January 2010 – Camfil launches Glossary of Energy Terms – Part 1
Camfil Farr have launched a Glossary of Energy Terms.
Carbon
Carbon and co2 conversions
Carbon capture and storage
Carbon footprint
Carbon Reduction Commitment
Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE)
Climate Change
Climate Change Levy (CCL)
Combined Heat & Power (CHP)
Communities and Local Government (CLG)
Extreme Weather Events
Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD)
Energy Performance Certificates
Fossil Fuels
Global warming
Government Commitments
Greenhouse Effect
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Kyoto Protocol
Mitigation
Offsetting
Ozone depletion
Renewable energy
Stern Review
GLOSSARY
On 4 January 2009 all air conditioning systems over 250kW must have their first inspection, and by 4 January 2011 all air conditioning systems over 12kW must have their first inspection. The trigger for air conditioning systems inspections is the size (effective rated output) of the system not the type of building and so the measures apply to homes, commercial and public buildings.
The inspection which is done by an accredited energy assessor will include an assessment of efficiency, a review of their sizing and advice on improvements or replacements and alternative solutions.
Inspection reports for air conditioning inspections are not generated from software. Inspections follow the convention described in TM44, published by CIBSE.
Carbon
Carbon is an abbreviation for Carbon Dioxide.
Greenhouse gases include a range of gases but Carbon Dioxide (co2) is the main one.
co2 is the standard measure of emissions with all other gases converted to co2 equivalents (co2e); this provides a common currency when discussing emissions.
Carbon and co2 conversions
- A saving of 2325 kWh of electrical consumption saves 1 tonne of co2
- A saving of 5263 kWh of gas consumption saves 1 tonne of co2
- A saving of 339 litres of fuel oil consumption saves 1 tonne of co2
Carbon capture and storage
This is a plan to mitigate climate change by capturing co2 from large sources such as power plants. This is stored safely instead of releasing it to atmosphere. Storage of co2 is in deep geological forms or oceans.
Carbon footprint
A carbon footprint is a way of expressing the amount of co2 emitted as a result of an organisations or households operations. Carbon footprints are expressed in tonnes of co2 emitted per year. They are calculated by auditing the various processes and activities of buildings as well as the source of that energy.
A typical commercial building of over 600 staff will have a carbon footprint of over 1000 tonnes of co2 per year.
Carbon Reduction Commitment
The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) applies to mandatory emissions trading for large commercial and public sector organisations. CRC focuses on emissions that are outside the Climate Change Agreements and EU emissions trading scheme. The United Kingdom have undertaken to include all organisations that consume on aggregate over 6,000,000 kWh of half-hourly metered electricity from a base of 2008 . Entry within the CRC will require the highest UK undertaking to account for and report emissions on behalf of all majority shareholding subsidiaries. It is envisaged it will come into force during 2010.
Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE)
Institution responsible for the technical content of the Air Conditioning Inspection protocol for England and Wales. This is known as Technical Memorandum No 44 (TM44)
Climate Change
Climate change includes global warming but also refers to the other changes to the earth’s climate, such as extreme weather events that are believed to be caused by increase in greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Climate Change Levy (CCL)
Introduced in 2001 the Climate change levy is a tax on the use of energy by businesses in the UK with the aim of providing clear incentive to improve energy efficiency. It applies to electricity, gas, coal and LPG the charges increase annually by the retail price index.
Combined Heat & Power (CHP)
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) sometimes known as Cogeneration is the use of a single piece of plant to generate both heat and electricity (for Trigeneration where the heating and cooling and electricity) .In conventional power generation large quantities of energy in the form of heat are wasted. By using CHP, the total energy conversion efficiency can reach 90%.
Although not a renewable technology , combining CHP with sustainable fuels such as Biomass with energy saving measures can provide low cost heating that has a minimal carbon footprint . CHP is a key technology in the government’s drive away from centralised power generation to distributed power generation.
CHP plant is available in all capacities from large CHP plants where the electricity output feeds into the national network and the heat is used locally: through building or community sized CHP plants to Micro CHP units that effectively replace the boiler of a single building.
Communities and Local Government (CLG)
The CLG are tasked with ensuring that the Air Conditioning Inspections are carried out in an economic and timely manner. The outputs must ensure that the main objective of reducing energy consumption are met.
Extreme Weather Events
This refers to those weather events that cause extensive and wide spread destruction . Scientists agree that the increasing frequency and intensity of hurricanes , flooding , drought and increasing spread of diseases such as malaria can be directly liked to human influenced climate change.
Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD)
Published Directive on The Energy Performance of Buildings which came into law in January 2003.The principal objectives of the directive are :
- To promote the improvement of the energy performance of buildings within the EU through cost effective measures.
- To promote the convergence of building standards towards those Member States which already have ambitious levels.
Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) Part L
Part L introduces
- Defined methodology for calculating energy performance of buildings
- Minimum energy performance standards for new and existing buildings
- The requirement to consider alternative energy sources for new and refurbished buildings over 1000m2 e.g. CHP or connection to community energy scheme.
- Energy performance certificates to be issues to prospective purchases and tenants.
Energy Performance Certificates
The EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive requires commercial and large public buildings to have an energy performance certificate. This came into law in October 2008 for all buildings.
The certificate will show how energy efficient a building is and how much carbon dioxide it emits into the atmosphere. The certificates look similar to the labelling used for electrical white goods and show energy rating from A to G , A being the best and G the worst.
There are 2 types of certificate
- Energy Performance Certificate (EPCs) required when buildings are constructed , sold or rented out , based on calculated energy use and carbon dioxide emissions (called “asset ratings”) and is valid for 10 years. A recommendation report accompanies the certificate and is valid for seven years. The report suggests energy improvements ranked in order of payback and energy impact.
- Display Energy Certificates (DECs) with a total useful area of buildings greater than 1000m2 occupied by public authorities and institutions , based on actual energy use (“operational ratings”) and renewed annually. DECs must be publicly displayed.
Fossil Fuels
Fossil Fuels refer to coal , oil and natural gas. Burning these fuels to produce energy is amongst the biggest contributors to increasing levels of co2 in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Global warming
Global warming refers to the trend of rising average temperatures that the world is experiencing as a result of increased levels of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere and often referred to as climate change.
Government Commitments
At the Kyoto Summit in 1997 , the UK Government agreed to a 12.5% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by 2008 to 2012.
The government have also set targets of :
- A 60% reduction in UK co2 emissions by 2050
- By 2012 the government’s office state will be carbon neutral.
- A 30% reduction in carbon emissions from central government buildings by 2020.
- 10% of UK energy generation from renewables by 2010.
Greenhouse Effect
Certain gases in the Earth’s atmosphere act like a greenhouse , keeping in reflected heat from the Sun. These are known as greenhouse gases. The main greenhouse gas is called (co2) . As the atmospheric concentration of these gases increases , more of the Sun’s energy is trapped like a blanket over the earth causing the temperatures to rise.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
The IPCC was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Environmental Programme. Made up of a penal of experts, the IPCC assesses the scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant for understanding the risk to human influenced climate change.
Kyoto Protocol
Sponsored by the United Nations, the Kyoto Protocol is an agreement between countries to reduce to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by a set percentage. This became international law in 2005. As of may 2008, 181 countries and the EEC have ratified the treaty. Major countries who have chosen not to be involved in the treaty are the United States and Australia with developing nations excluded from binding targets for reducing emissions.
Life Cycle Costing (LCC) also called Whole Life Costing is a technique to establish the total cost of ownership. It is a structured approach that addresses all the elements of this cost and can be used to produce a spend profile of the product or service over its anticipated life-span. The results of an LCC analysis can be used to assist management in the decision-making process where there is a choice of options.
Mitigation
Mitigation refers to activities which try to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the Earth’s atmosphere. Improving energy efficiency has the greatest impact as it reduces the amount of fossil fuels which need to be burned to generate the energy we consume. Renewable energy sources also have a big impact as they generate energy using methods which don’t produce greenhouse gases.
Offsetting
Offsetting is an idea for reducing the impact of carbon dioxide emissions from everyday activities such as travel and energy consumption. The emissions from such activity are calculated by a carbon offsetting provider and then paid through a donation to a project that reduces carbon by the equivalent amount typically in the developing world.
Environmental campaigners say it sends out the wrong message, namely that you can buy your way out of the problem of rising carbon emissions and that offsetting discourages individuals and companies from improving energy efficiency and sourcing renewable energy to cut greenhouse gases in the first place.
Tree planting is a common offsetting activity, however large scale plantations reduce biodiversity and cause social disruption in the developing world.
Ozone depletion
Damage to the ozone layer in the 1980s which resulted in worldwide bans on the use of CFCs (clorofluorocarbons), is seen as a model for similar cooperation to address climate change . Businesses and governments took action to phase CFCs out and as a result, the hole in the ozone layer is predicted to disappear by the end of this century.
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is generated from natural sources such as wind , the sun, rivers and organic matter used for fuel. The most common types of renewable energy are wind power, hydro electric, biomass, bio fuels, wave tidal and solar.
Stern Review
IN November 2006, the economist Sir Nicholas Stern published ‘The Stern Review’, a report on the economics of climate change. His main conclusion was that the cost to the world’s economy of not acting immediately to tackle climate change is far greater (at 20% of global GDP) that the cost of taking action now (only 1%)
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