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Most anyone who has been in the facility management world for a few years has probably dealt with a utility rebate program at one point or another. I've not dealt with a rebate program for commercial buildings, but I did go through one last year for my home. Things came out fine in the end, but the...
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In case you missed it, the Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee released a draft outline of their alternative to the bill being considered by Democrats, known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. The plan put forth by Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) is an alternative in the...
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A change in global warming policy is coming. Regular readers of Building Operating Management know this isn't news. Our October cover story pointed out that both John McCain and Barack Obama had committed to solving global warming by enacting a plan to cap and trade the emissions of carbon dioxide...
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Data centers are expensive. Not only are they energy hogs, but they’re a serious drain on real estate budgets as well. For that reason, many companies have begun moving data centers offshore to cut costs. Google also has a plan for offshoring its data centers - quite literally. The company recently...
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While the stories themselves may not exactly be what you’d call “good news,” the timing of the stories may wind up as a nice touch of serendipity. That’s because they both hit the wire at almost exactly the same time – which allowed the two stories to augment each other’s...
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Every now and then I'm reminded that for all the noise made in the last few years on sustainability, the green building movement is barely into adolescence. Yes, the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program has found some healthy market acceptance. But when it comes to energy efficiency, we...
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Does your organization have a Director of Sustainability or a Vice President of Environmental Practice, or maybe just a Green Guru? If not, your organization may be in the minority. Even as the economy slows and unemployment grows, green collar jobs continue to rise. There’s no specific definition...
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Roofs are about to step into the high-tech era, and the step could create new challenges for facility design and construction. My most recent Technology blog discussed possible practicality challenges posed by installing solar
technology on existing facilities. The technology has advanced to the
point...
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After years of promise and potential, solar technology finally might have arrived as a viable alternative for institutional and commercial facilities. Or has it? The industry recently has added several thousand jobs in the production of solar cells and the installation of solar panels, reports The New...
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Renewable resources continue their slow creep into the energy market. There’s been some recent reports and advancements that have illustrated just how far — or not very far at all — renewables have seeped into the market. As we reported in this news article , the amount of new wind...
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Green success stories are coming in fast and furious these days, but here’s one that definitely stands out from the crowd. The Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas, a new 500,000-square-foot, $200 million facility designed to be certified at the LEED-Platinum level, uses a natural...
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There’s a fascinating article in the NY Times today that reports that electricity prices in deregulated markets – where competition is supposed to benefit the consumer and keep prices at fair market value – have actually increased at a rate faster than in those markets where electricity...
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A section of the East River in New York City holds what may be the world’s cleanest power generation method, according to some. A few months ago, six turbines were lowered into the river and installed on the riverbed, not far from shore. Think wind turbine meets submarine. The objective is to harness...
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I recently had the pleasure of spending a week in Switzerland with about 30 other journalists from all over the world. We spent the week touring Swiss renewable energy companies and learning about Swiss strategies for energy efficiency. There were several highlights from the trip, but two pieces of information...
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On-site power generation is nothing new for facility executives. Many facility executives have backup generators on site, with a number of them using the using the generators to cut peak demand as a way to save on energy costs. And an increasing number of facility executives are gaining experience with...