Operation Green
Expert insight on the latest GREEN trends, products and news from the professionals within the manufacturing industry.
Schneider Electric's "Energy" University tops 3,300 users
Launched in June of 2009, Schneider Electric’s Energy University–a Web-based learning program focused on energy management and efficiency–is growing in attendance, with more than 3,300 active users over the past five months. While I had heard of the e-learning initiative not too long after its announcement, it was only recently that I got the chance to check it out personally ...... Read More
Comments (0)Tech giants push the green data center
In catching up on Green IT news the other day, I came across an announcement about a data center of the future project from T-systems and Intel. T-Systems, a division of Deutsche Telekom, and Intel, have dubbed the project DataCenter 2020. The partners aim to improve data center energy and cooling efficiency by measuring variables in this test setting. The data center has sophisticated ...... Read More
Comments (0)Green building features can make sense, even for smaller operations
One of the last places you’d expect to find a good-sized array of solar panels is on a modest industrial building in Little Suamico, Wisconsin, just a short drive north of Green Bay. Sure, global corporations with sustainability programs and shiny corporate campuses in places like Silicon Valley have installed plenty of solar panels, but you don’t expect to find solar on a small indu ...... Read More
Comments (1)Why efficiency remains low-cost path to Green gains
In reading over a report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) about industrial efficiency programs, I came across a compelling statistic for efficiency measures in industrial plants. According to the report (Industrial Energy Efficiency Programs: Identifying Today’s Leaders and Tomorrow’s Needs), the average industrial facility can achieve energy savings ...... Read More
Comments (0)The software needs of the Smart Grid
The Smart Grid–the moniker for the next generation of electric utility infrastructure that will enable utilities and their customers to dynamically manage energy supply and demand–is not all about newfangled meters, sensors, or other technology hardware. Software also will play a role in the Smart Grid, say vendors such as GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms. GE Fanuc Intelligent Platform ...... Read More
Comments (1)Green measures, slower economy, lead to drop in carbon emissions
In the couple of weeks break I’ve taken from the blog to recuperate from knee surgery, I’ve been following sustainability-related news. One item that caught my eye was news of a study from the Earth Policy Institute that carbon emissions have dropped significantly in the U.S. over the past couple of years, in part due to the slower economy, but also because of gains in efficiency and ...... Read More
Comments (0)Cap and trade's prospects, and does it really matter much, internally?
Within the last month, there has been plenty of action around climate change policy, including the formation of a draft bill in the U.S. Senate with provisions for cap & trade, and news that the Environmental Protection Agency intends to regulate heavy emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Such public policy shifts around GHG reduction could hold profound impact for manufacturers, especially th ...... Read More
Comments (0)PLM's place in the wild west of clean tech
The early days of a surging industry have a bit of that “Wild West” flavor in the quick execution needed around innovative ideas. And time and again, it’s been some of the smaller players who’ve been able to innovate and capitalize on new technologies, as Microsoft did a generation ago by focusing on operating system and desktop software instead of PC hardware. But to m ...... Read More
Comments (0)Wipro sees BI as sustainability's glue
As I’ve written here before, there is no single packaged software application vendor that offers a complete answer for sustainability. In practice, managing sustainability for most larger enterprises spans a range of software applications and data sources, from building automation systems and machine-related energy consumption, to product life-cycle management (PLM) or enterprise-level carb ...... Read More
Comments (0)Survey offers insights, benchmark data on fleet emissions
The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) recently completed a survey of vehicle fleet emissions trends among U.S. companies with large vehicle fleets. As this post from the EDF states, the project sought to better understand metrics such as greenhouse gases emitted per mile travelled, as well as total fleet emissions. The EDF survey is worth a look for sustainability managers or operations executives ...... Read More
Comments (0)Inside the call for a manufacturing "greenprint"
On September 9, a coalition of groups involved in U.S. manufacturing called on the federal government to strengthen its strategy for “smart, safe, and sustainable” production. One of the specific requests in the call was that the government establish a $2 billion public-private partnership to research and develop a manufacturing “greenprint” for sustainable manufacturin ...... Read More
Comments (0)Flurry of activity around Smart Grid
The “smart grid”–which refers to the next generation of electrical grid technology capable of a demand/response approach to energy management–appears to be moving closer to reality. Within the last week, a number of companies have made announcements about smart grid initiatives. Among them: On Sept. 17, Cisco announced momentum for its Smart Grid ecosystem effort, which ...... Read More
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