Author Archives: Marc Karell

PACE Can Be The Difference To Go Forward

You want to be more energy efficient, for any reason – you want to reduce your carbon footprint, reduce energy costs, improve the operating conditions and productivity of your staff. You have an existing building (only 1% of buildings in the US are “new”) and you know that there are opportunities to make it more energy efficient. But the problem is cash flow; you have to lay out money to install and operate the strategy. Yes, you will get the money laid out back in a short time, but with all the problems business are having with the pandemic (lost business, lost staff, lost customers and suppliers), cash for upfront payments is not always readily available.

Well, the good news is that with interest rates at historical lows (who would believe home mortgages at 2.65% interest!) it makes sense to borrow to be able to do an energy upgrade project now. If a modest energy project has a calculated rate of return of 15% per year, it would be crazy NOT to finance the project, if corporate loans are even 6 or 8% interest. In fact, lenders know that energy projects are the most reliable in terms of meeting the projected ROIs; they know the risk of non-payment is low. So lenders will compete with each other and lower rates to make energy loans!

Yet for owners of very old, poorer buildings, sometimes loans for energy projects are not available not allowing them to modernize. Enter PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy), the government-backed program created to simplify energy efficiency finance. In PACE, the building is the collateral, not the business. This opens the door to immense opportunity in the business case for energy efficiency.

PACE enables energy efficiency upgrades and/or solar or wind systems through long-term financing. PACE is useful for projects with long-term financing (20 years is typical), which is useful for project, such as whole building retrofits and large equipment replacements. Long-term loans with long-term benefits.

But this leads to a problem. What if the building owner wants to sell the property during the loan’s term? PACE programs work differently. The PACE loan is tied to the building; not the owner or business. The PACE loan is set up as a lien on the asset, the facility, and is structured as a tax, with the idea that the energy savings exceed the added expense, allowing the passing of the cost to tenants.

PACE loans are established by state and local governments. Property owners within the district can voluntarily choose to participate in the program. An energy expert assesses the scope of desired improvements, often through an energy audit to develop projects and cost estimates. PACE loans are commonly paid to the municipality who transfers the money to the lending institute. Payment usually occurs along with property taxes. Therefore, it may occur only twice per year. Banks may reject a building owner with large debts or a bad historic record or one that has been in bankruptcy. Building buyers must continue payment of the PACE loan after the borrower has sold the building.

PACE is an innovative approach and another financing option to assist building owners in paying for the often high-up front cost of energy efficiency projects. PACE is limited to areas that have implemented a PACE program, so it may not be available in many parts of the US. PACE financing is available in most of New York State for energy projects.

CCES has the experts to perform the upfront work to recommend smart energy solutions and to work with PACE or other banking officials to help you finance these potential energy efficiency projects. Contact us today for more information at karell@CCESworld.com or at 914-584-6720.

Energy Issues Affecting Data Centers

It is said that there currently are 200,000,000,000 internet of things (IoT) objects in the world today. Probably in a short time, we will think this number is quaint. Or perhaps technology will advance so much that more data can be stored on fewer objects and this number may drop. The amount of computing done in data centers more than quintupled between 2010 and 2018. Most of these devices need to perform computing and storage activities, meaning the need for IT data centers, whether relatively small ones in a company’s office or huge building-size data centers.
While in recent years, we have become dependent on the “cloud”, things are changing. Of course, data is not stored in a literal cloud. The “cloud” is one of a small number of huge data centers that stores yours and other’s data. A recent trend is edge data centers, smaller buildings and structures where computing and storage takes place located usually within only a few miles from where the data is generated.

According to https://energyinnovation.org/2020/03/17/how-much-energy-do-data-centers-really-use/, in 2014, US IT data center electricity usage was split nearly equally between server demand and the need for electricity to supply electricity to such centers and for cooling. As discussed above, physical data centers will only grow substantially in our complex times; thus the need for more electricity.

Electricity Usage

According to several sources, data centers use 1% of all of the world’s electricity consumption. This appears small but given the absence of data centers in many (poorer) parts of the world, this is significant. However, the rate of growth of electricity usage is slowing down due to energy efficiency. The good news is that servers and related equipment are being designed to use less electricity to compute or store data. And such equipment is available if one is replacing data servers or expanding.

Another problem is cooling. Many data centers have their own AC systems with thermostats set for low temperatures to prevent over-heating. In some cases, thermostats are set to keep temperatures of such rooms below 55⁰F. ASHRAE recommends that temperatures of rooms containing servers not be lower than 65°F. And, in fact, ENERGY STAR, the joint EPA/DOE program that evaluates energy usage of common equipment, has recommended servers that can be useful up until 95⁰F or greater. Certainly, one should be careful not to overheat your equipment. But one should look deeper into what that true temperature is. Another idea is not to necessarily cool a server room with an AC, but to use, instead, fans, which use less power, to force hot air away from servers and a stack of servers. Your IT professional should be able to recommend the right conditions for the long-term health of your IT Center.

Reliability

Many data centers feature back-up power systems in case their primary source of electricity is interrupted. Edge data centers, in particular, sometimes placed in urban and suburban areas, may be particularly vulnerable to sudden losses of power. An emergency engine generator to ensure that your data center continues to operate properly is good for the company, but does lead to more stringent emissions and noise requirements, such as particulate and other controls. Make sure the system you choose for backup power is right for your needs.

CCES has the experts to assess the energy usage of your IT or data centers, on or off- your physical location and recommend ways to save significant energy costs. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.

Clean Heat/Cooling Systems: Get Off Natural Gas

Just a few short years ago, natural gas was the way to go. We had to get off “dirty” oil or coal combustion to supply heat or power and switch to “clean” natural gas. After all, gas is cheaper, emits less greenhouse gases (GHGs) and toxic pollutants, is easier to maintain, and results in less wear and tear on equipment than oil or coal. Over the last decade many buildings made the switch to natural gas.

But, as it turned out, that led to problems. Despite plentiful natural gas due to fracking, some parts of the country developed shortages, particularly during cold winter periods. Also, while demand for natural gas grew, the infrastructure to bring gas to customers did not. As usual, infrastructure upgrades are not “sexy” and lag behind short-term growth.

Now, many utilities acknowledge that the necessary upgrades to gas infrastructure are too expensive and will take too long. For some, their coping strategy is to reduce natural gas demand – encourage buildings to get off gas and use other ways to heat.

Examples of other heating and cooling technologies include air source heat pumps (ASHPs), ground source heat pumps (GSHPs, or geothermal heat pumps), and solar hot water (SHW). These are proven technologies that have come down in price and are now incentivized in many places. They offer a number of benefits, including energy cost savings, increased comfort levels, and health benefits compared to gas combustion.

ASHPs provide efficient space heating and cooling to residential and commercial buildings, even in cold climates. An ASHP transfers heat from outside to inside a building, or vice versa, using a refrigerant involving a compressor and a condenser. Heat from outdoor air (even if cool) is absorbed by the refrigerant and released inside for heating. Similarly, heat from indoor air is transferred outdoors for cooling.

GSHPs also provide space heating and cooling, and, in some cases, using an indoor heat pump and a heat exchange ground loop buried underground to transfer heat between the ground and the building. Underground the temperature is normally constant around 51⁰F. That can be a source to cool indoor air in the summer or a source of warmth to bring to a building in the winter. Geology must be considered and space available to access the long piping needed to bring air back and forth from the building to an area below ground. The main energy use is electricity for fans, not a huge expenditure or greenhouse gas creator compared to gas combustion.

SHW collects thermal energy from the Sun to heat water for space heating, domestic hot water, and pool heating. Buildings that do not have sufficient roof space for a solar PV (electric) system may still have enough for SHW. Water is piped into an area below the SHW for heating. Solar air heating systems heat outside air drawn in. Temperature can be raised as much as 100⁰F before being ducted into the building’s HVAC system.

Historically, ASHPs and GSHPs have been quite expensive. Capital costs and O&M for such equipment have come down in recent years. In addition, many states and utilities offer robust monetary incentives to owners that install such systems, as they are trying to reduce their need to upgrade gas infrastructure and meet GHG reduction goals.

Given the challenges of gas and the gains in these technologies, it is worth it for a building owner to examine whether a “clean” technology is financially beneficial.

For those of you in Westchester County, NY considering clean heating & cooling technology, see https://sustainablewestchester.org/hscommercial/.

In Putnam County, NY, contact Bonnie@BrightEnergyServices.com to learn about the equipment and strong incentives.

CCES has the technical experts to help you determine whether you are a good candidate for a clean heating & cooling technology and whether it is financially beneficial to you in the short- and long-term to get rid of natural gas combustion and benefit from these systems. We can help you get the maximum incentives available. Contact us today at Karell@CCESworld.com or 914-584-6720.

How Lights Affect Your Health

This newsletter has had many articles about why your building should switch to light emitting diodes (LEDs). Electricity usage can be cut by 50 to 80% for the same amount of light depending on the original source of light. LEDs can be programmed to meet your needs (intensity, on-off/dimness, color temperature, etc.). And LED lights last much longer than fluorescent and incandescent lights, reducing the effort to replace bulbs or tubes in the ceiling, freeing up the maintenance crew for bigger projects and freeing up space and the number of backup lights in storage. However, with the growing concern about a healthy office environment, how can lights affect staff health and productivity?

There have been hundreds of studies done in the last 40 years showing links between long-term exposure to fluorescent lights and different negative health impacts. The basis of these problems is the quality of light that is emitted.

The theory is that humans have evolved based on light from the Sun. Artificial lights is a recent phenomenon, with the invention of electricity. Before that most light came from the Sun and our eyes and nervous system evolved to best use this source of light. However, with electricity and light bulbs people now have the ability to work at night and in spaces without windows. However, the light coming from an incandescent or fluorescent light is not the same light as that from the Sun.

The main difference is that the Sun exposes us to the full spectrum of visible light (all wavelengths) and many wavelengths outside the visible spectrum. Incandescents give off nearly the full visible spectrum, but not as much as sunlight. Fluorescents give off a limited spectrum. Of course, another difference is timing. Except for clouds (and even then some radiation reaches us), we are exposed to the Sun’s rays only during certain hours daily, which vary during the year. Artificial lights can be turned on at any time.

Many bodily functions depend on day-night cycles called circadian rhythms, developed by the daily rise and fall of the Sun. If one gets insufficient exposure to sunlight or gets exposed to lights at other times, one’s circadian rhythm may be affected which will alter a one’s hormones and body chemistry. Therefore, theoretically, getting less sunlight and more artificial lights can cause migraines, eye strain, sleep issues, depression, suppressed immune system, menstrual cycle disruption, anxiety, obesity, etc.

Besides the spectrum of wavelengths and length of time of exposure, another issue, specific with fluorescent lights is flickering. While such lights appear to be emitting light constantly, that is not true. Fluorescent lights are controlled by a ballast that pulses electricity. Therefore, light flickers. While it may not be detectible, our brains sub-consciously perceive the flicker, which departs from sunlight, contributing to migraines, anxiety, and other conditions.

How do LED lights do in regards to these factors? Fairly well. LED lights can be designed to emit the spectrum of wavelengths that one wants, including the full spectrum. Some manufacturers market LED bulbs that supposedly mimic sunlight’s spectrum. LED lights may flicker, but that is not due to the nature of the bulb (unlike a fluorescent), but due to the ballast feeding power.

A few years ago, the French equivalent to the US FDA issued a warning that intense light from LED bulbs can cause eye damage. However, that has not been corroborated in other studies. Currently, no country regulates LED lights vis-à-vis exposure.

In conclusion, it is best to light your office using sunlight, as much as possible, to mimic its rhythm to correspond to staff’s circadian rhythm. But if that is impossible, it is best to convert from incandescent and fluorescent lights to LEDs to get the full spectrum and minimize flickering.

CCES has the experts to help your facility to design and install the right lights to save you significant electricity costs and to help optimize your staff’s health and productivity and realize the savings and advantages to your business. Contact us today at karell@CCESworld.com or at 914-584-6720.

Need To Tighten Your Building? Look At Windows

Up until recently, tightening your building envelope was the last thing a building owner invested in. The amount of money that had to be spent, the disruption to operations of tenants inside, and total electricity savings for cooling and gas/oil for heating was just not worth it. Simple paybacks of 15 or more years made such projects not worthwhile.

The weakest point of a building envelope is the window. Windows are clear, one’s outlook to the world. But even a “good” window will not keep conditioned air in a building from escaping as well as even a “bad” wall, given its construction and material. While one would be tempted to build a windowless building, it sure would be hard to lease; who would want to work or live in a windowless space? However, replacing windows has a long payback. Building owners in most cases literally would rather wait for their windows to break or openly leak drafts of air before replacing.

But there has literally been a revolution in recent years in technologies for windows to strongly consider if you need to cut energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions and meet new complex rules, such as New York City’s Local Law 97.

Window inserts from IEG can be installed to improve the insulation properties of windows greatly. They have been shown to improve the comfort level of building or storefront window and decrease noise proliferation, as well. Each one can be installed in a matter of minutes, minimally disrupting tenants, with no demolition and construction and no scaffolding. Recent testing by an independent firm showed that these inserts increase the overall window U factor by 50-63% (the lower the U, the better the window insulates). And inserts are more economical. Recent proposals to add them to windows in several high-rise office buildings showed a payback of 6 years, better than 15 years if replacing existing windows. See https://www.ienergy-group.com/

A different approach is to replace old single-pane and even double-pane windows with triple-pane windows with gas filling the gaps which can offer greater insulation. They not only allow users to be more comfortable but reduce nighttime condensation and allow surface temperature to be close to room temperature.

Thin triple pane-designed windows can improve window insulation by about 40%. Given the increase in the amount of material and engineering, it will be more expensive than a double-pane replacement. However, as material costs have dropped in recent years, the price differential has dropped, as well.

In addition, to window inserts or triple-pane windows, the building owner can use other strategies to improve the building envelope, such as external shading and maximizing windows where the sun shines can also allow building owners to save energy use.

CCES can provide for your firm specific workable strategies to improve your building envelope so you waste less energy without impacting your operations– and project manage what you select to ensure the savings and for you to get the best workmanship for the right price. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.

Talking Points: Reduce Your Energy Waste

Part of a series taking important new concepts and wording them so you can pass basic information to your colleagues and contacts. And why these are important.

Background
When building owners or managers hear about energy efficiency, they tend to shrug their shoulders. They know it’s important and useful. But it’s rarely a high priority. Thus, that means it won’t be addressed in the near future, if at all. “There are many other things on my plate I have to do now”, the manager says.

Who am I to argue with that? However, I will make argue that improving energy efficiency will likely provide so many benefits that some of those other headaches in managing a building may be reduced and you will have extra money (without raising rents or going deeper in the budget) to address those concerns. So, addressing energy efficiency, in the proper, professional way, will make your life easier.

Why Is Energy a Concern?
Simply put, nothing in a business gets done without energy, whether it be simple lights, operating machines, your comfort. We take for granted that lights go on when we flick a switch; the computer, the coffeemaker turn on, etc. Electricity needed does not appear magically. It is there because of a complex infrastructure starting with a plant burning a fuel (or using renewables) to create electricity which is then transported, in many cases, hundreds of miles, to get to our building. Many things can go wrong (fuel availability, the way the plant operates, transmission lines, etc.). On top of this, energy demand is growing with economic growth and people buying more “stuff” and driving bigger cars. “Smart” technology was supposed to save us, but not always. It used to be you come home from work on a hot day to a hot home, so you then put on the AC and suffer a little before cooling off. But now you can turn on your home AC from your office, thus, both your office and home ACs are working at the same time. Multiplied by many, many thousands – a big electric burden. In the summer of 2019, New York City’s utility purposely caused brownouts in certain neighborhoods to keep the whole system intact. It has been well chronicled that many parts of the US have poor energy infrastructure.

In addition to availability (where would your business be without electricity, even for minutes?) is the cost. Energy costs (electricity, gasoline, etc.) are rising faster than inflation. But it’s worse than that. While inflation has more or less been steady, energy prices tend to be quite volatile, making the expense of energy a real “bull in the china shop” for many companies, hard to keep track of and to budget.

Perhaps the biggest concern. Why does a company want to make its utility rich, especially for energy wasted? Isn’t that money more useful in your budget? The good news is that there has been a revolution in reducing energy waste and saving you cost.

The Many Financial Benefits of Energy Efficiency
So the real issue is energy management, of which reducing energy waste is important. Here are ways a smart, comprehensive energy program will benefit your business:

• It’s Not So Expensive. Conventional thinking is that incorporating smart energy features is prohibitively expensive. Generally, not true. Most energy strategies (LED lights, solar, better HVAC) have dropped in price because there is more interest and competition. Also, many utilities and governments want to save on infrastructure, so they offer tax or other incentive programs to pay part of the upfront cost of a smart upgrade directly to you.

• ROIs and Paybacks Are Great. Most important is the payback. How much will the energy strategy save you in energy usage and, thus, costs? When will you get that initial outlay back and how much extra money (“gravy”) will you have during the life of the technology? ROI is a great measure. If a strategy is planned right, you can get an ROI of 20, 30, 40 or more % per year. I always say, what bank pays 20 or more % annual interest? What Wall St. investment pays this with no risk? The answer, of course, is nobody. But this is achievable in energy. Even if you don’t have the money upfront, these ROIs make it clear you can borrow the upfront and come out ahead, especially now with historically low interest rates.

o Skeptical? Here is a real-life example. A commercial building explored upgrading their lights to more modern, energy efficient ones. They spent $79,000 in a recent year just on electricity for lighting. We recommended lamps that produced more light and used one-quarter of the wattage of the existing ones, saving about $60,000 per year on electric costs. The price tag: $150,000 (which included not only the bulbs, but all new fixtures and code installment), of which the local utility would pay them $50,000 upon installation. A net of $100,000 spent, saving $60,000 per year means a 1.6 year payback of the $100,000. The lights were warrantied for 7 years (will likely last much longer). Based on this and the annual cost savings, that’s $300,000 in “gravy” over the last 5 years from the $100,000 cost. What investment matches this return risk-free (the lights work and really use less electricity)?

• Reduced O&M. Most energy upgrades result in reduced O&M costs. LED lights do not “burn out”; efficient HVAC equipment are effective longer, etc. For example, most LED lights are warrantied for 7-10 years, unlike fluorescent tubes which typically last about 2 years. This means your maintenance staff has more time for high-priority projects, plus reduced accident risk (ladder falls). Longer-lasting bulbs also means fewer needed in reserve, freeing up your budget.

• Reliability. A more energy efficient building means a more reliably functioning one, again, reducing your O&M needs and staff. One also gets satisfied renters, as reliability means better productivity and their businesses are doing better.

• Higher Rents, Better Tenants. By reducing energy waste and being more reliable, you can maintain the tenants you have and/or attract more tenants who understand the importance of reliability and cost savings. And a building’s resale value is higher because potential buyers know that energy costs will be lower.

• Environmental Progress. While this article has focused on financial benefits, let’s not forget that energy efficiency results in indisputable environmental benefits, too, particularly in this age of a greater portion of the public being very worried about Climate Change. Energy efficiency means less energy needed, directly resulting in lower greenhouse gas emissions (one’s “carbon footprint”). More and more governments and the public think this is important and you can undeniably be a “hero” to many with efficiency.

CCES has the experts to help you assess your buildings and help you get started with a useful, beneficial energy program. We can organize it for you seamlessly to save you aggravation. We can also manage the projects you select to provide the maximum financial benefits. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.

The Importance of Staying Careful

We engineers understand the concept of deviation from the norm. While a process and all its steps have been worked out, it is second nature for engineers, workers, businesspeople, etc. to gradually introduce shortcuts, “improvements”, “innovations” to the procedures. Next thing you know, the process has changed with or without the approval of those tasked with maintaining it.

I observed this once a couple of decades ago. I was performing an air emissions inventory for a major chemical manufacturer. I was given the recipes of some of the compounds they were manufacturing. I analyzed the equipment, chemicals, processes, etc. to estimate which emissions at which steps from which equipment at which rate. Things were going well and I was developing the emissions profile for a certain 100+- step process. I went into the production area with my recipe to confirm what was going on. When I discussed the steps with some of the workers, they quickly pointed out that many of the steps of the recipe had been changed. It was no longer current. They were changed for various reasons (they wanted a step to proceed faster, they wanted to save water or other chemical usage, etc.), but were changed without telling management. The yields of the compounds were still good and nobody in Management suspected a thing. I informed Management who investigated and saw that major changes had been made. They turned out not to cause any significant change in quality or yield, but certainly upset a lot of people that changes were made out of convenience without informing supervisors. Deviation is a normal process but should not be a habit.

So when performing any function, new project, etc. be careful to stick to the plan. There is method to what might appear to be madness. If you object or believe an alternative way would benefit the company, tell your managers and clearly communicate your hopes and concerns. Don’t just make changes on your own, even if they appear to be “innocent” ones or merely tiny deviations from the steps.

Why do I point this out? Our lives have changed because of COVID-19. It is now pretty established what we must do to protect ourselves and our communities: in public, wear a mask that covers the nose and mouth; social distance, where possible; and wash hands and disinfect surfaces often with soap- or alcohol-based cleaning products. But again, with anything that is done repetitively over time, there is the temptation to make a few changes, import some short cuts, let one’s guard down, say it is all right to not wear my mask this one time. This is not good. Unlike a minor change that may have no effect on the process, a minor change that introduces the coronavirus into your body can be deadly – not just to you, but to others, as well.

And don’t forget, the coronavirus does not have a brain. It cannot be cowered or shamed by a politician. It does not say “You’re careless, but you are nice, so I won’t enter your body.” It doesn’t give mulligans. While we can analyze a chemical or other process and evaluate the effects of changes, one deviation in practice can be fatal for the coronavirus.

Be careful and safe everybody and don’t let down your guard!

CCES has the experts to help you plan to address health & safety issues and energy and environmental issues of all types for your company, building, and space. Contact us today at karell@CCESworld.com or at 914-584-6720.

Take Advantage of These Times And Upgrade

Who could have imagined it? Your building, your space is empty or nearly so. Your staff is working from home. Your downtown with fewer cars, buses, subways, even fewer pedestrians and shoppers. This is what the COVID-19 pandemic has done.

If you are the property owner or manager, these are difficult times. You are worried about your own and your staff’s health. Many of your tenants have told their staff to stay home, yet you need to continue to spend energy to cool/de-humidify the spaces at least somewhat to prevent mold or other impacts. And maybe some of these tenants are not even paying you the rent. No one knows the long-term impacts of returning to “normal”. How will your city bounce back in the short- and long-terms?

So why upgrade now? Why pay attention to energy at all? Because there is a strong belief by many that commercial real estate will go through major changes, especially in the long-term and we finally put COVID-19 behind us. Will tenants return even when the pandemic is over? Will some return, but as a smaller version of themselves because more people are working form home?

Whatever the exact answers to these questions will be in your area, it is likely that there will be a glut of commercial real estate. Renters will enjoy a surplus of choices when their current leases terminate. What can a property manager/owner do? Now is the time to invest. Make your spaces more user friendly so you become more competitive in this market. Prepare your spaces for the next health concern with more space between stations and health stations available, too.

And also upgrade to reduce energy waste. However things turn out, it is likely that revenue for a building owner will not reach pre-pandemic levels – at least not for awhile. Therefore, it will be imperative to cut costs, and energy is a good one to cut, as there is much waste in energy usage and many strategies to reduce such waste pays back the initial cost in a reasonable amount of time. Then you have long-term cost savings to pass on to your potential tenants and can demonstrate that yours is a superior building. Both of these will put you in a competitive position.

Reducing energy waste is quite achievable. There have been great improvements in technology to save energy. However, many effective upgrades may involve making capital and/or structural changes to a building, such as your boilers or HVAC systems and the piping that comes from them, replacing or upgrading windows, and replacing failed steam traps, some deep in the walls. But keep in mind, if there is ever a good time to do such projects, it is NOW for two reasons.

First, capital is now easy to access. Yes, upfront capital costs of such upgrades and technologies may be daunting, but interest rates are at historic lows. Energy upgrades have the deserved reputation of highly profitable investments. Therefore, firms that specialize in loaning money for energy projects will charge lower interest rates than for other loans because the returns are high and risk of failure low. A well-designed upgrade can have ROIs of 20, 30, 40% or more return per year. So, borrowing at, say, 7% interest to move forward on a project that will return 25% per year is a “no-brainer”. And with PACE financing, the process is even simpler.

Another factor why now is the time to do even complex upgrades is that there are fewer tenants in the building. Property managers by nature are afraid of any effort that might disrupt the lives of a tenant. But in these days with many tenant spaces currently empty or under-utilized, this is the time to implement a major upgrade, such as equipment replacements, new windows or inserts, or breaking walls to get inside them to replace steam traps, while only minimally inconveniencing your tenants. And they’ll appreciate the cost savings and greenhouse gas emission reductions. Better to do these project “now” than after the tenants return to business “as normal” and then you need to scramble to cut costs.

Energy conservation and waste reduction are items you the property manager can get not only great financial benefit from but it will also put you in a more competitive position to attract good, reliable tenants. With many offices empty or under-utilized and money plentiful, NOW is the time to do smart, capital-intensive projects to save significant long-term costs, while cheap money is available, and inconveniencing few.

CCES has the experts to help you develop a plan and project manage your energy upgrade using cost-effective strategies to get the greatest energy cost reductions in the smoothest way. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.

Courts, White House Move To Weaken Clean Air Act To Re-Open The Economy

A federal district court decision (Clean Air Council vs. US Steel Corporation, May 14, 2020) held that emissions from a Clean Air Act Title V-permitted facility that exceeded its permit were nonetheless “federally permitted releases” exempt from reporting under CERCLA. This decision ran contrary to longstanding EPA guidance and administrative law decisions, which held that only compliant emissions could take advantage of the “federally permitted release” exemption. For decades, EPA interpreted federally permitted releases to include only those that comply with the Clean Air Act, including its permit. 1992 and 1994 court decisions confirmed this policy. For example, accidental, toxic air releases could not be exempted and must be reported.
In this case, US Steel was sued for not reporting accidental releases of benzene from a process combusting coke which was not treated properly to reduce benzene emissions. The court concluded that federally permitted releases included even non-compliant air emissions, relying on the definitions found in the Clean Air Act.

Might this decision lead to many non-compliant situations being unreported? Many interpreters think not as a decision in one district court may not influence other courts. Therefore, companies should not rely on this as an “open door” to pollute illegally and not have to report it. There may still be risk for a company omitting to report non-compliant emissions under CERCLA despite the decision.

In early June, the federal government moved to both temporarily speed up the progress of construction projects and to weaken federal authority to issue stringent air and climate change rules. President Trump signed an executive order using “emergency authority” to allow agencies to waive required environmental reviews of infrastructure projects to be built during the current economic crisis. The EPA also proposed a new rule that changes the way the agency interprets cost-benefit analyses to enact Clean Air Act regulations, weakening the arguments for air pollution controls. This computational change would allow the EPA to justify weakening clean air and climate change regulations with economic arguments.

Typically, when performing an analysis of a potential new Air rule, the EPA evaluates cost of compliance for the industry against economic savings based on favorable health outcomes (reduced cancers, asthma attacks, etc. causing fewer premature deaths and hospitalizations). The EPA looks not only at the reduction of the pollutant in question, but also effects of reductions of other pollutants lowered at same time. The proposed change will eliminate the inclusion of additional economic benefits from reductions of other pollutants. This philosophy may spread to Clean Water and chemical rules.

Including co-benefits from reductions of other pollutants has been a driver of the exact standards in Clean Air Act regulations for decades. This rule has the potential to alter the math in such a way to potentially downplay the economic benefit to public health. Excluding them will show proposed stringent rules are more costly than they may actually be. Proponents say this will speed up the approval of more modest rules.

The White House says these actions are needed to help the nation climb out of the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic by speeding up critical infrastructure projects. The longer-term future of these actions depend on the outcome of this November’s election. If Joe Biden becomes President, he can undo the Executive Order with the stroke of a pen. If the proposed rule is not passed before the election or transition, it can be simply discarded. If it does become law before Mr. Biden takes office, Congress can undo it, although it may take time.
Please note that this is not a legal interpretation of the court decision, the Executive Order, or the proposed EPA rule. For a more detailed explanation, please engage a qualified legal professional.

CCES has the technical experts to provide technical assistance for you on compliance with Clean Air Act and State air quality rules. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.

Reports Say COVID-19 Will Dampen Long-Term Energy Demand

The economic and behavioral impacts of COVID-19 will significantly reduce global long-term energy demand, according to several recent reports. The pandemic has already caused a decline in greenhouse gas emissions; 2019 may go down as the year of peak emissions. However, its impact on reaching climate change goals will likely be small.

One report estimated that the current pandemic will reduce the amount of energy required to be used by humanity to be 8% lower by 2050. In addition to this, long-term behavioral changes in people’s travel, commuting, and work habits will likely cause a net decrease in energy usage. In general, these changes may lead to reduced gasoline and jet fuel demand in the transportation sector and reduced fossil fuel demand in the iron/steel industries (excess of commercial building space resulting in less construction).

Together with improvements in energy efficiency and the recent significant decline in coal use, several forecasts predict that global GHG emissions probably peaked in 2019, but may be flat or decline insignificantly 2050. Perhaps more important, we may not be able to prevent the rise in the average global temperature to be maintained below the 2°C rise goal from now. The pandemic may slow the time it takes to raise temperatures another 2°C, but predictions are that we will meet and exceed it around 2050.

CCES has the experts to help you to determine your entity’s energy use and GHG emissions. We can recommend and project manage the technologies and strategies to help you reduce your energy usage and GHG emissions to save significant costs and meet company sustainability goals. Contact us today at karell@CCESworld.com or at 914-584-6720.