District Energy - 2008 Third Quarter

Industry
News

Energy Bar
Association Growing

A July 28 article in “EnergyBiz” newsletter reported that membership in the Energy Bar Association (EBA) has already exceeded the organization’s target of 2,600, set for 2010. In 2000 the association had fewer than 1,900 members.

The EBA is a voluntary nonprofit organization affiliated with the American Bar Association. (Membership is not required for an attorney to practice law in a jurisdiction.) The EBA’s primary mission is to educate its members about the practice of energy law – and as regulation in the industry intensifies, many more lawyers are feeling the need for this type of educational assistance. Led by President Donna Attanasio, partner at White & Case in Washington, D.C., the organization provides a forum to bring together lawyers in different types of practice – litigation, transaction, financial, appellate, corporate – who are all focused on the same issues.

The group has six regional chapters – for the Northeast, Midwest, Southern and Western regions and two city-based chapters in Houston and New Orleans. The national association holds two main annual events, in spring and fall; the regional chapters organize events as well.

Johnson Controls at
Beijing Olympics

Johnson Controls installed smart building solutions at 18 Olympic stadiums and supporting facilities for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. These venues include the National Stadium (‘Bird’s Nest’), National Indoor Stadium (‘Turtle Back’), Beijing Olympic Tower, Peking University Stadium, Laoshan Velodrome, Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center, National Convention Center, Tianjin Olympic Games Organizing Committee Office Building, the new CCTV Headquarters and Beijing’s Capital International Airport T3.

Throughout the Games, the company planned to have a team of engineers available at each venue ’round the clock to ensure all operations were running smoothly.

Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, one of the largest district cooling

systems in the world and the largest in China, awarded Johnson Controls its biggest refrigeration contract in China. The district includes 10 universities, 57 research institutes, and a community of 400,000 people with 3. 5 million sq m ( 37. 7 million sq ft) of indoor space. Advanced technology enables cooling capacity to be stored at night for use during peak daytime hours. Through chilled water with high temperature differential, the cost of refrigeration is reduced by 40 percent.

Virtual Tour of
New UMass Plant

The new $127 million cogeneration plant at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is expected to begin operation this fall following final stages of testing. Fueled by natural gas and oil, the facility will replace a coal-burning plant built in the 1940s and significantly reduce emissions. To see a video providing an inside look at this plant, go to www.umass.edu/newsoffice/video/ and search “New Central Heating Plant Readies for Fall Debut at UMass Amherst.”

Greens Call for EU Treaty
on Renewables

The Green Group in the European Parliament is calling for renewable energies to be given a similar status to that given to coal or nuclear in the past under the Euratom or Coal and Steel Community Treaties, saying this is necessary to create a ‘paradigm shift’ in favor of green energies.

According to a study presented in the Parliament June 24 by co-author Lutz Mez from the Free University of Berlin, a European Community for Renewable Energies (ERENE) could be based on the model of the Euratom or the now-defunct European Coal and Steel Community Treaties. It would feature commitments to renewables demonstration projects and the establishment of join ventures as a means of encouraging the sector.

Funding for projects under the proposed treaty could come from the proceeds obtained from the auctioning of emissions permits under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, Mez suggested. Such a move is unlikely to win the backing of member states. Mez believes this could change, however, and

hopes that ERENE could feature prominently in future debates at the EU level and as a main issue during European Parliament elections in June 2009.

Mez’ study immediately won the endorsement of the Green Group in the European Parliament.

The EU has committed itself to reaching a 20 percent share of renewable energy in its energy mix by 2020. Whereas the current strategy places the emphasis on achieving country-specific renewables targets through national action plans, the Greens say the ERENE model, which would be implemented beyond national frameworks on the basis of a community strategy, could achieve better results.

UNC Scores High
Green Rating

The University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill recently received the highest Green Ratings score of any rated university in the state – 96 of 99 possible points – as published in the Princeton Review’s latest edition of The Best 368 Colleges.

More than 500 schools were scored on a scale of 60 to 99 points that measured their environmentally friendly practices in three areas: campus quality of life that is healthy and sustainable, how well the school prepares students for employment and citizenship in a world defined by environmental challenges and the school’s overall commitment to environmental issues.

Among UNC’s numerous notable accomplishments included in the Princeton Review’s scoring was the university’s operation of an award-winning 32 MW cogeneration facility that actively reduces emissions and produces twice as much energy per pound of coal as a typical coal plant.

In addition to this high Green Rating, UNC was also given the designation ‘College With a Conscience,’ which was awarded to 81 schools that practice outstanding community involvement.