General
Learning From Japan’s Nuclear Disaster
As heroic workers and soldiers strive to save stricken Japan from a new horror—radioactive fallout—some truths known for 40 years bear repeating. An earthquake-and-tsunami zone crowded with 127 million people is an unwise place for 54 reactors. The 1960s design of five Fukushima-I reactors has the smallest safety margin and probably can't contain 90 percent of meltdowns. The U.S. has six identical and 17 very similar plants.
New Tool Helps Portfolio Owners Prospect for Profitable Retrofits
An exciting tool is now available for those prospecting for profitable building retrofits. Analogous to giving a miner a GPS and the coordinates of a gold vein, the new Retroficiency software tool tells building owners, managers and service providers which building to target for retrofit.
Dr. RetroFit Addresses Historic Building Retrofits (Video)
RMI's Victor Olgyay, also known as Dr. RetroFit, and Elaine Adams, AIA discuss historic building retrofits and where you can find more information on this topic.
A Universe of (Good) Data At Your Fingertips
Building energy modelers want, and need a universe of useful data. Observing the BEM Summits “Support and Resources” breakout group (which focused on the question, “what tools does an energy modeler need when they sit down to model?”), this point was abundantly clear.
Is Predicting Energy Efficiency Performance a Gamble?
Vegas could make a killing collecting bets on potential building energy performance —some might say you have as good a chance picking next year’s Super Bowl winner. Yet, building energy modelers are tasked with the challenge of predicting building energy use before a building is even designed, or before they know how the building will be used and operated.
