Industry News



 

06/07/2012

“Apps for Energy” Winners Announced

 
Apps are becoming increasingly popular in both commercial and consumer energy projects.

The Energy Department has announced winners for the “Apps for Energy” competition, with app developers submitting more than 50 innovative mobile and web applications that will help utility consumers save money by making the most of their “Green Button” electricity usage data. 

“We’re pleased to see such a strong response to our call for innovative new apps that will save consumers money by saving energy,” says Energy Secretary Steven Chu.  “This is about giving consumers easy access to information so they can make sense of their electricity bill – and more importantly, reduce their electricity bill.”

Eligible apps included those for mobile phones, computers, tablets, software programs and more – providing new tools for understanding their electricity usage, taking action, and making better-informed decisions.

The winners will be invited to demonstrate their apps at an energy data event in Washington, D.C. later this summer.

Winners for the “Apps for Energy” competition are:

Best Overall App Grand Prize: Leafully

Location: Seattle, Washington

This app is the brainchild of Seattle-based team, Timothy Edgar and Nathan Jhaveri who describe themselves as “two developers with an idea.” Their app submission, Leafully, helps utility customers visualize their Green Button data as a variety of units, such as the amount of trees needed to offset an individual’s energy usage. Leafully encourages users to set energy savings goals and to share their progress on Facebook.

Best Overall App Second Prize : Melon

Location: Washington, DC

DC-based startup Melon describes itself as the first company to utilize Green Button data to simplify the process of obtaining an ENERGY STAR benchmark for commercial buildings. The app uses Green Button to evaluate the energy performance of commercial buildings.

Best Overall App Third Prize :  VELObill

Location: New York, NY

Cleantech software and services company Zerofootprint’s VELObill app helps makes it easier for utility customers to view their energy usage, measure whether it is high or low, and compare it to that of their peers. With this information in hand, users can create an energy saving action plan tailored to their individual needs and preferences.

Best Student App Grand Prize: wotz

Location: Irvine, CA

The wotz app, submitted by a team of students at the University of California, Irvine, lets users explore and play with Green Button data. The app provides several games based on the "shape" of your data, and provides creative comparisons to illustrate your usage, like how many cheeseburgers worth of energy you used last Tuesday from 5 to 6 pmm.

Best Student App Second Prize: Budget It Yourself  

Location: Cleveland, OH

The Budget it Yourself app is a collaborative project from a team of students at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Institute of Art. The app helps users track their energy usage and make energy-savings goals.

Popular Choice Award Grand Prize: VELObill 

Location: New York, NY

Cleantech software and services company Zerofootprint’s VELObill app helps makes it easier for utility customers to view their energy usage, measure whether it is high or low, and compare it to that of their peers. With this information in hand, users can create an energy saving action plan tailored to their individual needs and preferences.

Popular Choice Award Second Prize: Innovative Solar Demand Response 

Location: Cleveland, OH

This app uses Green Button Data to size a Solar PV and a battery system based on average peak energy demand of a home during different hours of the day. The battery is charged by solar PV during daytime (when solar radiation is available) and a charge/discharge controller would release the stored energy during peak times, when energy production is more costly.

 

Lower costs. Increase operational efficiency. Detect problems before they're problems. Johnson Controls is reinventing building efficiency.

Learn more .

Lower costs. Increase operational efficiency. Detect problems before they're problems. Johnson Controls is reinventing building efficiency.

Learn more .

Lower costs. Increase operational efficiency. Detect problems before they're problems. Johnson Controls is reinventing building efficiency.

Learn more .

We Can Help You Reduce Energy by 30%

Our mission is to help our customers manage their buildings' energy costs, improve reliability, and enhance performance while having a positive impact on the environment.
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Sloan Performance Also Comes in White

Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating is transforming HVAC with advanced Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) zoning solutions that totally redefine efficiency. VRF zoning systems offer lower lifecycle costs, less maintenance, better performance and reliability which lead to increased overall building efficiency. And all at a price that fits within your budget. Let Mitsubishi Electric help you redefine your HVAC efficiency as well as what you can achieve in your buildings.
Learn more www.mitsubishipro.com/redefined

Lower costs. Increase operational efficiency. Detect problems before they're problems. Johnson Controls is reinventing building efficiency.

Learn more .

Lower costs. Increase operational efficiency. Detect problems before they're problems. Johnson Controls is reinventing building efficiency.

Learn more .

Lower costs. Increase operational efficiency. Detect problems before they're problems. Johnson Controls is reinventing building efficiency.

Learn more .

We Can Help You Reduce Energy by 30%

Our mission is to help our customers manage their buildings' energy costs, improve reliability, and enhance performance while having a positive impact on the environment.
CLICK HERE to find out how.

Need portable cooling?

Rent or buy spot coolers from full-service locations nationwide. On call “24/7”. Primary, supplemental or emergency cooling. Atlas Sales & Rentals, Inc., or call (800) 972-6600.

Click here for more info

Sloan Performance Also Comes in White

Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating is transforming HVAC with advanced Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) zoning solutions that totally redefine efficiency. VRF zoning systems offer lower lifecycle costs, less maintenance, better performance and reliability which lead to increased overall building efficiency. And all at a price that fits within your budget. Let Mitsubishi Electric help you redefine your HVAC efficiency as well as what you can achieve in your buildings.
Learn more www.mitsubishipro.com/redefined
05/16/2013
Net-zero is often on the facility management radar as technology allows for increasingly efficient energy management strategies and techniques.  But could net-zero become the real deal for homeowners as well?
05/15/2013
Walmart has announced that it will conduct in-depth safety inspections at 100% of the factories in Bangladesh that produce goods for the retailer. The company will complete all reviews within six months and will publicly release the names and inspection information on all 279 factories. As a result, workers in these facilities can be assured of safer working conditions, and the entire market will be lifted to a new standard.
05/09/2013

The struggle to obtain maximum temperature comfort for building tenants at an affordable cost has long been a challenge in the commercial real estate market. With new commercial HVAC technology coming into the marketplace every day, the innovative performance of two-stage water source heat pumps are starting to become more widely accepted for achieving maximum comfort at minimum cost. 

05/08/2013
A longtime concern of the facility manager, electrical fires are a persistent issue for home structures and buildings. 

The Home Electrical Fires report estimates that an electrical failure or malfunction factored in 45,000 to 55,000 home structure fires reported to the U.S. fire departments every year since 2000.
05/06/2013

An old microwave oven headed for the dumpster may lead to significant developments on the solar energy front.  Sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction.
05/01/2013
Do You Smell That? Odor complaints are the most challenging problems I am asked to solve as an Indoor Air Quality Professional.  Often only one or two of the building’s occupants out of 50 or 100 can detect the odor
04/29/2013
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the winner of its third-annual Energy Star National Building Competition. More than 3,000 schools, businesses, and government buildings across the country competed to see which could reduce its energy use the most in one year—and a New Jersey elementary school emerged victorious.
04/25/2013
The microbial population in the air of the New York City subway system is nearly identical to that of ambient air on the city streets.
04/25/2013

The United States ranked first among 21 countries most actively using the tax code to influence sustainable corporate activity, according to the inaugural edition of the KPMG Green Tax Index, reflecting the country's extensive and long-established program of federal tax incentives for energy generally, including specific incentives for energy efficiency, renewable energy and green buildings.

04/24/2013

Let this stat sink in: 98% of lamp's energy goes to lighting the street instead of the night sky. 

Streetlights illuminate the night, shining upon roadways and sidewalks across the world, but these ubiquitous elements of the urban environment are notoriously inefficient and major contributors to light pollution that washes out the night sky. Recent innovations in light emitting diodes (LEDs) have improved the energy efficiency of streetlights, but, until now, their glow still wastefully radiated beyond the intended area.

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