Electical Contractor

Rising energy prices, government incentives and enhanced public image are driving energy efficiency in buildings to new heights as a growing number of building owners races to reduce energy consumption, according to the results of the fifth annual global Energy Efficiency Indicator Survey.

My last two columns introduced the first two pillars of the electrical contractor’s energy services business: conservation and efficiency. This column discusses the third pillar: energy production, which involves helping the customer reduce its recurring utility energy expenses.

Lately, efficiency has emerged as one of the driving forces of the effort to reform national energy consumption—an equal partner with the likes of solar power, windmills and electric cars.

Because surfaces and objects in typical spaces reflect light, they can play a part in lighting efficiency as extensions of the lighting system. By controlling room surface reflectances, light levels can be improved, creating opportunities to save energy.

The energy revolution is influencing America’s electricity consumption. Data released recently by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory shows a discernible change in the country’s energy use. On one hand, Americans used less energy overall last year.

Chevron Energy Solutions, San Francisco, and the city of Brea, Calif., announced that construction of an energy efficiency and solar project has begun and is expected to save the city more than $13 million.

In the quest to make solar power a mainstream electrical power generation source, improving photovoltaic cells’ efficiency has been the industry’s Holy Grail.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) offered AES Energy Storage LLC a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee for $17.1 million to support the construction of a 20-megawatt (MW) energy-storage system using advanced lithium-ion batteries.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) announced it continues to exceed its energy-savings targets, placing the agency more than two-thirds of the way to achieving its goal to reduce energy use by 30 percent by 2015. “A year ago, the Postal Service projected ...