Alaska energy conservation leader
February 16, 2013
Alaska leads in energy conservation in the north for a variety of reasons: larger population; a University; communities facing high energy costs;a State Energy Strategy and numerous energy related non-profit organizations helping out.
Energy efficiency and conservation (EE&C) are the low hanging fruit of efforts to meet sustainable energy goals. In Alaska, a defining energy goal is to improve energy efficiency by 15% between 2010 and 2020. The State-run agency, the Alaska Energy Association (AEA) focuses its end use energy efficiency program activities on commercial buildings, public buildings, industrial facilities, and electrical efficiency. Additionally, AEA organizes the collaborative multi-stakeholder group called the Alaska Energy Efficiency Partnership.
Some examples of Alaska energy conservation projects:
- To that end, design-build team Pfeffer Development, Criterion Construction and kbp architects worked with tenant NANA Regional Corp. to renovate the old Unocal building at 909 W. Ninth Ave. in downtown Anchorage (photo). The glass exterior of the building was replaced with high-efficiency blue-tinted panels that reflect NANA’s corporate color and also help with solar performance. Along the interior walls, offices have full-height modular glass walls to allow daylight to penetrate the core of the building.
- In Southeast Alaska, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association installed a seawater heat pump at its Alaska Marine Research Institute last year, closing the loop to make the 66,000-square-foot facility completely green. NOAA was one of the first to make the step, but several other public buildings are in line behind it. Sea water is piped from Resurrection Bay, which ranges from 37 to 52 degrees, to a titanium plate heat exchanger, where it warms a mixture of glycol and water. The glycol mixture is piped to two 90-ton chillers, where it comes into contact with a refrigerant that boils at a low temperature, turning it into a gas. The gas is then compressed, raising its temperature. The compressed gas raises the temperature of another loop of water to 120 degrees. It’s then pumped throughout the facility to warm ventilation air, preheat domestic hot water and heat concrete slabs to keep ice from forming on pavement around walkways and animal enclosures.
There is a plethora of information available from Alaska on energy matters. Alaskans are leaders in renewable energy and conservation.