The days of paper work orders are quickly coming to an end with the emergence of mobile devices and the cloud. Being able to bring data to the jobsite and store it in the ‘cloud’ is changing the way work is done for service contractors. 

www.constructech.com          May/June edition of CONSTRUCTECH

Is your facility compliant with NYC Local Law 87? Visit Control Technologies at booth #532 during the BuildingsNY Show taking place at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center May 2-3 to find out. People stopping by our booth will not only learn about LL87 compliance, they will also pick up an automation code for a chance to win up to $100! Visit our Law 87 page  today to find out the facts about this law and how the experts at Control Technologies can help you complete the required audits.

Take our quick Law 87 audit to become eligible for a                FREE consultation. Completing the audit will also let you know if your facility is already compliant!

The program is meant to help commercial customers understand the need and benefits of implementing long-term, high quality HVAC maintenance. Due to the economy, many businesses have been cutting HVAC maintenance in order to save money; however, by eliminating this expense, they end up costing their companies more in the long term. Even if the HVAC unit (s) doesn’t require replacing, it can drain money due to running inefficiently.  Approximately 40% of commercial buildings’ energy consumption is attributed to its HVAC system. That is a significant cost.

California is usually ahead of the curve in implementing energy efficiency programs, and is currently the only state to run the HVAC Optimization program. This kind of program can have impact anywhere, so there is the potential for it to go nationwide. The long-term goal of this program to is to educate business owners so they can better understand and recognize the value they receive by maintaining their HVAC system. To learn more about the program, please use the following link:

http://www.hvacoptimization.com/

The preceding information was taken from a blog titled ‘Talking HVAC Optimization with Senior Program Manager Emily Pearce’ and can be read in entirety at the following link:

http://www.peci.org/blog/blog-entry/talking-hvac-optimization-senior-program-manager-emily-pearce

The NH Small Business Development Center provides many tools that will help you develop and implement your new sustainable business. Whether you need help developing your business plan, how to go about creating a safe work environment, or just need to read articles on different topics such as social sustainability, the NH Small Business Development Center provides everything you need. They offer more than 20 on-line e-courses that include topics such as finance, marketing and management. All of the courses are free and as long as you have internet access, they are available 24 hours a days.

In addition to the valuable resources they offer on their website, the NH SBDC also offers workshops throughout the state of New Hampshire and also has an Environmental Business Advisor available to help people traverse through environmental regulations. Whether you are just starting a business, or have an already established one looking to become more sustainable, the business advisor can help you at whatever stage you are currently at. Please visit www.nhsbdc.org to find more information on all of these valuable resources and begin your sustainable business today.

Vermont Energy Independence Day is a media project to capture the voice of Vermont on our transition to a sustainable energy future. The project is facilitated and produced by Bright Blue Eco Media the nonprofit media company that produced the Emmy-award winning Bloom- The Plight of the Lake Champlain, and this year’s three-part Bloom series premiering on PBS on February 29th.

On the first full day of spring 2012, Vermonters from across the state will tell their stories of our transition towards energy independence. Film the beauty of Vermont, how we use energy, or your story of our energy future. Upload your files in the following weeks. The Bright Blue Team will then edit Vermont’s first crowd-sourced documentary.

Anyone with a video camera or a smart phone (or a friend’s to borrow) can participate. Learn about the what, when, and how by browsing the site. Check out who is filming, join the growing story corps, or network with a community or class.

http://www.revermont.org/blog/march-21st-is-vermont-energy-independence-da/

This is the story of everyday acts of carpooling, insulating an attic, changing a lightbulb, or buying local. It’s also about sweeping changes found in Vermont’s homegrown renewable energy industry, the new comprehensive state energy plan, and grassroots actions of 100+ town energy committees. This is a story of one small state making a bold break from the past, transitioning to energy independence, and strengthening economy, community, and environment in the bargain.

Carpool to work, change a light bulb, flip a switch … film something over the days and weeks leading up to March 21st (and especially on the BIG day) that brings us one step closer to energy independence. Interview a neighbor who weatherized their home, visit a solar installation at a local school or business, talk with an energy company or state legislator about our energy future. You are the story of Vermont’s energy future.

Let’s show the world what one small state can do. A state that has a reputation for firsts may just be the first to break our addiction to oil, localize and democratize our energy production, and reduce our carbon footprint.

http://brightbluemedia.org/vteid/what/

• Regulated and Monitor Access to Each Door in Your Facility
• Controlled Access to Different Areas Per Individual
• Visitor Entry Management
• Ability to Schedule Times for Public Access

Access Controls are imperative for facilities that keep important, sensitive information or deal with confidentiality. Control Technologies has the experts to walk you through having a system installed. Control Technologies will meet with you to assess your security needs and provide you with all of the options for card readers, door controls, badge readers, visitor entry management or visitor entry stations. We can provide full planning, design, installation, start-up, commissioning, training, and documentation of your access control system.

Lighting represents up to 40% of the electrical usage in a typical commercial building, and by implementing a lighting control system, companies can realize a significant savings in operating costs. Lighting controls have advanced from occupancy sensors and timers, to networked lighting control systems that not only operate lighting but provide valuable, actionable data based on real-time use. There are many                   benefits for installing lighting control systems in facilities, some of which include:

          • Saving Money by Reducing Lighting Energy

• Improved Employee Light Quality Through Personal Control

• Light Where You Need It, When You Need It

• Improved Lamp and Ballast Maintenance

There are also many advantages of a lighting control system over conventional individual light switches. These include having the ability to control any one light, group of lights, or all lights in a building using a single user interface device. An interface device also gives the user the ability to control any light or device from any location. The ability to control multiple light sources also allows the user to create ‘light scenes’, each being created for different activities, with board meetings, presentations and training classes being just a few. Lighting controls also have the ability to automatically come based on several categories. These include time of day (including sunrise and sunset), occupancy, energy conservation and day light harvesting, special events etc. The time of day category uses pre-set timers, while the occupancy category could use motion detectors.

Lighting data can now be integrated into the HVAC system controls to gain additional savings in heating, cooling, and ventilation. Several strategies include daylight harvesting, scheduling, demand response, task tuning, and individual personal control from each user’s computer. Control Technologies provides the most technically advanced lighting control systems to create a cost-effective answer to your lighting challenges. We work with utility incentive programs, tax incentives, low interest loan programs and leasing to create the best financial opportunity for you.

Since most IT systems are considered to be automation engines, businesses can extend their functionality. By doing this, the process automation software can be tailored specifically to the exact specifications of the organization. Companies can purchase business process automation (BPA) tools which provide the shortest route to automation. The interface is also simplified so the tools can be used by technical and non-technical staff alike. A business process management system is different than a BPA, but it is possible to build automation off the implementation of a BPM. The tools to accomplish this vary, including writing custom code to using BPA tools. Control Technologies provides its clients with products and solutions for process automation systems, instrumentation, and optimization of industrial and manufacturing processes. Contact us today so we can start working with you to develop accurate costs and schedules that meet your process needs.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced the availability of an online training course to help building owners, operators, contractors, and students “re-tune” commercial buildings. Building operators can re-tune their facilities to improve energy efficiency by first collecting and analyzing data from their buildings’ automation systems to identify energy-wasting operational problems. They can then adjust their automated control systems to correct inefficiencies at low or no cost, saving them money on their energy bills. Part of the Department’s Commercial Building Re-tuning Project, this online training started through a five-year pilot program, and has already provided classroom instruction and field training to more than 300 commercial building operators, engineers, and energy managers from more than 30 organizations. Organizations that have utilized this training include Efficiency Vermont, the City of Denver, the City College of New York, Control Technologies, Inc., and Johnson Controls Inc.

Commercial buildings, which use about 20 percent of the energy consumed in the U.S., waste up to 30 percent of that energy through improper and inefficient operations. Most large commercial buildings use building automation systems to operate heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and other components, but frequently these automated systems aren’t properly commissioned or operated, resulting in costly inefficiencies. By analyzing data from specific building systems, building operators are able to identify inefficiencies and re-tune their facilities by implementing corrective actions that typically reduce energy use of building systems by 5 to 20 percent.

This re-tuning course benefits on-site employees responsible for day-to-day building operations, off-site contractors, including retro-commissioning agents or control vendors hired to improve a building’s energy efficiency, and college students studying building sciences and operations, who are interested in entering the commercial building industry. The training currently focuses on large commercial buildings greater than 100,000 square feet, but the concepts and techniques presented during the course can be applied to any type and size of facility equipped with a building automation system. Learn more about the online commercial buildings re-tuning course.

The online course is already being used by a number of industry partners, and will soon be available on the Energy Department’s National Training Educational Resource (NTER) portal at www.nterlearning.org.

NTER is designed to revolutionize how online training and education is created, shared and delivered. The NTER system – a free, interactive, and open-source tool that can lower the cost of training for employees and students – acts as a warehouse of workforce training courses and content for federal agencies, universities, colleges and commercial organizations. The system enables both public and private organizations to create and control their own collection of educational content – allowing them to share the content broadly with the public or maintain it securely, depending on how the system is configured. NTER provides participating organizations with access to a global network of resources, helping to significantly expand access to workforce training and development opportunities, while reducing the costs associated with creating high quality online training materials.

The Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy accelerates development and facilitates deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and market-based solutions that strengthen U.S. energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality.  Learn more about EERE’s support of building technologies. For additional information on the Commercial Building Re-tuning Project, go to www.pnl.gov/buildingretuning/index.stm.

Businesses today are continually looking for ways to drive down energy costs and save money. Having a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) control system installed in your facility, or commissioning an already existing system, is a very cost-effective way to gain a better operating, more efficient and less expensive facility. There are many benefits of implementing an HVAC control system including maintaining optimum indoor air quality, reducing energy use, plant operations becoming more efficient and being able to monitor system performance. Fundamentally, an HVAC control system applies regulation to heating, ventilation and air conditioning of a facility, and usually uses a sensing device that compares the actual state, such as temperature, with a target state. Based on that data, the control system will then conclude as to what action needs to be taken.

Controlling an HVAC system involves three steps; measuring a variable and collecting the data, processing the data with other information and causing a control action. A sensor, controller, source of energy and a controlled device are the four elements that comprise an HVAC control system. Most systems use direct digital control (DDC) programming codes, so they are fully programmable and can be customized. DDC systems are considered to be the brain of an HVAC control system, and whether they are networked or not, they form a subsystem that is imperative to the basic operation and performance of the HVAC system. Regular maintenance is important not only to ensure the system is running efficiently, but to also help catch any small issues before they have the chance to end up in a total system failure.

There are many ways businesses can enhance their bottom line through energy savings. Having an HVAC control system commissioned, a building performance assessment performed or implementing a complete energy management system installed are just a few ways businesses can drive down costs and enhance their bottom line. Control Technologies are experts in helping businesses achieve these goals by showing them how to consume smarter and consume less.