Bloomberg Drops an Effort to Cut Building Energy Use

Association of Energy Engineers New York Chapter www.aeeny.org

December 2009 Newsletter Part 1

Bloomberg Drops an Effort to Cut Building Energy Use By Mireya Navaro, NYTimes, Dec 5 09

Richard Perry/The New York Times Michael R. Bloomberg, at an environmental-themed event in September, is weakening a package of bills that would cut emissions.

AFTER INTENSE OPPOSITION FROM BUILDING OWNERS, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has dropped the most far-reaching initiative of his plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The plan, which the owners said was too costly, called for all buildings of 50,000 square feet or more to undergo audits to determine which renovations would make them more energy efficient, and for owners to then pay for many of those changes. The mayor wants to go forward with the proposal to require energy audits, but now is leaving it up to the building owners whether to undertake the changes called for by those audits. It would have put New York far ahead of other cities in the green-buildings movement. Many cities require that newly constructed buildings be energy efficient, but do not impose those standards on existing properties. Some 22,000 buildings, together accounting for nearly half the square footage in the city, would have been affected. “It’s another unfunded mandate, and this is just not the time for it,” said Stuart Saft, chairman of the Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums, an opponent of the plan. “Come back in five years when we’re past this recession. At this point it’s just a slap in the face.” Mr. Bloomberg and the City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, trumpeted the measure, which they announced on Earth Day, as the key component of “the world’s most comprehensive package” to reduce greenhouse emissions from buildings. It drew praise from former Vice President Al Gore and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California. Mr. Bloomberg had also said the package of bills would create 19,000 construction jobs, for electricians, insulators and others. Administration officials estimated that most of those jobs would still be created by other provisions of the legislation that called for lighting upgrades and inspections of energy systems in buildings to prevent energy waste. But given that the mayor is dropping the most far-reaching component, the legislation is unlikely to result in anywhere near that, others said. “I’d be shocked if 5,000 of those jobs were created,” said Louis J. Coletti, president and chief executive of the Building Trades Employers’ Association. “The world of real estate and construction financing have been upended by the economic crisis.” City officials sought to play down the change on Friday, saying the package of bills would still make important strides in energy efficiency. It would require large commercial buildings to measure and provide information to tenants about individual energy use, which officials say typically results in tenants lowering their use. The legislation would also create the city’s first energy code for all buildings. The original legislation required owners to make any improvements for which the cost could be recouped through declines in energy bills within five years. Speaker Quinn said that even the scaled-down package of bills was groundbreaking: “Getting to a decent first-round reduction, that’s key for me.” In New York City, buildings account for 80 percent of total carbon emissions. Mr. Bloomberg has said he wants to reduce the city’s total emissions by 30 percent by 2030. The City Council is scheduled to take up the package of legislation next Wednesday. One of its sponsors, James. F. Gennaro, chairman of the Council’s Committee on Environmental Protection, said he expected many property owners would replace windows, upgrade boilers and undertake other improvements on their own. But groups representing building owners said this was unlikely given the difficulties in obtaining bank loans. “In this climate? Zero chance,” Mr. Saft said. “No one wants to raise the operating costs of the building.” He said many building owners remained opposed to the mandatory energy audits, whose costs can run into the tens of thousands of dollars. Some environmental groups also played down the impact of rescinding the mandatory retrofits, saying that the proposal still has plenty of impact. “Even though the bill is not as strong, it’s still ahead of the rest of the country,” said Ashok Gupta, director of energy policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York.

2 Financing became an issue because the bills required about $2.5 billion in private investment in building improvements, and the city only has about $16 million of federal stimulus money available for loans. Rohit T. Aggarwala, director of the mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, said a major sticking point for buildings was that, under some leases, owners who may have paid the upfront costs of retrofitting may not have been able to pass the costs to tenants benefiting from lower electricity bills. Councilman Gennaro said the issue introduced “an element of unfairness and inequitable burden sharing” to the retrofit plan. But Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, said owners were also doubtful of the financial benefits to be had from investing in retrofits. Mr. Spinola said that his group always supported the goals of the bills in concept and that, with the most burdensome revision out of the way, it now supports their passage of the bills. Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

Council Passes Curbs on Greenhouse Gases By Mireya Navarro, NYTimes, Dec 10 09

THE CITY COUNCIL on Wednesday approved a weakened version of an initiative to help reduce the city’s emissions of greenhouse gases, scrapping the most far-reaching requirement, which the real estate industry had called too costly. The legislation requires owners of New York City’s largest buildings to pay for energy audits, undertake lighting upgrades and take other steps to reduce energy consumption. Under the final version, however, the owners are not required to follow through with renovations that the audits indicate would make the buildings more energy efficient. Still, the measures, which are crucial to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s goal of shrinking New York’s carbon footprint by 30 percent by 2030, put the city at the forefront of efforts nationwide to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. Jeffrey Harris, vice president for programs at the Alliance to Save Energy, a national group that lobbies on energy issues, called the legislation “a very significant step forward” in testing the combination of mandates and incentives that could work at a national level to encourage lower energy use in commercial and residential buildings. “We need to find out more what works,” he said. “I hope we get lots of local jurisdictions to copy or adapt what New York City is doing. This is the time for bold experiments in building performance.” Mr. Bloomberg said the legislative package represented the biggest step the city could take to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas linked to global warming, and called it “a crucial step in slowing climate change.” The four bills approved by the Council are expected to reduce the city’s total carbon dioxide emissions by slightly less than 5 percent through the next two decades and eventually save $700 million a year in energy costs. They focus mostly on residential and commercial buildings larger than 50,000 square feet — about 22,000 buildings that account for almost half of all buildings-related carbon emissions from boilers, furnaces and the power plants that supply their energy. The measures require large buildings to pay for energy audits every 10 years. Large buildings will also have to pay for “retro-commissioning,” an inspection of their heating, cooling and other energy systems to correct any waste, similar to a car tuneup. Large commercial buildings will also be required to switch to more energy-efficient lighting, which usually accounts for about 20 percent of their energy use.

3 The new laws call for large commercial and residential buildings to participate in a program that will create a profile of their energy and water efficiency and make it public, which energy experts say is tantamount to disclosing the mileage per gallon for cars so consumers can compare performance. Also, commercial building owners will have to install systems under which each tenant’s energy use is measured separately, to provide an incentive for tenants to conserve. “We’re literally making our world-famous city skyline greener,” said Christine C. Quinn, the Council speaker. But there was considerably less enthusiasm among labor leaders and others. Jeffrey Grabelsky, director of Cornell University’s construction industry program, called the dropping of mandatory retrofits “a disappointing retreat” and said cities must be more ambitious in using mandates and financial incentives to make a dent in energy use and generate jobs. Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

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The White House Convenes Young Green Leaders By Ashley Southall, NYTimes, Dec 3 09

4 WASHINGTON — As the Senate wades back into the climate debate, the White House is enlisting some of the young voters who helped usher President Obama into office to galvanize support for the climate and energy bill. On Wednesday, the administration summoned an eclectic group of 20-somethings for a forum focused on laying the groundwork for a green economy. The participants, including West Coast college upperclassmen and East Coast urban entrepreneurs, spoke with Cabinet officials who were all well over 40 about how they could work with the administration. “The world will be passing us by if we don’t take this opportunity” to lead a clean energy revolution, Steven Chu, the energy secretary, told the group gathered in an auditorium inside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. “I’m an old guy, but your future, your kids’ future, is at stake.” Mr. Chu spoke on a panel with Ken Salazar, the interior secretary, who pressed participants to “educate yourselves and spread the gospel,” and Nancy Sutland, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Hilda Solis, the labor secretary, and Lisa Jackson, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, followed on a second panel. In the crowd, Jenn Engstrom listened intently. A 22-year-old senior at the University of California, Berkeley, she serves on the executive board of CalPIRG, a student-run public interest group. “I’m really happy with what the administration has done when it comes to clean energy and global warming, and I really want Congress to follow,” she said. “So I’m getting what they think are the next steps to make sure we do get a climate bill out of Congress.” Hands flew high in the question-and-answer sessions, although the panelists were only able to answer a few in each round. The participants voiced a wide range of concerns, from the impact of hydroelectric dams on American Indian populations to the E.P.A.’s review of mountaintop removal coal mining permits to the longevity of a green jobs recovery. Lauren Von Der Pool, 25, whose nonprofit Von Der Pool Gourmet trains inner-city kids in sustainable agriculture and green jobs, asked about the administration’s efforts to help low-income communities go green. Ms. Von Der Pool, of Washington, said the talks, which were streamed live online, were a step in the right direction but that much remained to be done. “We need some hard-core concrete action,” she said. “This is just another one of those steps we have to take to get to that next level.” Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company New Materials May Aid in Capturing Carbon By Henry Fountain, NYTimes, Dec 8 09

TO SEQUESTER CARBON DIOXIDE as part of any climate-change mitigation strategy, the gas first has to be captured from the flue at a power plant or other source. The next step is just as important: the CO2 has to be released from whatever captured it so that it can be pumped underground or otherwise stored for the long term. That second step can be costly from an energy standpoint. Materials currently used to capture CO2 have to be heated to release the gas. But chemists at the University of California, Los Angeles, say that a new class of materials they developed called metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs, hold promise for carbon capture. In a paper in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Omar M. Yaghi and colleagues describe the performance of one MOF, which they say can release most of the CO2 it captures at room temperature. Dr. Yaghi described a metal-organic framework as a “crystalline sponge,” a hybrid lattice of organic compounds and metal atoms that has a huge internal surface area where gas molecules can be absorbed. The MOF used in the study contains magnesium atoms, “which make just the right environment for binding carbon dioxide,” he said.

5 In experiments, the material separated out CO2 while allowing methane to pass. What was really surprising, though, was that at room temperature 87 percent of the CO2 could be released. And if desired, the remaining 13 percent could be liberated by heating to about 175 degrees Fahrenheit, far lower than temperatures currently required. Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company Report Highlights Barriers to Sustainability and Ways to Get Around Them By Scott Carlson, Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec 3 09

THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE has released a guidebook that outlines various efforts to reduce carbon emissions on campuses, and details some of the best practices. The report, "Accelerating Campus Climate Initiatives: Breaking Through Barriers," is available free on the institute's Web site. As the title suggests, the report addresses various "perceived barriers" to progress on reducing emissions: "Campus leaders think energy management systems are prohibitively expensive" or "Most students pay little attention to campus climate initiatives," to name a couple. Then the report offers advice on how to get around those barriers. For example, the report mentions a common barrier concerning the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program: "The administration regards LEED certification as an unnecessary expense." The report says sustainability advocates should argue that the LEED program is not a checklist, but rather encourages a better design process. Additionally, the report argues, how can college administrators know they are getting a high-performance building without the checks that come with LEED certification? Interestingly, a photo of a LEED-gold student center at Colorado State University illustrates this section of the report. Administrators at the institution have been on the record in the past saying that LEED is an unnecessary expense.

In Denmark, Ambitious Plan for Electric Cars By Nelson D. Schwartz, NYTimes, Dec 2 09

COPENHAGEN — Is saving $40,000 at the showroom enough to get drivers behind the wheel of an electric car? With a program in the works to add easy access to charging stations, Denmark is about to find out. For all their potential, electric cars have always been the subject of more talk than action, and only a handful are on the road in Denmark. But now the biggest Danish power company is working with a Silicon Valley start-up in a $100 million effort to wire the country with charging poles as well as service stations that can change out batteries in minutes. The government offers a minimum $40,000 tax break on each new electric car — and free parking in downtown Copenhagen. But even in Denmark, one of the most environmentally conscious nations in the world, skepticism abounds. It is not clear that car buyers can be persuaded to make the switch. “There is a psychological barrier for consumers when their car is dependent on a battery station,” warned Henrik Lund, a professor of energy planning at Aalborg University. “It’s risky.” The Silicon Valley company, Better Place, is making a big push in Denmark and in Israel. That makes those two countries the world’s most important test cases for the idea that electric motors and batteries can

6 Miguel Villagran/Getty Images “In every industry, the incumbent always said it'll never change,” said Shai Agassi, the founder and chief executive of Better Place.

supplant the petroleum-burning engines that have powered cars for more than a century. The experiment has other implications beyond the borders of this Scandinavian nation of 5.5 million. That is because Denmark is trying to do more than simply move away from the internal combustion engine. By revamping the power grid, Dong Energy, Better Place’s partner and the biggest utility in Denmark, wants to power the anticipated fleet of electric cars with wind energy, which already supplies nearly 20 percent of the country’s power. With Better Place and the smart grid working together, cars would charge up as the winds blow at night, when power demand is lowest. Charging would soak up the utility’s extra power and sharply shrink the carbon footprint of electric vehicles. “We’re the perfect match for a windmill-based utility,” said Shai Agassi, Better Place’s founder and chief executive. “If you have a bunch of batteries waiting to be charged, it’s like having a lot of buckets waiting for rain.” The Danes will be promoting their electric car ambitions starting next week, when they hold an international meeting in Copenhagen intended to make progress on a new agreement to combat global warming. “We want to be a test and laboratory country for electric cars, hybrid cars and other new technology,” said Lars Barfoed, the Danish minister of transport. “And as host of the climate change conference, that’s made us feel responsible and want to show the world we can do something.” Mr. Agassi, a press-smart Israeli-American entrepreneur who was formerly a top executive at the software giant S.A.P., has cast his company’s efforts in moral terms, because of the large contribution that gasoline and diesel cars make to global warming. But so far, the results are falling short of the rhetoric.

7 In January 2009, Mr. Agassi promised that Denmark would have 100,000 charging spots in place and several thousand cars on the road by 2010. But with that deadline approaching, no Better Place cars are on the road and only 55 charging spots are ready. According to Better Place, 2011 has always been the target for its mass debut, and that has not slipped. The company plans a road test of electric cars during the climate conference. In addition to the charge points, Better Place’s vision calls for a network of stations where a robotic device could replace a battery in less time than it takes to fill a tank of gas. These switching stations are needed because batteries have a limited range of about 100 miles, and recharging takes up to five hours, so changing batteries en route would make long journeys more convenient. Consumers would buy the cars but get batteries from Better Place and pay a fee for the miles they drive, relying on the charging stations for local driving and the switching stations for longer trips. But even local supporters of Better Place worry that the switching stations, which could cost as much as $1 million each to build, are impractical, largely because the stations may need to stock a wide range of batteries to accommodate cars from different manufacturers. “I’m skeptical about the infrastructure,” said Klaus Bondam, Copenhagen’s mayor for technical and environmental administration. “It won’t work unless it’s standard on every electric vehicle produced.” So far, only one automaker, Renault Nissan, has agreed to make cars that work with Mr. Agassi’s switching stations. Getting more automakers on board is a looming obstacle for Mr. Agassi. Toyota, the market leader in hybrid cars, “sees no clear business advantage for us with Better Place,” said Graham Smith, senior vice president for external affairs at Toyota Motors Europe. Mr. Barfoed, the Danish transport minister, said that while the deal with Renault was a good start, “what about all the other cars? What about the competition?” Mr. Agassi professes to be untroubled that carmakers are not rushing to sign up, and he rejects other criticisms of his plan, as well. “In every industry, the incumbent always said it’ll never change,” he said. “The mainframe guys said people will never need PCs.” Jens Moberg, a former Microsoft executive who is the chief executive of Better Place Denmark, acknowledges the challenges and concedes that, aside from a few demonstration sites, little infrastructure has been put in place so far. “I believe the automakers will embrace electric vehicles on a large scale; it’s just a question of when,” Mr. Moberg said. Stocking different batteries “is a challenge, but we can handle it because we have a flexible design for the switching stations.” “We will be ready for 2011 when Renault ships the car,” he added. Perhaps the main reason to think electric cars might have a shot in Denmark is their remarkable tax advantage. The country imposes a punitive tax of about 200 percent on new cars, so a vehicle that would cost $20,000 in the United States costs $60,000 here. For a quarter-century, electric cars have been exempt from that tax. But the models on the market were so limited in their capabilities that only 497 of them are registered in the entire country. The combination of an advanced mass-market car from Renault Nissan and practical charging options from Better Place will be the first real test of whether a tax break that large is enough to force a shift. To stimulate the market, local and national governments in Demark are expected to buy many electric cars for their own use. “The one factor that you can’t find on a spreadsheet is the willingness of the people in government to lead change,” Mr. Agassi said. “And in Denmark every single one of them is engaged and willing to do whatever it takes to get Denmark to be a leader in electric vehicles.” Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

8 Academy Events

The New York Academy of Sciences upcoming events and latest publications in the area of Urban Sustainability.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM. Sustainable MTA: Beneficial Uses of Groundwater. FREE for Academy Members. http://www.nyas.org/groundwater. On a dry day, the MTA pumps 8 million gallons of groundwater to keep subway tunnels dry, and up to 13 million gallons during a storm. Currently, this water is treated as a nuisance and is pumped directly into the city sewers. One of the Transformational Recommendations made by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Sustainability and the MTA is to turn this groundwater into an asset by finding beneficial uses for it. This panel discussion will explore possible uses of the groundwater pumped from subway tunnels.

For more information on the MTA's sustainability plans, see the report "Greening Mass Transit & Metro Regions: The Final Report of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Sustainability and the MTA", downloadable from the MTA's website: http://www.mta.info/sustainability.

Moderator: Ernest Tollerson, MTA.

Panelists: NYCT’s Sustainability Efforts – Beneficial Reuse of Groundwater. Thomas Abdallah, New York City Transit.

Building Heating and Cooling in NYC using Groundwater-Source (aka Geothermal) Heat Pump Systems. John Rhyner, P.W. Grosser Consulting.

Enhancing Biodiversity, Sequestering Carbon, and Dropping the Temperature of Neighborhoods in New York City: Intrinsic Ecological Opportunities of the Quantity of MTA's 'Waste Water'. Paul Mankiewicz, The Gaia Institute.

Thursday, January 7, 2010 | 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM. Sustainable City Finance. http://www.nyas.org/sustainablecity. Sustainable cities are home to green consumers, businesses, entrepreneurial nonprofits and government agencies. Financing for the best initiatives is delayed and inadequate. Unconnected pieces and spigots left over from the carbon-based economy are corrosive legacies, and their investment practices do not suit the sustainable city's financial needs.

Thursday, January 14, 2010 | 4:00 PM - 6:30 PM. Soft Materials: The Future of Solar. FREE for Academy Members. http://www.nyas.org/solar.

9 Currently, only 0.5% of the world's energy is provided by solar energy. To meet the increasing demand for renewable sources of energy, new technologies to harness solar energy need to be adopted. This symposium, hosted by the Soft Materials Discussion Group, will highlight advanced materials for solar energy conversion devices. Examples of new and emerging photovoltaic materials to be presented include organic semiconductors, novel proteins and polymers.

Keynote Speakers: Stephen Forrest, University of Michigan. Gilles Dennler, Konarka Technologies.

Student Speakers: Andrew Mutter, CUNY City College of New York. Athanasios Bourtsalas, Columbia University.

Tuesday, January 27, 2010 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM | FREE for Academy Members. Green Building Solutions: What’s Working? Achieving Energy Efficiency with Simple Technologies. Save the date! Website to open soon. This event is the second in a four-part series “Green Building Solutions: What’s Working?”. The series will showcase existing green building technologies, demonstrate case studies of building design and construction incorporating these technologies and examine the lessons learned in the process. Technologies to be covered may include energy efficiency measures, renewable energy generation, water efficiency and reuse, waste reduction and the use of environmentally responsible materials.

Lorey Flick, ADS Engineers, will discuss Baldor Specialty Foods warehouse facility.

Strachen Forgan, Sasaki, SF will present the Maurice J. Gallagher Jr. Hall on the U.C. Davis Campus, a 3-story office structure and 2-story conference center.

======Academy eBriefings. ======Academy eBriefings are meeting reports written by professional science writers. Multimedia elements including: audio, video, photos, and slide shows when available and links to related resources.

Shortening the Food Chain: Farming in the City. http://www.nyas.org/Publications/EBriefings/Detail.aspx?cid=00bbf00c-d2e5-4681-9b5d-6a3732ac303c. On May 27, 2009, three speakers explained the advantages of shifting agricultural practices toward more sustainable, city-based models, and described projects that could serve as models for more widespread strategies, such as sustainable vertical farming.

Zero Net Energy Buildings: Reality or Fiction? http://www.nyas.org/Publications/EBriefings/Detail.aspx?cid=9d4dff5b-0ff9-403f-87ea-0e4ccb855197. U.S. energy consumption in buildings outpaces usage in transportation and by industry. Reducing energy consumption by buildings, or replacing it with non-emitting, renewably generated energy, has therefore been identified as a critical step in managing climate change. "Zero net energy buildings" are one proposed approach to the problem.

10 ======Academy Annals. ======The Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences is the premier publication of the Academy, offering volumes of review articles in special topical areas and proceedings of conferences.

The Baked Apple. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119207885/issue. There is widespread public unawareness about precisely what global climate change could mean. In this volume a distinguished group of contributors considers the steps that may be necessary to prepare the nation's largest city for the consequences of global climate change..

Europe Pledges Billions in Climate Aid for Poor Nations By James Kantern & Andrew C. Revkin, NYTimes, Dec 12 09

BRUSSELS — The European Union will contribute about $3 billion starting next year to help poorer countries deal with climate change, Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain announced on Friday, a move that seeks to improve the chances of reaching an accord next week at climate change talks in Copenhagen. The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking alongside Mr. Brown here at a summit of E.U. heads of state, said that France would contribute some $620 million next year to the so-called fast-start fund, which is designed to run over a three-year period until 2012, and could amount to an European contribution of more than 6 billion euros — or nearly $9 billion — in total. Mr. Sarkozy said further contributions to the fund would build credibility among some of the nations most exposed to the effects of global warming and that have demanded funding as part of any agreement reached in Copenhagen. Underlining the stakes for nations that are trying to safeguard against harm from climate change, and for wealthier nations seeking to reshape the way they produce and consume energy, Mr. Brown said there were “few moments in history when nations are summoned to common decisions that will reshape the lives of men and women potentially for generations to come.” Yvo de Boer, the head of the United Nations climate office, has called on industrialized nations to give $30 billion to the fund in order to help vulnerable countries to begin planning massive engineering projects like building higher sea walls and converting their electricity systems so they rely on low-carbon sources. Mr. Brown said that Britain had increased earlier pledges by 50 percent to 1.2 billion pounds, or nearly $2 billion, over the next three years. He said Britain could increase that offer further, to 1.5 billion pounds, at negotiations in Copenhagen next week. European diplomats said leaders still needed to decide whether to make some aspects of the funding they had pledged for the fast-start fund conditional on other major industrialized economies contributing to the pot.

11 Poor countries also are seeking a commitment from the industrialized world to provide long-term finance totaling more than $100 billion each year by the end of the next decade, and have tried to pressure richer countries to do more to cut their own greenhouse gas emissions. Overnight in Copenhagen, some of the smallest and most vulnerable countries represented in climate talks — island states facing the prospect of centuries of rising seas in a warming world — fired off a warning shot in the form of a new draft text reducing by 0.5 degrees Celsius the proposed ceiling for global temperature accepted by most nations. The world’s industrialized countries and emerging economic powers have pledged over the past year to work to limit warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius above where temperatures stood in the 1800s — a figure that translates into about a 1.3 degree Fahrenheit warming from today’s global temperature of about 59 degrees. Given trajectories for emissions and what is known about how greenhouse gases hold heat, even that target will be tough to reach, many climate scientists say. In some ways, the move by the Alliance of Small Island States to cut the temperature ceiling is symbolic, aiming to increase pressure on industrialized powers to ramp up their commitment to greenhouse gas cuts and aid for vulnerable developing countries. It would also create a new multilateral fund for climate change, through which money would flow in to help poor countries finance actions cutting their emissions and also withstand environmental pressures exacerbated by climate change. Other countries’ delegates were not quick to weigh in on the text Friday. But observers from environmental groups said the language in the new text offers some points that could help bridge gaps that exist at the moment, including over how to sustain the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, a limited pact with terms that expire in 2012, as a parallel instrument for countries already bound by it, even as a new Copenhagen Protocol is completed. Each would be an addendum to the grand treaty that forms the foundation for all the talks here — the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change. “It is constructive, ambitious and fair,” said Kim Carstensen, leader of the global climate initiative of the World Wildlife Fund. We are calling on other countries to listen to the voice of those with most at stake — namely their very survival.” Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company Majority Of Working Adults Willing To Sacrifice Comfort To Save Energy

When that occurs, most (78 percent) said they are less productive. Not only does workplace productivity Almost all participants said their office has been too hot or too cold at some point (98 percent) and suffer, individual actions - such as bringing a heating or cooling device into the office - result in increased energy use.

By Staff Writers, Energy Daily, Nov 4 09

MILWAUKEE WI - Business owners should think twice before tweaking workplace temperature settings this fall. According to a new survey of office workers, sixty-nine percent said they would be willing to sacrifice their preferred ideal temperature in the office to help their company conserve energy. However the survey also found that nearly four in five participants (78 percent) say they are less productive at work when they are too hot or too cold. Johnson Controls, the global leader in providing energy efficiency solutions, commissioned a survey of nearly 800 American adults who work in an office setting. The good news: The findings indicate that many workers think their employers could be doing more to be energy efficient.

12 The challenge: Business owners must avoid a negative impact on office productivity and the possibility that workers may take action to circumvent their discomfort, including the use of portable heaters or fans, if temperatures are not ideal. "Employers may be tempted to turn down the thermostats this fall, but this quick fix could lead to hidden costs," said Clay Nesler, vice president of Global Energy and Sustainability, Johnson Controls. "Energy efficient systems and equipment is the win-win alternative, allowing businesses to save energy and money without sacrificing workplace productivity."

Productivity Suffers and Energy Costs May Rise When Workplace Temperature is Not Ideal Almost all participants said their office has been too hot or too cold at some point (98 percent) and when that occurs, most (78 percent) said they are less productive. Not only does workplace productivity suffer, individual actions - such as bringing a heating or cooling device into the office - result in increased energy use.

 Forty-nine percent of office workers have used a fan when it was too hot in their office, and 28 percent used a space heater when it was too cold.  Nearly one-third (30 percent) have left their office building to take a walk outside when it was too hot or too cold in their work space.  Forty-one percent have informed their office manager or custodian of their discomfort.  Approximately seven in ten (69 percent) have adjusted their clothing, such as adding a sweater if was too cold or removing a layer if it was too hot.

American workers expect their employers to take action. The results indicate that forty-five percent think their employer is not doing enough to make their office environments energy efficient.

Energy Savings in Black And White MIT students develop concept for color-changing roof tiles that absorb heat in winter, reflect it in summer.

ANYONE WHO HAS EVER STEPPED BAREFOOT onto blacktop pavement on a hot sunny day knows the phenomenon very well: Black surfaces absorb the sun's heat very efficiently, producing a toe-scorching surface. In the wintertime, that can be a good thing: A dark roof heats up in the sun and helps reduce your heating bill. But in summertime, it's definitely a bad thing: Your house gets even hotter, and your air conditioning has to work harder. In most places, the summertime penalty is greater than the wintertime gain, it turns out, so that's why many people, including U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, strongly advocate switching to white roofs. It's no small matter. In fact, Chu says that turning all the world's roofs white would eliminate as much greenhouse gas emissions in 20 years as the whole world produces in a year. But some critics point out that in northern cities, the gain in summer could be outweighed by the loss in winter. The ideal situation, then, would be to get the advantage of white roofs when it's hot and black roofs when it's cold. Now, there may be a way to have both. A team of recent MIT graduates has developed roof tiles that

13 A blast from a heat gun has turned most of the black tile in this image white. The prototype tile, developed by recent MIT graduates, is designed to turn dark in cold weather and white in warm weather. Photo - Patrick Gillooly

By David L. Chandler, MIT News Office, October 8, 2009 change color based on the temperature. The tiles become white when it's hot, allowing them to reflect away most of the sun's heat. When it's cold they turn black and absorb heat just when it's needed. The team's lab measurements show that in their white state, the tiles reflect about 80 percent of the sunlight falling on them, while when black they reflect only about 30 percent. That means in their white state, they could save as much as 20 percent of present cooling costs, according to recent studies. Savings from the black state in winter have yet to be quantified. The team, which the students call Thermeleon (rhymes with chameleon, because of its color-changing property), was one of the competitors in this year's Making and Designing Materials Engineering Contest (MADMEC), a competition for teams of MIT students (or 2009 graduates). Now in its third year, the contest this year was specifically devoted to projects aimed at improving energy efficiency through innovative uses of materials. The final showdown was held Wednesday night, and the Thermeleon team took first place, earning $5,000 in the process. Nick Orf PhD ’09, a member of the Thermeleon team, explains that he and his teammates originally tried to develop a color-shifting roof tile using a system of mixed fluids, one dark and one light, whose density would change with temperature: the dark substance would float to the top when it was cold, and white would float when it was hot. But the system proved too complicated, and instead they hit on a simpler, less expensive method. Now, they use a common commercial polymer (in one version, one that is commonly used in hair gels) in a water solution. That solution is encapsulated — between layers of glass and plastic in their original prototype, and between flexible plastic layers in their latest version — with a dark layer at the back.

14 When the temperature is below a certain level (which they can choose by varying the exact formulation), the polymer stays dissolved, and the black backing shows through, absorbing the sun's heat. But when the temperature climbs, the polymer condenses to form tiny droplets, whose small sizes scatter light and thus produce a white surface, reflecting the sun's heat. They are now working on an even simpler version in which the polymer solution would be micro- encapsulated and the tiny capsules carried in a clear paint material that could be brushed or sprayed onto any existing surface. The tiny capsules would still have the color-changing property, but the surface could easily be applied over an existing black roof, much more inexpensively than installing new roofing material. Although they have not yet made specific plans for forming a business to commercialize their concept, Orf says the team members are determined to pursue the project and develop it into a marketable product. Because the materials are common and inexpensive, team members think the tiles could be manufactured at a price comparable to that of conventional roofing materials — although that won't be known for sure until they determine the exact materials and construction of their final version. The biggest remaining question is over durability, and answering it will require spending some time to do accelerated testing by running the material through repeated hot-cold cycles. Hashem Akbari, leader of the Heat Island Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, is a long-time advocate of white roofs as an energy-saving measure. He says that some other groups, including a team at the University of Athens, have done research on the use of color-changing materials for roofs, but that in those tests, "the cost and durability has been a serious issue." The Thermeleon team hopes to address those concerns. "It's got to stand up to very harsh conditions," Orf says. "Those sorts of tests would have to be done before we'll know if we have a viable product." (Article cited in ASHRAE Industry News)

NY Chapter AEE Board Members David Ahrens [email protected] 718- 677-9077x110 Michael Bobker [email protected] 646-660-6977 Robert Berninger [email protected] 212- 639-6614 Timothy Daniels [email protected] 212- 312-3770 Jack Davidoff [email protected] 718-963-2556 Fredric Goldner [email protected] 516- 481-1455 Bill Hillis [email protected] 845-278-5062 Placido Impollonia [email protected] 212-669-7628 Dick Koral [email protected] 718- 552-1161 John Leffler [email protected] 212-868-4660x218 John Leffler [email protected] Robert Meier [email protected] 212-328-3360 Ryan Merkin [email protected] 212-564-5800 x 16 Jeremy Metz [email protected] 212-338-6405 John Nettleton [email protected] 347-835-0089 Asit Patel [email protected] 718- 292-6733x205 Dave Westman [email protected] 212-460-6588 Chris Young [email protected] 914-442- 4387

15 Board Members Emeritus Paul Rivet [email protected] George Kritzler [email protected] Alfred Greenberg [email protected] 914-422-4387 George Birman (RIP)

Past Presidents Mike Bobker (2003-05), Asit Patel (2000-03), Thomas Matonti (1998-99), Jack Davidoff (1997-98), Fred Goldner (1993-96), Peter Kraljic (1991-92), George Kritzler (1989-90), Alfred Greenberg (1982-89), Murray Gross (1981-82), Herbert Kunstadt (1980-81), Sheldon Liebowitz (1978-80)

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