Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
NIFA Grant Brings Power of the Sun to Remote Arizona Community
USDA Blog Post:
Tohono O’odham Community College occupational technology students receive hands-on training using solar demo trailer that is used to demonstrate different ways that solar energy can be used, including a passive solar hot water heater as shown on the roof of the trailer. The solar demo trailer is a mobile educational resource that is used throughout the schools and communities of the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona.
This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from USDA’s rich science and research portfolio.
A man in Arizona threw away an extension cord – and that’s a big deal for some folks who live about 100 miles west of Tucson.
The 48 families who live in the Pisinemo District of the Tohono O’odham Nation reside in an area so remote that some had to get their power by stringing extension cords to a neighbor’s house. Now, however, they have new solar panels to provide electricity for heating, cooling, and cooking.
Residents of the district are now using the power of the sun, thanks to Tohono O’odham Community College (TOCC) and its partner, the University of Massachusetts–Lowell. Using a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the two schools gave 25 TOCC occupational technology students on-the-job training in solar panel installation – one home has a freestanding power system while others are tied-in to a grid.
“This pilot project creates a model for bringing renewable energy to businesses – in this case ranching – and to homes in remote, rural communities,” said Dr. Teresa Newberry, project director for TOCC.
TOCC’s program is in response to a request from local community leaders who want to explore power sources that may help them supplement – or replace – the commercial utility grid. Five homes have received the upgrade so far, and they hope to continue with additional funding. In addition to homes benefitting from solar power, farmers have been able to restart an irrigation system that dried up when the old-fashioned windmill broke down.
Community Coordinator Samuel Fayuant, right, explains the workings of solar panels to an engineering student from University of Massachusetts-Lowell. The panels at Squash Burn Well in the Pisinemo District of Tohono O’odham Nation, Ariz., power the well's submersible pump. Photo by Teresa Newberry
This project was funded under NIFA’s Tribal Colleges Research Grants Program, which builds institutional research capacity at the 1994 land-grant institutions and also funds projects to enhance student research skills. Research funded under this grant typically address community, reservation, or regional challenges.
Through federal funding and leadership for research, education, and Cooperative Extension programs, NIFA focuses on investing in science and solving critical issues impacting people’s daily lives and the nation’s future.
Tohono O’odham Community College occupational technology students receive training on building solar-powered drip irrigation systems that are designed to conserve water. Photo by Teresa Newberry
Monday, November 25, 2013
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Honda Accord wins Green Car of the Year - Nov. 21, 2013
The Honda Accord was named Green Car of the Year in an award ceremony Thursday at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
Honda Accord wins Green Car of the Year - Nov. 21, 2013
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Monday, November 18, 2013
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Assault on Ethanol Misses Its Mark
Senator Chuck Grassley Press Release:
As its market share dips, Big Oil is doubling down to swat down its perennial piñata. This time around, petroleum producers and food conglomerates are using environmental groups as political cover to gain traction on efforts to pull the plug on the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).
Despite the ridiculously transparent and self-serving assault by these special interest groups, the relentless campaign to discredit ethanol undermines America’s longstanding efforts to diversify its energy landscape, fuel the economy and strengthen national security.
The predictable efforts to smear ethanol’s reputation ignore the renewable fuel’s valuable contributions to clean energy, rural development, job creation and U.S. energy independence. The latest round of misguided untruths disregards the plain truth. Ethanol is a renewable, sustainable, clean-burning fuel that helps run the nation’s transportation fleet with less pollution. Yet, critics continue to hide behind distortions that claim ethanol is bad for the environment.
Let’s talk turkey and separate fact from fiction regarding ethanol’s impact on the environment.
Critics say farmers are putting fragile land into production to cash in on higher corn prices at the expense of soil erosion and clean water. They point out that five million Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres are no longer enrolled in the conservation program since 2008. They want to pin the blame on ethanol.
First of all, fewer acres enrolled in the CRP has more to do with federal belt tightening than land stewardship decisions by America’s corn farmers. The 2008 farm bill built upon other stewardship incentives for America’s farmers and ranchers administered by the USDA, including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, wetlands restoration and wildlife habitat programs. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), no new grassland has been converted to cropland since 2005.
Fact: The Wetlands Reserve Program in 2012 had a record-breaking enrollment of 2.65 million acres. WRP lands cannot be farmed for 30 years.
Farmers must make marketing, planting and stewardship decisions that keep their operation financially sound and productive from crop year to crop year. Even more importantly, these decisions must be environmentally sustainable for the long haul. Let’s be clear. Farmers simply can’t afford not to take scrupulous care of the land that sustains their livelihoods.
Fact: Fertilizer use is on the decline. Compare application per bushel in 1980 versus 2010 – nitrogen is down 43 percent; phosphate is down 58 percent; and, potash is down 64 percent.
Fact: Ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline. According to the Argonne National Laboratory, corn ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 34 percent compared to gasoline. If the oil industry wants to talk about the environment, let’s not forget the 1989 Exxon Valdez and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spills.
Critics also say the RFS is driving more acres into corn production. In reality, the RFS is driving significant investment in higher-yielding, drought-resistant seed technology. This is a win-win scenario to cultivate good-paying jobs and to harvest better yields on less land.
Fact: The total cropland planted to corn in the United States is decreasing. In 2013, U.S. farmers planted 97 million corn acres. In the 1930s, farmers planted 103 million acres of corn. Farmers have increased the corn harvest through higher yields, not more acres.
Critics contend the nation’s corn crop is diverted for fuel use at the expense of feed for livestock and higher prices at the grocery store.
Fact: In reality, the value of corn increases during ethanol production. One-third of the corn processed to make ethanol re-enters the marketplace as high value animal feed called dried distillers grain. Livestock feed remains the largest end-user of corn. When co-products such as dried distillers grains are factored in, ethanol consumes only 27 percent of the whole corn crop by volume; livestock feed uses 50 percent of the crop.
Fact: The USDA Secretary has said farmers receive about 14 cents of every food dollar spent at the grocery store. And, the farmer’s share of a $4 box of corn flakes is about 10 cents.
So what’s at stake when a coalition of special interests tag teams to pull the rug out from underneath the nation’s ethanol policy?
Unfortunately, these flawed attacks on ethanol and next-generation biofuels undermine America’s effort to move forward with an aggressive, diversified energy policy that takes into account global demand, geopolitics and U.S. economic growth.
November 15, 2013
Assault on Ethanol Misses Its Mark
by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley
As its market share dips, Big Oil is doubling down to swat down its perennial piñata. This time around, petroleum producers and food conglomerates are using environmental groups as political cover to gain traction on efforts to pull the plug on the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).
Despite the ridiculously transparent and self-serving assault by these special interest groups, the relentless campaign to discredit ethanol undermines America’s longstanding efforts to diversify its energy landscape, fuel the economy and strengthen national security.
The predictable efforts to smear ethanol’s reputation ignore the renewable fuel’s valuable contributions to clean energy, rural development, job creation and U.S. energy independence. The latest round of misguided untruths disregards the plain truth. Ethanol is a renewable, sustainable, clean-burning fuel that helps run the nation’s transportation fleet with less pollution. Yet, critics continue to hide behind distortions that claim ethanol is bad for the environment.
Let’s talk turkey and separate fact from fiction regarding ethanol’s impact on the environment.
Critics say farmers are putting fragile land into production to cash in on higher corn prices at the expense of soil erosion and clean water. They point out that five million Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres are no longer enrolled in the conservation program since 2008. They want to pin the blame on ethanol.
First of all, fewer acres enrolled in the CRP has more to do with federal belt tightening than land stewardship decisions by America’s corn farmers. The 2008 farm bill built upon other stewardship incentives for America’s farmers and ranchers administered by the USDA, including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, wetlands restoration and wildlife habitat programs. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), no new grassland has been converted to cropland since 2005.
Fact: The Wetlands Reserve Program in 2012 had a record-breaking enrollment of 2.65 million acres. WRP lands cannot be farmed for 30 years.
Farmers must make marketing, planting and stewardship decisions that keep their operation financially sound and productive from crop year to crop year. Even more importantly, these decisions must be environmentally sustainable for the long haul. Let’s be clear. Farmers simply can’t afford not to take scrupulous care of the land that sustains their livelihoods.
Fact: Fertilizer use is on the decline. Compare application per bushel in 1980 versus 2010 – nitrogen is down 43 percent; phosphate is down 58 percent; and, potash is down 64 percent.
Fact: Ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline. According to the Argonne National Laboratory, corn ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 34 percent compared to gasoline. If the oil industry wants to talk about the environment, let’s not forget the 1989 Exxon Valdez and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spills.
Critics also say the RFS is driving more acres into corn production. In reality, the RFS is driving significant investment in higher-yielding, drought-resistant seed technology. This is a win-win scenario to cultivate good-paying jobs and to harvest better yields on less land.
Fact: The total cropland planted to corn in the United States is decreasing. In 2013, U.S. farmers planted 97 million corn acres. In the 1930s, farmers planted 103 million acres of corn. Farmers have increased the corn harvest through higher yields, not more acres.
Critics contend the nation’s corn crop is diverted for fuel use at the expense of feed for livestock and higher prices at the grocery store.
Fact: In reality, the value of corn increases during ethanol production. One-third of the corn processed to make ethanol re-enters the marketplace as high value animal feed called dried distillers grain. Livestock feed remains the largest end-user of corn. When co-products such as dried distillers grains are factored in, ethanol consumes only 27 percent of the whole corn crop by volume; livestock feed uses 50 percent of the crop.
Fact: The USDA Secretary has said farmers receive about 14 cents of every food dollar spent at the grocery store. And, the farmer’s share of a $4 box of corn flakes is about 10 cents.
So what’s at stake when a coalition of special interests tag teams to pull the rug out from underneath the nation’s ethanol policy?
Unfortunately, these flawed attacks on ethanol and next-generation biofuels undermine America’s effort to move forward with an aggressive, diversified energy policy that takes into account global demand, geopolitics and U.S. economic growth.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Grassley, Colleagues Urge Administration to Support Biodiesel
Senator Chuck Grassley Press Release:
“Biodiesel has exceeded RFS targets in each year and is clearly poised to do so again in 2013. The industry has had impressive growth, going far beyond initial expectations just five years ago, and is supporting 62,160 jobs and nearly $17 billion in total economic impact. Biodiesel is improving our energy security by reducing our dependence on imported petroleum diesel, diversifying fuel supplies and creating competition in the fuels market,” the Senators wrote. “Setting the 2014 biodiesel volume requirement at reduced levels could have severe impacts on the domestic biodiesel industry. Further, a continuation of 2013 levels paired with any reduction in advanced biofuels targets could similarly negatively impact the industry.”
The following Senators also signed on to the letter: Senators Mark Pryor (D-AR), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Angus King (I-ME), Jack Reed (D-RI), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Jon Tester (D-MT), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Bob Casey (D-PA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tom Udall (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Susan Collins (R-ME), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Kay Hagan (D-NC), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).
The full text of the letter can be read here:
November 14, 2013
The Honorable Gina McCarthy The Honorable Tom Vilsack
Administrator Secretary
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency U.S. Department of Agriculture
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. 1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20460 Washington, D.C. 20250
The Honorable Sylvia Mathews Burwell
Director
Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20503
cc: The Honorable Howard Shelanski, Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs
Dear Administrator McCarthy, Secretary Vilsack, and Director Burwell:
We write to encourage the Administration to develop a 2014 regulatory proposal for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that supports the current-year projected 1.7 billion gallons of U.S. biodiesel production.
Biodiesel has exceeded RFS targets in each year and is clearly poised to do so again in 2013. The industry has had impressive growth, going far beyond initial expectations just five years ago, and is supporting 62,160 jobs and nearly $17 billion in total economic impact. Biodiesel is improving our energy security by reducing our dependence on imported petroleum diesel, diversifying fuel supplies and creating competition in the fuels market.
Setting the 2014 biodiesel volume requirement at reduced levels could have severe impacts on the domestic biodiesel industry. Further, a continuation of 2013 levels paired with any reduction in advanced biofuels targets could similarly negatively impact the industry.
Biodiesel is the only Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-designated advanced biofuel to achieve commercial-scale production nationwide and the first to reach 1 billion gallons of annual production. Keeping the targets stagnant, rather than gradually allowing the biodiesel industry to grow, could leave 400 million gallons of biodiesel potentially unused – roughly 25 percent. Such a cut could result in nearly every small facility shutting down and permanently ceasing production of biodiesel, leading to the loss of some 7,000 jobs. Additionally, investment and financing for the U.S. biodiesel industry could be severely jeopardized, creating new and possibly insurmountable hurdles for the remaining producers to grow and expand.
In setting 2014 targets for biodiesel, the EPA should avoid outcomes that could lead to plant closures, worker layoffs, and uncertainty over future investments in the biodiesel industry. We urge you to continue to support this fragile and growing industry with a reasonable increase in the RFS volume requirement for 2014.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
For Immediate Release
November 14, 2013
November 14, 2013
Grassley, Colleagues Urge Administration to Support Biodiesel
(Washington, DC) – Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Al Franken (D-MN), Roy Blunt (R-MO), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) led 28 of their Senate colleagues in a bipartisan letter urging the Obama Administration to support the American biodiesel industry in its upcoming 2014 regulatory proposal for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Current projections indicate that the industry will produce 1.7 billion gallons of biodiesel in 2014, continuing its pattern of exceeding annual RFS targets. In light of the this production estimate, the Senators urged the Administration to carefully consider its 2014 biodiesel targets, which, if decreased or left stagnant at 2013 levels, could cost thousands of American jobs and significantly impact confidence in industry investments.
“Biodiesel has exceeded RFS targets in each year and is clearly poised to do so again in 2013. The industry has had impressive growth, going far beyond initial expectations just five years ago, and is supporting 62,160 jobs and nearly $17 billion in total economic impact. Biodiesel is improving our energy security by reducing our dependence on imported petroleum diesel, diversifying fuel supplies and creating competition in the fuels market,” the Senators wrote. “Setting the 2014 biodiesel volume requirement at reduced levels could have severe impacts on the domestic biodiesel industry. Further, a continuation of 2013 levels paired with any reduction in advanced biofuels targets could similarly negatively impact the industry.”
The following Senators also signed on to the letter: Senators Mark Pryor (D-AR), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Angus King (I-ME), Jack Reed (D-RI), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Jon Tester (D-MT), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Bob Casey (D-PA), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tom Udall (D-NM), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Susan Collins (R-ME), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Kay Hagan (D-NC), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).
The full text of the letter can be read here:
November 14, 2013
The Honorable Gina McCarthy The Honorable Tom Vilsack
Administrator Secretary
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency U.S. Department of Agriculture
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. 1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20460 Washington, D.C. 20250
The Honorable Sylvia Mathews Burwell
Director
Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20503
cc: The Honorable Howard Shelanski, Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs
Dear Administrator McCarthy, Secretary Vilsack, and Director Burwell:
We write to encourage the Administration to develop a 2014 regulatory proposal for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that supports the current-year projected 1.7 billion gallons of U.S. biodiesel production.
Biodiesel has exceeded RFS targets in each year and is clearly poised to do so again in 2013. The industry has had impressive growth, going far beyond initial expectations just five years ago, and is supporting 62,160 jobs and nearly $17 billion in total economic impact. Biodiesel is improving our energy security by reducing our dependence on imported petroleum diesel, diversifying fuel supplies and creating competition in the fuels market.
Setting the 2014 biodiesel volume requirement at reduced levels could have severe impacts on the domestic biodiesel industry. Further, a continuation of 2013 levels paired with any reduction in advanced biofuels targets could similarly negatively impact the industry.
Biodiesel is the only Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-designated advanced biofuel to achieve commercial-scale production nationwide and the first to reach 1 billion gallons of annual production. Keeping the targets stagnant, rather than gradually allowing the biodiesel industry to grow, could leave 400 million gallons of biodiesel potentially unused – roughly 25 percent. Such a cut could result in nearly every small facility shutting down and permanently ceasing production of biodiesel, leading to the loss of some 7,000 jobs. Additionally, investment and financing for the U.S. biodiesel industry could be severely jeopardized, creating new and possibly insurmountable hurdles for the remaining producers to grow and expand.
In setting 2014 targets for biodiesel, the EPA should avoid outcomes that could lead to plant closures, worker layoffs, and uncertainty over future investments in the biodiesel industry. We urge you to continue to support this fragile and growing industry with a reasonable increase in the RFS volume requirement for 2014.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
###
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Friday, November 1, 2013
DOE rooftop challenge winners offer energy, cost savings
PNNL News Release:
1 of 2
RICHLAND, Wash. – New super-efficient rooftop units that heat and cool commercial buildings offer significant energy and dollar savings, say scientists at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. They found that the devices reduce energy costs an average of about 41 percent compared to units in operation today.
The newly published report analyzes the operation of the commercial rooftop HVAC unit known as the Daikin Rebel, which was one of two units to meet DOE's Rooftop Challenge, a competition for manufacturers to create a rooftop unit that significantly exceeds existing DOE manufacturing standards. Daikin Applied was the first to produce such a unit, which was studied in depth by PNNL researchers; Carrier Corp. also met the challenge. The work is part of a broader DOE program known as the DOE Rooftop Campaign, which promotes the adoption of efficient rooftop units.
The PNNL study, done by scientists Srinivas Katipamula and Weimin Wang, is an in-depth look at the performance of the Rebel compared to other rooftop units in use today. The devices are usually nestled on building roofs, far from view but crucial to our comfort. The devices demand a significant proportion of the 18 quadrillion BTUs of energy that the nation's commercial buildings swallow every year.
The PNNL team estimates that if current rooftop units were replaced with devices similar to the Rebel over a 10-year period, the benefits in terms of energy saved and reduced pollution would be about equal to taking 700,000 cars off the road each year. Put another way, the reduced energy draw could idle about eight average-size coal-fired power plants in each of those 10 years.
If all rooftop units with a cooling capacity of 10 to 20 tons were replaced immediately, DOE officials estimate the cost savings at around $1 billion annually.
"There are great gains waiting to be made in energy savings, using technologies that exist today," said Katipamula, whose study was supported by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
Katipamula and Wang ran extensive simulations analyzing the Rebel's performance compared to other rooftop units. The pair used DOE's Energy Plus building energy simulation software and worked with detailed performance data supplied by Intertek of Cortland, N.Y., which tested the units in the laboratory. Katipamula and Wang also created several new computer models — a necessary step because they were testing technology that has never existed before. The Rebel includes variable-speed fans and a variable-speed compressor, which allow it to respond more precisely to conditions inside a building than conventional technology.
The team ran simulations for a typical 75,000-square-foot big-box store in three cities: Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles. They compared performance of the Rebel to three types of units: those in use today, those that meet current federal regulations for new units, and those that meet more stringent requirements, known as ASHRAE 90.1-2010 standards. DOE designed the Rooftop Challenge to exceed the ASHRAE standards.
The team found that the Rebel reduced energy costs and use as follows:
"The savings depend very much on the particular conditions — the climate, the size of the store, the materials used in the construction, and so on," said Katipamula. "We've developed Energy Plus software models that allow building designers or owners to calculate for themselves the cost-effectiveness of installing a newer unit that meets the DOE rooftop challenge."
While "cost-effectiveness" might seem to break down into simple dollars and cents, that is often not the case for commercial buildings. Payback differs dramatically depending on whose investment is at stake; oftentimes, tenants pay the energy costs, and they often have no choice in what equipment a building owner or builder chooses to use. Katipamula says that offering incentives to builders is one way to increase their stake in using cost-efficient equipment.
The work by Katipamula and Wang shows how PNNL scientists and engineers have a strong but hidden hand in how buildings and homes throughout the nation are built. Their research helps provide the foundation for universally used commercial building codes - what energy savings are possible and practical, for instance, and what should be expected from buildings and builders in the future.
Reference: W. Wang and S. Katipamula, Part-Load Performance Characterization and Energy Savings Potential of the RTU Challenge Unit: Daikin Rebel, funded by the U.S. DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, through the Building Technologies Office. The report, including a link for builders and others to simulate tests of their own buildings, is available here.
DOE rooftop challenge winners offer energy, cost savings
October 28, 2013 - Tom Rickey, PNNL, (509) 375-3732
- Researchers Srinivas Katipamula (left) and Weimin Wang (right)
Photo courtesy of Kristin Nolan. - The Daikin Rebel
Photo courtesy of Daikin Applied.
1 of 2 The newly published report analyzes the operation of the commercial rooftop HVAC unit known as the Daikin Rebel, which was one of two units to meet DOE's Rooftop Challenge, a competition for manufacturers to create a rooftop unit that significantly exceeds existing DOE manufacturing standards. Daikin Applied was the first to produce such a unit, which was studied in depth by PNNL researchers; Carrier Corp. also met the challenge. The work is part of a broader DOE program known as the DOE Rooftop Campaign, which promotes the adoption of efficient rooftop units.
The PNNL study, done by scientists Srinivas Katipamula and Weimin Wang, is an in-depth look at the performance of the Rebel compared to other rooftop units in use today. The devices are usually nestled on building roofs, far from view but crucial to our comfort. The devices demand a significant proportion of the 18 quadrillion BTUs of energy that the nation's commercial buildings swallow every year.
The PNNL team estimates that if current rooftop units were replaced with devices similar to the Rebel over a 10-year period, the benefits in terms of energy saved and reduced pollution would be about equal to taking 700,000 cars off the road each year. Put another way, the reduced energy draw could idle about eight average-size coal-fired power plants in each of those 10 years.
If all rooftop units with a cooling capacity of 10 to 20 tons were replaced immediately, DOE officials estimate the cost savings at around $1 billion annually.
"There are great gains waiting to be made in energy savings, using technologies that exist today," said Katipamula, whose study was supported by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
Katipamula and Wang ran extensive simulations analyzing the Rebel's performance compared to other rooftop units. The pair used DOE's Energy Plus building energy simulation software and worked with detailed performance data supplied by Intertek of Cortland, N.Y., which tested the units in the laboratory. Katipamula and Wang also created several new computer models — a necessary step because they were testing technology that has never existed before. The Rebel includes variable-speed fans and a variable-speed compressor, which allow it to respond more precisely to conditions inside a building than conventional technology.
The team ran simulations for a typical 75,000-square-foot big-box store in three cities: Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles. They compared performance of the Rebel to three types of units: those in use today, those that meet current federal regulations for new units, and those that meet more stringent requirements, known as ASHRAE 90.1-2010 standards. DOE designed the Rooftop Challenge to exceed the ASHRAE standards.
The team found that the Rebel reduced energy costs and use as follows:
- Compared to units in operation today that are ready for replacement, energy costs were 33 percent less in Chicago, 44 percent less in Houston, and 45 percent less in Los Angeles. The Rebel slashed energy demand by 15 percent, 37 percent, and 36 percent, respectively.
- Compared to new units that meet current federal regulations, costs were cut 29 percent, 37 percent, and 40 percent, in Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles, respectively. Likewise, energy demand was reduced 12 percent, 30 percent, and 32 percent in those three cities.
- As expected, savings were a bit less when compared with new units that meet today's strictest ASHRAE standards. Costs to run the RebelTM system were 15 percent lower in Chicago, 27 percent lower in Houston, and 18 percent lower in Los Angeles. Energy demand was 8 percent, 23 percent, and 15 percent lower, respectively.
"The savings depend very much on the particular conditions — the climate, the size of the store, the materials used in the construction, and so on," said Katipamula. "We've developed Energy Plus software models that allow building designers or owners to calculate for themselves the cost-effectiveness of installing a newer unit that meets the DOE rooftop challenge."
While "cost-effectiveness" might seem to break down into simple dollars and cents, that is often not the case for commercial buildings. Payback differs dramatically depending on whose investment is at stake; oftentimes, tenants pay the energy costs, and they often have no choice in what equipment a building owner or builder chooses to use. Katipamula says that offering incentives to builders is one way to increase their stake in using cost-efficient equipment.
The work by Katipamula and Wang shows how PNNL scientists and engineers have a strong but hidden hand in how buildings and homes throughout the nation are built. Their research helps provide the foundation for universally used commercial building codes - what energy savings are possible and practical, for instance, and what should be expected from buildings and builders in the future.
Reference: W. Wang and S. Katipamula, Part-Load Performance Characterization and Energy Savings Potential of the RTU Challenge Unit: Daikin Rebel, funded by the U.S. DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, through the Building Technologies Office. The report, including a link for builders and others to simulate tests of their own buildings, is available here.
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