison, WI Announces $2.4 Million In Energy Grants - The city of Madison on Friday announced $2.4 million in federal energy efficiency grants to help small business and provide green job training. The Urban League's job training program will also provide grant and loan funding for 15 businesses to improve energy efficiency and launch a residential home weatherization pilot program in coming months. 10/29 The Wisconsin State Journal

Something to Think About…

Solving Problems in a Diverse Marketplace - An important asset of any company, especially one involved in the distribution of products and services, is its sales force and its ability to solve problems in today’s increasingly diverse and global workplace. The current business environment is changing the makeup of both the workplace and, most certainly, your customer base.

This one-day advanced sales training workshop focuses on assessing the individual strengths and weaknesses we all have and the sales skills necessary to recognize and to solve those critical problems that are impediments to successful sales closure.

Using a highly successful self-assessment instrument (DISC), the workshop provides the attendees an understanding of different behavioral styles essential for managing and selling more effectively in a diverse environment. In addition, the objective of the workshop is to develop the necessary sales skills to successfully upsell into a rapidly changing electrical industry with emphasis on the new energy efficient technologies and process selling. To convince today's customers to upgrade to the more technologically advanced products because of bottom line improvement and productivity gains that will be realized. The workshop engages and challenges participants through self-assessments, brief lecturettes, questionnaires, customized case studies and interactive group exercises.

Before the session, all participants will be asked to complete an online assessment:
The Success Insights® (DISC Profile) Behavioral Assessment – an analysis of each individual’s behavioral style is used to increase their self-awareness and abilities to develop adaptive styles to meet the demands of the workplace and customer environments.
At the end of this session, the goal is for all participants to:

 learn about their own behavioral style, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to adapt it to help maximize the talents of managing differences in others
 learn how to read and predict the behaviors of other people, especially their customers, so that they will know how to treat them the way they would like to be treated and gain better team productivity, problem solving, creativity and quality of work
 learn how to enhance individual and team effectiveness…and improve communications
 solve today’s selling problems and mitigate customer conflicts that impede successful sales closure
 focus on those sales skills necessary to compete effectively and to maintain the learned productivity gains:
• create demand selling
• strategic sales process
• competitive selling
 improve the business of your customer in order to meet your personal sales objectives

For more information, contact Bill Attardi at wattardi@attardimarketing.com

Monthly Special Feature

NEWSWEEK's 2010 Green Rankings is a data-driven assessment of the largest companies in the U.S. and in the world. Their goal was to cut through the green chatter and quantify the actual environmental footprints, policies, and reputations of these big businesses. To do this, NEWSWEEK teamed up with three leading environmental research organizations to create the most comprehensive rankings available. The Top 20 greenest USA companies are: http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/18/green-rankings-us-companies.html

News Updates for the Week of November 1

1. Final ENERGY STAR Program Requirements -The EPA has finalized revisions to the ENERGY STAR Partner Commitments and Product Specifications to implement third-party certification requirements for ENERGY STAR qualified products. These final documents, as well as all comments received, are posted at: www.energystar.gov/testingandverification

2. DOE's CALiPER Round 11 Summary Report Published This Week - CALiPER tests a wide range of solid-state lighting products that are available on the market, and for benchmark purposes compares them with similar products that use traditional light sources. The results of each round of testing are highlighted in a Summary Report, with detailed reports going into greater depth. http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/ssl/caliper_round-11_summary.pdf

3. INTERIOR LIGHTING: LED Vs. TRADITIONAL - instructed by Stan Walerczyk, L.C., C.L.E.P. Presented in two live 2-hour online sessions. New Program Starts December 16. Numerous LED products are currently ready for use as primary light sources, and can be considered better overall than traditional technologies for many interior applications. But there are also many LED products that are not yet nearly as cost effective as comparable high performance fluorescent, halogen infrared, metal halide, and other well-established lighting options. This seminar will examine the pros and cons of the use of LED versus traditional lighting fixtures for a variety of specific indoor lighting applications. http://www.aeeprograms.com/realtime/InteriorLighting/

4. Solais iPhone App - The app provides a simple conversion tool for users to calculate the potential cost savings from replacing a traditional lamp (halogen, CMH or CFL) with a Solais LED replacement lamp (LR38, LR30LN, LR30). http://solaislighting.com/iphone_app

5.September Existing-Home Sales Show Another Strong Gain - According to the National Association of Realtors, the 10% increase in existing-home sales for September affirms that "a sales recovery has begun," although it may choppy. Existing-home sales jumped 10.0% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.53 million in September from a downwardly revised 4.12 million in August. The September figure is well below last year's rate of 5.60 million, but last year's figure was inflated by the approaching deadline of the home buyer tax credit. 10/25 HCN

6. Economists: Unemployment Won't Drop to Normal Until 2018 - The job market and the economy will improve only slightly next year, according to an Associated Press Economy Survey of 43 leading economists whose outlook for 2011 has dimmed over the past three months. In their view, shoppers and employers will stay cautious. Households will keep saving. Inflation will remain tame. And unemployment will dip only a bit from the current 9.6 percent rate to a still-high 9 percent at the end of 2011 and won't drop to a historically normal 5.5 percent to 6 percent until at least 2018. http://www.moneynews.com

7. Living Efficiently Teams Up With NASCAR Driver Leilani Münter - LivingEfficiently http://livingefficiently.org/ is a one-stop shop devoted to helping save energy and money in all the areas where you live your life: at home, at school, at work and on the go. http://ase.org/

8. Are Performance-Based Models the Future of Commercial Building Energy Codes?- by Craig DiLouie, Lighting Controls Association. Commercial building energy codes are largely prescriptive, combining mandatory requirements for lighting controls with limits on lighting loads by application. The typical lighting load metric is lighting power density (LPD) measured in watts per square foot. Code authorities are considering approaches to energy codes that are performance based instead of mainly prescriptive. In a performance-based code, the building would be designed so that it would operate within a target limit for energy consumption as the primary metric. http://www.aboutlightingcontrols.org/education/papers/2010/2010_performance-codes.shtml

9. IES Publishes Position Statement on Indoor Lighting Efficiency - The Illuminating Engineering Society has published PS-05-10 – Standards for Energy Efficient Indoor Lighting, a position statement on the subject of imposing energy standards on indoor lighting technology, such as efficacy standards for luminaires. IES “believes that technology independent approaches are the best way to provide energy reductions and to stimulate future energy savings.” http://www.ies.org/PDF/PositionStatements/PS-05-10.pdf

10.GSA Raising Energy-Efficiency Standard for New Construction - The General Services Administration is raising the bar to increase the energy efficiency of all of its new federal building construction projects. Projects must achieve LEED Gold certification, the second-highest rating from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. Previously, federal building projects needed to be certified at the LEED Silver level, the third-highest rating, or higher. 10/29 Federal Times

11. CA Energy Audit Removed from Home Sales, for Now - A measure that would require existing California homes to undergo energy efficiency audits before they're sold will get a second look over the next three months, the Climate Action Plan Advisory Committee decided. The committee's initial recommendation was to leave the building ordinance as is and make an audit program part of the overall climate plan, which is not expected to be finished until 2012. 10/22 The Record