The York Triathlon Natural-Gas-Fired, Engine-Driven Heat Pump
November 1, 1995
The York Triathlon is a new, natural-gas-fired, engine-driven heat pump system for heating and cooling of residences and small commercial facilities. Benefits of the technology include high efficiency, low operating cost, enhanced comfort due to variable-speed operation matched to the current load, ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: PP-95-4 | Author: Gerald Cler
Strategic Issues Paper VI Local Integrated Resource Planning: A New Tool for a Competitive Era
November 1, 1995
The competitive restructuring of the electric power industry is intensifying pressures for electric utilities to control costs through improved utilization of existing assets and by minimizing capital investment in new transmission and distribution capacity. Local integrated resource planning is a ...
Content type: Core Report | Document ID: SIP VI | Author: Nicholas Lenssen
Proper Application of Adjustable-Speed Drives for HVAC Cooling Tower Fans
November 1, 1995
Adjustable-speed drives (ASDs) on cooling tower fans can save energy because the ASD allows the fan to operate at a lower speed, reducing fan energy requirements. However, E Source has found that for systems ranging in size from 300 to 900 tons, ASDs on cooling tower fans may exact a system energy ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-95-13 | Author: Dennis Nugent
LED Traffic Lights: Test Results Give Green Light for Additional Installations
November 1, 1995
Across the country, cities and highway departments have installed more than 20,000 LED (light-emitting diode) traffic signals. Based on their findings, it is clear that the LED technology offers significant savings opportunities for energy, relamping, and maintenance costs. The California Department ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-95-14 | Author: Chris Calwell
The E Source Columbine Building: Efficient Office Building Provides a Reality Check
November 1, 1995
A speculative office building is at the 90 percent design level and initial bids for construction have already come in. Is it too late to do anything about the building's efficiency? Not necessarily. A variety of changes, ranging from simple product switches to redesigned systems, still can be implemented ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-95-15 | Author: David Houghton
Assessing Processes for Compressed Air Efficiency
November 1, 1995
Amazing amounts of compressed air are wasted or misapplied in otherwise well-run manufacturing facilities—often costing thousands of dollars extra each year. The process of eliminating this expensive waste requires a thorough examination of each use of compressed air, as well as how the overall ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-95-16 | Author: William Howe, Bill Scales
Competing for the Cooling Market Commonwealth Edison Launches District Cooling Venture
September 1, 1995
In response to increased competition to serve air-conditioning loads in large commercial buildings, the parent company of Chicago electric utility Commonwealth Edison has launched an unregulated subsidiary to provide district cooling services in downtown Chicago. The new company, Unicom Thermal Technologies ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: SM-95-2 | Author: Lynn Fryer
Impending Standards to Outlaw Most Widely Used Fluorescent Lamp in the United States: Evaluating the Alternatives
September 1, 1995
Standards taking effect October 31, 1995 in the United States will ban production of the most widely used family of four-foot T12 fluorescent lamps. Many users are unaware of the impending standards, and few have yet determined which of the numerous relamping or relamping/reballasting alternatives ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-95-9 | Author: Robert Sardinsky, Barbara Heckendorn
Demand-Controlled Ventilation: Teaching Buildings to Breathe
September 1, 1995
In most buildings, the precise amount of fresh air reaching occupants at any given moment is not known—which can lead to problems. However, when outdoor air intake is based on how much fresh air is actually needed, the indoor environment is improved, and energy can be saved.
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-95-10 | Author: David Houghton PE
Protecting Motor Bearings from Electrical Damage in Adjustable-Speed Drive Applications
September 1, 1995
The rugged bearings used in today's induction motors can be damaged over time by electrical currents flowing through them. While a number of sources of bearing currents have been identified over the years, induced rotor voltages caused by pulse-width modulated adjustable-speed drives have emerged ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-95-11 | Author: William Howe
Fluorescent Dimming for Energy Management: More Options, But Not Yet Mature
September 1, 1995
Dimming fluorescent lamps can help reduce energy consumption when coupled with photosensors and other controls. However, almost without exception the cost of dimming systems cannot be justified on the basis of energy savings alone.
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-95-12 | Author: Lindsay Audin
Improving Residential Customer Service Through Better Utility Bills
August 1, 1995
Providing residential customers with useful information about how they use energy may become crucial to keeping those customers happy—or to keeping them at all—as the utility industry becomes more competitive. Bills can be vehicles for demonstrating value and for proving that utilities ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: SM-95-1 | Author: Willett Kempton
Selecting Dry-Type Transformers: Getting the Most Energy Efficiency for the Dollar
August 1, 1995
Dry-type transformers represent a significant and largely overlooked opportunity for energy and dollar savings. Since all electric power passes through one or more dry-type transformers on its way to lighting, motors, office equipment, or other end uses, even increasing transformer efficiency by a ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-95-6 | Author: William Howe
Magnetic Water Treatment: A Coming Attraction?
August 1, 1995
United Airlines and pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company are among a number of users that are controlling scale and corrosion in cooling tower loops with magnetic water treatment, a controversial technology that has met with skepticism, disbelief, and claims of fraud. Experts and hundreds ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-95-7 | Author: Lynn Fryer
Turning Air Conditioning on its Head: Underfloor Air Distribution Offers Flexibility, Comfort, and Efficiency
August 1, 1995
The common practice of running air ducts through the ceiling may be, in some respects, upside-down. Putting air systems under raised flooring can reduce facility operating costs while improving occupant comfort, indoor air quality, and HVAC equipment efficiency. Underfloor air conditioning is slowly ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-95-8 | Author: David Houghton
New Electronic Timers Simplify Lighting Control
June 1, 1995
Two new families of electronic switches are entering the lighting control market. These switches offer a simple, low-cost way to shut off lights in unoccupied areas. Unlike earlier electronic timer models, they are designed to handle intense inrush current from electronic ballasts.
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: PP-95-3 | Author: Lindsay Audin
Using Ozone To Treat Cooling Tower Water
June 1, 1995
Ozone is a controversial but promising alternative to chemicals for treating water in cooling towers. A powerful disinfectant, ozone can prevent biofouling of heat exchange surfaces, and may mitigate scale and corrosion. Ozone treatment of cooling towers can cut costs for energy, water, sewage, and ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-95-3 | Author: Lia Webster
Guide to Efficient Unitary Cooling Equipment
June 1, 1995
The universe of unitary cooling equipment is a large one; these systems are used in nearly forty percent of the residential and commercial buildings in the United States. Unitary cooling equipment is made up of "off-the-shelf" units: factory-assembled single or split systems, including air-source ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-95-5 | Author: Joan Gregerson, Karen George
The Flashbake Oven: Lightwave Oven Delivers High-Quality, Quick Cooking
February 1, 1995
The FlashBake oven is a well-publicized new electrotechnology that over 40 utilities are promoting for commercial foodservice applications, but is it worth its high price? E Source research shows that this $5,000 to $8,500 lightwave oven can increase sales and profitability in a number ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: PP-95-1 | Author: Joan Gregerson
The Ice Bear: Thermal Storage for Rooftop Air Conditioners
February 1, 1995
The Ice Bear is an emerging thermal storage system for small (5 to 20 ton) rooftop air-conditioning equipment. Now in the pilot installation phase, the system provides partial or full load shifting, by building ice during off-peak hours. Moreover, independent testing shows that the system can operate ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: PP-95-2 | Author: David Houghton
Electric Chiller Buyer's Guide: Water-Cooled Centrifugal and Screw Chillers
February 1, 1995
The phase-out of CFCs at the end of 1995 is driving increasing numbers of building owners to convert or replace their chillers with equipment that uses non-CFC refrigerants. Because chillers last for decades, the efficiency of the replacement equipment will have a lasting effect on the energy use, ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-95-1 | Author: Lynn Fryer
Waterbeds: Surprising Opportunity for Residential Programs
December 1, 1994
The often-overlooked electric waterbed heater uses as much energy as a refrigerator, is most common in low-income homes, and offers savings potentials equal to refrigerator pick-up programs at lower cost. A handful of utilities in the U.S. are finding that waterbeds offer a ripe opportunity for low-income ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TM-94-6 | Author: Joan Gregerson
Retrofitting Computers and Peripherals for Energy Efficiency
December 1, 1994
Retrofit power control options for computers and their peripherals have the potential to substantially reduce the energy cost of office equipment by automatically turning off the equipment when it is not being used. These control devices can reduce the amount of energy consumed by a typical workstation ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-94-8 | Author: Lia Webster
Heat Pump Water Heaters: A Technology Assessment and Market Survey
December 1, 1994
Heat pump water heaters (HPWHs) are two to four times as efficient as electric resistance water heaters and provide space cooling as well as water heating. They also cost considerably more, consume more space, and may require more maintenance.
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-94-9 | Author: Ned Nisson, Michael Shepard
Sulfur Lighting: Emerging Technology Could Challenge HID Light Sources
September 1, 1994
A new and potentially important source of light is emerging from the laboratory. Sulfur lighting uses high-frequency electromagnetic waves to generate light from atoms of sulfur, argon, and other gases. Sulfur lamps can potentially produce well over 100 lumens per watt of high-quality light in a relatively ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-94-7 | Author: David Houghton
PG&E's Tool Lending Service: Helping Customers Collect and Interpret Data on Building Performance
August 1, 1994
Pacific Gas & Electric Company has established a lending library of measurement and evaluation tools, backed by technical support services, to help its customers collect and interpret data on building performance. Using simple, hand-held data loggers, building owners and operators are often able to ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TM-94-4 | Author: James Newcomb, Brad Gustafson
Communications Protocols for Home Automation: From the Powerline to the Television
August 1, 1994
A number of pioneering electric utilities are exploring interactive customer communications technologies that may lead to a transformation of the traditional relationship between utilities and their customers.
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TM-94-5 | Author: Bill Howe
Horizontal-Axis Clothes Washer Market Poised for Expansion
August 1, 1994
The availability of energy- and water-efficient horizontal-axis washing machines in the North American market is growing, as U.S. and European manufacturers position for an expected long-term market shift toward horizontal-axis (H-axis) technology. Four of the five major producers of washing machines ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-94-6 | Author: Karen George
Refrigerator Recycling and CFCs
June 1, 1994
Utility-sponsored refrigerator and freezer pick-up programs have removed almost 900,000 inefficient appliances from the North American electric grid to date. While the CFC-12 refrigerant from the discarded appliances is typically removed and recycled, in all but a few programs the CFC-11 in the foam ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TM-94-2 | Author: Michael Shepard, Wendy Hawthorne, Alex Wilson
Turning the CFC Phase-Out into Energy and Dollar Savings
June 1, 1994
Owners of buildings cooled by central chillers will soon have to make significant investments in their chiller systems because CFC refrigerants are being phased out. If those investments are bundled with other building improvements in the proper sequence, significant energy savings can be achieved. ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TM-94-3 | Author: Chris Robertson, Jay Stein, Jack Wolpert, Bruce Jones
Refrigerator DSM Programs: Status and Prospects
June 1, 1994
The energy use of new refrigerators in the U.S. has decreased by nearly 50 percent since 1980, driven by federal standards and utility demand-side management (DSM) programs. With today's new refrigerators so much more efficient than earlier products, are refrigerators still an attractive target for ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-94-5 | Author: Karen George, Michael Shepard
Strategic Issues Paper IV The Future of Energy Efficiency Services in a Competitive Environment
May 1, 1994
The competitive restructuring of the electric power industry raises fundamental strategic questions about how energy efficiency services can best be delivered. While some utilities believe that the "commoditization" of electric power will extinguish their role in providing efficiency services, others ...
Content type: Core Report | Document ID: SIP IV | Author: James Newcomb
LED Exit Signs: Improved Technology Leads the Way to Energy Savings
April 1, 1994
Recent innovations in light-emitting diode (LED) exit signs may make LED signs the best choice among the energy efficient options available. In the past, LED signs have offered low power consumption, projected long lamp life, and low maintenance requirements. Now, the best of the LED signs also offer ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-94-2 | Author: Robert Sardinsky, Sue Hawthorne
Variable-Speed Blower Motors Gaining Ground in Residential HVAC Market
April 1, 1994
Variable-speed blowers with electronically commutated permanent-magnet motors are gaining ground in the residential forced-air HVAC market. Variable-speed blower motors offer better comfort—better air mixing, lower noise, and tighter temperature and humidity control—as well as higher efficiency ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-94-3 | Author: Joan Gregerson
Market Survey: Lighting Loggers and Occupancy Loggers
April 1, 1994
Six companies in the United States market lighting loggers, a class of devices that includes runtime and time-of-use lighting loggers and occupancy loggers. Runtime loggers are the simplest and least expensive loggers, measuring how long lights remain off or on-data useful for assessing energy savings ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-94-4 | Author: Joan Gregerson
Strategic Issues Paper V Real-Time Pricing and Electric Utility Industry Restructuring: Is the Future "Out of Control?"
April 1, 1994
Increased price transparency in electric power markets will be the driving force for fundamental changes in the packaging of energy services for electricity customers. Rapid advances in communications and control capabilities may make it possible for electricity merchants to provide highly customized ...
Content type: Core Report | Document ID: SIP V | Author: James NewcombWarren Byrne
Strategic Issues Paper III The Great "Retail Wheeling" Illusion--And More Productive Energy Futures
March 1, 1994
This paper, authored by Ralph Cavanagh of the Natural Resources Defense Council, sets out the reasons why many environmental and public interest organizations oppose retail wheeling. Cavanagh argues that retail wheeling would destroy incentives for energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy ...
Content type: Core Report | Document ID: SIP III | Author: Ralph Cavanagh
Motor Logger Offers Low-Cost Monitoring of Equipment Operation
February 1, 1994
The Motor LoggerTM is a unique and simple device that can record the run time or time of use of electrical equipment. Such information is essential for determining the costeffectiveness of energy efficiency upgrades for many types of equipment. Two models are available: the run-time motor ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: PP-94-1 | Author: Joan Gregerson
Centrally Powered Lighting Systems: Renewed Efforts for Commercialization
February 1, 1994
A new approach to powering fluorescent lamps appears to be very efficient and reliable and provides several other advantages over conventional ballast designs. It involves using a central rectifier to convert AC to DC to power lighting for an entire facility.
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: PP-94-2 | Author: Bill Howe
Do Residential Air-Conditioning Rebates Miss the Mark?
February 1, 1994
The rebates utilities provide for residential central air conditioners and heat pumps to encourage improved cooling efficiency may inadvertently reward higher peak demand in many cases. This problem could be avoided by using both efficiency and peak performance to determine eligibility for rebates. ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TM-94-1 | Author: Bristol Stickney, Michael Shepard
LED Traffic Lights: New Technology Signals Major Energy Savings
February 1, 1994
Using light-emitting diode technology to replace incandescent lamps in traffic signals promises energy savings upwards of 60 percent for each of the estimated quarter of a million controlled intersections in the United States. LED units use only 9 to 25 watts instead of the 67 to 150 watts used by ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-94-1 | Author: David Houghton PE
Hot Plate Provides "Free" Water Heating
December 1, 1993
The Hot PlateTM (Figure 1) is a unique heat recovery unit that uses waste heat from residential and small commercial air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment to provide "free" hot water. It also can reduce summer peak load by displacing the need for conventional water heating on hot ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: PP-93-1 | Author: Bristol Stickney
Distribution Transformers: A Growing Energy Savings Opportunity
December 1, 1993
Virtually all electric power passes through at least two transformers before it is converted to mechanical power, light, or heat—and each transformer loses a percentage of its input power to internal inefficiencies. Efficiency in standard distribution models ranges from around 96 to 98.5 percent, ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-93-10 | Author: William Howe
High-Efficiency Residential Blower Motor Replacements: Capturing a Lost Opportunity
December 1, 1993
More than 70 million blower motors are used in North American residential furnaces, air conditioners, and heat pumps. These small motors are very inefficient and they typically operate during periods of peak demand. While it is not cost-effective to retrofit functioning blower motors, an estimated ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-93-11 | Author: Joan Gregerson
Highly Reflective Roof Surfaces Reduce Cooling Energy Use and Peak Demand
December 1, 1993
Light-colored building surfaces are a time-honored method of staying cool, familiar to anyone who has seen the white-washed buildings in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and other warm climes. This heat rejecting strategy has been largely ignored in many places since the advent of mechanical air ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-93-12 | Author: Karen George
Hot-Climate House Predicted to Need No Air Conditioner, Cost Less to Build
November 1, 1993
A new house designed for Pacific Gas and Electric Company's Advanced Customer Technology Test for Maximum Energy Efficiency (the "ACT2" experiment) is challenging some traditional tenets of energy economics. It illustrates how a whole-system approach can yield greater cost-effective energy savings ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TM-93-5 | Author: Amory Lovins
Avoiding the Hazards of Pulse-Width Modulated Adjustable-Speed Drives
November 1, 1993
Pulse-width modulated (PWM) adjustable-speed drives are taking over the market for ASDs under 200 horsepower because they are less expensive and more reliable than competing technologies and because they provide more precise control of motor acceleration, speed, and torque. Misapplication of PWM drives ...
Content type: Core Report | Document ID: TM-93-6 | Author: William Howe
Does Low Ballast Factor Instant Start Operation Reduce Fluorescent Lamp Life?
November 1, 1993
Concerns over early failure of T8 fluorescent lamps operated with instant-start low ballast factor (LBF) ballasts have led some users and utilities to discount the technology, perhaps prematurely. These ballasts cost less and are more efficient than rapid-start LBF ballasts, and even if they reduce ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TM-93-7 | Author: Robert Sardinsky, Susan Hawthorne
Phase Change Wallboard for Peak Demand Reduction
August 1, 1993
After more than a decade of research in university and government laboratories, wallboard impregnated with a phase change material (PCM) appears to be close to commercialization, and could prove to be a powerful peak demand management tool for utilities, particularly in the residential sector. As ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TM-93-4 | Author: Karen George, Michael Shepard
Ultraviolet Radiation from Electric Lighting
August 1, 1993
Concerns about the health and materials degradation impacts of ultraviolet radiation (UV) from electric lighting are being raised with increasing frequency. If ultraviolet radiation from the sun causes skin cancers and eye problems, and degrades light-sensitive artifacts, could the UV emitted from ...
Content type: Core Report, Research | Document ID: TU-93-7 | Author: Lindsay Audin
