Energy News – Page 21 – The Energy Chronicle

FSEC’s Cromer Receives ASHRAE Fellow Award

Sherri Shields Awards, Energy News February 9, 2010air conditioners, air conditioning, ASHRAE, Cromer Cycle, dehumidification, Fellow, HVAC, Oak Ridge National Lab, Trane 0 Comment

Charles Cromer, center, was selected= — Gordon Holness, president of ASHRAE (left), and Jeff Littleton, executive vice president of ASHRAE (right), recognize Charles Cromer as an ASHRAE Fellow for his significant contributions in the HVAC field.

The Florida Solar Energy Center’s Charles Cromer was selected as a Fellow at the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) 2010 Winter Conference last month in Orlando.

The honor is granted to members who have attained unusual distinction in the field of heating, refrigeration, air conditioning or ventilation (HVAC).

Cromer, program director of the Appliance Laboratory at the University of Central Florida’s Florida Solar Energy Center, has made significant contributions in the HVAC field. His invention of the Cromer Cycle air-conditioning system provides more energy-efficient dehumidification than standard air conditioners or dehumidifiers. Read more

Florida Solar Energy Center's Philip Fairey Receives Lifetime Leadership Award

Sherri Shields Awards, Energy News November 19, 2009buildings research, energy efficiency, GreenBuild, Johnson Controls, Lifetime Leadership Award, Philip Fairey 1 Comment

Philip Fairey, deputy director of FSEC, receives the Building Efficiency Lifetime Leadership (BELL) award from Johnson Controls.

Philip Fairey, deputy director of the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), is the recipient of the Johnson Controls’ second annual Building Efficiency Lifetime Leadership (BELL) award. The BELL Award recognizes individuals who have devoted many years of their career to energy efficiency, sustainability or renewable energy.

Johnson Controls, a leader in energy efficiency and sustainability, presented the award at their Green Tie Affair – a customer appreciation event – held in conjunction with the Greenbuild Conference last week in Phoenix, AZ.

Fairey’s nearly 30 years of experience in buildings research has advanced renewable energy and energy efficiency in Florida. His significant contributions include the development of moisture transport control and radiant barrier technology, advanced cooling and dehumidification systems, and energy analysis software tools.
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EnergyGauge® Summit Premier 3.22 Features LEED® (Version 3) 2009 Energy Optimization Calculation

Sherri Shields Energy News, Press Release November 9, 2009ASHRAE, commercial construction, energy calculation, Energy Optimization Credit, EnergyGauge Summit, federal tax deduction, GreenBuild Expo, HVAC, LEED, Phoenix, PR-09-11, Premier, software, USBGC 0 Comment

EnergyGauge Summit Premier Version 3.22 Live at GreenBuild Expo.

EnergyGauge Summit is easy-to-use, state-of-the-art software that offers construction-industry professionals substantial time savings while completing required energy modeling calculations for LEED^® projects.

The Florida Solar Energy Center^® (FSEC^®), a research institute of the University of Central Florida, just released EnergyGauge Summit Premier 3.22. FSEC will be exhibiting the software at the GreenBuild Expo in Phoenix November 10 – 12, 2009. This state-of-the-art software provides construction-industry professionals with the opportunity to substantially reduce the time required to complete energy modeling for the commercial construction LEED^® rating system. It also offers a time-saving federal tax deduction qualification feature.

The new version of Summit Premier contains several improvements and additional features that make it more functional in its use for LEED and other calculations. They include:

Addition of the LEED (version 3) 2009 calculation feature for Energy Optimization Credit
Updated federal tax deduction calculation as per IRS Notice 2008-40 (amplification to IRS Notice 2006-52)
New input fields for various building envelope and system components to allow for more accurate modeling
Additional schedules for HVAC system control
DOE-2 based system sizing feature (beta version)

As President Obama Helps Commission Solar Plant, UCF Solar Leader Receives National Recognition

Sherri Shields Awards, Energy News, Press Release October 27, 2009award, David Block, Desoto, FPL, Interstate Renewable Energy Council, IREC, Obama 0 Comment

David Block, director emeritus of FSEC, receives national recognition from the International Renewable Energy Council.

ORLANDO, Oct. 27, 2009 — As President Barack Obama hails the opening of the nation’s largest solar photovoltaic power plant in DeSoto County, a University of Central Florida engineer credited with making the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) a world leader in renewable energy research is being honored by a national council.

David Block, director emeritus of FSEC, has received a special recognition award from the Interstate Renewable Energy Council. The council, which Block helped found as the Interstate Solar Coordination Council in 1982, develops renewable energy programs and policies designed to lead to adoption of uniform guidelines, standards and quality assessment.

New Home Sales Robust for Some Energy-Efficient Florida Builders

Sherri Shields Awards, Energy News, Press Release October 21, 2009BAIHP, Building America, E-Scale, energy efficient, Energy Star, Gainesville, H.E.R.O., HERS Index, homebuilders, homes, Melbourne, Subrato Chandra 8 Comments

It’s no surprise that in today’s ailing market, new home sales are down. What is surprising is that construction is on the rise for six Florida homebuilders.

In partnership with one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America teams, led by the University of Central Florida’s Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), these successful homebuilders are building super energy-efficient homes. They are achieving a standard met by fewer than one of every 1,000 new homes built in Florida since 2007.

Homes consume about 35 percent of the electricity produced in the United States. Homes are also responsible for more than 20 percent of the U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide, a significant contributor to global warming. Building America’s goal is to develop cost-effective solutions that reduce the average energy use of housing by 40 to 100 percent.

The Department of Energy's EnergySmart Home Scale (E-Scale) is based off of the HERS Index. — The Department of Energy's EnergySmart Home Scale (E-Scale) is based off the HERS Index.

Similar to an automobile’s miles-per-gallon sticker, energy-efficient homes can have an energy-efficiency rating called the EnergySmart Home Scale^SM (E-Scale), which is based on the nationwide Home Energy Rating System’s HERS Index. A home with an E-Scale of zero generates as much energy as it consumes on an annual basis. While most existing homes have an E-Scale of 130 or higher, typical new homes in Florida have an E-Scale of about 90.
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