Created in a partnership between the two organizations, SPIRE provides an assessment of connected technologies within buildings, delivering insights, benchmarks and roadmaps to help lower costs, mitigate risks, create brand differentiation and enhance overall asset value, according to an announcement.

Assessment criteria were developed with the input of a TIA industry working group of more than 60 leading commercial real estate, real estate investment trust (REIT), asset management, technology and telecommunications industry leaders.

The program consists of two key components: the online SPIRE Self-Assessment and a UL Verified Assessment and Rating. The SPIRE Self-Assessment, available now, is the first step for assessing a building or space that allows users to gain initial insights into six distinctive criteria that describe the current state of their smart building. These criteria categories include life and property safety, health and well-being, connectivity, power and energy, cybersecurity and sustainability.

The SPIRE UL Verified Assessment and Rating, coming Q1 2021, entails an in-depth audit by UL and is an objective, evidence-based assessment using the six distinctive criteria. A successful assessment results in a UL Verified Mark, a plaque and a building performance score based on six key criteria categories of the SPIRE smart building assessment framework.

For both the Self-Assessment and the UL Verified Assessment and Rating, SPIRE provides a structured means to assess the outcomes of design for and adoption of smart building technologies.

“The integration of all building systems is now technically possible and is becoming a necessity for success in a very competitive market,” says David Stehlin, CEO of TIA. “Fully integrated systems are enabling advanced building automation that helps increase efficiency, optimize operations and enhance overall occupant productivity and wellbeing. By assessing, validating and rating key building elements that take into consideration the entirety of a smart building, SPIRE can simultaneously help improve asset performance, ROI and tenant relations.”

Originally conceived as part of an overall initiative between TIA and UL to share commercial, technical and standardization insights to further their work in the smart buildings ecosystem, the SPIRE Smart Building Program was developed over the past two years and included a collaboration with Corning Optical Communications, the program’s first pilot partner, to test the program’s overall assessment approach.

Related: How Building Integrators and IoT Will Make Returning to Offices Possible

“We’re proud to be one of the founding members and pilot partners of the SPIRE Smart Building Program,” says Brian Davis, Corning’s director of global market development for in-building networks. “With the development of our new Optical Communications headquarters building in Charlotte, we used our own technology to build a state-of-the-art facility that can serve as a model for future smart buildings. After completion, TIA and UL helped evaluate and verify that we were meeting or exceeding performance levels in each of the six smart building criteria.”

The SPIRE assessment provided insight into how Corning’s power- and fiber-to-the-edge network and ubiquitous wireless coverage impacted bandwidth availability and connectivity reliability, safe power and centralized backups, advanced safety surveillance and network cybersecurity as well as lower energy consumption.

The SPIRE Smart Building Program comes at a time when businesses are grappling with the extent, complexity and unparalleled reach of COVID-19 and its impact on building assets. A better understanding of operations efficiency, overall costs and risk mitigation of their building portfolios in light of the pandemic has become a top priority of commercial real estate companies, building owners, managers and tenants, the announcement states.

“In these unprecedented times, those overseeing smart building assets are looking for guidance to help better align performance strategies, planning tactics and operational efficiencies,” says Rachna Stegall, vice president and SPIRE Smart Building Program lead at UL. “The SPIRE Smart Building Program does just that by providing insight to smart building technologies and outcomes while helping to empower informed investment decisions about where to focus technology, building enhancements and business optimizations.”

For more information about the SPIRE Smart Building Program is available here.

This post premiered on our sister site, Security Sales & Integration.

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Schneider Electric, an energy and automation digital solutions provider, announces it is working with the University of Notre Dame, located in Notre Dame, Ind., to implement its EcoStruxure Building 3.0 into more than 95 campus buildings.

EcoStruxture Building is part of Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxture Architecture and provides the visibility, analytics and automated controls needed to oversee and manage energy use, power quality and building performance, according to the company.

“EcoStruxure Building Operation seamlessly facilitates the secure exchange of data from both Schneider Electric and third-party systems. It allows the University to easily replace network controllers, field devices and sensors in future construction,” reads the press release.

“The platform’s built-in web interface provides anytime, anywhere access control and data management and visualization tools to help administrators make smarter, insights-based decisions.”

In consultation with Havel, a building management system service provider that Notre Dame has worked with for more than 50 years, the university began a modernization project to upgrade its building management technology to increase operational efficiency.

The university chose to upgrade existing Schneider Electric systems to EcoStruxure Building Operation 3.0, which enables increased levels of IP connectivity, building analytics, integration with metering and facility operations, and increased cybersecurity, says the company.

Related: Can This Glass Battery Really Store MORE Energy As It Ages?

These improvements were particularly helpful when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and a mandatory stay-at-home order was put in place in Indiana. EcoStruxture Building Operation allowed the university’s facility team to manage its buildings remotely, enabling them to continue to work while the campus was closed.

Project planning with Schneider began in 2019 and the transition is expected to be complete before the end of 2020. The transition began in the facilities department building to allow for hands-on experience before moving to other parts of campus.

In 2010, Notre Dame set a goal to cut its carbon footprint in half by 2030. By using energy-efficient practices, energy management solutions and sustainable and distributed energy resources, the university already met its goals.

This story premiered on our sister site, Campus Safety.

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Citing a recent report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), advancements in battery technology have “driven down [battery] costs at rates faster than previously predicted.” Back in 2016, battery prices were at $300 per kilowatt hour (kWh), and were projected to drop to $120/kWh by 2030. However, BNEF says that battery prices might hit $100/kWh by 2024, even with “hiccups along the way.” From there, the BNEF predicts that batteries will get to $60/kWh in 2030.

Utility Dive also says that the BNEF report suspects that the global lithium-ion battery market will grow from today’s value of $20 billion to $60 billion by 2025, and almost $120 billion by 2030.

Why This Matters for Electric Vehicles and Beyond

Because the cost of batteries keeps dropping, it lowers the costs of electric vehicles, too. It also enables battery storage projects to better compete in electricity markets. “For example, the electrification of commercial vehicles, like delivery vans, is becoming increasingly attractive,” BNEF said.

Similarly, cheaper battery prices increase their attractiveness in multiple industry sectors. For example, earlier this year, Amazon ordered 100,000 electric delivery vans; international shipping company DHL is going to pilot its electric delivery vehicles in the U.S. next year.

Utility Dive says that low battery prices will continue to be “the most critical goal for mass market electric vehicles,” but it will also help in other ways. Specifically, batteries in certain vehicles applications, including commercial delivery, may spark more differentiation in battery cells based on customer demand. It could also inspire consumers to put more value in battery life cycles rather than prices, which would add another string of changes to the battery industry. Only time will tell, especially with 2020 around the corner, how the industry will continue to morph and become more accessible to the consumer market.

The post Here’s What Decision Makers Need to Know About the Battery Market appeared first on My TechDecisions.

Researchers are working on calcium-based batteries, which could one day lead to mass manufacturing and provide a “safer and cheaper” material for batteries than lithium, Nature says. “Batteries with anodes made of calcium — a more abundant substance — might be more sustainable and safer than batteries with lithium anodes.”

Lithium-ion batteries have been used in mobile devices for years, partly due their ability to be recharged. But they have drawbacks, Nature reports: they require “scarce and toxic substances” like lithium and cobalt to operate, and can even catch fire. Popular Mechanics adds to list of lithium battery cons: lithium has a “limited physical nature” of output in certain countries, and creates “environmental havoc” during its extraction, “which often requires heavy water consumption.”

Researchers at the Helmholtz Institute Ulm in Germany have successfully created a new type of calcium salt that has been able to conduct electricity “more effectively than any calcium-based electrolyte ever reported.” It was also able to conduct ions at higher voltages than other calcium-based electrolytes, Nature says.

While strides have been made in calcium-based batteries, researchers currently lack a suitable electrolyte – the material located inside a battery that carries an electric charge – to make the technology as efficient as possible. As a result, it will take some time to see calcium batteries replace lithium batteries.

Until more research has fine tuned calcium battery technology, decision makers who work with lithium batteries might consider the benefits that calcium batteries may one day offer:

• Calcium is the fifth most abundant element in Earth’s crust, Popular Mechanics reports, which means it would be easier to harvest.
• It lacks the ability to catch fire and pose a safety hazard.
• It can be scaled to be used in industrial systems, and can store wind and solar energy.

The post Lithium Batteries Might Disappear – Here’s Why appeared first on My TechDecisions.

These centers store digital files of all kinds and consume between 3% and 5% of the total global electricity — rivaling airlines’ carbon emissions, says a CNN Business article about the report’s findings.

Even though China surpasses the United States in terms of renewable energy use, Chinese data centers don’t use it.

It’s mostly coal-powered

“Nearly three quarters of that power comes from coal,” Ye Ruiqi, a Greenpeace climate expert, told CNN.

“Most facilities are located on the east coast, near business hubs and away from China’s renewable energy capabilities in the center and the west of the country. Out of the 44 data centers we surveyed, only five used clean energy in their mix,” she said.

More power than Australia uses?

Chinese data center power usage could definitely be tied to a growing demand for storage, considering the country is home to nearly 1.4 billion people.

In five year’s time, China data centers will consume two-thirds more energy, capping out at 267 TWh by 2023, says the report. This places it higher than the amount of power consumed by Australia in 2018.

This means carbon dixoide emissions from China will rise from 99 million to 163 million metric tons, or the equivalent of 35 million vehicles, if preventative measures are not taken.

The preventative measures

“To prevent this, China’s data centers need to decouple their electricity consumption from their carbon footprint by relying more on wind and solar energy,” Ye told CNN. “They can build their own renewable energy capacity, buy clean energy on the market or purchase green certificates to offset their emissions,” she added.

Read Next: What Decision Makers Need to Know About Energy Consumption and Universal Memory

A breakdown of Chinese data center power usage shows an energy mix of 73% coal, 23% renewable energy and 4% nuclear. If renewable was increased by only 7% to 30% by 2023, it would save 16 million metric tons of CO2 emissions, according to Greenpeace.

China launched a pilot program in 2015 which aims to tackle the problem, and meanwhile, the online company Alibaba — one of China’s largest cloud computing services — opened a center which runs exclusively on solar and hydraulic power.

The post Chinese Data Center Power Usage Doesn’t Include Green Energy and Even Rivals Airline Carbon Emissions appeared first on My TechDecisions.

Unfortunately, two years down the road, the Normandy solar road is a colossal failure.

According to Business Insider, a report by Le Monde has found that the Normandy road has failed to hit a number of goals set two years ago – and in fact has reached the point where it might not even be worth salvaging.

Components don’t fit together. Wear on the road is worse than expected, and one stretch of road 100 meters long got so bad it had to be demolished. Rotting leaves and thunderstorms are causing damage. In fact, the road is so loud when driving on it that the speed limit had to be reduced.

Not only that, but the road isn’t even generating enough energy to be worthwhile. As Business Insider explains:

The original aim was to produce 790 kWh each day, a quantity that could illuminate a population of between 3,000 and 5,000 inhabitants. But the rate produced stands at only about 50% of the original predicted estimates.

The Normandy road was a grand idea that didn’t work the way constructors had hoped. That doesn’t necessarily mean that renewable energy projects aren’t worthwhile – but this one certainly seems to be. While there are tax breaks and grants available for companies that reduce their carbon footprint through organizations like the USGBC, perhaps organizations will want to wait for proof of concept before venturing forth on the road to renewable energy. Lest we end up on the road to nowhere in Normandy.

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The technology could provide a “low-cost, stable alternative” to the common lithium-ion battery, according to the article. The research team’s creation is made of low-carbon steel with a vanadium pentoxide cathode — suitable for iron ion movement.

Why iron-ion?

The new development in battery technology are more cost-efficient than lithium-ion and feature a better power storage capacity. They’re also more stable, says EnergyTrend.

And because iron cannot produce dendrites, it prevents any short circuits from occurring when electricity is discharged, says the research team.

More from the research team:

“The redox potential of iron ion is higher than lithium-ion, and the radius of the Fe2+ ion is nearly the same as that of the lithium-ion. These two favorable properties of iron have been overlooked for so many years. And that’s the reason why we don’t have iron ion rechargeable batteries.”

Despite these benefits, the iron-ion batteries will need further development, the EnergyTrend article says. The research team’s findings show that it is only capable of 150 cycles of charging and discharging at present stage.

The energy density of the battery is also only able to reach around 220 Wh/kilo. That’s only about 55% of the 350 Wh/kilo of lithium-ion batteries, the article says.

When it is developed enough to be on par with lithium-ion batteries, the iron-ion battery will likely still take a while to see regular use in Western markets. But when that does happen, we have to imagine lower operating costs for battery-powered devices will be welcome in a world where consumer electronics come with increasingly-high price tags.

Read Next: Can This Glass Battery Really Store MORE Energy As It Ages?

But how many modern consumer electronics are really batter-powered anymore?

The post The ‘World’s First Iron-Ion Battery’ Now Exists, Though It Needs More Development appeared first on My TechDecisions.

The US Department of Energy released a report that looks back on wind power in the US in 2018, and analysis shows that the cost of owning and operating a wind farm has fallen below the cost of buying fuel for an equivalent natural gas plant.

One of the main reasons for these findings is the technology behind wind turbines. In 2008 there were no turbines in the US with 100m rotors, whereas 99 percent of rotors in 2018 were over 100m. The turbine’s generator grew at the same rate, up 5 percent even from 2017 to 2018.

While the prices for wind power were rising up through 2009, there have declined ever since. According to Ars Technica:

The report uses an estimate of future natural gas prices that show an extremely gradual rise of about $10/MW-hr out to 2050. But natural gas—on its own, without considering the cost of a plant to burn it for electricity—is already over $20/MW-hr. That means wind sited in the center of the US is already cheaper than fueling a natural gas plant, and wind sited elsewhere is roughly equal.

What’s all of this mean for technology managers? Simply put, it’s time to consider a strategy of moving to alternative energy sources. While it’s a big change, it can also have big benefits for the business.

The ROI alone should be a good enough reason. It’s clear that the trends show natural gas is rising in cost while wind power is falling. Making the switch now, with tax credits in place for renewable energy, could set the organization up to save thousands over the coming years. There is a ways to go, of course, but switching some operations over will give the organization the infrastructure and experience to continue moving to renewable energy sources down the line.

There’s also the PR impact – organizations that commit to going green often see great receptions from customers and potential customers. In a world where eco-friendliness is akin to benevolence, switching to operations that rely on wind power could provide a huge boost to the company’s reputation. Couple that with the fact that you might be saving money overall and it’s a win-win.

Reports like this are something technology managers should keep an eye on. The renewable energy industry is only growing, and you don’t want to be the organization left behind.

The post Wind Power Prices Fall Below Natural Gas – Opportunity for Organizations? appeared first on My TechDecisions.

Hundreds of thousands of electric utility customers have been left without power for days at a time this summer as heat waves, storms and wildfire risks have led to extended power outages in California, New York and elsewhere on the Atlantic coast. At the same time, 79 U.S. utilities filed requests to increase electricity rates during 2018, the largest number since 1983. — the company says, citing this report.

Bloom Energy is a provider of microgrid solutions with more than 85 microgrids already deployed. Collectively, those microgrids helped customers withstand more than 550 grid outages during 2018.

What is a microgrid?

A microgrid provides electric power and can operate independently of the main electrical grid indefinitely, Bloom Energy says.

“Microgrids are an emerging category of technology which have been cumbersome and complex to design and implement,” the company says in a press release.

“To reduce that complexity, Bloom Energy is now offering a simplified microgrid solution, comprised of a Bloom Energy Server with fully integrated energy storage and the microgrid components needed to power critical facility loads in the event of a grid power outage.”

The solution utilizes natural gas or directed biogas supplied through the highly reliable, existing underground pipeline system, making it less susceptible to the impacts of extreme weather, the company says.

AlwaysON Microgrid benefits – from Bloom Energy:

“Bloom Energy Servers generate electricity from natural gas, biogas or hydrogen without combustion through an electrochemical reaction.

“When operating on natural gas they generate up to 50 percent fewer CO2 emissions than grid power, and produce virtually no particulates and smog-forming emissions.

“With these sustainability attributes, customers no longer have to choose between sustainability and resiliency. Both can be optimized with the Bloom Energy microgrid solution.

“Bloom Energy has taken a further step to make microgrids more accessible to customers. Contracts for non-utility power typically have long commitments of 15 years or more.

“It can be challenging for customers to switch to alternative forms of power if they are uncertain whether they will still occupy the same property in years to come or their business planning does not stretch that long.

Related: Will Renewable Energy Continue to Grow?

“Now, Bloom Energy is offering energy-as-a-service solutions with terms as short as five years, with no money down, substantially reducing customer commitments.”

The Bloom Energy AlwaysON microgrid solution is being introduced as the U.S. continues to see an escalation of power outages caused by extreme weather events.

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According to Fortune, there are a myriad of reasons that companies are putting their confidence in renewable energy: “low cost of renewable energy, expanded requirements that states derive a certain portion of their energy from renewable sources, increased demand from corporations, the potential for new carbon legislation, and a desire to benefit from sunsetting tax credits.” 

Last year, the American Council on Renewable Energy launched a campaign to promote $1 trillion dollars of U.S. private sector investment in renewable energy by 2030. So far, the effort seems to be off to a good start, with $57 billion of private sector investments towards renewable energy and enabling grid technologies in 2018. 

The projections after 2022 are less certain. Energy storage, for instance, is not quite as advanced as experts wish and presents challenges in developing cutting-edge renewable technology. 

Policy is an obvious problem in the current political climate. California, Hawaii, Nevada, Washington, New Mexico, and, most recently, New York have all pledged themselves to 100% renewable or carbon-free goals, but there have been some pretty hefty environmental defeats at the federal level. See: pulling out of the Paris Agreement, approving construction of oil pipelines, and hiring an EPA Administrator that doesn’t believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to climate change.

Still, a few federal legislative proposals make the scene seem a little less bleak. Fortune cites “a new tax credit for energy storage to help modernize the grid, ambitious national renewable and clean energy standards to expand the progress being made in the states, a federal price on carbon emissions to account for the true financial cost of greenhouse gas emissions across the economy, and a technology-neutral tax credit for carbon-free electricity generation.”

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