While many students associate the beginning of a school year with the end of summer, outside Texas temperatures suggest otherwise. To combat triple-digit August heat, school districts across the state recently tapped HTS Texas to supply energy-efficient, state-of-the-art cooling systems just in time for students’ arrival.

Based on a study of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) project database, Yudelson Associates has released a new white paper, “Green Building Trends in Higher Education,” stating that sustainable management, design, and operations are rapidly growing practices at American universities.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and 3M, the St. Paul, Minn.-based technology company, have embarked on research and development partnerships in three areas of clean energy innovation: thin-film solar cells, concentrating solar power, and biofuels.

The 21st annual Energy Efficiency Forum featured keynote speaker Gary Locke, secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Locke emphasized the need for the U.S. to aggressively pursue, and become a leader, in clean energy development.

Researchers at Oregon State University and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory announced that they have discovered a new way to apply nanostructure coatings to make heat transfer far more efficient, with important potential applications for high-tech devices as well as for heating and cooling.

The Gas Technology Institute (GTI) has announced the opening of its Combined Heat and Power (CHP) & Renewable Energy Laboratory to provide greater capabilities for developing a wide variety of highly efficient renewable energy technologies such as solar thermal products.

Now that the nation is finally showing signs of emerging from the worst recession since the 1930s, the latest long-range seasonal forecast from the National Weather Service indicates HVAC contractors may get some relief from the cold, hard times of the last couple of years with a hotter than normal summer in much of the country.

New York state homeowners now have an added incentive to install micro-combined heat and power (micro-CHP) systems. The New York State Public Service Commission approved tariff filings that pave the way for homeowners who install the systems to receive credit for excess electricity they generate and sell back to their utilities.

Congressional leaders have introduced two bills - Home STAR and Building STAR - that use short-term rebates to promote energy efficiency. Each of these programs is expected to create a minimum 150,000 jobs, many of them in the hard-hit construction sector and in related industries, including HVAC.

Honeywell announced that it has installed the first of two solar photovoltaic arrays for the city of Wilmington, Del. The work was highlighted during a commemoration event showcasing successful projects backed by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA).