December 2011 - CDH and ARIES Start New BUILDING AMERICA PROJECT to Develop Field Test Protocol for Oil-Heated Homes

CDH Energy Corp has begun a project to develop a test protocol to verify energy savings in retrofitted homes that use oil heat. This protocol will support the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Better Buildings Program. The research project will use the detailed measurements of oil use from several homes to verify that low cost field measurement approaches can accurately predict the fuel consumption of oil-fired furnaces and boilers. The DOE Building America research program seeks to develop integrated energy systems that substantially reduce annual energy consumption while improving building comfort, safety, performance and durability, all in a cost effective manner. CDH Energy is a member of the ARIES Collaborative (Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Solutions); one of several research teams that are part of the Building America Progarm. ARIES team is led by The Levy Partnership in New York and also includes The Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems, Southern Energy Management, NYSERDA and other organizations. The ARIES Collaborative has worked in the Building America Program since the beginning of 2011.

October 2011 - CDH Completes Final Report for Comparative Roof Testing on Onondaga County Facility

CDH Energy Corp recently completed a field test comparing the energy efficiency and water retention performance of four different "green" roof systems. CDH teamed with Ashley McGraw Architects to complete this research project for Onondaga County. Data loggers and instrumentation were installed in the fall of 2009, to compare the thermal losses from conventional "black" roofs with standard insultation, to better insultated "white" roofs, as well as vegetative "green" roofs. The side-by-side-by-side test was conducted at Jamesville Correctional Facility. Continuous data collection (at 15-minute intervals) started in October 2009, and has continued for the last two years. The results confirmed that a "white" roof surface did reduce heat gains and cooling loads in the summer, but the reduction in heat gains in the winter, spring and fall also increased heat losses. On an annual basis in Syracuse's climate, the "white" roof had no net impact on combined heating and cooling costs. The vegetative roof was shown to have more thermal benefit than expected. The net cost savings were estimated to be $7 per year per 1000 square ft. of roof area. More importantly, the vegetative roof significantly reduced the amount of water draining from the assembly. On average only 20% of measured rainfall on the roof ended up in the storm drain system.

Fall 2011 UPDATE - CDH Continues with NYS CHP MONITORING

CDH Energy Corp continues working with NYSERDA on the web-based DG/CHP (Distributed Generation/Combined Heat and Power) data system for NYSERDA's DG/CHP demonstration project. This project, begun in 2005, has expanded currently to 104 sites in New York State, ranging from educational facilities and rehabilitation centers, to office buildings and manufacturing plants. Data and information from the demonstration sites are available on the NSERDA CHP website: www.chp.nyserda.org. DG/CHP systems offer the potential to reduce operating ocsts for end users, as well as improved the reliability of electric distribution and transmission. Increasing numbers of sites are investing in this technology because of the promising savings in energy and cost.