News Tagged ‘buildings’

All commercial and industrial customers of West Penn Power can now apply to the Non-Standard Lighting for Business Program to receive cash incentives for energy efficient lighting projects. Eligible customers include schools, local governments, institutions, not-for-profits, private businesses, industrial firms, or any other non-residential facility in the West Penn Power territory.

The Non-Standard-Lighting for Business Program provides cash incentives for energy efficient lighting projects, both new construction and retrofit. Equipment must be installed after October 28, 2009 to receive incentives. That means even completed projects with eligible equipment can apply to receive cash back. Incentives available through the Non-Standard-Lighting for Business Program include per-unit incentives as well as performance-based incentives:

• Compact fluorescent lamps, – $1/screw-in lamp or $15/hardwired lamp
• LED exit signs (retrofit only, double or single sided) – $15/sign
• Occupancy sensors – $25/sensor
• Daylighting photosensors – $25/sensor
• All other energy-saving lighting products or technologies are performance-based, and are incentivized at $0.05 per kWh saved. All equipment installed must be code compliant.

RelightDepot can help you with all of the required paperwork and ensure that your application conforms to the program requirements.  For more information, don’t hesitate to contact us or visit the EnergySavePA website.

President Obama is proposing new efforts to improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings across the country. Last year, commercial buildings consumed roughly 20 percent of all energy in the U.S. economy. Improving energy efficiency in our buildings can create jobs, save money, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and make our air cleaner. The President’s Better Buildings Initiative will make commercial buildings 20 percent more energy efficient over the next decade by catalyzing private sector investment through a series of incentives to upgrade offices, stores, schools and other municipal buildings, universities, hospitals, and other commercial buildings. This initiative builds on our investments through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), and our continued commitment to passing the President’s proposed “HOMESTAR” legislation to encourage American families to make energy saving upgrades in their homes.

• Achieve a 20 percent improvement in energy efficiency by 2020: Under the President’s plan, by 2020, we will make commercial building space in the United States 20 percent more energy efficient through cost-effective upgrades.
• Reduce companies’ and business owners’ energy bills by about $40 billion per year: By making buildings more energy efficient we will save business owners money by reducing their energy bills by about $40 billion at today’s prices. That money that can be put to better use hiring more workers, inventing new products, and creating shareholder value.
• Save energy by reforming outdated incentives and challenging the private sector to act: The President is calling for an aggressive reform of existing tax and other incentives for commercial building retrofits and proposing a new competitive grant program. In turn, he is asking corporate leaders to commit to making progress toward his energy goals.

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced support for energy-saving commercial building projects as part of an ongoing effort by DOE to improve the energy efficiency of buildings in the United States. With money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, DOE’s national laboratories will select and fund technical experts to provide technical guidance to commercial building owners and operators. The goal of this Commercial Building Partnerships (CBP) initiative is to increase the energy efficiency of selected new and existing buildings.

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We have performed many lighting audits for warehouses and industrial facilities across the country.  In doing this, we have developed a very simple form that captures all of the pertinent information for a lighting audit in a single sheet of paper.  We are happy to share this form with you in hopes that it makes assessing your building’s potential for a lighting retrofit easier.

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On February 12th, the Obama Administration announced a multi-agency initiative to spur regional economic growth while making buildings more energy efficient.  Seven federal agencies, including the Dept. of Energy, Dept. of Labor and the Small Business Administration, issued a combined Funding Opportunity Announcement of nearly $130 million over five years to create a regional research center that will develop new building efficiency technologies and work with local partners to implement the technologies in area buildings.

Since buildings account for nearly 40 percent of U.S. energy consumption, energy efficiency improvements in buildings can provide significant benefits not only to the building owners through lower utility bills, but the entire country through decreased carbon emissions.

“Energy efficient buildings represent one of our best and most immediate opportunities to create jobs, save money and cut carbon pollution.” – U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.

The research center will be based at a university, DOE national laboratory, nonprofit organization, or private firm in what the release calls an Energy Regional Innovation Cluster (E-RIC) that is centered around an Energy Innovation Hub.  The center is expected to partner closely with local or state government officials and leverage the expertise of local architects, builders, and manufacturers.

For more details, view the full release on the DOE web site.

New Jersey’s SmartStart Buildings program offers valuable rebates for commercial and industrial customers looking to implement energy efficiency projects in their facilities.  SmartStart is sponsored by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities in partnership with local gas and electric utilities and is funded through the New Jersey Societal Benefits Charge. These rebates are available to non-residential retail electric service customers of Atlantic City Electric, Jersey Central Power & Light, Rockland Electric Company, New Jersey Natural Gas, Elizabethtown Gas, PSE&G, and South Jersey Gas.  A summary of the available rebates is shown below:

Prescriptive Lighting

• T-5 and T-8 lamps with electronic ballast in existing facilities ($15 per fixture, 1-4 lamps)
• T-8 to reduced wattage T-8 (28W/25W 4′) retrofit with ballast replacement ($10 per fixture, 1-4 lamps)
• Hard-wired compact fluorescent ($25 – $30 per fixture)
• Metal halide w/pulse start ($25 per fixture)
• LED Exit signs ($10/$20 per fixture)
• T-5 and T-8 High Bay Fixtures ($16 – $284 per fixture)

Lighting Controls

• Wall mounted occupancy sensors ($20 per control)
• Remote mounted occupancy sensors ($35 per control)
• Daylight dimmers ($25 per fixture controlled, $50 per fixture for office applications only)
• Occupancy controlled hi-low fluorescent controls ($25 per fixture controlled)
• HID or fluorescent high bay controls ($75 per fixture controlled)
• High bay daylight dimming ($75 per fixture controlled)

This article details the prescriptive rebates available through New Jersey’s SmartStart program as well as the process and requirements for getting these incentives. The experts at Relight Depot can help walk you through the process of applying and qualifying for these valuable rebate dollars.  Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about what products might be used to replace your existing lighting so that you are sure to get the maximum rebate for your project.

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The Environmental Protection Agency has just announced the ENERGY STAR National Building Competition, the first coast-to-coast contest for commercial buildings to save energy and fight global warming. ENERGY STAR partners are being asked to nominate one or more of the facilities they own or manage from across the country for consideration. Approximately a dozen contest participants will be selected by EPA and will “work off the waste” through improvements in energy efficiency with help from EPA’s ENERGY STAR program. The building that reduces its energy use the most on a percentage basis will be recognized by EPA as the winner.

Contest participants will take part in outreach activities, periodic “weigh-ins” to measure progress, and a final celebration to announce the winner. This is a great opportunity to receive national recognition from EPA and establish your organization as an environmental leader by entering your building in this exciting national competition!  For more information, or to apply for your building to compete, go to the program web site.  Applications must be submitted by Feb. 12, 2010.