Energy stakeholders gather at Danfoss Symposium

-- Consulting-Specifying Engineer, 4/14/2008 8:19:00 AM

Those who attended the seventh Danfoss EnVisioneering Symposium, held at The Mayflower hotel in the nation’s capital, said "Yes.". The day-long event featured presentations from five energy experts, followed by an interactive discussion of specific ways to address the global energy challenge, and some specific recommendations for public policy. 

"The tide is turning, but we need to change our respective approaches,” said Robert Thompson, project manager of Commercial Energy Efficiency Programs for Pasadena (Calif.) Power and Water. “For example, utilities need to go outside the box and incorporate new energy-efficient technologies.”

California has long been a pioneer in energy efficiency programs, and Pasadena Power and Water is no exception. With Thompson’s leadership, the utility created and now organizes an annual energy fair, where industry presents its best energy-efficient technologies for stakeholders – government, engineering firms, end users and others – to consider and, hopefully, implement. “The goal is to put energy savings first … and first costs second,” Thompson said.

Jean Lupinacci, director of the Energy Star Commercial and Industrial Branch, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, agreed that the energy efficiency tide is turning. The ENERGY STAR program, which has 70% awareness among homeowners, is making inroads in the commercial building sector.

Lupinacci noted that more than 4,000 buildings have earned the ENERGY STAR label; these buildings use 405  less energy than “average” buildings. She said that trade associations, such as the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), are offering Energy Star programs to their members, while several states and cities (she cited California, Washington, DC, and Louisville, Ky.) are embracing the Energy Star model.

Other symposium speakers, and the key points they made, included:

• Darrell Beschen, chief economist for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Dept.  of Energy, said DOE will continue to research and develop renewable energy technologies in order to “create a balanced and diverse portfolio of solutions to address energy and environmental challenges. He noted that renewable energy, as a percentage of annual new energy capacity additions, increased from 2% in 2004 to 22%  in 2006. “We’re trying to bring critical resources to critical technologies to (capitalize on) critical opportunities,” Beschen said.
• Thomas Hartman, president of The Hartman Company, a building technologies consulting firm based in Georgetown, Texas, introduced a new white paper, “A Vision for Energy Performance-Based Building Design and Operations.” Its purpose is to merge public policy with a new focus on building energy performance. “The power of utilities needs to be redirected,” Hartman offered as one possible solution to the energy challenge. “For utilities, it’s a change from selling energy to managing energy.”
• In keeping with the utilities theme, Drake Erbe, vice president of business development, Airxchange, added: “Utilities can be part of the solution, not the problem. Unless we incent the right people, change (in energy efficiency strategy) won’t happen.” Erbe is chairman of the Mechanical Subcommittee for ASHRAE Standard 90.1.

• Decoupling electric utility revenue from KWH sales could motivate that industry to become a vehicle for accelerating conservation.
  Incentives and building code changes are needed to upgrade the installed base of old, inefficient equipment.

"Energy-efficient technologies are available right now, and they’re making an impact in the U.S. and abroad,” Wilkins said. “But we still have a long way to go to make those technologies universal. That’s why these symposia events are so valuable. New ideas and solutions – and new ways to apply them -- come to the forefront at every event.”

New Date (Nov. 14) Announced for Symposium 8

The next Danfoss EnVisioneering Symposium will be held Nov. 14 in Carlsbad, Calif., just prior to the annual meeting of the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, set for Nov. 16-18. The symposium, “The Challenge of Innovation: What the Private Sector Needs to Create a 21^st Century, Energy-Efficient Environment,” will address how energy efficiency technology is creating novel opportunities – and positive returns on investment – in the business environment.

For more information about the Danfoss EnVisioneering Symposia Series, call: Global Strategy Initiative at 202-744-3633 or visit: http://www.envisioneering.danfoss.com/symposium