The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently initiated a program -- Commercial Building Partnerships (CBP) -- to work with private-sector companies in the design of highly-efficient retrofit and new construction projects. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is conducting a project with a major hotel company to retrofit a full-service, large hotel with the goal of reducing energy consumption by at least 30%. The first step of the project was an intensive metering and monitoring effort aimed at understanding energy end use patterns in the hotel. About 10% of the guest rooms (32), as well as circuits for most of the end uses in public spaces (lighting, elevators, air handlers and other HVAC system components, and various equipment), were equipped with meters. Data are being collected at 1- or 5-minute intervals and downloaded on a monthly basis for analysis. This paper presents results from the first four months of the monitoring effort, which revealed energy end-use consumption patterns, variability of guest room energy use, daily load curves, monthly variations, and other aspects of hotel energy use. Metered end-use data for hotels at this level of detail are not available from any currently-available public sources. This study presents unique information and insightmore » into energy end-use patterns in the lodging sector of commercial buildings and can also serve as a case study of a complex sub-metering project.« less

Sustainable development has three broad goals: environmental stewardship, social responsibility and economic prosperity, for both the organization and its stakeholders. In a successful sustainability-focused business strategy, these three goals will be inter-related and supportive of each other. Developing such a strategy requires careful study and analysis to fully understand sustainability-related opportunities and threats. Battelle's consulting work with the cement industry the State of Arizona and others, shows how innovation is a focused business strategy. key element of sustainability. Furthermore such business strategies must be customized to meet an organization's core competencies, financial situation, skills, resources, and the sustainability challenges it faces.

Sustainable development involves three general goals – environmental stewardship, social responsibility and economic prosperity for both the organization and its stakeholders. In a successful sustainability-focused business strategy, these three goals will be inter-related and supportive of each other. Developing such a strategy requires careful study and analysis to deeply understand sustainability-related opportunities and threats. Based on Battelle’s consulting work with organizations such as the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the cement industry, the State of Arizona, and others, innovation is a key element of sustainability-focused business strategy. Furthermore, such business strategies must be customized to meet the organization’s core competencies, financial situation, skills, resources, and the sustainability challenges it faces

International pressure to close some of the old nuclear reactors built by the former Soviet Union (FSU) has accelerated in the period since that country's dissolution, This pressure has been countered, however, by the argument that resulting electricity shortfalls would hasten ongoing social and economic dislocations. Under feasible economic scenarios, this paper identifies which regions would likely experience electricity supply shortfalls, outlines what adjustments in electricity transfers between regions could offset the shortfalls, and estimates the implied costs and schedules of related power plant and transmission construction projects, Costs of closure range from less than US$1 billion to as much as US$16 billion.