The First Facility Management Blog

The United States Environmental Protection Agency, The Dow Chemical Company and the city of Dalton, GA partnered in a renewable energy source project that has far exceeded expectations in its first quarter of operation. The project takes gas from a Dalton landfill and uses it to fuel Dow’s latex carpet backing plant.

While in operation just three months, the latex carpet backing plant has already surpassed initial projections, according to Todd Crook, global marketing manager, Dow Flooring. Multiple carpet manufacturers have entered into agreements to use latex carpet backing produced with the fuel of LOMAX™ Technology, the name Dow bestowed upon this renewable energy source process. LOMAX Technology uses renewable energy (currently landfill gas) to manufacture latex carpet backings, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions and assists customers in developing high performance products with sustainable attributes.

Dow partnered with the EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) in early 2008 and has gained knowledge through this partnership. As a result of the success of the Dalton Landfill project and the partnership with LMOP, Dow is in the evaluation phase of two to three other similar projects in the United States.

“While most Americans think of landfills as a final resting place for their garbage, they are actually a source of valuable, clean energy,” said Victoria Ludwig, manager of the LMOP. “Dow’s landfill gas capture program is one of many examples where American businesses are rethinking how they power their operations.”

LMOP is a voluntary assistance and partnership program that promotes the use of methane in landfill gas as an energy source. By preventing emissions of methane (a powerful greenhouse gas) through the development of landfill gas energy projects, LMOP helps businesses, states, energy providers, and communities protect the environment and build a sustainable future.

“When carpet manufacturers and their customers choose Dow latex backing, they can not only feel good about getting the products, but also products with an improved environmental impact,” said Crook. “In the manufacturing of our latexes for carpet backing, our target is to replace nearly all the fossil fuel required to manufacture latex with methane gas that would otherwise be emitted into the atmosphere.” More than 85% of carpet manufactured today utilizes latex as a backing material to hold the carpet fibers in place. LOMAX Technology will use approximately 200 billion Btus annually of methane gas, which is equivalent to the amount of energy required to heat 2,100 US homes annually. By utilizing this landfill gas in the Dalton carpet latex plant, the partnership will reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 25 million pounds annually—which is comparable to keeping 2,300 cars off the road each year.

While piping “garbage gas” from a landfill to fuel a manufacturing facility is not a new technology, it continues to gain popularity as businesses and municipalities search for products that specifically target the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the dependence on using fossil fuels. The carpet industry has pushed the sustainability issue, putting pressure on itself before the words “LEED” and “green” came to the forefront.

“Utilizing landfill gas to replace our fossil fuel consumption is truly improving our environmental footprint and equally important is that this is a sustainable attribute that is easy for consumers and specifiers to understand, which is a challenge in today’s rush to market green products,” Crook noted. “We are using renewable energy that is naturally generated in a landfill and using that energy to replace our fossil fuel. These kinds of initiatives will change things in our lifetime.”  

Developments like LOMAX Technology are in keeping with Dow’s 2015 sustainability goals, a multi-part program to address some of the most pressing economic, social and environmental concerns facing the global community over the next 10 years.

Federal agencies may have to make significant process changes to meet the mandated 30% energy reduction in federal building by 2015, according to a new report. Produced by attendees of a workshop held by representatives of the Federal Facilities Council and private sector organizations, the report details the challenges of meeting the requirements of the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA).

One of the main changes recommended by attendees is alteration of funding mechanisms by Congress. Appropriators and oversight committees need to recognize that previous funding patterns may need to change, as additional upfront funds may be needed to implement energy savings, but long term costs will fall with lower energy expenditures.

One suggested strategy for funding improvement is establishing a government wide revolving fund for energy improvements and energy efficient equipment purchases, to be funded in part by the energy savings agencies, that would be realized from long term improved energy efficiency efforts. The report also mentions the hope that agencies be given greater flexibility in managing their portfolios by selling unneeded assets and retaining funds to improve existing buildings.

Technical feasibility is also a major consideration in meeting EISA’s requirements. An integrated design process for both construction and renovations is essential; bringing together appropriators, procurement officers, design and construction teams, facility managers, project managers, training teams, and building occupants from the first phases of a project can encourage the kinds of collaboration necessary to making energy saving decisions.

Other key areas of interest include:

• Education and training. These areas must be addressed, with opportunities for all agency employees with a focus on their particular roles within the organization—whether as building occupants, facilities management personnel, or procurement officers. Also, as new technologies are implemented, training—particularly of operations and maintenance staff—is necessary to assure these technologies operate at their ideal state to achieve energy savings.
• Case study development. In order to assist agencies and the private sector in developing best practices, learning from previous projects remains a key. Effective case studies of energy efficient buildings will rely on measurement and verification of energy use and other data.

Given the current economic conditions, here are 10 suggestions for facility managers to get more from their data centers in 2009 while spending less money, courtesy of Emerson Network Power.

1. Cover Your Bases. It may be more difficult to recover from an outage during tough economic times than during prosperous one. A relatively small investment in precision air conditioning and backup power can actually save money. For example, precision air conditioning will adequately protect data center assets; building air conditioning alone will not. A double conversion backup power solution with adequate redundancy is essential to raising system availability and ensuring business continuity.
2. Look Inside Before Outside. Increasing density may be a more cost effective approach to meet the need for more capacity than new facility development. For example new cooling architectures can enable densities notably higher than average data center densities at a fraction of the cost of building a new facility.
3. Assess Before Action. Perhaps one of the smartest investments businesses can make in the coming year will be to asses their data center to identify and resolve vulnerabilities that threaten availability, increase data center efficiency, and improve planning and budget allocation.
4. Go From Room to Rack. Utilizing an integrated enclosure system (i.e. data center in a box or mini computer room offers a cost effective solution to protecting the equipment that may be in a small data center or room. Instead of conditioning the whole room environment, just protect the rack.
5. Cap the Cold Aisle. Cold aisle containment allows cooling units to run at reduced capacity to achieve ideal cooling conditions and save energy costs. This tactic is more efficient and effective than hot aisle containment systems and offers a better environment for data center personnel.
6. Check the Weather Forecast. In many locations, economizers can be used to allow outside cool air to complement data center cooling systems and provide “free cooling” during colder months. This approach lowers energy usage, lessens wear on some components in the cooling equipment, and decreases operational costs. All together, it can be a welcome reduction in the data center electricity bill.
7. Watch Often—If Not Always. The importance of monitoring what’s going on inside the complex and dynamic data center is more important than ever. Keeping an eye on performance will help businesses steer clear of unnecessary maintenance and repair costs. Success in this endeavor will require IT and facilities to integrate disparate data into a centralized portal where actionable and meaningful information can be derived.
8. Improve Energy Utilization. Opportunities exist to improve energy use throughout data centers of all sizes. For example, adding variable frequency drives to cooling systems allows them to recognize reduced loads and operate more efficiently. Every watt of savings achieved on the processor level will create a total of 2.84 watts of savings for the facility.
9. Avoid Cutting Corners. A preventive maintenance plan can extend equipment life and reduce maintenance costs. For example, employ a battery maintenance strategy so that your business isn’t a victim of the number one cause of UPS failure: bad batteries.
10. Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow. It may be necessary to minimize capital expenditures but make sure you don’t compromise future scalability. UPS scalability is emerging as a popular solution to reducing the risk associated with miscalculating future capacities. Statistical analysis of UPS system configurations in light of failure rates shows that system reliability begins to decrease sharply when more than four UPS modules are used in a single system.

As part of its work, the California Energy Commission operates a Research Development and Demonstration (RD&D) Division, which oversees the Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program. The PIER program focuses on a number of energy areas, including Building Efficiency. This research aims to decrease building energy use by developing or improving energy-efficient technologies, strategies, tools, and building performance evaluation methods.

Periodically, PIER will publish informational briefs based on its research, which is often conducted with a variety of organizations with funding from the California Energy Commission’s Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program. The briefs are written and prepared by E Source.

PIER recently released a brief on research on the efficiencies of various types of uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) for data centers under a variety of operating conditions. The study, titled “Uninterruptible Power Supplies: A Data Center Efficiency Opportunity,” also proposed an efficiency label for UPSs and estimated the current energy use of the existing stock of UPSs and the potential savings if efficiency standards were in place.

Collaborators on the project included Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and its subcontractors, EPRI Solutions, and Ecos Consulting.

The report can be downloaded free of charge at this link. Registration required.

To help reduce energy use and help the environment the City of San Leandro, CA recently approved a contract with Siemens Building Technologies, to build a 330 kilowatt cogeneration facility at the city’s water pollution control plant (WPCP). Expected to save 60% in plant energy use, the new power plant has the potential to reduce CO₂ emissions by 1,500 tons per year, or the equivalent of planting 1,500 new trees. The new facility represents a major step in helping the city meet its goal of reducing San Leandro’s greenhouse gas emissions by 25% below 2005 levels by 2020.

“Any way you look at this project is a win-win,” says San Leandro mayor Tony Santos. “We are cutting the city’s energy costs and reducing the city’s impact on global warming; reusing a waste product, namely, grease; and using only funding that is specifically dedicated for this purpose, preserving our general fund monies for critical city programs. It is exciting to be at the forefront of cities taking on this type of project and look forward to all the benefits it will bring.”

The $5.6 million agreement with Siemens includes design, construction, and maintenance for the cogeneration system. Project costs will be covered by WPCP enterprise funds, which according to San Leandro officials are collected annually from city sewer service fees and will be used for maintaining and improving the plant. The new facility will also take advantage of applicable rebates, including a $255,000 self-generation incentive program (SGIP) rebate from local utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E).

“The city of San Leandro has put themselves at the forefront of municipal sustainability and energy efficiency by embarking on this innovative renewable energy project,” says Mike Kearney, sr. director, U.S. energy & environmental solutions for Siemens Building Technologies. “Through the conversion of waste to energy, this new cogeneration plant not only takes advantage of local resources, it is kinder to the environment—through reduced greenhouse gas emissions—and will operate at a lower cost.”

The WPCP treats an average of 6 million gallons per day of municipal and industrial wastewater and is the largest single consumer of electrical energy of all city facilities. Currently, the plant uses PG&E supplied energy to run wastewater treatment operations. The plant also produces some 96,000 cubic feet per day of methane gas (a greenhouse gas shown to be 21 times more potent than CO₂), most of which is burned off and not reused. The new co-generation facility will now use all the methane gas to fuel specially designed reciprocating engines (large internal combustion motors) to spin generators that will produce the electricity needed to power the plant and treat the wastewater. 

In addition, the heat produced by the reciprocating engines will be recycled in effect and used to raise the temperature of the water needed in the treatment process. This system is efficient because it uses normally discarded methane to create both electrical energy and heat; hence, the term cogeneration.

The proposed facility features three major components: three 110 kilowatt generators that produce 285 kilowatts of continuous electrical energy needed to power the plant; a gas conditioning facility that cleans and cools the methane from the WPCP’s digester (making it suitable to fuel the reciprocating engines); and a grease receiving station that will accept additional waste grease from commercial waste haulers to enhance the digester process and increase methane gas production. With the new system, not only will the city be recycling grease from companies throughout the local area, it will improve the performance and efficiency of the generators while generating revenue from grease disposal fees.

Prior to construction, the project will require review and approval by the city’s Community Development Department and permits from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Construction on the facility should begin in late summer 2009, after the necessary permits and reviews have been completed.

Based on its recent analysis of the energy service company (ESCO) industry, Frost & Sullivan is pleased to recognize Honeywell with the 2008 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Green Innovation of the Year. With its renewable energy profiling model, Honeywell is marking its path as a participant in innovation by helping its customers identify and implement renewable energy solutions that are not only environmentally sound, but also fiscally responsible. 

“Honeywell is the first organization to introduce an all-encompassing renewable energy profiling model that allows it to isolate where the markets are for specific renewable energy technologies that provide strong economic drivers for its customers,” explains Frost & Sullivan consulting analyst Devin Castleton. “This provides an optimum advantage for customers who are not only motivated by environmental stewardship but also by economic value.” 

The general concept behind the profiling model is the benchmarking of the variables of a renewable energy project for every location in North America, thus calculating which renewable technologies are most viable and provide the quickest payback. Honeywell can then offer a number of ways to finance the suggested projects, including performance contracts and power purchase agreements, in which Honeywell owns the asset and sells the power to the client. 

The different variables Honeywell considers for its customers include renewable fuel availability, local electricity, gas prices, heating and cooling degree days, rebates and incentives, and deal structures. After examining all of these variables, Honeywell models them against a collected database of more than 55,000 potential customers—colleges and universities, hospitals, and federal and state governments, and other organizations—across North America. 

The database gives Honeywell an accurate vision and analysis of any energy project, with any customer, at any location. Honeywell can provide not only  guidance on which renewable technology a customer should use given a set of unique variables, but also a financial forecast derived from the intricate details the profiling model calculates. 

Honeywell uses the data in the profiling model to create a renewable energy scorecard for each customer. This tool illustrates and evaluates the impact of several technologies and provides the customer with a full range look at the different types of renewable energy resources available, along with financial modeling parameters for each technology. 

“The renewable energy scorecard is a data driven solution to a complex issue,” says Kent Anson, vice president of global energy for Honeywell Building Solutions. “It’s important that environmental stewardship makes good business sense too. Our profiling model and the scorecard take the guesswork out of the equation.” 

The renewable energy scorecard is part of an ongoing effort at Honeywell to help its customers maximize the use of renewable technologies and cut energy costs. Over the past three years, the company has helped a variety of customers install biomass, solar, and geothermal technology. 

These projects are expected to reduce annual carbon emissions by 21 million pounds and nitrous oxide emissions by 187,000 pounds, which is equivalent to removing more than 6,500 cars from the road. The switch to a renewable energy source also is expected to help these customers trim millions from their utility bills. 

Honeywell’s commitment to further developing and utilizing green energy, and helping its customers apply it feasibly, demonstrates a set of best practices that have been recognized by Frost & Sullivan research. Frost & Sullivan presented Honeywell with the 2008 Green Innovation of the Year Award, and expects the company to further its role as an innovative market leader in the long term. 

“Ultimately, the model does exactly what it was designed to do—identify renewable energy technologies that will contribute to the preservation of the environment and the reduction of energy resources that pollute the air and emit harmful greenhouse gases,” continues Castleton. “Honeywell’s model helps initiate projects that will have a lasting, positive impact on the next generation of residents.” 

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated unique product design and development initiatives, aligned with a sustainable and environmentally conscious objective within its industry sector. The award signifies the company’s identification of a unique and revolutionary solution with significant environmental benefits, while presenting tremendous market potential simultaneously. It also signifies that the company’s overall business strategy is sound and poised for success. 

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices.

As part of a growing green movement within the gaming industry, Global Gaming Expo (G2E) the industry’s main trade show and conference recently unveiled a new carbon offset program designed to mitigate the greenhouse gases associated with the event’s exhibition hall. The program sponsor, Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc., has purchased carbon offsets to counteract the estimated 161 metric tons of carbon dioxide produced at the hall, which is equivalent to a U.S. household’s total emissions over 15 years. Additionally, individuals attending the trade event can mitigate their own carbon footprints by purchasing carbon offsets on the G2E Web site. G2E 2008 is scheduled to take place November 18-20 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

“G2E’s new carbon offset program is a reflection of the industry’s ongoing commitment to implementing cutting edge sustainable business practices in our casinos across the country,” said Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., president and CEO of the American Gaming Association. “The gaming industry continues to be a leader in the broader business community in a number of areas, including environmental stewardship.”

Carbon offsets are an increasingly utilized, easily accessible, and economical approach to addressing pollution and climate change. Carbon offset purchases fund reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by supporting projects such as wind farms, solar plants, and other energy efficiency initiatives. By funding these projects, consumers and businesses can balance out or offset negative impacts on the environment. NativeEnergy, a carbon management and renewable energy marketing company that will administer the G2E program, has published additional information about carbon offsets and how they work on its Web site.  

Harrah’s sponsorship is one component of the company’s CodeGreen program, a comprehensive, company wide environmental sustainability effort. It will purchase G2E 2008 carbon offsets from NativeEnergy, which worked with Harrah’s earlier this year to offset the emissions created during the World Series of Poker tournament in Las Vegas. Experts at NativeEnergy estimate that 161 metric tons of carbon dioxide will be produced at the 325,000 square foot G2E exhibit hall from electricity and HVAC use, as well as waste production. 

“For more than five years, CodeGreen teams at Harrah’s have implemented dozens of environmentally sustainable programs at our casinos, and we continue to aggressively pursue opportunities to creatively address environmental challenges and responsibilities,” said Gary Loveman, chairman, CEO, and president of Harrah’s Entertainment. “Carbon offsetting is a very affordable method of mitigating the impact of travel and energy used during events. We’d like to encourage G2E attendees to join us by purchasing carbon offsets to make this year’s conference and trade show a more eco-friendly event.”

The carbon offsets purchased for G2E 2008 will support the Cascade Sierra Solutions (CSS) Trucking Efficiency Project. CSS is an Oregon-based nonprofit that helps provide locally owned trucking companies and owner-operator truckers with energy efficient products such as auxiliary power units, aerodynamic devices, and new, more efficient wheels and tires at affordable prices. CSS also provides its clients with regulatory advice, installation contracting, and below market financing to help them cut costs and lessen their environmental impact. CSS estimates that, depending on the services provided, most of their clients reduce their trucks’ emissions by 10 to 60 metric tons each year—the equivalent of converting five to 25 average cars into hybrid models.

“It’s a win-win situation for both the trucker and the environment,” says Ray Butler, a truck driver based in Creswell, OR. After upgrading his 2000 Freightliner truck with a Tempco Idle Solutions auxiliary power unit, Michelin X1 singe-wide tires, aluminum rims, and a Dorian pressure monitor, Butler estimates that he saves 76 gallons of diesel fuel each week. 

G2E’s carbon offset program is part of the gaming industry’s commitment to environmental stewardship. Major casino companies, like Harrah’s, have executed sustainability programs at their casinos. For example, the new 76 acre, mixed-use Las Vegas building project, the MGM Mirage CityCenter, is pursuing LEED certification. Additionally, International Game Technology (IGT) has implemented several internal waste reduction efforts, and, since January 2008, more than 143,000 pounds of electronic materials from IGT’s Reno, NV, facility have been recycled. Boyd Gaming’s Las Vegas Suncoast Resort recycles kitchen grease and previously implemented an asset recovery program to save money on lost silverware and glassware. The program has been expanded to include cardboard, paper, plastic, and even food, which is now turned into compost resulting in a 70% reduction of the trash sent to the local landfill. Finally, in addition to its efforts with carbon offsets, Harrah’s CodeGreen teams continue efforts to retrofit 40 casino properties with environmentally sustainable programs.

Telkonet, Inc., a provider of centrally managed solutions for integrated energy management, networking, building automation, and proactive support services, has won a contract with Columbia Sussex, a national developer and manager of more than 70 hotels and casinos across 30 states. Approximately 1,300 guestrooms in the Doubletree in Rochester, NY, the Sheraton in Philadelphia City Center, and the Westin in St. Maarten have been equipped with the Telkonet SmartEnergy™ (TSE) in-room, occupancy driven energy management system, with additional properties scheduled for TSE implementation by the end of the year. After an analysis of product offerings, TSE won on the basis of its flexibility, scalability, and simplicity, interfacing with all of the various types of HVAC systems throughout the Columbia Sussex hotel properties.

Columbia Sussex hotel properties are regarded for their green practices and energy reducing measures, including installing solar hot water systems, supporting alternative energies, and providing preferred parking spaces for hybrid cars at its corporate office. Telkonet’s energy efficiency solution forms a part of this ongoing strategy, as Columbia Sussex project manager Scott Yung explains.

“We are truly impressed with the versatility of Telkonet’s system and its ability to manage our range of HVAC systems, such as PTAC units, four pipe systems, two pipe systems with electric heat, and split systems,” said Yung. “Telkonet’s advanced solution gives us tremendous flexibility to define how our HVAC systems control the heating and air conditioning—we are not limited to pre-assigned settings. And, with Telkonet SmartEnergy’s intrinsic scalability, we can install it as a fast deployment standalone system instantly to control energy usage and savings, or network the system with a property management system as part of a longer term strategy.”

With U.S. hotels spending $2,196 per available room each year on energy—6% of all operating costs—implementing an effective energy-efficiency system along with green operating procedures, can significantly improve a hotel’s profitability and bottom line. For example, a 10% reduction in energy consumption would have the same fiscal effect as increasing the average daily room rate by $0.62 in limited service hotels and by $1.35 in full service hotels.

“Controlling energy costs and demonstrating environmental responsibility is clearly a top priority for the hospitality industry,” commented Jeff Sobieski, Telkonet’s COO. “We are prioritizing new ways of encouraging this process, including working closely with government organizations and utilities on a range of rebate programs to help offset the initial equipment and installation costs. We are delighted to work with green focused organizations such as Columbia Sussex, where we can make a tangible difference to lower operational energy costs and help realize their environmental objectives.”

Telkonet SmartEnergy reduces the cooling and heating of unoccupied guest rooms using occupancy sensors, along with thermostats or PTAC controllers. With its patented Recovery Time™ technology, it maintains an energy efficient room temperature when vacant, and when occupied, returns to the guest’s preferred temperature within a select number of minutes, set by property management. For Yung, being able to set the recovery time for all properties all at once is a major time saver, providing consistent performance across all hotels, ensuring guest comfort, and delivering maximum room-by-room energy savings.

Central to TSE’s position are several principal unique features:

• A customizable thermostat that enables flexibility in defining the energy management system parameters, ensuring the maximum deliverable energy savings and optimum performance
• Complete control over defining the Sequence of Operations, optimizing the thermostat to meet a wide range of specific requirements for each heating and cooling stage, such as a pre-defined amount of time to implement each stage
• An assured, future-proofed design, using flash upgradeable CPU via the serial port with a variety of BAUD rates. For networked systems, the firmware image can be reflashed over the Internet.

The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International has launched Rx - Resource Exchange, a comprehensive Web-based menu of resources to help commercial real estate professionals cope with the economic downturn. As the market tightens and the credit crunch starts to flow into the commercial market, efficient and effective building operations are increasingly important. BOMA International has combed through extensive resources to create a one-stop shop with all the tools property professionals need to both enhance building operations and gain professional development insight.

BOMA International Chair and Chief Elected Officer Richard D. Purtell, portfolio manager, Grubb & Ellis Management Services, Inc., explains, “Now more than ever, it is vital that property professionals sharpen their skills and manage their buildings efficiently as only the firms that cut costs without cutting services will make it out of the financial crisis on top.”

These these seven smart strategies straight from Rx - Resource Exchange can help you not only survive but thrive in a down economy:

1. Back to Basics - A tight market means getting back to basics—brush up on your property management skills by taking BOMA’s Foundations of Real Estate Management course.

2. Put it in Writing - Are your building occupants helping you cut costs through energy efficiency practices? Green your leases with BOMA’s Guide to Writing a Commercial Real Estate Lease, Including Green Lease Language.

3. Network, Network, Network - Get a leg up by networking with industry pros at as many events as you can.

4. Control Costs - Did you know that energy is the largest controllable operating cost? Sign up for relevant Webinars to improve your building’s operational efficiency.

5. Measure Your Success - How does your building’s income and expenses measure up in your region or market? Find out by using the industry’s premier benchmarking tool, BOMA’s Experience Exchange Report.

6. Take the Challenge - Cut energy costs by signing on to BOMA’s 7-Point Challenge, a commitment to reduce your building’s energy consumption by 30% by 2012.

7. Be Informed - Check out the SelectLeaders/Cornell Job Barometer to stay up to date on the latest career trends in real estate.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a revised specification for imaging equipment under its Energy Star program. The specification will become effective July 1, 2009.

Imaging products (printers, copiers, scanners, fax machines, and all-in-one devices) that have earned the Energy Star will be 14% more efficient than current qualified models, while continuing to deliver the features and functionality consumers have come to expect. Among the entities that submitted comments on the revised specification were Canon, Epson, Sharp Electronics, and Xerox.

According to Energy Star, if all imaging products sold in the United States met the new specification, consumers would save nearly $500 million a year in energy costs and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of more than 500 million cars. There are more than 200 million imaging equipment units in U.S. buildings today. Together, these units consume 40 billion kWh each year, accounting for 2% of U.S. building sector electricity consumption.

The Energy Star label has a track record advancing the market for energy efficient imaging equipment. The market share for products qualified under the current specification has risen since it was established in 2006 when only about 25% of models were efficient enough to meet it.

For more information on Energy Star qualified imaging products and the revised specification, visit this link…

To read about other issues related to office technology, read “A Change In Direction” from TFM September 2008.