"We're very pleased to be able to forge this exciting partnership with Inovateus," said Luis Ramirez, CEO of GE Energy Industrial Solutions. "The renewable energy sources in our portfolio of products and solutions will enable us to continue innovating and leading the future of electrification."  ... GE is a participating member of the EMerge Alliance, an open industry association leading the rapid adoption of safe direct-current (DC) power distribution in commercial buildings through the development of EMerge Alliance standards. more

July 13, 2011 - Roundup: DC Power Distribution Making News
Data Center Knowledge
by Rich Miller
There have been a couple of noteworthy developments in the ongoing discussion of the benefits of DC power distribution in improving data center energy efficiency. For those just joining this story: Advocates of DC power distribution say it offers greater energy efficiency, citing the loss of power through multiple AC/DC conversions to charge UPS batteries. more

For anyone curious about sustainable design's impact on the market, one need only look at the results of ENR's Top 100 Green Design firms list. As a group, the Top 100 generated $3.74 billion in design revenue in 2010…This revenue increase shows that interest in green design remains strong, despite the industry recession. “Sustainable design is finally going mainstream,” says Kirsten Ritchie, principal at Gensler. …Ritchie says the move toward solar and other local power sources means emphasis should be put on moving systems from alternating current to direct current when feasible. Converting from A/C to D/C causes major energy inefficiencies.  Chang says EMerge Alliance, a San Ramon, Calif.-based industry association, has developed a promising concept of using D/C microgrids to power D/C-native devices—LED lighting, variable air volume boxes, computers—directly, without the loss of efficiency associated with D/C-to-A/C power conversion. “The small power adapters we use to power portable electronic devices are incredibly inefficient,” he says. more

The quest for zero net energy buildings is likely to change a great deal about the way we approach designing and constructing buildings in the future. From the use of a broadened integration team in early planning and the heightened use of BIM tools to the consideration of a diverse pallet of energy efficient building solutions and site-based power generation and storage, the days of incremental improvement of older technologies may not meet the challenge. We need to start changing the way we fundamentally look at power and we need to do it now. more

ResearchAndMarkets
by Darnell Group
Led by the emerging architectural segment as well as the more traditional communications, computer, consumer, portable medical and lighting segments, the external ac-dc power supply industry will experience a number of significant opportunities and threats, as manufacturers scramble to design and produce products for the latest demanding high tech applications. more  

2/25/11 - External AC-DC Power Supplies: Economic Factors, Application Drivers, Architecture/Packaging Trends, Technology and Regulatory Developments

Pike Research
by Mike Wapner
During the late 1800s Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse were engaged in an intense industrial rivalry. Edison’s electrical inventions ran on DC (direct current). Westinghouse tried to convince governments and business that AC (alternating current) was the way to go for the development of large-scale power distribution systems. more

1/10/11 - DC Power: Not Just for the Energizer Bunny

12/03/10 - Lights Without Wires, Courtesy of DC Power
greentechmedia
by Michael Kanellos
Sun Microsystems said the network is the computer. Nextek Power Systems says the building is the network. The company -- which develops equipment for running data centers or appliances in conventional buildings on direct current instead of alternating current -- is working with Johnson Controls, Armstrong World Industries and others in the Emerge Alliance on a lighting system that essentially does away with wires. more

11/30/10 - EMerge Alliance Debuts 26 DC Friendly Products for Commercial Buildings
Construction Informer
While Thomas Edison was busily building DC generators across the country, George Westinghouse was championing AC current. Since DC current could only travel about a mile before degrading, AC eventually became the standard because it went hundreds of miles before loosing voltage. more

11/30/10 - Seeing the Light
College Planning & Management
by Ellen Kollie
This small space, one of three winners in the lighting design/retrofit category of Los Angeles Community College District's 2010 Best Practice Awards Competition for the Energy Efficiency Partnership Program, boasts a one-of-a-kind lighting system. more

11/30/10 - EETD Researchers Contribute to UC San Diego's Efficient DC-Power Data Center
The Berkeley Lab View
Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), in partnership with the Electric Power Research Institute and numerous high-technology private-sector manufacturers, have pioneered a direct current (DC) technology for data centers that eliminates the need for multiple conversions between AC to DC power, which are commonly used in AC-based data centers. more

11/17/10 – EPRI Finds DC Power Uses 15% Less Electricity Than AC System at Duke Energy Data Center
PowerPulse.Net
By Darnell Group
A preliminary test by (EMerge Alliance Member) Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) of a dc power system at a Duke Energy data center in Charlotte, North Carolina found that the system uses 15% less electricity than the existing ac power system. more

10/27/10 – DC Power Movement Gets New Charge
ZDNet, GreenTech Pastures
By Heather Clancy
Proponents of the idea that safe direct current (DC) power should be more widely used in data centers have formed a new technical committee to encourage the development of standards for data and telecommunications centers. The group is called the EMerge Alliance, and at least one of the newest members of this group will be especially intriguing to IT types, Intel. more

10/20/10 - Alliance Boosts 380-Volt DC Power Standard
In Data Center Knowledge
An industry association for DC power adoption has formed a new technical standards committee for data centers, and is advancing a 380-volt DC power standard as part of its hybrid alternating current (AC) and DC microgrid platform. The EMerge Alliance says its open architecture focuses on reducing or eliminating inefficient AC to DC conversions. more

September/October 2010 – Smart Energy Systems: Transitioning Renewables Onto the Grid
Renewable Energy Focus
by Professor Peter Crossley and Agnes Beviz
Joule Centre for  Energy Research
To incorporate intermittent energy resources, a category which renewable energy falls into, electricity networks will have to become ‘smarter grids’; with integrated communication systems and a real time balancing between supply, demand, and storage. more (see pages 8-12)

09/05/10 - EETD Researchers Contribute to Efficient DC-Power Data Center at UC San Diego
The Berkeley Lab View
The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2) at UC San Diego is operating a set of servers in a campus data center on 380-volt DC (direct current) power. The new modular data center on campus has sensors and other instruments to measure the energy efficiency of information and communication technologies, the infrastructure that supports it - and to help researchers build greener IT systems and software. more

09/05/10 - Nextek hopes to spark electronics revolution
In Crain’s Detroit Business
By Tom Henderson
A small Detroit company will launch a product this week that it hopes will lead to $4 million in revenue in the next year and eventually change the way offices and electronic devices are powered. more

08/03/10 - Lightfair Show Report: DC Power Distribution
In July/August 2010 LEDs Magazine
The concept of DC power distribution for LED lighting was prevalent at Lightfair with the EMerge Alliance pushing its standard ( www.ledsmagazine.com/press/22355 ). The California Lighting Technology Center is also championing the technology. The Alliance claims that LED lighting driven directly by DC can offer an additional 10-15% efficiency gain relative to typical LED lighting with AC/DC drivers. more

07/06/10 - Low-Voltage Lighting Leaps Ahead
by Craig DiLouie
In July 2010 The Electrical Distributor
The "EMerge Alliance Standard" sets the stage for a new era in power sourcing, distribution, and management in commercial buildings. Today's workplaces are services by AC power but are often populated with DC-powered devices such as computers, phones, and IT equipment. Lighting, traditionally an AC system, is predicted to become increasingly DC powered as LED lighting, DC-based fluorescent ballasting, and building-wide automatic lighting controls become more prominent in green buildings as well as mainstream workplace construction. more

07/01/10 - Alternative Energy & Energy Efficiency: Co-Tenants in Commercial Real Estate
by Paul Savage & Bruce Graham
CoreNet Global, Michigan Chapter Newsletter
Building operators investigating on-site power generation - or Distributed Generation (DG) - quickly discover that energy efficiency measures need to come first for the economics to work. more

06/30/10 - DC Microgrids: Benefits and Barriers
by Paul Savage, Robert R. Nordhaus, and Sean P. Jamieson
Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
Our electric power system was designed to move central station alternating current (AC) power, via high-voltage transmission lines and lower voltage distribution lines, to households and businesses that used the power in incandescent lights, AC motors, and other AC equipment. Today's consumer equipment and tomorrow's distributed renewable generation requires us to rethink this model. more

06/01/10 - EMerge Alliance Update: DC Power Progress
by Brian Patterson, EMerge Alliance Chairman
In June 2010 Architectural Products
The EMerge Alliance is an open membership-based , not-for-profit industry association that was formed in 2008 to create and promote the adoption of new standards for hybrid direct-current (DC) power distribution within commercial building interiors. more

05/24/10 - DC - An idea whose time has come and gone … and come again
by Guy AlLee
To anyone who has a passing knowledge of the History of Electrical Engineering (yes there really is such a thing), the 1888 War of Currents figures as one of the most prominent events. more

05/01/10 - Re-Thinking AC And DC Power. The EMerge Alliance promotes a new way of distributing DC power throughout commercial interiors, to the benefit of building owners and their tenants.
from the May issue of Commercial Building Products Magazine, by Brian Patterson, EMerge Alliance.
When it comes to electrical energy, one hears a chaotic cacophony of progress and retreat. The industry is abuzz with efforts to help close the growing gap between supply and demand, and between the desire for a clean environment and ever-increasing carbon emissions. http://www.cbpmagazine.com/article.php?articleid=402

05/01/10 - Bringing DC Power Into The Workplace
from the May issue of Building Operating Management
When the United States initially became electrified, it appeared the nation might run on DC current (DC). Early electric motors and the first incandescent lights were engineered to work best with DC power, although alternating current (AC) devices were also used. more

04/06/10 - DC Building Power: Economic Factors, Application Drivers, Architecture/Technology, Standards
from Jazzou News
The DC building power market is projected to grow significantly over the next several years, and among the driving forces is the need to improve efficiency and reduce electricity costs in several areas. more

04/01/10 - A More Direct Approach
by Chuck Ross
With new generation capacity becoming both more difficult to get approved and expensive to finance, electric utilities are looking at more creative strategies for squeezing inefficiency out of customer-side distribution systems. One idea gaining attention—direct current (DC) distribution—actually represents a step backward to practices common during the days of Thomas Edison. more

03/25/10 - UCSD's Sustainability Resource Center Wins Runner-Up for Special Achievement by a Government or Institutional Agency
San Diego businesses, organizations and individuals who made noteworthy energy savings in 2009 were honored by the California Center for Sustainable Energy ( CCSE) at the sixth annual San Diego Excellence in Energy (SANDEE) Awards held at Market Creek Plaza yesterday (Thurs., March 25, 2010). more

03/25/10 - Bringing Power Directly to the People
from Architectural Products Green Issue
The direct current (DC) electricity generated by renewable on-site installations, whether solar, wind or small-scale hydropower, now generally passes through an inverter to create the alternating current (AC) required by the larger electricity grid. This power rarely provides direct benefit for the facility itself; instead, owners might receive a credit against their utility bill through a reverse-metering arrangement. A new standard designed to enable on-site power to be used by a building’s own systems, such as lighting and controls, has just been released and could help lead to some building devices going "off-grid". more

03/22/10 - Let's Talk AC/DC (the currents, not the band)
from The Huffington Post, by Toby Barlow
It is sunny right now in Los Angeles. Which, of course, makes geeky guys like me think about solar energy. It's also something the state and the local government are thinking a lot about lately, weighing increases in California utility rates to subsidize solar panels on residential homes. Great idea. Super simple. But not quite geeky enough. more

03/05/10 - Trends in Wireless Controls
Automated Buildings Email Interview - Jim Sinopoli, Ken Sinclair & Amara Rozgus
A discussion of the trends and impact of wireless controls on the building industry. more

03/01/10 - An Innovative Power Platform: A new industry standard allows buildings to adapt to the needs of tomorrow
from Buildings Magazine, by Ben Hartman, CTO, Nextek Power Systems, Inc.
Today’s buildings are powered by traditional AC sources but populated with DC-powered devices like computers, phones, and IT equipment. Even lighting systems, which are typically AC-driven, are becoming more DC-powered as LEDs and advanced lighting controls become prevalent. more

02/18/10 - Green building technologies that could change the game
from Daily Journal of Commerce
Green technology can help stimulate the economy, reduce carbon emissions and build a clean-energy future in the U.S. The American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act included almost $100 billion for investments in clean energy, energy efficiency and green job training. more

02/18/10 - DC-powered ceiling grids? COOL!
from Electrical Business
The late 19th Century saw the "War of the Currents", where Thomas Edison fought George Westinghouse and Nikola Tesla over electrical power distribution. Edison’s believe that DC power was the better system was ultimately overruled and AC power went on to reign supreme. Nowadays, we use AC power for the majority of our electrical needs. But a change may be coming. more

12/07/09 - DC Power Rally Begins
ELEBLOG
from Electrical Contractor magazine, by Joe Salimando, Electrical Contractor magazine
DC Power is here, and it's here to stay. It's gaining ground, and it's going to get bigger. Three pieces of evidence: more

10/01/09 - Targeting Net-Zero Buildings: Is True Sustained Design Attainable?
from Architectural Products
In the big picture, how far can the A/E/C community keep going with a mostly intellectual notion of “green”? To make a dent in the environment requires a dramatic shift in thinking and practices. Are designers, building product manufacturers, and legislators ready to bring the built environment closer to the frontier of “green” design: net-zero building? more

09/09/09 - LED Illumination Provides Constant (Current) Opportunities.
from Electronic Design, by Jeff Shepard
Lighting specifiers, of course, are familiar with the need to save energy. Reduced lighting power density is often desired by the client and more likely required by new code or energy guidelines. more

06/01/09 - The D.C. Lighting Alternative.
Lighting specifiers, of course, are familiar with the need to save energy. Reduced lighting power density is often desired by the client and more likely required by new code or energy guidelines. more

05/06/09 - Lightfair 2009: A busier second day
from Commercial Building Products, by Gary L. Parr
The rain stopped and the number of attendees seemed to increase measurably. I have to say that I don’t recall a Lightfair that was so “full” of new products and technology advances, virtually all of it involving LEDs. more

04/08/09 - D.C. Interested In DC Building Power.
The Appliance Standards Improvement Act includes provisions that would require the DoE to conduct a study and report to Congress on the costs and benefits of requiring dc electricity supply in buildings. more

03/01/09 - A New DC Power Standard.
The EMerge Standard will push for increased efficiency, reduced energy usage, and improved sustainability – without forgoing quality or performance. more

02/01/09 - DC power distribution favors LED lighting
A low-voltage DC power standard could accelerate the conversion to LED lighting and create an enabling infrastructure for the workplace. more

12/06/08 - Automated Buildings.
EMAIL INTERVIEW Brian Patterson & Ken Sinclair more

12/02/08 - A Current in Every Ceiling.
The EMerge Alliance says low-voltage direct current built into interior spaces can power LED lights, sensors and other devices more efficiently that the AC wiring in use today. more

11/18/08 - Working toward better power standards.
A group of power industry professionals is joining to forge a new power, control, and device-level technology standard for commercial buildings. more