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California has approved the most stringent, environmentally-friendly building code in the United States that will apply to new commercial buildings, hospitals, schools, shopping malls and homes. The new code, called "CAL Green"  which won a unanimous vote by the California Building Standards Commission, will take effect in January 2011.

CAL Green codes require builders to install plumbing that cuts indoor water use, divert 50 percent of construction waste from landfills to recycling, use low-pollutant materials, and install separate water meters for different uses in nonresidential buildings.

CAL Green code also requires energy system inspections by local officials to ensure that heaters, air conditioners and other mechanical equipment in nonresidential buildings are working efficiently.

Property owners can also label their facilities as CAL Green compliant, once they pass state building inspection, without the additional cost of third-party certification programs. The mandatory CAL Green provisions will be inspected and verified by local and state building departments.

However, the regulations were opposed by several private organizations that offer construction rating systems, including the U.S. Green Building Council, which said it could result in confusion for builders, local governments and the public, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

More than 40 California cities have some form of green building ordinances.

"The code will help us meet our goals of curbing global warming and achieving 33 percent renewable energy by 2020 and promotes the development of more sustainable communities by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving energy efficiency in every new home, office building or public structure," stated Governor Schwarzenegger in a press release.

CAL Green from California Building Standards Commission: 

• California Building Standards Green Code
• SB1473 Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund
• Education & Outreach
• Green Building Standards Bulletin - BSB 08-02

Sensors, monitors and controllers are becoming major "micro-players" in the green and sustainability fields because what you can measure, you can control.  There are many opportunities in basic development and manufacturing of these micro-devices, as well as assembling them into high performance equipment and solutions.

Some of the opportunities that are developing in the sensors and micro-world of data gathering, processing and control include:

Automation & Process Control Opportunities
Industrial Automation; DCS; PLC; Special Machine Tools; Fluid Power - hydraulic and pneumatic power; Motors & Drives - Industrial Motors, Electric Drives, Mechanical Power; Process Control - Compressors; and Vacuum Pumps

Sensors Opportunities
Sensors, Industrial Gas Sensors, Infrared Sensors, AVV Sensors, Flow Sensors, Level Sensors, Temperature Sensors, Pressure Sensors, and Magnetic Sensors

Electronics Opportunities
Electronics; AutoID - Tracking Technologies, POS/ePayment Systems, Biometrics/Security Systems, Electronic Component, and Surface Mount Technology (SMT)

Semiconductors Opportunities
Semiconductors, Microcontrollers, Power Transistors, UWB and Zigbee Chipsets, Radio Frequency (RF) Semiconductors, and VLSI Design Services Markets

There is a growing consensus on the need for aggressive public and private action to deal with increasing energy costs and global climate change. 

In the U.S., buildings account for approximately 40% of total energy consumption and 40% of greenhouse gas emissions. 

About half of this is attributable to the commercial sector, and commercial building energy use is growing more rapidly than residential sector energy. 

Dramatic improvements in the energy performance of commercial buildings can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions more quickly and more cost-effectively than many other options - while helping reduce the impact of rising and increasingly volatile energy prices.

Many stakeholders have recognized the need for more aggressive and effective action.

Transforming the energy performance of commercial buildings requires a comprehensive and concerted industry effort, sufficient in scale to influence the more than $500B per year that the sector spends on new construction, renovation and energy. 

Achieving sector-wide transformation will require a focused, multi-year public/private initiative, including coordinated technology development, demonstration and deployment supported by major innovations in policy, financing, project design and delivery, and building energy management.

Congress and DOE Respond

In 2007, Congress created the Zero Net Energy Commercial Buildings Initiative (CBI) as part of the Energy Independence and Security Act (§421, 422 et seq.).  Officially launched by the Department of Energy (DOE) on August 5, 2008, the goal of the initiative is to "develop and disseminate technologies, practices, and policies for establishment of zero net energy commercial buildings." Major milestones are achieving zero net energy buildings in:

• New commercial buildings by 2030;
• Fifty percent of all commercial building stock by 2040; and
• All commercial buildings by 2050.

On October 1, 2009, DOE awarded a contract to the Zero Energy Commercial Buildings Consortium to coordinate private and public sector involvement with DOE in technology and market assessments and other activities to help DOE accomplish the goals of CBI.

As a broad-based public/private partnership, the Consortium builds on the membership of the High-Performance Commercial Green Buildings Partnership, convened by ASHRAE in early 2009 in response to an earlier DOE invitation to form an industry advisory group.  Consortium members will work with DOE to plan, coordinate, and assist in implementing a comprehensive strategy to transform energy performance in the commercial sector through:

• Innovation - Helping to identify and characterize promising new technologies, innovative market mechanisms, and effective public policies - and recommending priorities for technology R&D, demonstrations, and pilot programs.
• Demonstration - Proving that technologies, market mechanisms, and policies work and are well-documented prior to promoting their widespread deployment.
• Deployment - Helping to design, initiate, and evaluate deployment programs for proven energy- saving technologies that are promising but underutilized.

To join the Consortium, please contact:
Diana Lin
Alliance to Save Energy
dlin@ase.org

Website:  http://zeroenergycbc.org/