Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Receives High Performance Energy Efficiency Award from NYSERDA

http://is.gd/2wiUw8

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) recognized Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) with a High Performance Building Plaque for energy-saving investments that will reduce energy costs by $223,513 annually.

RPI’s construction of Phase I of its East Campus Athletic Village, a new basketball arena and stadium adjacent to the Houston Field House on the Troy campus, was supported by $404,491 in NYSERDA incentives, which leveraged $3.1 million in other investment. The project’s energy-efficiency improvements included high-efficiency lighting, demand control ventilation, variable speed drives on a cooling tower fan, fan motors and water pumps.

The energy savings—1,173,020 kilowatt hours—is equivalent to the amount of electricity consumed by 170 single-family homes annually and will be realized by the institution every year for years to come.

The facility’s energy efficiency improvements will reduce energy consumption, decrease demands on the utility’s distribution system, increase occupant comfort and decrease the environmental impacts of the construction process.  The improvements also helped RPI achieve LEED Gold certification.
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NYSERDA High Performance Building Plaques are presented to hospitals, colleges and universities, schools, businesses and other organizations that have constructed or substantially renovated buildings to perform at least 30 percent above the New York State Energy Conservation Construction Code.  RPI’s East Campus Athletic Village is rated to perform 33 percent above code.

Plaques were also awarded in the Capital Region to Arbor Hill Branch and New Scotland Avenue Branch as these buildings are slated to perform 36.3 and 44.6 percent above code respectively.

Since 2009, NYSERDA has provided more than $1.8 million to help reduce electricity consumption by approximately 15.3 million kilowatt hours in 9 new construction projects throughout Rensselaer County - the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of nearly 2,228 single-family homes.

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) www.NYSERDA.org

Press Release dated January 19, 2012

Prices Fall for Some Gas-Rich Shale Land

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/10/business/10views.html
The gas-rich land of the Marcellus shale has offered some of the hottest wildcat real estate in recent years. But if Exxon Mobil’s recent $1.7 billion acquisition is any indication, the days of eye-watering prices are over. The oil titan is paying barely half the price such acres were fetching last year, as the frenzy has shifted to Texas. Cheaper real estate may even make gas assets look appealing again.

Exxon is paying about $5,000 an acre by buying Phillips Resources and TWP, two private drillers in the Marcellus, which spans Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia. This may not seem like such a steal when compared with 2006 prices of around $100 an acre. Even so, it does suggest that energy land values are coming off the boil.

The property boom reached its peak when Chesapeake Energy doled out $17,000 an acre in early 2010, according to research from IHS. Mitsui and India’s Reliance Industries both paid $14,000 an acre in the spring of 2010. As recently as December, Exco Resources was willing to pay $9,000.

There are good reasons the froth has come out of Marcellus. Gas prices have been in the doldrums and are running about a third their 2008 peak. Meanwhile, state regulators are taking a tougher line on hydraulic fracturing, supported by a skeptical public. This has sent energy firms flocking to the oilier Eagle Ford Shale, which is now experiencing a property boom of its own. Marathon Oil paid $20,000 an acre for oil-rich land in Texas earlier this month.

But with less hype built into land values, the Marcellus is looking like a good bet again. The glut of gas that depressed prices is finally clearing. And because of its proximity to the New York market, gas from the Marcellus sells for a premium. Shell’s announcement that it is mulling a new petrochemical plant in the region suggests more demand may be on its way.
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By Christopher Swann and Reynolds Holding
The New York Times www.NYTimes.com
June 9, 2011
FOR FULL STORY GO TO:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/10/business/10views.html

Residents clued in to recycling - Schenectady undertakes a campaign to change the way it handles trash disposal - Times Union

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Residents-clued-in-to-recycling-1344330.php
... Anthony Verrigni, ... of the city's waste collection team, walked door-to-door in the Bellevue neighborhood....

He and other workers were delivering informational booklets that officials hope will convince residents to raise the city's abysmal recycling rate, which stands at only 8 percent of the total annual trash haul.
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Verrigni will have to come up with something original to serenade the city's new educational program, which hopes to elevate recycling rates above 20 percent to save taxpayers up to $400,000 on waste hauling costs.

The city originally considered going to a single-stream system, whereby Schenectady would provide large cans to each household that would require no sorting. But at a cost of $1.5 million just to buy the cans, and little room on some narrow streets to hold them, re-educating the population about recycling is currently the only option, said Commissioner of General Services Carl Olsen. When Schenectady started picking up recycling in 1992, trash waste was reduced by 25 percent. Olsen blames the city for stopping educational efforts, which are essential when dealing with an urban transient population. 'If people have the information, most people will comply,' he said.

This week, waste collection workers are hand-delivering recycling booklets to about 2,000 households in the Bellevue and Mont Pleasant neighborhoods. The city will determine if recycling increases in those areas and adjust the educational program as it moves to other areas. The materials will be given to kids at bus stops to take home to their parents. A waste department Twitter account has even been created to keep residents abreast of the campaign.
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Read the city of Schenectady's new recycling booklet at www.cityofschenectady.com. Follow the recycling educational program on Twitter at schenectadywastedept.

By LAUREN STANFORTH
The Albany Times Union http://www.timesunion.com
April 20, 2011
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Residents-clued-in-to-recycling-1344330.php