Electrical Building Technology Guangzhou 2010

Favourable market conditions boost industry need for electrical engineering and intelligent building and building automation

The 2010 edition of Electrical Building Technology Guangzhou will take place 9 - 12 June 2010 at the China Import and Export Fair Pazhou Complex, Guangzhou, China. The show is organised by Guangzhou Guangya Messe Frankfurt Co Ltd and supports the growing industry trend of eco-friendly buildings using intelligent building design and building automation technology.
Mr Jason Cao, General Manager of Messe Frankfurt in China said: "Electrical Building Technology Guangzhou not only serves as an important sourcing hub for architectural technologies, but as an international platform for building professionals to meet and update themselves with the latest industry developments, energy-efficiency technologies and construction policies in China. Much of this information is available at the Electrical Building Technology Symposium through renowned government, university and leading corporation speakers."

11 Surprising Ways that Your Building Wastes Energy

If you take a close-up look at your facilities, you’ll discover that energy is being wasted in ways you didn’t realize

By Leah B. Garris

The T5 lamps and energy-efficient HVAC systems are in place, and the building-automation system is up and running. Now you can just sit back and watch the energy bills plummet … right? Not so fast. If you really want to get serious about saving energy, there’s still more you can do.
The most obvious energy issues in your buildings - the ones having to do with efficient, effective operation of building systems - have probably been noted (and addressed). But, we’re betting that the 11 items mentioned here are things you’ve never realized could make such a big dent in your energy management program.

Automation Is Being Recognized as a Profession, but the Bad News Is that You Need to Know More and More

The Automation Federation was set up by ISA to, among other things, be a cheerleader for the automation profession, and in lobbying the U.S. government on behalf of automation professionals, it's having some significant successes.

Recently, the federation produced a detailed description of what an automation professional's skill set needs to be for the U.S. Dept. of Labor, and on July 14, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) wrote, "The topic of automation cuts across all levels of industry, rather than serving as a stand-alone technology, and particularly affects the fields of control systems' cybersecurity, industrial wireless sensors, systems interoperability and other basic automation technologies necessary for the success of industrial enterprises."

Hey network engineers, you’re not doing enough!

It is ironic that right as Gartner released research showing engineers are managing 20% to 30% more network components than they were last year, networking pros are about to receive even more on their plates by way of facilities management … of all things.

This week the IP for Smart Objects (IPSO) Alliance announced a certification and compliance program to ensure vendors release IP-based smart objects that interoperate. You may be thinking, what the h&%ll do I care about smart objects? What is a smart object?

Believe me, you should care. Smart objects are sensors and actuators that run in a range of applications from smart grid management to building automation. The IPSO alliance is hoping to accelerate the use of IP in these devices. That means that enterprise lighting systems, for example, can be networked into the LAN. Among the many use scenarios, facilities management systems will communicate to network managers when a system is wasting power without actual use. It is feasible that these systems could save enterprises as much money as greening data centers.

Smart Grid Influence Extends Well Beyond Energy

On the face of it, the high-level draft of a standard for a new Smart Grid power distribution system is a noble effort to make the entire country more energy-efficient.

Its key goals include cutting oil imports in half, reducing carbon dioxide emission by 25 percent and cutting urban pollutants by 40 to 90 percent. To accomplish this, the Department of Energy has empowered the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop a set of technology standards and specifications of unprecedented scope.

An initial cursory scan of the draft standard presented today by U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke finds comforting phrases such as the Smart Grid network as much as possible should be based on IP networks that work in a way where an event on one part of the network does not affect performance elsewhere.

But then the document goes on to describe 77 existing or new standards that to one degree or another will need to be enhanced or developed to create the Smart Grid.

Even Buildings Have Twitter Accounts

umissgym: Is it just me, or is it hot in here?

The social media craze has hit building automation, as the campus at the University of Mississippi will soon be broadcasting its energy consumption via Twitter and Facebook updates.

In partnership with smart grid company SmartSynch, Ole Miss has created online feeds (also via RSS) detailing several of its main buildings' energy use, ostensibly to "alter behavior to reduce electricity consumption and carbon emissions." The UMiss project will study consumption from lighting, temperature controls, and appliances. The organizations have created an online application to monitor and report the energy draw so that building operators can learn where energy is being wasted and implement new conservation strategies.

Building Automation Systems don’t save energy

Building Automation Systems (BAS), otherwise known as Building Management Systems (BMS) or Direct Digital Control (DDC) systems don’t save energy. But their operators can.

A BAS system will often cost the equivalent of around one year’s worth of energy bills. But unless its well operated it may never pay itself off.

BAS systems are complicated. In this respect they are similar to a jet airplane. But unlike airline pilots, in far too many cases the operators of the BAS systems have little or no experience, minimal training, and often very little time to operate it.
You wouldn’t buy a jet airplane without having appropriately trained and experienced pilots to fly it. But far too often organisations buy BAS systems without making the necessary investment in the people who operate it.

OPC Technology finds its’ place on the map

There has been a lot of talk over the past year regarding the economic situation, layoffs, project delays etc. The past year has been complicated, and there is no one who can debate that. There have also been areas of opportunity. For an open standard like OPC, the opportunity has come in reaffirming its value proposition.

As projects begin to come back online, the value of using open standards cannot be underestimated. System architects need to be as cost conscious as possible to ensure that the systems they are building are scalable for the future. Open standards are proving time and time again that their ability to redefine the method with which data is turned into information, in a cost effective manner, is the true value of open standards over proprietary protocols. After all, information is power, and those who have the best information have a true advantage over their competition.

Dell says its energy-saving initiatives have cut costs by $5.8 million per year

For those who view corporate green initiatives as being more about building image than building profits, Dell has a reminder that “green” is also the color of money.
The Round Rock, Texas, company says its expects to save an estimated $5.8 million a year as a result of power-saving projects and building upgrades in its facilities worldwide. The company, which sources more than 25 percent of its global energy needs from renewable sources, is also piloting solar projects on select campuses to incorporate even more renewable energy in its operations.

A PPA Model for Building Energy Efficiency?

Metrus Energy wants to help investors install and own building energy efficiency improvements and share the energy cost savings with building owners. Will the "energy services agreement" model push energy efficiency into the commercial mainstream?

If energy efficiency offers better return on investment than installing solar panels, why not share the wealth between efficiency investors and building owners, like solar power purchase agreements do?

My Clouded Thinking Clears

There are clouds on the horizon and I am excited. The summation of my takeaways from ConnectivityWeek in Santa Clara, California, early in June was that Clouds are OK. In fact the power of data clouds and cloud computing to simplify the presentation and management of extreme amounts of data are truly amazing. We all already use these concepts every time we book air travel online or view Google Earth.

'Too cold' and 'too hot' most common complaints among

The International Facility Management Association has released “Temperature Wars: Savings vs. Comfort,” a new study that takes an indepth look at the most common thermal complaints made by workers and the variety of ways facility professionals respond to them.

For many years, IFMA has surveyed facility professionals to learn the top office complaints among employees. Respondents consistently cite the temperature being too hot or too cold as the most frequent grievances they hear — surpassing high noise levels, limited space and unpleasant odors

Echelon and ROMlight Smart Lighting System Reduces Energy Use by Over 60%

Echelon Corporation and ROMlight International, Inc. today announced the first installation in Canada of a high bay lighting system featuring LonWorks® control networking technology to provide smart, two-way communicating lights. The new solution installed at the Kelly Western Services Ltd. aircraft hangar in Winnipeg uses energy efficient, individually dimmable lights to cut energy use by over 60 percent, or over 250,000 kWh per year.

Reflections on record breaking ConnectivityWeek and BuilConn

With nearly 1,000 people in attendance in Santa Clara this year, it was clearly a watershed event in many ways. The perfect storm produced a perfect event; a combination of rich subjects discussed, enormous business opportunities for vendors and integrators alike, on a backdrop of solving climate change problems and interestingly an awareness of social changes permeating our world. All of these came together in Santa Clara in June.

Making Building Automation Brainier

Scientific Conservation says its software can boost the energy savings of a typical building automation system by 25 percent. Making buildings more energy efficient is a focus for many, including Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

Wonderware Receives Frost & Sullivan’s “Excellence in Customer Value of the Year” Award

Wonderware was recognized for its strategic partnerships with diverse system integrators and its capability to deliver an end-toend
product suite that is designed to enhance the competitive edge for its customers, driving best-in-class processes through the
use of the Wonderware System Platform and Invensys ArchestrA technology.