In 2018, U.S. electricity generation facilities generated about 4.18 trillion kWh of electricity. Only about 17% of this was from renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydroelectric and geothermal. An estimated 30 billion additional kWh of electricity was generated by small-scale solar photovoltaic systems (like those found on building roofs).

While wind and solar get the most attention, the largest percentage of renewable energy is actually hydropower. Solar brings in under 2% of the nation’s energy.

The production of carbon and the use of renewable energy sources is not distributed evenly throughout the United States. Texas, for example, is the largest producer and consumer of electricity. It provides one-fourth of the nation’s wind power. Three other states account for another one-fourth of wind power generated in the U.S.: Kansas, Iowa, Oklahoma. 

The good news is the overall percentage of electricity generated from renewables has doubled in the last 10 years, from about 8.5% in 2007 to 17% in 2017.

Several states already are well on their way to 50% renewable energy, with Oregon and Washington leading the way with over 40% of their consumption provided by renewable energy. South Dakota, Maine and Idaho are over 30% and Iowa and Vermont are over 25%.

The EIA projects that more states will continue to move toward renewable energy, with 31% of total energy coming from renewable sources by 2050. 

While the current administration is rolling back environmental regulations, future federal and state legislation could increase those numbers. Meanwhile individual states are taking independent action.

Six states and two jurisdictions have set goals to be 100% renewable or carbon-free by 2050 or before: New York, Washington, Hawaii, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Maine, Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. Colorado’s governor has set a goal of 2040, and the state’s largest energy provider is on board for 2050.

Washington state has committed to making the state’s electricity supply carbon neutral by 2030 and 100 percent carbon-free by 2045. The state is the top producer of hydroelectric power in the country; two-thirds of all of the state’s electricity comes from hydro.

Other states which have traditionally relied more heavily on coal have a tougher road ahead. Pennsylvania is the fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the country but has in recent years, put efforts into switching from coal to natural gas. The state’s governor has said he wants to see an 80-percent reduction in emissions by 2050, and Republican legislators have called for 100% renewable energy by 2050.

New Mexico has enacted a law requiring 50 percent of the electricity provided by the state’s utilities to be generated by renewable sources by 2030, 80 percent by 2040, and 100 percent by 2050.

In addition, 24 states have come together to form the The U.S. Climate Alliance to work to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26% below 2005 levels by 2025.

So while there is still a long way to go, there is clearly momentum driving at least half the states in the nation to reduce their carbon emissions and dramatically increase their use of renewable energy. We will see what the next 10, 20 and 30 years bring!

Following the lead of the New York state government’s commitment to clean energy, the City of New York has passed legislation to do their part to move toward a carbon-neutral future.

The Climate Mobilization Act (1253-2018), a set of bills which was passed overwhelmingly by City Council on April 18, 2019, includes several regulations that affect building owners and developers. The regulations focus on ‘building energy and emissions performance’ and will create a dedicated office within the department of buildings (DOB) whose duties will include, but not be limited to, overseeing the implementation of this legislation within existing buildings, major renovations and new construction alike. Here is an overview of what steps existing building owners (especially of large buildings) in New York City need to take in order to comply with these new mandates.

Since buildings are the source of about two-thirds of New York’s carbon emissions, a big part of the legislation is setting new standards for these buildings. The initiatives aim to decrease greenhouse gas emissions from city buildings by 40% (compared to 2005) in the next ten years, and 80% in the next 20 years. Greenhouse gasses include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, and others.

This ambitious timeline means energy-efficient retrofits will have to occur on a scale that has never been undertaken by an American city. While there are some exceptions, lengthened timelines and reduced requirements for certain building types, for the most part, any building 25,000 square feet or larger must eventually meet new standards. That’s at least 50,000 spaces in New York.

Buildings that are in the top 20% of producing emissions will only have five years to implement changes. Exceptions include electric and steam power generation plants, rent-stabilized apartments (temporarily), places of worship and non-profit hospitals.

Starting in 2024, owners will need to show that the annual emissions of their building did not exceed the limits set in the law. The limits are based on square feet and occupancy, calculating electricity consumed by the building. Limits are calculated as metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per square foot (tCO2e/sf). While certain health care and civic facilities will have limits as high as 0.01193 tCO2e/sf, occupancy groups S and U will have the lowest limits to meet, 0.00110 [limits for years 2030-2034]. For the years of 2024-2029, the limits for a commercial building occupancy group B such as office buildings is set at 0.00846 tCO2e/sf.

According to the Energy Information Administration the average office building used 15.9 kilowatt-hours of electricity per square foot in 2012 (EIA ‘table 3: Total electricity consumption and intensities, 2012’). Using the legislation’s calculations for electricity directly consumed from the utility grid, that works out to 0.00459 tCO2e/sf which is less than the maximum limit of 0.00848 tCO2e/sf mandated, so this seems to indicate that at least for now many modern office buildings will already be in line with the new legislation requirements for the years 2024-2029.

The limits are calculated for those using power delivered by the electrical grid. Those that make use of on-site generation, distributed energy or are not on the utility distribution system will have separate rules. And those using steam will have an easier time meeting the requirements, as the calculations for energy consumed are lower than those for electricity.

By December 31, 2024, building owners must show they have undertaken energy conservation measures, including the following:

• Adjusting temperature set points for heat and hot water to reflect appropriate space occupancy and facility requirements;
• Repairing all heating system leaks;
• Maintaining the heating system, including but not limited to ensuring that system component parts are clean and in good operating condition;
• Installing individual temperature controls or insulated radiator enclosures with temperature controls on all radiators;
• Insulating all pipes for heating and/or hot water;
• Insulating the steam system condensate tank or water tank;
• Installing indoor and outdoor heating system sensors and boiler controls to allow for proper set-points;
• Replacing or repairing all steam traps such that all are in working order;
• Installing or upgrading steam system master venting at the ends of mains, large horizontal pipes, and tops of risers, vertical pipes branching off a main;
• Upgrading lighting;
• Weatherizing and air sealing where appropriate, including windows and ductwork, with focus on whole-building insulation;
• Installing timers on exhaust fans;
• Installing radiant barriers behind all radiators;
• Putting solar panels and plants to create green roofs;
• Use of clean distributed energy resources, including hydropower, solar photovoltaics, geothermal wells or loops, tidal action, waves or water currents, and wind;
• Using energy storage solutions, such as batteries, thermal systems, mechanical systems, compressed air, and superconducting equipment.

The bill provides for the creation of a loan program for businesses to apply to, to undertake these efforts, and new incentive programs are expected to be created.

It will be possible to purchase offsets or renewable energy credits, for up to ten percent of annual emissions, from authorized, local providers.

The new Office of Building Energy and Emissions Performance will oversee the implementation and auditing of the laws and policies in existing buildings and new construction. That department will be issuing the protocols for monitoring energy use by buildings, and creating an online site for building owners to submit their emissions data.

An Advisory Board will include architects, engineers, a building owner or manager, a public utility industry representative, environmental justice and advocacy organization representatives, a business sector representative, residential tenant representatives and a construction trades representative. A separate commission formed in the legislation has until the end of 2022 to create a guide to delineate the responsibilities of the building designer and owners to comply with emissions limits.

The penalties for noncompliance include fees for emissions above set limits, though there may be some leniency if the owner can show due diligence in attempting to comply by investing in energy efficiency measures. Non-reporting could rack up fines of $25,000 a month or more, while those who lie in their reports could face up to $500,000 or imprisonment. So it’s important to plan ahead, and start early to figure out what steps you will take to comply with the new law. As a building owner or developer, consulting with your architect or engineer for building assessment is a good way to start this process and avoid a lot of headaches down the road.

What if you could harness an energy technology that would create not just power but heat for your building, and save you money at the same time?

That technology, called combined heat and power (CHP), or cogeneration, is already being used to produce over 11% of Europe’s electricity. And the technique will only be more widespread in the coming years. China and India have been increasing cogeneration use dramatically, and are expected to keep increasing usage of CHP by up to 28% in the next 11 years.

The process of cogeneration, also known as recycled energy or distributed generation, involves capturing excess heat from whatever production method is used to produce electricity. This could include exhaust from burning oil, coal, natural gas or even biomass or methane from garbage or wastewater. This can happen in a huge power station or a single engine.  

The most straightforward use of this heat is to usher it through pipes to heat various parts of the building. But it can also be used to boil water to create steam to provide an extra power boost. When the latter method is utilized, it’s called combined cycle.

The improvement of percent of useable energy is dramatic. Conventional energy systems convert only about 45% of useable energy from any given fuel source. Cogeneration however, converts about 75% or more, a 60-70% increase in efficiency. CHP technology continues to improve, leading to greater energy conversion and re-use rates.

The benefits are manifold. Buildings that use cogeneration decrease energy use, costs, greenhouse gas emissions and in some cases, pollutants.

While the practice has been widely used in large industrial settings, it is now being used in commercial buildings. Heating and cooling buildings is one of the most expensive operating costs for office buildings, and HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) is an area that is tailor-made to benefit from cogeneration.

The basic steps to take advantage of cogeneration in a building are:

• Installing a fuel cell, turbine or engine to generate electricity for the building
• Installing a heat recovery unit to capture hot exhaust from the electricity generation
• Using the heat energy to power an absorption chiller or a steam generator, which drives and controls the HVAC system
• Using any excess thermal energy to heat water for the building’s occupants   

There are thousands of cogeneration plants in North America. While some are utility power plants, many are small plants at corporations, hospitals, hotels or on university campuses. These localized power plants reduce the cost of transporting electricity. Meanwhile, in Japan, Honda is on its fifth-generation of a household-sized cogeneration unit.

Companies are seeing dramatic savings by using cogeneration. Computer networking company Network Appliance uses a cogeneration system with natural gas. The company has said it has reduced energy costs by $300,000 a year to meet its high-demand air conditioning needs.

If you’d like to see more examples of CHP, you can access the Department of Energy’s database of CHP projects.

Of course, you will need to adhere to regulations of your local energy company. New York facilities should read ConEd’s guide to CHP for projects over 5MW.

We are thrilled to announce this month marks the tenth year since the founding of our company.

Over those years, our work has run the gamut from helping building owners and managers who need to renovate or bring their buildings up to code, to working with people such as architects and commercial real estate developers who want to build new spaces that are not only profitable but also help the greater community. We have worked on both public and private projects, including the new terminal at LaGuardia airport. We have also worked with one of the largest real estate investment and development firms in the Northeast, Matrix Development Group.

Our vision is that of a clean planet, where natural resources are used in a sustainable way to satisfy the needs of all its occupants, and we believe we can help achieve this one project at a time.

“Solving engineering problems and infrastructure issues can ripple out to have a positive impact on people in a variety of ways. Part of finding effective, future-facing solutions for our clients includes putting an emphasis on clean, green energy. We are proud to be a LEED-accredited company,” explains our founder Anostere. He has also worked directly with the City of New York to update its energy code in order to meet its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions of 80 percent by 2050.

A recent example is a 975 thousand square foot warehouse in Staten Island, a mixed-use warehouse and office space. As the Engineer of Record for design and planning of the Mechanical/Electrical infrastructure, we incorporated various energy efficient strategies and equipment to help reduce the carbon footprint of the building.

We are very grateful to all our clients for their business, and to our staff and partners for their dedication and hard work. We look forward to several more decades of solving problems for clients in any part of the globe, and having a positive impact on the world!

Anostere Jean
President & CEO
DOSE Engineering