Solar Lighting

Case Study: Makeovers That Matter

Even in the land of extreme, some makeovers are more extreme than others. New Jersey integrator Silicon East naturally was thrilled when its longtime business partner, The Pinnacle Companies, a local construction firm for which it has handled numerous home integration projects, asked it to participate over the summer in a special episode of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

The challenge: Outfit a new home for the Llanes family of Bergenfield, N.J., not only with intelligent automation systems, but also with the latest in accessibility and assistive technology for its disabled family members. Quickly, the solution provider found itself at the center of its largest project to date—one that it would be forced to complete in less than one-fifth of the time it normally would schedule for such an undertaking.

---

Lights fantastic, and efficient

Simon Minett looks around a conference room at the historic Old Mill Inn and points to four grandiose chandeliers, each carrying 11 light bulbs, hanging from the ceiling. He then guides our attention to the several dozen recessed lights that are also shining brightly, almost unnecessarily.

"This simply wouldn't exist in Europe," says Minett, managing director of distributed energy advocate COGEN Europe, speaking earlier this month to an audience attending the 5th Annual Decentralised Energy Conference. "All these lights would be compact fluorescents."

He accurately refers to a cultural disconnect between Canada and Europe, the latter being subject to higher electricity prices and therefore much more aware of the importance of conservation and energy efficiency.

He points to the fact that the province of Ontario uses half as much electricity as the United Kingdom, with a population and economy only a fifth the size.

---

St Albans Eco House Complete

More than 100 guests have attended the opening of the St Albans eco house to see the traditional 1950's semi that has been transformed into an energy-efficient home. A string of features to reduce energy and water consumption have been installed in the family house as part of a pilot project by St Albans City and District Council to assess exactly how effective they are.

Each feature, from the wind turbine to the solar panel and the rainwater tank, has monitoring equipment attached to allow the council to assess exactly how effective it is. Once the tenants a family move in later this year, their energy and water consumption will be compared with that of a family nearby, who have volunteered to help the project.

Many of the products were supplied at reduced prices for this pilot scheme.

---

Sunlight Direct lamp gives you the sun on tap Natural light has a lot of plusses: It's free, saves power, and helps prevent Seasonal Affective Disorder. But if your home can't accommodate a skylight, a sunlight-focusing lamp from Sunlight Direct can get you basking in the sun's glow while you're inside. It works by collecting sunlight from a reflective dish on your roof, which focuses the precious rays into fiber-optic cables connected to a "hybrid" lamp mounted inside. During the day, the lamp fills your room with delicious, nutritious natural light — even taking on the same reddish hue of a sunrise or sunset (though you can prevent any color variances if you prefer). But at night (or when it's cloudy), there's a normal halogen bulb that takes over some or all of the illumination duties, ensuring your light level stays consistent.

Students win lighting design competition Since 1977 the Cooper Lighting's annual competition, bringing about knowledge and function of lightning as a main ingredient of design, demands the primary use of the Cooper Lighting brand. In order to participate in this competition, students must enter conceptual lighting design projects that are then judged on the combination of aesthetics, achievement, performance and the degree to which the lighting meets the project constraints to achieve the ultimate goal. Among the many students who competed for this design competition were three NDSU students, Amanda Anderson, Casey Beaton and Kirsten Jabs. The trio won first place and were presented with a crystal trophy and $1,500 award, which the students split. In addition to the trophy and prize money, they also were given the opportunity to attend a complimentary class at The SOURCE, which is Cooper Lighting's state-of-the-art educational center.

Cost of solar panel permits comes way down in Dublin DUBLIN - Hoping to boost the city's own environmentally friendly building initiative, the Dublin City Council Tuesday made it cheaper for residents to install solar panels on their roofs and pool heating systems. City inspection fees will now be at a fixed fee of $250 per application for rooftop solar panels and $100 for solar pool heating systems. The vote was unanimous. The city's fees used to be vary, with the most expensive application during the 2005-2006 fiscal year being $1,248 for one permit. It costs the city $123.52 an hour for the permit and the inspection process, so the city will subsidize the remainder of the fee. The discussion of creating a fixed fee began in July, when the city received a letter from the San Francisco Bay chapter of the Sierra Club asking the city to set the city's fee under $300.

DON Earns Three Presidential Awards For Leadership in Federal ...

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy and Marine Corps were honored with three of five Presidential Awards for leadership in federal energy management during a ceremony held Oct. 6 at the White House Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

Naval Base Coronado Calif., Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., and Naval Undersea Warfare Command Keyport, Wash., each undertook exemplary energy programs in 2005 and achieved outstanding results. The unprecedented winning of 60 percent of the prestigious Presidential Awards acknowledges how the U.S. Department of Navy (DoN) continues its quest for excellence in energy management.

The dedicated and aggressive pursuit for energy efficiency by the DoN energy program over the years continue to produce positive results, evident with the three installations combining to save $3 million in energy costs in 2005.

---