Sieben Blog

SEA Founder Chosen for Emanuel's Transition Team

SEAadmin — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:10:00 GMT

Craig Sieben, SEA’s founder and CEO, has been chosen to join Chicago Mayor-Elect Rahm Emanuel’s Transition Team. As a member of the Energy, Environment, and Public Space Committee—a team of community, business, and non-profit leaders from the Chicago-land area –he will help draft and provide recommendations to Mayor-Elect Emanuel concerning a number of issues facing the city . The insight and expertise of the Energy, Environment, and Public Space committee will help the Mayor-Elect address the impact of environmental and energy policy on Chicago’s economy, public safety, efficiency in social services and healthcare, and energy use.

New Professional Certification Focuses on Energy Auditing

Liz Brady — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 05:58:00 GMT

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) recently announced the launch of a new professional certification program focused on energy auditing and building assessment. The “Building Energy Assessment Professional” (BEAP) certification will recognize an engineer’s competence in analyzing building systems performance, collecting energy usage data, and identifying and implementing measures to reduce building energy use.

The inaugural certification exam will take place during the ASHRAE Winter Conference in Las Vegas this February. Visit the ASHRAE website for additional information on the Building Energy Assessment Professional certification.

The launch of this new designation by ASHRAE further emphasizes the importance of energy audits in optimizing building performance and conserving energy. In addition to professional certifications, ASHRAE also drafted the standards by which many building energy audits are conducted, including those performed for LEED prerequisites and credits.

To learn more about the financial and environmental benefits of building energy audits, explore SEA’s Energy Auditing Services.

CAN You Believe It?

SEAadmin — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 05:15:00 GMT

Sieben Energy Associates (SEA) was proud to sponsor Team CANopy from Nagle Hartray Danker Kagan McKay Penney Architects in the recent CANstruction design/build competition in Chicago

Canstruction^® (a foundation of the Society for Design Administration), holds competitions in hundreds of cities around the world benefitting shelters, food pantries, and elderly and day care centers. The 4^th annual Chicago competition took place May 14- June 2 at Merchandise Mart Plaza. The event brought together the design and building community to raise awareness and benefit the 678,000 people the Food Depository feeds each year.. Teams of design and building professionals created sculptures made entirely of canned food items. After the event, all 70,000 cans were donated to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Team CANopy took home Honorable Mention for their impressive giant tree (made of tuna and baked beans). Congratulations! It’s amazing what an innovative design, a supreme team, and a remarkable amount of baked beans and tuna can do… SEA was happy to be part of it!

See a photo of Team CANopy and their creation.

DOE Enforces This Administration’s Seriousness about Energy Efficiency

Michael Kuk — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 03:28:00 GMT

Indeed they do! The US Department of Energy does check on manufacturer claims related to energy efficiency and will issue a Notice of Noncompliance. On March 30, 2010 the DOE did just that to AeroSys, Inc. of Hagerstown, MD. According to DOE tests, AeroSys was producing and distributing “one air conditioner and one heat pump” that “consume more energy than allowed under federal efficiency standards.”

In their own press release, DOE General Counsel Scott Blake Harris exclaimed, “This action is designed to send a clear message to all manufacturers – this Administration takes energy efficiency seriously and we well act aggressively to remove any products from the market that are violating national appliance standards.”

Read more about the DOE's action in response to unsubstantiated appliance efficiency claims at the DOE website.

This Winter’s Heating Bills

Dan Bailey — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:10:00 GMT

After the holidays, some people can’t wait for spring’s arrival, while others are enjoying the chill in the air and snow on the ground. The middle of winter is also an important time to examine oil and natural gas markets, understand how weather has impacted them, and speculate about where they could be headed for the remainder of the season.

Based on my analysis of leading industry information, we can expect near-term upward pressure on oil prices in the face of continuing cold weather, a weakened dollar, optimistic economic data, and geopolitical issues. Monthly employment numbers announced at the end of this week could, however, lead to a sell-off and drop in prices if the figures are surprisingly negative.

Severe cold across much of the U.S. has contributed to higher heating prices than predicted before we headed into winter two months ago—regardless of whether heat is provided by oil, natural gas, or electricity. Expect short-term pressure on prices for January and February, but the jury is still out regarding March. If milder weather returns for the latter half of January, prices for February should ease from where they now stand.

Natural gas storage numbers to be announced this Thursday, January 7, will be critical. Withdrawal will likely be sizeable because of the markedly cold temperatures across the U.S., but if the withdrawal is surprisingly greater than expected, prices could jump higher. But there is still plenty of gas in storage, and so a sustained price rally—with prices climbing higher and higher over the next one or two months—is unlikely. At some point, temperatures across the U.S. will return to normal for the winter, and weekly withdrawal from storage will subside to moderate levels.

Industrial demand for natural gas is not expected to return to pre-recession levels until 2013 or 2014, so even though we may be using more gas than expected to heat our homes and businesses this year, we’re not using as much in manufacturing. This is buffering consumers somewhat from a price shock during what is, thus far, a very cold winter.

But the warmth of spring will return soon, and with it, we can expect a decrease in our monthly gas prices.

Energy Top Ten for 2010

Dan Bailey — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:32:00 GMT

Some thoughts about what the United States can expect with respect to energy in 2010 with some humor thrown into the mix

Welcome to the Sieben Blog

SEAadmin — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:17:00 GMT

Welcome to the Sieben Energy Blog