by jboullion | Apr 13, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Scott Williams in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
The National Weather Service has issued a new kind of warning because of a Dodge County wind farm that is disrupting the agency’s ability to monitor storms in southeastern Wisconsin.
The wind farm’s giant turbines – each as wide as a football field and as tall as a 20-story building – are sending false storm signals to the government’s weather radar system.
Weather service officials say they see no significant public safety threat, although they say the wind farm has caused radar interference and could confuse some storm watchers.
Meteorologist Marc Kavinsky said the approaching summer storm season will be the federal agency’s first opportunity to gauge the wind farm’s full impact.
“It’ll be interesting,” he said. “I’m hoping the effects will be minimal.”
Located just outside the Dodge County community of Iron Ridge, the wind farm includes 36 turbines that began operating over the past few months, generating electricity for several surrounding communities. . . .
Weather service officials said they began to notice the problem almost immediately after the Dodge County wind farm began operating.
According to a report on the agency’s Web site, the spinning wind turbines have presented “persistent interference” that mimics storm systems and could “negatively impact warning effectiveness” when real storms move into the area.
Rusty Kapela, the agency’s warning coordinator meteorologist, said officials have tried to adjust the radar system to block out the wind farm readings.
But because it affects such a small geographic area and is easily recognized by the weather service’s trained experts, Kapela said, the situation is not a significant problem. It was posted on the Web site only as an informational report for the general public, he said.
“It’s just interesting science stuff,” he said. “In the grand scheme of things, it’s just a minor blip.”
by jboullion | Apr 13, 2009 | Uncategorized
From the Energy Center of Wisconsin:
Identify operational and maintenance improvements in existing buildings and ensure their continued performance over time.
Retro-commissioning is a systematic process for identifying and implementing improvements to an existing building’s equipment and systems. The process focuses on building operation and maintenance activities. It targets energy using systems with the goal of reducing energy waste, achieving energy cost savings and selecting the most cost-effective solutions to achieve these goals and fix existing problems. Results of retro-commissioning may include improved temperature control, better indoor air quality, building pressurization, laboratory safety, infection control and/or electrical system reliability. Potential savings from low-cost to no-cost energy efficiency improvements typically range from 10%-20%.
This half-day training provides an introduction to retro-commissioning. Participants will learn how to conduct a process-based evaluation of building systems performance and energy consumption. Participants will also learn how to determine whether a building is a good candidate for retro-commissioning.
For more information, please visit www.ecw.org/university.
by jboullion | Apr 13, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Liz Welter in the Marshfield News-Hearld:
Issues raised by the city’s Sustainable Marshfield Committee transcend political agendas, resulting in wide-spread community support, said Marty Anderson, chair of the committee and a former alderman.
“Sustainability is living and working in ways that don’t jeopardize our current and future social, environmental and economic resources,” he said.
“You can come at this from a lot of different angles. Whether it’s economic, the environment or health issues, there’s a wide-spread understanding we need to act,” said Anderson, adding that the committee recommends initiatives and tactics to the Common Council that will move the city towards achieving sustainability.
“When the city switched to LED lights in all the traffic lights, I think the savings is about $16,000 annually,” Anderson said.
Marshfield can be a model for what is pragmatically possible, he said. Two initiatives the committee recommended to the city have been approved. One was supporting the use of phosphate-free fertilizers and the other was to support state legislation to protect groundwater.
Through the committee, Marshfield’s city buildings and fleet vehicles will participate in a state-funded study. Wisconsin has a goal to reduce fossil fuel use by 25 percent by 2025. The committee will determine by December what the city would need to do to meet this goal.
“This could give us a road map for the future,” Anderson said.
To encourage the public’s use of compact fluorescent light bulbs, the committee purchased more than 1,500 to give away at various community events.
“We gave out about 1,000 during the Cultural Fair,” said committee member Sue Meyer, who talked at the fair about the energy needed to create electricity for an average four-person family house in one month.
“Most Wisconsin power plants use coal to generate electricity. It takes 162 pounds of coal to light the average home for one month using incandescent light bulbs,” Meyer said.
by jboullion | Apr 10, 2009 | Uncategorized
From an article by Steve Schultze in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Hybrid diesel-electric buses run cleaner and quieter and get better mileage than their conventional diesel engine counterparts, advocates say.
Dozens of cities around the United States use hybrids, including Madison, Chicago and New York. But don’t expect to see them anytime soon in Milwaukee.
Higher hybrid costs have put them out of reach for the Milwaukee County Transit System, at least for now. The local bus system is seeking $16.4 million in federal stimulus aid, which it plans to use to replace 41 aging diesel-powered buses with new diesel buses, transit system managing director Anita Gulotta-Connelly told county supervisors this week.
The big reason is cost. Hybrid models each cost about $500,000, or up to $200,000 more than conventional diesel buses, according to an analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a national environmental policy advocacy group. The hybrids also cost an extra $30,000 to $60,000 in expected costs of replacing their battery packs, according to a report from the transit system.
Cheaper fuel costs for the hybrids – they get about 30% better mileage – would save up to $85,000 over the 12-year life of a bus if diesel fuel averaged $3.50 a gallon, the transit system report says. That still makes traditional diesel buses more affordable.
by jboullion | Apr 10, 2009 | Uncategorized
From the Energy Center of Wisconsin:
Identify operational and maintenance improvements in existing buildings and ensure their continued performance over time.
Retro-commissioning is a systematic process for identifying and implementing improvements to an existing building’s equipment and systems. The process focuses on building operation and maintenance activities. It targets energy using systems with the goal of reducing energy waste, achieving energy cost savings and selecting the most cost-effective solutions to achieve these goals and fix existing problems. Results of retro-commissioning may include improved temperature control, better indoor air quality, building pressurization, laboratory safety, infection control and/or electrical system reliability. Potential savings from low-cost to no-cost energy efficiency improvements typically range from 10%-20%.
This half-day training provides an introduction to retro-commissioning. Participants will learn how to conduct a process-based evaluation of building systems performance and energy consumption. Participants will also learn how to determine whether a building is a good candidate for retro-commissioning.
For more information, please visit www.ecw.org/university.
by jboullion | Apr 10, 2009 | Uncategorized
From the Energy Center of Wisconsin:
Identify operational and maintenance improvements in existing buildings and ensure their continued performance over time.
Retro-commissioning is a systematic process for identifying and implementing improvements to an existing building’s equipment and systems. The process focuses on building operation and maintenance activities. It targets energy using systems with the goal of reducing energy waste, achieving energy cost savings and selecting the most cost-effective solutions to achieve these goals and fix existing problems. Results of retro-commissioning may include improved temperature control, better indoor air quality, building pressurization, laboratory safety, infection control and/or electrical system reliability. Potential savings from low-cost to no-cost energy efficiency improvements typically range from 10%-20%.
This half-day training provides an introduction to retro-commissioning. Participants will learn how to conduct a process-based evaluation of building systems performance and energy consumption. Participants will also learn how to determine whether a building is a good candidate for retro-commissioning.
For more information, please visit www.ecw.org/university.
