Carrie A. Webber

After-hours power status of office equipment and energy use of miscellaneous plug-load equipment

This research was conducted in support of two branches of the EPA ENERGY STAR program, whose overall goal is to reduce, through voluntary market-based means, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted in the U.S. The primary objective was to collect data for the ENERGY STAR Office Equipment program on the after-hours power state of computers, monitors, printers, copiers, scanners, fax machines, and multi-function devices. We also collected data for the ENERGY STAR Commercial Buildings branch on the types and amounts of miscellaneous plug-load equipment, a significant and growing end use that is not usually accounted for by building energy managers. For most types of miscellaneous equipment, we also estimated typical unit energy consumption in order to estimate total energy consumption of the miscellaneous devices within our sample. This data set is the first of its kind that we know of, and is an important first step in characterizing miscellaneous plug loads in commercial buildings. The main purpose of this study is to supplement and update previous data we collected on the extent to which electronic office equipment is turned off or automatically enters a low power state when not in active use. In addition, it provides data on numbers and types of office equipment, and helps identify trends in office equipment usage patterns. These data improve our estimates of typical unit energy consumption and savings for each equipment type, and enables the ENERGY STAR Office Equipment program to focus future effort on products with the highest energy savings potential. This study expands our previous sample of office buildings in California and Washington DC to include education and health care facilities, and buildings in other states. We report data from sixteen commercial buildings in California, Georgia, and Pennsylvania: four education buildings, two medical buildings, two large offices (> 500 employees each), three medium offices (50-500 employees each), and five small business offices (< 50 employees each). Two buildings are in the San Francisco Bay are a of California, nine (including the five small businesses) are in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and five are in Atlanta, Georgia.

Savings estimates for the Energy Star® voluntary labeling program

This disclosure involves a novel and compact pulse network or filter and the like, employing elastic wave-spin wave transduction by means of a non-linear time-varying magnetic bias field, providing increased power handling capability and greater compression ratios than present-day filters, and, in addition, variable broad bandwidth adjustment.

Status and future directions of the Energy Star program

In 1992 the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced Energy Star®, a voluntary labeling program designed to identify and promote energy-efficient products, in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Since then, the EPA, now in partnership with the US Department of Energy (DOE), has expanded the program to cover nearly the entire buildings sector, spanning new homes, commercial buildings, residential heating and cooling equipment, major appliances, office equipment, commercial and residential lighting, and home electronics. This paper is based on our experience since 1993 in providing technical support to the Energy Star program. We provide a snapshot of the Energy Star program in the year 2000, including a general overview of the program, its accomplishments, and the possibilities for future development.

Field surveys of office equipment operating patterns

This paper presents the results of 11 after-hours walk-throughs of offices in the San Francisco CA and Washington D.C. areas. The primary purpose of these walk-throughs was to collect data on turn-off rates for various types of office equipment (computers, monitors, printers, fax machines, copiers, and multifunction products). Each piece of equipment observed was recorded and its power status noted (e.g. on, off, low power). Whenever possible, we also recorded whether power management was enabled on the equipment. The floor area audited was recorded as well, which allowed us to calculate equipment densities. We found that only 44 percent of computers, 32 percent of monitors, and 25 percent of printers were turned off at night. Based on our observations we estimate success rates of 56 percent for monitor power management and 96 percent for enabling of power management on printers.

Projected regional impacts of appliance efficiency standards for the US residential sector

Minimum efficiency standards for residential appliances have been implemented in the US for a large number of residential end-uses. This analysis assesses the potential energy, dollar, and carbon impacts of those standards at the state and national levels. We explicitly account for improvements in efficiency likely to occur in the absence of standards, but because our method for characterizing these exogenous improvements probably overestimates them, both the energy and cost savings presented in this article represent lower bounds to the true benefits. Cumulative present-valued dollar savings after subtracting out the additional cost of the more efficient equipment are about

Addressing energy-related challenges for the US buildings sector: results from the clean energy futures study

30 billion from 1990 to 2010. Each dollar of federal expenditure on implementing the standards will contribute

User guide to power management for PCs and monitors

165 of net present-valued savings to the US economy over the 1990 to 2010 period. Average benefit/cost ratios for these standards are about 3.5 for the US as a whole. Projected carbon reductions are approximately 9 million metric tons of carbon per year in the years from 2000 to 2010. Because these standards save energy at a cost less than the price of that energy, the resulting carbon emission reductions are achieved at negative net cost to society.

Transmission Pricing and Renewables: Issues, Options, and Recommendations

Abstract This article presents dollar, energy, and carbon savings associated with adoption of more energy-efficient technologies in the buildings sector for two policy scenarios that represent departures from business-as-usual (BAU) case assumptions. Both scenarios result in net savings in the total cost of providing energy services relative to the BAU case (accounting for fuel expenditures and the direct incremental costs of efficiency programs and investments in the scenario), while still saving energy and reducing carbon emissions. Primary energy savings for the building sector are about 18% in the advanced scenario in 2020 relative to the BAU case. Total carbon savings in that year, including both demand and supply side effects, are almost 40% of BAU emissions. These savings reduce carbon emissions from this sector to below 1990 levels by 2020.

2006 Status Report Savings Estimates for the ENERGY STAR(R) Voluntary Labeling Program

Power management of personal computers (PCs) and monitors has the potential to save significant amounts of electricity as well as deliver other economic and environmental benefits. The Environmental Protection Agency`s ENERGY STAR{reg_sign} program has transformed the PC market so that equipment capable of power management is now widely available. However, previous studies have found that many Energy Star compliant computer systems are not accomplishing energy savings. The principal reasons for this are systems not being enabled for power management or a circumstance that prevents power management from operating. This guide is intended to provide information to computer support workers to increase the portion of systems that successfully power manage. The guide introduces power management concepts and the variety of benefits that power management can bring. It then explains how the parts of a computer system work together to enter and leave power management states. Several common computer system types are addressed, as well as the complications that networks bring to power management. Detailed instructions for checking and configuring several system types are provided, along with trouble shooting advice. The guide concludes with a discussion of how to purchase Energy Star compliant systems and future directions for power management of PCs and related equipment.

Savings estimates for the United States Environmental Protection Agency?s ENERGY STAR voluntary product labeling program

Open access to the transmission system, if provided at reasonable costs, should open new electricity markets for high-quality renewable resources that are located far from load centers. Several factors will affect the cost of transmission service, including the type of transmission pricing system implemented and the specific attributes of renewable energy. One crucial variable in the transmission cost equation is a generator`s capacity factor. This factor is important for intermittent renewables such as wind and solar, because it can increase transmission costs several fold due to the traditional use of take-or-pay, capacity-based transmission access charges. This report argues that such a charge is demonstrably unfair to renewable generators. It puts them at an economic disadvantage that will lead to an undersupply of renewable energy compared with the least-cost mix of generation technologies. The authors argue that congestion charges must first be separated from the access charges that cover the fixed cost of the network before one can design an efficient tariff. They then show that, in a competitive market with a separate charge for congestion, a take-or-pay capacity-based access charge used to cover system fixed costs cannot be justified on the basis of peak-load pricing. An energy-based access charge, on the other hand, is fair to intermittent generators as well as to the usual spectrum of peak and base-load technologies. This report also reviews other specific characteristics of renewables that can affect the cost of transmission, and evaluates the potential impact on renewables of several transmission pricing schemes, including postage-stamp rates, megawatt-mile pricing, congestion pricing, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission`s {open_quotes}point-to-point{close_quotes} transmission tariffs.