Hotel Indigo Athens is located five blocks from the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., 75 miles east of Atlanta. One of 33 upscale boutique brand hotels developed by InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), it is one of only five in the nation to achieve LEED Gold status. It is also the first LEED Gold certified hotel in IHG’s extensive portfolio of 4,500 hotels.
Three years ago, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) set out to achieve new efficiency goals for Standard 90.1. The association announced at its 2011 winter conference in January that it had been successful. It now attains site energy savings of 32.6 percent and energy cost savings of 30.1 percent without plug loads.
Many contractors are asking what happened to Home Star, the proposed legislation that would have extended rebates to homeowners who invested in energy efficiency upgrades for their homes. While the bill was a hot topic for much of 2010, it ultimately failed to pass in the Senate, and has not been reintroduced in Congress so far in 2011.
Honeywell has announced an $18.8 million energy conservation and building modernization program with the Yonkers Housing Authority that will help improve its facilities, energy efficiency, and resident comfort and save an estimated $1.4 million in annual utility costs. It will also create opportunities for local subcontractors.
The need for energy efficiency and the desire for
intelligent energy efficiency have created a hunger for data. This trend
started 10 years ago (or more) in the building controls industry and is now
being seen in the refrigeration controls sector.
It is a familiar lament for those who work on supermarket refrigeration. There is a problem. The owner wants it fixed immediately. The technician can apply a quick fix, but that won’t deal with potential recurring problems - and the fact that the equipment may not be operating all that efficiently or even be all that up-to-date.
Developers of the Turtle River Montessori School wanted students to have the best possible IAQ, and they wanted to provide it in an energy-efficient manner. Looking for suggestions on how to make this new school’s HVAC system green, Brad Brown of KAMM Consulting approached Charles Eno, sales engineer for Florida Air Conditioning Distributors.
Today, designing, building, and operating have one common thread: energy efficiency. And it begins with a building’s HVAC system. There are many pieces that go into an energy-efficient HVAC system - especially for commercial buildings.
Refrigeration contractors and technicians who work in the domestic refrigeration sector should be aware of increased efficiency standards that are also affecting ice making equipment and room air conditioners. And all those in refrigeration should look at such efficiency upgrades as a growing trend across the board.
This summer Brian Bovio got an invitation he couldn’t turn down - a chance to meet the president of the United States and talk business with him over lunch. Bovio is the operations manager of his third-generation family business, Bovio Advanced Comfort & Energy