Thought Leadership from Sieben Energy Associates
Sieben Energy Associates (SEA) has joined the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign, a program led by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Better Buildings Alliance and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. This campaign "encourages the use of a wide variety of commercially available Energy Management and Information Systems (EMIS) technologies and ongoing monitoring practices to help uncover energy-saving opportunities and improve building performance for the long run."
EMIS technologies are underutilized and, frankly, undervalued in today's marketplace. Through the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign, the key organizers hope to spur the adoption of EMIS in the commercial building sector for energy management processes such as monitoring-based commissioning.In a March 22nd article in The New York Times, three science writers—Mike McPhate, Derek Watkins, and Jim Wilson—described how this winter's accumulated snowpack in California's Sierra Nevada mountain range may prove to be an antidote to the state's drought crisis.
High-tech airborne mapping and other specialized instruments, they wrote, have provided scientists with an unprecedented understanding of the amount of water present in the snow, and the rate at which the snow is expected to melt.
On the afternoon of February 15, I led a presentation in front of 40 members of the Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago (BOMA Chicago) about best (and worst) practices relative to successful retro-commissioning projects. First, I set the context for retro-commissioning, including its historical origins and relationship to the commissioning of new buildings. Next, I explained why BOMA Chicago members should care about the ComEd retro-commissioning incentive program.
For almost ten years, all member buildings have been paying into the funding pool for the utility's energy efficiency programs. Participating in retro-commissioning represents an opportunity to get back some of that money. Retro-commissioning also plays an important role in supporting credits for LEED Building Operations and Maintenance (LEED O+M) certification or re-certification.