Scotts Contracting St.Louis Design Build Sustainable Building Contractor-providing diversified quality service at a fair price. For all of your remodeling, repairs, and maintenance needs.
Microsoft makes Hohm Scores available to 60 million homes in the U.S.
Redmond, Wash., May 26, 2010 — Microsoft Corp. announced the availability of the Hohm Score, an estimate of a home's energy efficiency, offered as part of the company's free online home energy management tool, Microsoft Hohm.
By typing in an address at http://www.microsoft-hohm.com, anyone can see the Hohm Score for almost any home in the U.S.
Hohm Scores are calculated by comparing a home's actual and potential energy efficiency, and is grounded with advanced analytics licensed from Lawrence Berkeley National Labs and statistical data from the Department of Energy. In addition to individual scores, Hohm Scores are available by ZIP code, city and state so anyone can compare a home's score with others around the country.
The national average Microsoft Hohm Score comes in at 61, with Hawaii topping the list as having the highest average Hohm Score and with Texas coming in last.
"The Hohm Score is the first step in helping us all make smarter decisions about our home energy use," Batterberry said. "If each of the 60 million households improved their Hohm Score by five points, collectively that would equal an estimated $8 billion in savings a year."
Available today for free to all U.S. residential energy consumers, Hohm is working to help everyone save energy and money by offering insight into home energy usage and by providing personalized recommendations.
Hohm has established partnerships with utilities and the Ford Motor Co., and is actively working with these partners to realize a long-term vision of connecting just about anything that uses energy to help automate and optimize energy use for consumers.
Critical to the level of intelligence that can be achieved in making the grid smarter is its backbone—the network and communications infrastructure. The requirements of the communications network are demanding, encompassing issues such as scalable bandwidths, robust security, high network reliability and availability, and cost–effectiveness. Many in the industry have concluded that the most cost-effective approach to meet these requirements is to leverage the range of transport technologies available, while relying on common open standards, such as IP, to integrate into a single overall network. This article presents the value that advanced, satellite-based networks can deliver as part of the smart grid communications infrastructure, across areas ranging from substation automation (SA) and distribution automation (DA) to AMI collectors.
Not Your Father's Satellite
Unknown to some, satellite networks have evolved at a similar or faster pace than other networking technologies, making huge strides in improving performance, reliability and cost. Some of the highest availability networks in the enterprise market, such as for lotteries and emergency preparedness and recovery, are based on satellite and its fundamental advantage: ubiquitous coverage. And now, when combined with high-performance IP and other standards-based capabilities, satellite networks deliver high-quality, private broadband connectivity.
Very high network availability, in excess of 99.99 percent, can be achieved through innovative dual frequency, dual access solutions by using Ku-/Ka-band satellite service in conjunction with L-band satellite service as backup. Smart grid network elements such as remote substations and distribution elements can be connected using satellite without compromising on the expected benefits driving the smart grid.
In addition, new satellite technology can cost-effectively deliver benefits such as on-the-move vehicle connectivity, allowing those out in the field to connect directly with headquarters and eliminate costly trips to the office to get information. Satellite holds the potential to facilitate distribution automation, meaning utility companies can proactively monitor their distribution elements for outages and service demands. Utility managers and technology decision-makers should take into account the benefits satellite technology can deliver for these applications and the benefits they can deliver to smart grid efforts.
Substation Connectivity
Satellite connectivity has been used for years to provide supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) applications for remote locations in the oil and gas industries and other energy exploration areas. The data requirements are generally low in volume but regular in frequency or periodicity. Private satellite networks have served this need well by delivering secure, custom network bandwidth profiles and ubiquitous coverage. The solution has worked well technically and economically for hard-to-reach SCADA and SCADA-like requirements in these industries.
This still holds true. Satellite is a great fit for these types of applications and is in use to support SCADA and other applications at substations. The performance of the applications is consistent and effective. With the increasing goal of achieving near 100 percent uptime, however, conventional Ku- and Ka-band satellite solutions fall short. A typical commercial satellite connection is generally engineered to deliver 99.7 to 99.9 percent link availability, which means that on average, 0.1 to 0.3 percent of the time, a satellite connection will be lost. That percentage coincides with a certain intensity of precipitation. When it rains or snows to a certain degree of intensity, the satellite connection will drop for the period of that critical intensity. Substation connectivity is most critical during storms where electricity outages increase, thus making a conventional satellite solution not optimal to achieve near 100 percent availability, until now.
With any type of connectivity solution, it is difficult to achieve 99.99 or 99.999 percent availability with a single-thread connection. To address this problem, many utility companies employ a backup connection that can increase the availability of any connectivity to nearly 100 percent. So how can this availability be achieved with a satellite-only solution? The answer is with an L-band-based service that backs up the primary Ku- or Ka-band satellite connection. L-band is in the 1-2 GHz range and is not susceptible to degradation during precipitation. When the primary Ku- or Ka-band satellite service fades during rain, the backup path, L-band, will be available to pass traffic. The L-band service is usage-based and can be expensive with heavy usage. Because it will be used as the exception and not the primary connection, however, it only will be used a small percentage of the time to pass low-volume traffic, and, therefore, costs will be kept to a minimum. A commensurate terrestrial solution might cost three times or more for the same level of availability.
By combining L-band with Ku- or Ka-band satellite technology as a high-availability solution, a satellite solution can deliver the performance that has always been delivered for SCADA-like applications, but with near 100 percent availability that is required for substation connectivity. In addition, satellite still provides its inherent advantage—100 percent nationwide coverage. There are no dark spots. Furthermore, satellite supports broadband applications such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and video surveillance. Network bandwidth can be tailored to specific requirements, and the solution is completely private, meaning no traffic crosses the public Internet. L-band and Ku-band satellite technology has been available for some time but until now has not been combined in this manner to provide a single solution. A certain set of requirements exists such that the traffic profile, the remote locations and the need for very high availability make this an ideal solution for the utility industry.
Distribution Automation
Similar data requirements, as those in substation connectivity, exist to support monitoring elements along distribution lines. The attributes of private satellite connectivity to enable distribution automation are similar to those for substation connectivity. A dual path, high-availability solution, however, may not be cost justified. A single, high-availability connection at an access point fed by distribution devices might be a better solution for monitoring and control.
There are a couple of options. One is to use the L-band solution. It has a small form factor, is hardened, can be mounted anywhere, and is easy to install. Again, the downside is usage costs. Depending on the volume of traffic, it might be cost prohibitive to use the L-band solution at all locations. Locations in more densely populated areas likely are better served with an alternative licensed or unlicensed wireless solution. In rural, less dense areas, however, the same wireless technologies might be more costly and in these areas, the slight premium that might be incurred by using an L-band solution might be justified.
The second alternative is to use advanced antenna technology for fixed Ku- or Ka-band satellite service. Emerging advanced antenna designs offer a small form factor, are easily installed and pointed, and have fixed operating costs. In most cases, availability can be designed to approximately 99.9 percent.
AMI Backhaul
Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) requires communication between a smart meter at a customer's location and the data center. To achieve this end-to-end connectivity, various technologies can be considered, including deployment of licensed and unlicensed wireless solutions between the home and a collection point further upstream, with subsequent communication to a data center. Common practice in deployments and pilots is to use carrier cellular solutions from the collection point onward to serve the wide area network (WAN) needs in the AMI end-to-end solution. Utilities must consider challenges and considerations with the cellular service, however, such as congestion, loss of coverage during disaster and limited range.
Satellite technology presents a high-quality, low-cost alternative. Enterprise satellite solutions provide ubiquitous, continentwide coverage and because they are private networks, they are not susceptible to public usage because they do not traverse the Internet or other public network. Furthermore, advanced antenna designs allow for easier installation to accommodate mounting on pole tops. Privacy, scalability, flexible bandwidth, ease of deployment and reach are all significant benefits satellite provides as a comprehensive end-to-end AMI solution or at the least as a fill-in for the dark spots of a cellular network solution. In the U.S. it is estimated that 2 percent or more of coverage areas have this dark spot problem, for which last-mile satellite connectivity is a viable, cost-effective alternative to a local wireless solution.
In the midst of all the new and exciting options available to utility providers, communications infrastructure remains one of the most important decisions companies must make when implementing smart grid initiatives. To that end, satellite networking technology has developed rapidly and delivers the combination of high performance, availability and security that can aid smart grid efforts for the utility industry. Substation connectivity, distribution automation and AMI are key areas in which a satellite solution can provide the most cost-effective communications solution. Satellite solutions are an essential part of the multitechnology approach required by the utility industry to achieve an end-to-end, smart grid communications infrastructure—one that is reliable, fast, secure and cost-efficient.
Bernie Nelson is director of service development for utility, energy and transportation with Hughes Network Systems LLC. Nelson has been in the satellite and data networking industry more than 16 years. Reach him at at bernie.nelson@hughes.com.
More than $60 million in Recovery Act funding for energy efficiency efforts
Washington, D.C., June 14, 2010 — The Department of Energy announced today that 20 communities for more than $60 million in funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to implement local energy efficiency and renewable energy programs that will reduce energy use by American homes, vehicles and businesses.
Local governments, nonprofit organizations and quasi-governmental organizations are among the recipients for the competitive grants, administered under the DOE's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program.
"These projects will stimulate the economy and create jobs on the main streets of local communities across the nation through innovative investments in energy conservation, efficiency and renewable power generation," said Under Secretary of Energy Kristina Johnson. "We already have proven technologies to reduce energy use at home and at work. These projects will provide access to those tools for more Americans, saving money for thousands of families and businesses."
These awards were open to local communities that were not eligible to receive the initial, population-based formula grants under the EECBG program.
The funding supports projects that deliver energy efficiency retrofits in residential and commercial buildings and establish financing programs for energy efficiency improvements.
Other activities will include transportation programs that conserve energy through trip reduction strategies and alternative transportation options, projects to increase recycling and reduce the energy demands of delivering and supplying clean water through water efficiency and conservation measures, the installation of energy efficient street lights, and the integrated deployment of renewable energy systems in conjunction with energy efficiency retrofits to existing buildings.
The award recipients were selected through a competitive review process that took into account the expected energy savings and reduced emissions impacts of the projects, leveraged investments from other non-federal sources, and whether the project could be replicated and expanded to contribute to a sustainable market for energy efficiency nationally.
Projects that proposed innovative approaches and identified and addressed ways to overcome institutional, regulatory, or market barriers were also favored.
As part of the accountability requirements under the Recovery Act, all grant recipients are required to submit quarterly reports on the number of jobs created or saved under the project, the energy saved, the renewable energy capacity installed, the greenhouse gas emissions reduced, and the funds leveraged.
The following communities have been selected for awards under the competitive EECBG program:
1. City of Tanana - Tanana, Alaska ($1,500,000)
2. Central Basin Municipal Water District - Commerce, California ($2,000,000)
3. County of Santa Barbara - Santa Barbara County, California ($2,401,309)
4. Eagle County - Eagle County, Colorado ($4,916,126)
5. Connecticut Innovations, Inc. - Rocky Hill, Connecticut ($4,171,124)
6. St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners - St. Lucie County, Florida ($2,941,500)
7. Indiana Municipal Power Agency - Carmel, Indiana ($5,000,000)
8. City of West Union - West Union, Iowa ($1,000,000)
9. Riley County - Riley County, Kansas ($3,000,000)
10. Town of University Park - University Park, Maryland ($1,425,000)
11. City of Wyandotte - Wyandotte, Michigan ($3,807,000)
12. Minnesota Municipal Power Agency - Minneapolis, Minnesota ($3,398,252)
13. Mid-America Regional Council - Kansas City, Missouri ($4,063,994)
14. New Mexico Recycling Coalition - Santa Fe, New Mexico ($2,795,261)
15. The Bedford-Northern Westchester Energy Action Coalition (Bedford-NWEAC) - Town of Bedford, New York ($1,267,874)
16. Columbia County - Columbia County, Oregon ($3,461,319)
17. Fayette County - Fayette County, Pennsylvania ($4,100,018)
18. Rutland West Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. - West Rutland, Vermont ($4,487,588)
19. Thurston Regional Planning Council - Olympia, Washington ($2,159,021)
20. Conservation Services Group, Inc. - City of Bainbridge Island and City of Bremerton, Washington ($4,884,614)
This afternoon, the Senate Democratic Caucus will decide how our country will respond to the Gulf Coast oil disaster.
Will they seize the moment and support a comprehensive climate and clean energy bill? Will they be bold enough to create millions of jobs, strengthen our national security, end our addiction to fossil fuels and help solve the climate crisis?
Or will they settle for a band-aid solution that will please the special interests and do nothing to change the status quo?
The outcome of this meeting will have profound consequences for our movement and our nation's future. Demand that your Senator take bold action on climate and clean energy today!
We must take a bold stand in the wake of the Deepwater Oil Disaster.
Only a bill that caps carbon will end our reliance on dangerous, dirty energy.
Please, support a comprehensive climate and clean energy bill at today's caucus meeting.
On this crucial decision day, you can be the voice that inspires your Senator to take a stand in support of the bold path our nation so desperately needs.
Please ask your Senator to support comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation today.
