ASHRAE Government Affairs Update, 08/17/07

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• EPA: Significant Energy Efficiency Opportunities for Servers and Data Centers
• EPA Releases Draft Report on the Environment: Highlights of National Trends
• DOE Announces New Criteria for Energy Star Refrigerators
• DOE Aims for 30 Percent Boost in its Energy Savings
• DOE Seeking Postponement of Final Rule on New Standards
• DOE to Fund Energy Audits for Schools in New Orleans
• President Bush Approves Bill to Create "ARPA-E"
• DARPA-Funded Effort Achieves New Record Solar Cell Efficiency

EPA: Significant Energy Efficiency Opportunities for Servers and Data Centers

A new EPA report shows that data centers in the United States have the potential to save up to $4 billion in annual electricity costs through more energy efficient equipment and operations, and the broad implementation of best management practices. The "Report to Congress on Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency" recommends priority efficiency opportunities and policies that can also lead to additional savings using state-of-the-art technologies and operations.

Findings from the report include:

• Data centers consumed about 60 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2006, roughly 1.5 percent of total U.S. electricity consumption.
• The energy consumption of servers and data centers has doubled in the past five years and is expected to almost double again in the next five years to more than 100 billion kWh, costing about $7.4 billion annually.
• Federal servers and data centers alone account for approximately 6 billion kWh (10 percent) of this electricity use, at a total electricity cost of about $450 million per year.
• Existing technologies and strategies could reduce typical server energy use by an estimated 25 percent, with even greater energy savings possible with advanced technologies.

Over the last five years the increase in use of these systems, and the power and cooling infrastructure that supports them, have doubled energy use, increased greenhouse gas emissions and raised concerns about power grid reliability.

In December 2006, Congress requested that EPA develop the report to examine market trends in the growth and energy use of servers and data centers. The report complements EPA's ongoing efforts to develop new energy efficient specifications for data center equipment as well as explorations into a new Energy Star building benchmark for data centers that reflects whole building operations.

More information and a copy of the report: http://www.energystar.gov/datacenters

EPA Releases Draft Report on the Environment: Highlights of National Trends

The draft 2007 Report on the Environment (ROE): Highlights of National Trends was released for public comment and independent review. First issued in 2003, the ROE is a plain, easy-to-understand guide that provides the average citizen a resource to follow national trends in the condition of the air, water, and land in the United States.

The ROE is also part of EPA's commitment to be transparent to citizens, and to encourage citizen participation. Through the ROE, the public will have a complete picture of where the most environmental progress has been made, and where America needs to do better.

Written for a general audience, the ROE features a subset of the findings from the more comprehensive report, EPA's 2007 Report on the Environment: Science Report which was released in draft for public comment and review in May 2007. The final 2007 ROE report will consist of both the science and highlights documents. Read the draft and submit comments: http://www.epa.gov/roe/.

DOE Announces New Criteria for Energy Star Refrigerators

DOE announced that it has increased the efficiency criteria for refrigerators with the Energy Star label. To qualify for the label, full-size refrigerators must be at least 20% more efficient than current federal energy efficiency standards, an increase from the current 15% minimum. The new criteria will go into effect on April 28th, 2008, and are expected to save U.S. families up to $23.5 million annually on their electric bills. The savings on electricity should offset any additional cost for Energy Star refrigerators within 3 to 5 years of the time of purchase. Freezers and compact refrigerators are not included in the new criteria. See the DOE press release (http://www.energy.gov/news/5290.htm), the current criteria (http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=refrig.pr_refrigerators) for Energy Star refrigerators, and the new criteria (http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=revisions.res_refrig_spec).

The Energy Star program is launching new Energy Star labels for commercial dishwashers and ice machines. Energy Star-qualified commercial dishwashers will be, on average, 27% more energy efficient than standard models, while the ice machines will be 14% more energy efficient. Restaurant and commercial kitchen owners and operators will be able to purchase Energy Star-qualified commercial dishwashers starting on October 11th, while ice makers will be available at the beginning of 2008. Over the next five years, these new Energy Star products are expected to save restaurants $100 million in reduced energy and water costs. See the new Energy Star criteria for dishwashers (http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=new_specs.comm_dishwashers) and ice machines (http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=new_specs.ice_machines), and the Energy Star Commercial Food Service Web page (http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=commercial_food_service).

DOE Aims for 30 Percent Boost in its Energy Savings

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has launched the Transformational Energy Action Management (TEAM) initiative, a department-wide effort aimed at reducing energy intensity across the nationwide DOE complex by 30 percent. The TEAM initiative aims to meet or exceed the goals for increasing energy efficiency throughout the federal government already laid out by President Bush. Reducing energy intensity by 30 percent across the DOE complex will save approximately $90 million in taxpayer dollars per year, after projects are paid for.

This Initiative meets or exceeds energy efficiency goals mandated by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct), as well as Executive Order (EO #13423), announced in January 2007, which directed federal agencies to: reduce energy intensity and greenhouse gas emissions; substantially increase use and efficiency of renewable energy technologies; adopt sustainable design practices; and reduce petroleum use in federal fleets. This initiative adopts an even more ambitious timeline and targets changes that will affect DOE’s energy use as early as next year.

Specifically, the TEAM initiative requires that:

• by 2008, DOE have in place executable plans for all facilities to reduce energy intensity by 30 percent
• the department maximize installation of secure, on-site renewable energy projects at all DOE sites and optimize affordable purchases of renewable electricity
• DOE benchmark and monitor water use and implement a plan--and begin saving water--by fiscal year 2008 to reduce use by at least 16 percent
• new DOE construction, major renovations, and 15 percent of existing federal capital asset building inventory incorporate the Guiding Principles for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings, ultimately aspiring to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certification, or comparable certification;
• the department use environmental management systems to ensure implementation of, and provide the supporting framework for, these activities.

Many of the measures implemented will require up-front investments, such as advanced lighting, heating, and air conditioning. The department anticipates it will use some appropriated funds for these energy-saving projects, but says it will maximize use of alternative financing tools to fund major portions of initiative. For details on TEAM, see http://www.energy.gov/news/5300.htm.

DOE Seeking Postponement of Final Rule on New Standards

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) petitioned the federal district court in Manhattan for modification of a November 2006 consent decree that established a firm schedule for DOE revision of existing federal minimum efficiency standards for residential and commercial products covered by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA). The November 7, 2006 consent decree settled lawsuits that a state coalition and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) brought against DOE in September 2005 to force DOE to undertake and complete required standards rulemakings without further delay. The consent decree established a September 30, 2007 deadline for DOE to publish a final rule amending the existing federal minimum efficiency standards for residential furnaces and boilers. DOE has petitioned the court to allow DOE a nine-month extension of the deadline.

DOE to Fund Energy Audits for Schools in New Orleans

DOE's EnergySmart Schools program committed to providing $1.5 million in technical assistance for up to 75 comprehensive energy audits in public schools in the New Orleans area. The audits will include analysis of heating and cooling systems, lighting, and structural elements such as roofing and building envelopes. DOE will recommend energy-efficient retrofits and upgrades for existing buildings that provide a return on investment in 3-5 years. The audits could identify up to $1 million in annual utility savings for New Orleans' public schools. New buildings will be designed to be 30% more efficient than current building codes and can be constructed and operated on a cost-neutral basis, with energy savings offsetting upfront costs.

In conjunction with the energy audits, DOE also publicized the upcoming release of "The Advanced Energy Design Guide for K-12 School Buildings," which provides guidelines for designing and building energy efficient schools that operate with 30% energy savings above typical building codes. DOE's EnergySmart Schools Program focuses on promoting energy efficiency in new and existing K-12 facilities; reducing energy use and costs; improving the learning environment, educating school personnel about planning, financing and operating energy-efficient, high-performance buildings; providing technical guidance and training to building industry professionals; and developing media materials and case studies about existing schools. See the DOE press release (http://www.energy.gov/news/5301.htm) and the EnergySmart Schools Web site (http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/energysmartschools/).

President Bush Approves Bill to Create "ARPA-E"

President Bush signed the "America COMPETES Act", thereby authorizing the formation of a new DOE program for advanced energy research. The act, H.R. 2272, includes a provision to create the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). Modeled after the Defense Research Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), ARPA-E will develop and deploy advanced energy technologies by identifying and promoting revolutionary advances in fundamental sciences, translating those discoveries into technological innovations, and accelerating transformational technological advances in areas that industry by itself is not likely to undertake. Many of the measures in the new act, including ARPA-E, were recommended by the National Academies in a report published in 2005.

The America COMPETES Act authorizes $300 million for ARPA-E in fiscal year 2008, although there is no guarantee that Congress will actually approve that level of funding. The act places most of its emphasis on improving science and math education at all levels, from elementary school to higher education, while including a number of measures to advance basic research. According to a White House fact sheet, the act authorizes a doubling in funding for research programs in the physical sciences. However, the White House warns that the bill "creates 30 new programs that are mostly duplicative or counterproductive," including ARPA-E, which is "more appropriately left to the private sector." The act also "provides excessive authorization for existing programs," according to the White House. The fact sheet concludes that the President's proposed budget for fiscal year 2009 will not include funds for these measures.

DARPA-Funded Effort Achieves New Record Solar Cell Efficiency

In late July, a consortium led by the University of Delaware (UD) announced that it has created a solar cell that can convert 42.8% of the sunlight that hits it into electricity, besting a record set by Spectrolab and DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in December 2006. Under a program funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the UD-led consortium employed a novel optical system that splits sunlight into three components while concentrating it by about a factor of 20. Three separate solar cells—made by UD, NREL, and Emcore Corporation—convert each piece of the solar spectrum into electricity to achieve the record conversion efficiency. Unlike typical concentrating solar cells, the new device features optics that are less than one centimeter thick and that accept sunlight coming from a wide range of angles, allowing the solar device to be mounted in a fixed position. See the UD press release.

Based on the success of the UD-led effort, DARPA announced in late July the start of a new three-year effort to drive the efficiency of solar cells to more than 50%. The DARPA project will also develop pilot-scale technologies to produce the high-efficiency solar cells at a cost of less than $5,000 per square meter, which is the current cost of commercial solar cells. The new consortium, led by DuPont and UD, has been awarded $12.2 million by DARPA, and the total cost of the project could reach $100 million, according to DuPont.