March 12, 2009: Vol. 8, No. 11	Advancing HVAC&R to Serve Humanity And Promote a Sustainable World
The HVAC&R Industry, ASHRAE's free weekly eNewsletter for HVAC&R professionals, provides relevant, timely information about industry and technology for people who create healthy, comfortable indoor environments. To ensure that The HVAC&R Industry is not blocked by spam-blocking software, add e-industry@ashrae.org to your address book. Should you encounter problems reading an ASHRAE eNewsletter, you may access any issue archived on the ASHRAE Web site at this link. To unsubscribe from this eNewsletter, click here.     Industry News Extended Daylight Saving Time Really Does Save Energy   WASHINGTON—Federal legislation that that extended Daylight Saving Time by three weeks in the spring and a week in the fall is saving an additional 1.3 billion kWh in energy each year. A report by the U.S. Department of Energy says the energy benefit for the four-week extension is 0.5% in savings each day. Read more Consumers Want Energy Data But Don't Want to Pay for It NEW YORK—Ninety-five percent of electricity consumers want detailed data about when and how they use power, but only 20% are willing to pay for real-time information, according to a new survey of U.S. consumers and utility managers by software manufacturer Oracle. Only 14% of responding consumers gave their utility an "A" for providing "detailed, useful" information about electricity consumption. Read more Debating Air Conditioning in Cars Misses the Point, Says The Economist LONDON—Is it better for the environment to use air conditioning or open the windows when driving? According to a commentary in The Economist, various tests have generated different conclusions. However, the article concludes "fretting about the issue is a distraction. Drivers who want to do their bit for the environment would do better to ask themselves how efficient their car is overall...." The debate "illustrate[s] the pitfalls of trying to micromanage your carbon footprint," says the article. Read more Canadian Utility Says Compact Fluorescent Bulbs Have Downside NEW YORK—The energy savings associated with compact fluorescent lightbulbs may be reduced because they produce less heat than incandescent bulbs, according to the third-largest utility in Canada. B.C. Hydro says the loss has to be made up by using fossil-fuel burning heaters more. The utility says that tighter lighting efficiency regulations “will increase GHG emissions in Hydro’s service territory by 45,000 tons due to cross effects” of a switch to fluorescent bulbs. Read more More U.S. Prisons Going 'Green'   WASHINGTON—Several states are rethinking the traditional design approach for prisons. Many recently built and underway prisons incorporate "green" upgrades. Washington state has 34 LEED®-certified prison facilities. California has announced 16 new green retrofitting projects. Other prison projects, using technologies such as wind turbines and biomass boilers, have been announced in Virginia, Nevada and Indiana. Read more Engineers Rate High for Customer Service NEWTON, Mass.—Project owners rated engineering firms higher than architecture firms in terms of customer service, according to a recent survey. Respondents gave engineering firms a higher percentage of "A" grades in 12 out of 14 categories in the recently released 2009 A/E Industry Customer Service Report Card. "The strengths of our engineering consultants are conscientiousness and professionalism," said one respondent. "They want to do a good job." Read more U.S. DOE Providing Funding for Energy Technologies WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has funding available for projects related to specific energy technologies. DOE has released a grant solicitation seeking proposals for projects that increase the efficiency of data center and telecom equipment. DOE has also announced funding to support the development of enhanced geothermal systems, which would operate in geographic locations that are not good candidates for traditional geothermal systems. Click here to read about the information and communications technology funding. Click here to read about the enhanced geothermal energy funding. ASHRAE News ASHRAE Position Document Outlines Commitment to Natural Refrigerants ASHRAE outlines its support for research into and expansion of the use of natural refrigerants in refrigeration systems and other technologies in a new position document. Natural refrigerants include ammonia, CO2, hydrocarbons, air and water. Because of their low global-warming potential, natural refrigerants offer the potential to improve the environmental performance of refrigeration systems. Read more Feature of the Week Retrocommissioning for a University Library By Rishabh Kasliwal, P.E., Associate Member; and Ed Spivey, P.E., Member ASHRAE This article examines the identification and rectification of some of the mechanical system design and control flaws using retrocommissioning at a 248,000 ft2 (23 000 m2) library. The building’s energy management system has more than 500 points and controls most of the mechanical equipment including the building’s chillers, hot water boilers, air-handling systems and some zone terminal units. This article was originally published in May 2007. Click here to download the article. It will be available here through March 25. After March 25, access to the article from this eNewsletter will no longer be available. It will remain available for free download by Members here and for purchase by nonmembers in the ashrae.org bookstore. Product News Indirect Evaporative AC System From Munters SELMA, Texas—Munters offers the OASIS™ EPX indirect evaporative AC system, designed for hot, dry climates. It supplies 100% outdoor air to building spaces and uses a corrosion-resistant polymer heat exchanger to cool the air without adding moisture to the airstream. Read more BIM Software From Autodesk SAN RAFAEL, Calif.—Autodesk offers Revit® Architecture software for building information modeling (BIM) design. The software features bidirectional associativity, meaning all model information is stored in one place. As a result, any information that gets changed is changed throughout the model. The software also allows users to view and edit multiple design alternatives simultaneously. Read more Water Heaters From A.O. Smith ASHLAND CITY, Tenn.—A. O. Smith offers the Cyclone Xi™ line of commercial gas water heaters, designed to offer 96% efficiency. The water heaters feature the company's Dynamix Cyclonic Burner™, designed to deliver precise air/fuel mixing at the point of ignition, as well as four venting options. Read more Subscription Management American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) is an international membership organization founded to advance the arts and sciences of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration and related issues. Need assistance? Please use the links below or contact us by e-mail. To change your e-mail address for all eNewsletters, click here. This will not change your official e-mail address in ASHRAE's member database. This will only change the e-mail address to which your ASHRAE eNewsletters are sent. If someone passed along this eNewsletter to you, and you want to have your own subscription, click here. To read ASHRAE's media kit to learn about advertising opportunities, click here. 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