Vamsi - Smart Buildings Center

Onset HOBO Data Loggers are available in our Tool Lending Library

May 5, 2016 By Vamsi

Onset HOBO Occupancy/Light Data Logger — HOBO Occupancy/Light Data Logger available in our Tool Lending Library

Have you used a data logger before? These are devices that can be deployed in buildings and be used to track and measure characteristics like temperature, humidity, and light levels. Afterwards you can chart and analyze the data to look at places where energy is being wasted, like having the lights on when nobody is in the space, or you can use the data to figure out if your efficiency project is saving the energy you anticipated. The Smart Buildings Center Tool Lending Library has been offering these for loan since we opened last Fall, but we understand that not everyone has had the training and experience to get the most out of these tools. Here’s an opportunity to learn from experts…

Free Onset HOBO Webinar Series in May – June

Onset HOBO data loggers are a very popular type of deployable data logger and Onset is offering a webinar series that will assist in training you on how to use these loggers and their accompanying HOBO software. Herman Gustafson, an Onset Product Marketing Engineer, and Scott Ellis, an Onset Product Marketing Manager will be putting on three different webinars that will cover many advanced features of these loggers and will also offer ample time for questions and answers:

Wed., May 18, 2pm EDT: HOBOware flagship setup, graphing, and analysis software
Wed., June 8, 2pm EDT: HOBOlink for web-based access to RX3000 Remote Monitoring Systems
Wed., June 29, 2pm EDT: HOBOmobile app for configuring and managing MX Series Bluetooth loggers

These webinars are free, please follow this link to RSVP.

PNNL Seeking Teams for Connected Buildings Challenge

April 18, 2016 By Vamsi

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is hosting the Connected Buildings Challenge with the objective of accelerating development of smart, connected buildings. Registration is due later this week, April 22.

Through funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, PNNL is seeking teams to join the competition with an innovative project of their own. Teams are asked to provide a solution to a targeted building-related challenge, the specification of which can be defined by the participating team.

All submitted projects are required to integrate VOLTTRON™—an open-source software platform to connect energy management devices—with smart building devices, sensors, or appliances such as heating and cooling equipment, hot-water heaters, washers and dryers, refrigerators, lighting controls, weather stations, thermostats, humidity sensors, etc.

At the end of each challenge, the teams are expected to demo their project to a judging committee. The selected team will receive further assistance to improve, test, and potentially commercialize their products.

Learn about the Connected Buildings Challenge and VOLTTRON at the PNNL website.

Seattle City Light’s Strategic Plan Update April 13

April 8, 2016 By Vamsi

You may know about the Smart Buildings Center’s event spaces as many of you have either visited us or used one of our spaces for your own events. We partner with other groups to provide great content of interest to the energy efficiency community.

You’re invited

Join us Wed., April 13 for a short Seattle City Light Strategic Plan Update presentation and Q&A session with City Light representatives. Time: 4 pm – 5 pm (free NEEC social hour to follow), please RSVP.

Seattle City Light is updating its Strategic Business Plan. The update covers the years 2017-2022 and supports the utility’s budget and rate proposal for 2017 and 2018.

First adopted by the Seattle City Council in 2012, the plan offers a blueprint for making informed decisions about the future. Each update is an opportunity to gather feedback from customers and stakeholders on how City Light is doing its job – producing and delivering environmentally responsible, safe, affordable and reliable power. The utility provides an update every 2 years and includes a 6 year rate path in the plan.

City Light is looking for feedback on the progress they have made in achieving the important metrics for their 4 key strategic objectives 1) Improve Customer Experience and Rate Predictability; 2) Increase Workforce Performance and Safety Practices; 3) Enhance Organizational Performance; and 4) Continue Conservation and Environmental Stewardship.

They also would like to seek input on two important new strategic efforts – Transportation Electrification and Climate Adaptation. Finally, they plan to roll out their draft 6 year rate path and also discuss opportunities for continued innovation the energy efficiency sector.

Their customer and stakeholder outreach effort on the update is during the month of April, so your participation at this meeting is appreciated. The plan is expected to be transmitted from the Mayor to the Council in June with adoption by the Council in late July.

RSVP Now

Stay for the NEEC Power Hour

All attendees are invited to stay for NEEC’s free Power Hour social networking event afterwards. It’s an informal gathering with complimentary beer, wine, and light snacks. Please indicate on the RSVP if you plan to attend. We hope to see you there!

When: Wed., April 13, 4 pm – 5 pm (free NEEC Power Hour to follow)
Location: Smart Buildings Center, Pacific Tower, 1200 12th Ave S., Ste 110

Logging CO2 at the Smart Buildings Center

December 14, 2015 By Vamsi

At the Smart Buildings Center we like to talk about how Smart + Efficient can really help transform building energy efficiency. There are many ways to go about this, but we wanted to share a simple experiment logging CO2 we ran in October.

Many of you were able to join us for our Grand Opening (hopefully some of you still remember it after that second glass of wine). During the event our Tool Lending Library Staff deployed some Onset HOBO loggers to measure CO2. The way we did this was by connecting an Onset Tellaire 7001 CO2 Sensor with an Onset HOBO U12. The Tellaire handles the actual measurement of CO2 while the HOBO U12 keeps the log of that measurement (along with Temperature and Relative Humidity).

Smart Buildings Center Tool Lending Library room — The Tool Lending Library just before the grand opening crowd arrived.

Below is a graph of CO2 measured by Parts per Million (ppm) over time. We actually measured CO2 over almost 6 days, October 23^rd through October 29^th, but where it gets interesting are two very obvious spikes. The first one, is where we had a handful of Tool Lending Library staff working to get the space ready for the opening. Also, there were a couple of contractors getting some of the equipment in the Tool Lending Library set up. The second, much larger spike, was during the Grand Opening. At approximately 6:55pm, the CO2 levels shot up to over 1300 ppm. At this point we had tens of people in the space, many more than we are used to having. The system reacted to this and within minutes started to bring more fresh air into the room (also, many people started to leave).

Why log your building’s CO2?

Logging CO2 levels help the owners and operators of buildings understand the relationship between the number of occupants in a space and the amount of ventilation, at a given time. Tools like these are instrumental in determining whether your ventilation system is operating efficiently, and responding correctly to variable demand. Please visit our Tool Lending Library for your CO2 logging needs.

We’re Open!

November 4, 2015 By Vamsi

Smart Buildings Center celebrated its grand opening last week

Over 200 people came to see our new space in the historic Pacific Tower! It was an amazing event and we need to thank all of those who could attend. We will share a few pictures of our space in this post but please stayed tuned, in the coming weeks we will put together a more comprehensive post of our office and event center.

conference room with big table — Look at our beautiful conference room, wait till you see the view!

people milling about talking — Guests filled up our new training and event space.

board members smiling — Dan McConnon and members of the NEEC Board

L to R: Ash Awad from McKinstry, Dan McConnon from Washington State Department of Commerce, Stan Price from NEEC, Perry England from MacDonald-Miller, and Jordan Lerner from Schneider Electric.

Checking out the Tool Library

During the event we were able to show off our new Tool Lending Library (TLL) which now houses over a 1,000 tools. Of the 75 different categories of tools we had aournd 20 available for attendees to demo. The TLL is now open to the public, please complete our Tool Request Form if you are interested in borrowing an item. Learn more here.

tools laid out and ready in the library — The TLL is open and ready for your tool requests!

testing out a tool in the library — Hey, watch where you point that thing!

square steel box for testing tools — The Tool Lending Library will also have many technical displays that can show how specific tools would be set up in the field.

The event was a great success, we are so excited to be able to share our space with you!

Grand Opening & Upcoming Workshop

October 20, 2015 By Vamsi

Reminder: the Smart Buildings Center’s Grand Opening is next week! Join us for an evening celebration next Tuesday to check out our new space and learn more about the resources housed here: meeting and training rooms, informational displays, and the Tool Lending Library. Happy hour refreshments will be served.

Tuesday October 27
5:00pm to 7:00pm – ribbon cutting at 5:45pm

Smart Buildings Center
1200 12th Ave. South, Suite 110
Seattle, WA 98144

Please RSVP here (Event is FREE)
Download event flyer (PDF)

Nov 17: Ultrasonic Flow Meter Training

On November 17th we will be having our first Smart Buildings Center Industry Demonstration Workshop! PCE Pacific, Inc. and GE Measurement and Control will be doing a training on how to use a Panametrics PT878 Portable Ultrasonic Liquid Flow Meter (a tool we offer in the SBC Tool Lending Library). The free training will be from 10am till 12pm.

Workshop Details

Tuesday November 17th
10:00am to 12:00pm