Australian Commonwealth 2015 budget, energy efficiency, and renewable energy.

The Commonwealth 2015 budget introduces an immediate tax deduction for small businesses for every asset purchased costing less than $20,000, ending in June 2017.

So energy efficiency improvements, each costing under $20,000 will be able to be expensed, for tax purposes.
And many energy efficiency projects in small business typically require less than $20,000  or less than $20,000 per asset.
For example, it could include a $15,000 lighting upgrade, a $10,000 controls upgrade,  and a $10,000 investement in insulation.

Similarly, an investment of $20,000 in renewable energy could buy a 15 kW solar power system or a 3 – 5 kW wind turbine (costs net of renewable energy certificates).

‘Small business’ is likely to be defined as a business with a turnover of under $M2 / year.

To discuss this opportunity to invest in reducing your organisation’s energy costs (tax effectively) please phone Genesis Now.

Genesis Now is proud of its role in developing the original concept that Organic Response is based on, and funding the early development.

For more information, see the Organic Response home page.

Genesis Now team welcomes Emilia Iacovino, Sustainable Energy Engineer (Electrical)

Genesis Now has a new team member, Emilia,  who is a sustainable energy project engineer with previous experience in energy efficiency, renewable technologies and sustainability.

She also has extensive experience in automotive manufacturing, including electrical and electronic system design and development.

Emilia is returning to the paid workforce after taking time off to raise a family.

Emilia is an electrical engineer, with a Masters Degree in Sustainable Energy (RMIT), with interests including bio-energy, solar and transport.

Her Genesis Now projects include a truck fuel saving innovation, solar PV data telemetry and performance analysis, and commercial buildings energy audits.

 These high-bay mercury vapour lamps are heading for destruction (theirs, not Earth’s).

These boxes of mercury vapour lamps are being sent for destruction: specifically crushing and recovery of the glass, metal and (toxic) mercury, by specialist lamp recycler CMA Ecocycle.

So why destroy lamps which are still working?

The problem.

Most of the factories which Genesis Now assists to reduce the electricity costs of are lit with mercury vapour high intensity discharge lights, usually with metal ‘mixing bowl’ reflectors.  Although this technology is the norm, it has a lot of short-comings:

• a very low efficacy of about 50 lumens / watt (when the lamps are new), compared with 100 – 130 from LEDs which are available now.
• continual worsening of efficacy (‘lumen depreciation’) while the lamps age in service,
• poor reflectance of the ‘reflector’, further degrading the overall lighting system performance,
• very poor vertical illumination (the lights act like down-lights, and although the horizontal illuminance readings on a light meter might look OK, real world visual tasks in factories and warehouses need good illumination of vertical surfaces.
• poor colour rendition, making some tasks difficult (e.g. colour matching, quality control).
• a long strike time (up to 10 minutes to reach full output), causing inconvenience and possible hazards when the lights are first switched on, and when the power is restored after a power failure.
• uneven light distribution, with ‘puddles’ of light directly under the fittings, and dark areas between the fittings, resulting in uniformity of 0.1 or lower (good practice is > 0.7).
• perceptible flicker, which causes discomfort, and headaches for some people.
• not being suited to switching more than a few times per day, which makes it incompatible with automatic switching systems (another hit to energy efficiency).
• inability to be dimmed, and so not suited to automatic dimming systems.
• containing a large amount of mercury, which is a neuro-toxin, and creates a hazard to staff and the general community if the lamps are accidentally broken or not disposed of properly.
• high operating current, and higher in-rush starting current, which can tip some circuit breakers and electricity supplies over their rated capacity.

The solution.

The solution lies in modern LED light fittings, with integral occupancy and daylight sensing, and automatic dimming and switching.
Suitable fittings are available in high-bay fittings, suited to open factory areas, warehouse aisles, and even workstation task lights.

The advantages of these fittings include:

• overcoming all of the shortcomings of mercury vapour lights, listed above,
• attracting a cash rebate, by generating Victorian Energy Efficiency Certificates (VEECs).
• providing a very visible example of a business’ commitment to its future, to modernisation and to environmental responsibility, to staff and visitors.

For the project that resulted in the two boxes of mercury vapour lamps shown on this page, the figures were even better than usual, because the warehouse operates 24 / 7 :

We’re here to help.

We have helped many businesses to select and install appropriate, efficient, cost-effective lighting, and to obtain a cash rebate.

For larger projects, we can also arrange financing, so the improved lighting and improved working environment can be funded from the improved cash flow resulting from lower electricity costs.

Call us to discuss your goals and ideas.  Contact us.

Tuesday 31st March, has been declared a Critical Peak Demand day (AusNet distribution area).

Take action to reduce your electricity costs for a whole year.

AusNet, the operator of the electricity distribution network in the Eastern half of Victoria, has declared tomorrow (Thursday 31st March) a critical peak demand day.
Reducing electrical power demand between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. (daylight saving time) will help to reduce the CPD charge for a whole year, for electricity customers on one of the following network tariffs: NSP56, NSP75, NSP76, NSP77, NSP78, NSP81, NSP82, NSP83, NSP91, NSP94 and NSP95. (check the back of your electricity invoice).
More details here: http://www.ausnetservices.com.au/Electricity/Managing+Usage/Critical+Peak+Demand+Tariff.html

The Critical Peak Demand charge typically accounts for about 15% industrial customers’ total electricity cost.
So reducing demand for 4 hours tomorrow, can result in significant savings.

If you would like to discuss ways of reducing critical peak demand, the capacity charge, and other electricity costs, please phone us to discuss.

This is where you can find the critical peak demand charge, under ‘Network’, normally on page 2 of your electricity invoice.

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Thursday 19th March, has been declared a Critical Peak Demand day.

Take action to reduce your electricity costs for a whole year.

AusNet, the operator of the electricity distribution network in the Eastern half of Victoria, has declared tomorrow (Thursday 19 March) a critical peak demand day.
Reducing electrical power demand between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. (daylight saving time) will help to reduce the CPD charge for a whole year, for electricity customers on one of the following network tariffs: NSP56, NSP75, NSP76, NSP77, NSP78, NSP81, NSP82, NSP83, NSP91, NSP94 and NSP95. (check the back of your electricity invoice).
More details here: http://www.ausnetservices.com.au/Electricity/Managing+Usage/Critical+Peak+Demand+Tariff.html

The Critical Peak Demand charge typically accounts for about 15% industrial customers’ total electricity cost.
So reducing demand for 4 hours tomorrow, can result in significant savings.

If you would like to discuss ways of reducing critical peak demand, the capacity charge, and other electricity costs, please phone us to discuss.

This is where you can find the critical peak demand charge, under ‘Network’ , normally on page 2 of your electricity invoice.

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It’s great to have energy saving goals, to identify energy efficiency opportunities, develop business cases based on those opportunities, and to implement actions which are predicted to save energy.

But how do you know if those actions are working, and that energy is being saved?

It’s not just a matter of comparing the quantity of energy used before and after the change, because lots of factors can affect energy consumption, so the energy savings (or absence of savings) can be concealed by other factors.

The Solution

Fortunately, there is a way.  The energy efficiency industry has developed rigorous protocols to measure energy consumption and the variables which affect energy use, and to calculate / verify energy savings. 

Recently, two Genesis Now employees were recognised as Measurement & Verification Specialists when they received their Certified Measurement and Verification Professional (CMVP®) designations from the US based Efficiency Valuation Organisation (EVO) and The Association of Energy Engineers (AEE).  These organisations are facilitated in Australia by our local peak body, the Energy Efficiency Council (EEC). The CMVP® certification has a “dual purpose of recognising the most qualified professionals in this growing area of the energy industry, and raising the overall professional standards within the measurement and verification field.”

Engineering Manager of Genesis Now, Geoff Andrews completed his training and passed his CMVP® exam in Sydney in 2013.

Jon Fettes, Senior Sustainable Energy Engineer, completed his training and passed his CMVP® exam in Melbourne in 2014, achieving a 90% score; and now Genesis Now has a total of two employees with this unique professional standard.

Created in 1981, the CMVP® certification is given to individuals who attend AEE’s three-day Fundamentals of Measurement & Verification training program, pass the four-hour written exam, as well as meet the education and experience requirements. The CMVP® certification holders distinguish themselves as being professionally involved in areas requiring accurate and reliable measurement and verification methodologies.

Genesis Now is a Government Accredited,  Energy Service Company (ESCo) which is assisting clients with medium and larger retrofit projects and in Energy Performance Contracting, where the requirement for robust Measurement and Verification (M&V) has become key to the success and continued roll-out of large scale energy efficiency projects.   We can provide this M&V service as an integral part of our energy efficiency projects, or as a stand-alone service to support energy efficiency projects undertaken by  your in-house team or external contractor.

Gippsland businesses are demonstrating their commitment to resources (materials, energy and water) efficiency.

10% (7 out of 70) of all companies awarded a Sustainability Victoria capital grant,  are based in Gippsland.

Genesis Now is happy to have assisted 5 of these 7 Gippsland companies, and we are now planning implemenation of the material and  efficiency upgrades.

Genesis Now is delighted by the news that 8 of our clients have been successful in applying for capital grants, under Sustainability Victoria’s Smarter Resources Smarter Business  program. This represents 12% of the all 69 successful companies. This builds on our success in earlier grant rounds. The efficiency projects include both materials and energy savings, in industries as diverse as poultry farming, timber milling, abalone processing, home building, wine, and recreation. We are grateful for the vision of Sustainabilty Victoria and the Victorian Government, and for the faith that our clients placed in us, allowing us to work with them to identify and evaluate the resource efficiency opportunities, and to build compelling business cases. Now our focus will shift to assisting these innovative companies to implement the resource efficiency projects. We will work hard to maximise the savings, by fine-tuning designs, specifying and tendering the works, commissioning and monitoring the results. This practical implementation work has the dual benefits of savings resources and costs,  and providing a practical foundation for future opportunity identification projects. The full list of successful projects and a description of the  Smarter Resources Smarter Business  program is here.