CNT Energy, Community Investment Corporation
Date: 2010-02-11
Chicagoland's Energy Savers program has retrofitted 3,500 apartments and other rental units in Chicago and neighboring communities in just 18 months. It also has 2,500 additional units under construction, with typical energy savings of 30%. Operated by CNT Energy, Energy Savers has conducted energy audits for more than 9,000 housing units in 300 buildings, and is on track to complete more than 9,000 retrofits by the end of the year, making it one of the country's largest and most successful programs for retrofitting existing multi-family, rental housing. Energy Savers also includes low-interest loans from the Community Investment Corporation that help building owners pay for new heating and cooling equipment, new windows and insulation, and other energy conserving improvements. Building owners who have participated in the Energy Savers program report operational energy savings of between 26-43%. (Source: PR Newswire, February 9, 2010) Contact: Anne Evens, Director, CNT Energy, (773) 269-4037, aevens@cntenergy.org, www.cntenergy.org; Michael Bielawa, Vice President, Community Investment Corporation, (312) 258-0070, www.cicchicago.com

Arizona State University, APS Energy Services, Cree
Date: 2010-02-11
Arizona State University (ASU) joined the Cree LED University program, an international community of universities working to accelerate the adoption of energy efficient LEDs across their campuses. Working with APS Energy Services, ASU has equipped six parking structures with more than 2,000 LED fixtures and has replaced 6-inch incandescent downlights in its law school with energy efficient LED downlights. The law school downlights consume 85% less energy than the incandescent fixtures and are designed to last 50,000 hours, compared to approximately 1,000 hours for an incandescent bulb. ASU anticipates reducing energy consumption by 1.5 million kWh per year and is expected to save up to $127,000 US in energy and maintenance costs. (Source: Market Watch, February 10, 2010) Contact: Michael Crow, President, Arizona State University, (480) 965-8972, Michael.Crow@asu.edu, www.asu.edu; Michelle Murray, Corporate Communications, Cree, (919) 313-5505, michelle_murray@cree.com, www.cree.com ; APS Energy Services, (602) 774-5000, www.apses.com

Gaylord City Government
Date: 2010-02-11
The US DOE has awarded Gaylord, MI two grants worth $100,000 to make lighting in the city's department buildings more energy efficient, a move that is expected to generate annual savings of $11,500 on the city's electric bill. With the funding, 156 fixtures at the Gaylord's Department of Public Works and Wastewater Treatment Plant will be replaced with higher-efficiency models, and 86 streetlights along the city's Main Street will be replaced with LED lights. (Source: Gaylord Herald Times, February 10, 2010) Contact: Joe Duff, City Manager and Interim Director of Gaylord Downtown Development Authority, Gaylord City Government, (989) 732-4060, www.otsego.org/gov/city/citygov.htm

National Institute for Standards and Technology, Fluke Corporation
Date: 2010-02-11
Everett, WA-headquartered Fluke Corporation, a maker of hand-held electronic test and measurement technology and electrical calibration, will receive $1,400,000 from the US Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology to conduct testing to ensure that the smart grid is both reliable and stable as well as able to accept power from renewable sources. With the grant, Fluke will create a new calibration technology that is a catalyst for creating a standard with which electricity flowing into the Smart Grid will be evaluated. (Source: Automated Buildings, February 8, 2010) Contact: Fred McGehan, Spokesman, National Institute for Standards and Technology, (303) 497-3246, mcgehan@boulder.nist.gov, www.nist.gov; Larry Wilson, Fluke Corporation, (425) 446-5671, larry.wilson@fluke.com, www.fluke.com

Government of the United Kingdom
Date: 2010-02-11
The UK Government will allocate £60,000,000 ($93,700,000 US) to build 600 green homes in four eco-towns across the country. These homes will serve as eco-show homes and feature smart meters, insulation to the highest standards, water efficiency measures, recycling or composting of waste, and electric car charging points. The funding will also be used to improve transport links, including fast bus routes and electric car facilities, and an extra £2,500,000 from the Department for Children, Schools and Families will help boost efficiency efforts at local schools. (Source: Energy Efficiency News, February 9, 2010) Contact: Department for Communities and Local Government, Government of the United Kingdom, +44 (0)20 7944-4400, www.communities.gov.uk

Cree
Date: 2010-02-11
Cree, Inc. a market leader in LED lighting, announces another industry-best reported efficacy record of 208 lumens per watt for a white power LED. This R&D result passes a significant milestone within the solid-state lighting industry as well as demonstrates Cree's relentless drive to increase the performance of its LEDs.

Cree's tests confirmed that the LED produced 208 lumens of light output and achieved 208 lumens per watt efficacy at a correlated color temperature of 4579 K. The tests were conducted under standard LED test conditions at a drive current of 350 mA at room temperature.

"We have now broken the elusive 200-lumen-per-watt efficacy barrier for a single white power LED," said John Edmond, Cree Co-Founder and Director of Advanced Optoelectronics. "This is a result of improvements in blue optical output power, lower operating voltage and higher conversion efficiency. We continue to push the envelope in white LED technology to enable the highest efficiency white lighting products in the marketplace."

While this level of performance is not yet available in Cree's production LEDs, Cree continues to lead the industry with the broadest family of high-performance LEDs. (Source: Cree) Contact: John Edmond, Cree, Co-Founder/ Director of Advanced Optoelectronics, (919) 313-5300, www.cree.com