HVAC
The massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is too big price to pay for our dependency on oil. Now we have to re-evaluate our energy plans. FINALLY. The sustainable approach is to stop drilling and spend more money on energy conserving measures and renewables. . . . . . . In this months [...]
The latest numbers are that US buildings consume $320 billion/year in energy. 2/5 of all the energy used in the US. And about 40% of the energy (costing $120 billion/year) is used in buildings for HVAC. Some of the 2009 stats HVAC designs that I have incorporated recently into my office building projects are expected [...]
Continue reading about Better HVAC can save $48 billion/year in the USA
I have a BS ED, which is a science that encompasses the junction between engineering and architecture. My expertise is in buildings and how they work. I focused all my career on design of the built environment and building systems. I was educated in energy conservation, neighborhood preservation, and solar energy in the 1970s. I [...]
Continue reading about THE LAST ENERGY CRISIS- 1970s and a B.S. Environmental Design
I would like to share this 2006 excerpt from the Building Design and Construction magazine white paper on the bottom line of building commissioning. To put some solid numbers on benefits of commissioning, Evan Mills, PhD, and colleagues at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Portland Energy Conservation, and Texas A&M University (Energy Systems Laboratory) reviewed published [...]
Continue reading about The bottom line! Building commissioning today
A recent article in ASHRAE Journal, “An Updated Look at DCV Approaches“, October 2009, page 82-84, covers an important component of building energy: HVAC ventilation control, also called “Demand Controlled Ventilation“. It is an overview of the reasons and logic behind one of the more cost-effective methods for controlling air quality while reducing energy usage. [...]
Corporate geothermal or (ground-coupled or pond-coupled ) HVAC systems are eligible for tax credits under the same law as renewable energy measures tax credits. Renewable energies (wind and solar) and combined heat-power systems get a 30% tax credit. A new geothermal /geocoupled heat pump investment will garner a 10% tax refund, which improves an already [...]
Continue reading about Corporate Geothermal is a Renewable Energy tax credit…
While I was thinking about how to calculate the tax benefits of upgrading and changing or upgrading HVAC systems, lighting and hot water heaters, I decided to see if anyone had made a calculator to analyze it already. Sure enough, General Electric had created this EPact calculator I have not had the time to test [...]
Change is in the wind. Software and information technology forces a break with the past. For generations, we engineers depended on drawings. The desktop PC, and software, such as Autocad, changed our dependence into a 2-d CAD. Stephen Roth wrote in the recent issue of Consulting Specifying Engineers magazine. HVAC cooling and heating load analysis [...]
I just love this subject. Do you know whether your building is sucking or blowing? Did you know that even a new building, built to the usual building methods, will leak air? In a new project, the key is to make allowance for that, and design, build and validate accordingly. On an existing building, it [...]
Noel Susskind, PE, LEED AP is an experienced mechanical engineer and building energy expert ready to serve you. Commercial, government, educational and healthcare facilities are a focus. He will: Serve as a high level resource on the latest science and art of building, or introduce you to one. Knowledge includes minimizing building energy (carbon) footprint [...]
HVAC DATA model from LBNL
BetterBricks.com
Database of Energy and $ Incentives
From Horsepower to Hearpower, Part 1: The Foundations of Power and Energy
Oil Industry started (Drake's well in PA)
The Energy Collective
Architecture 2030
Jerry Yudelson