Monitoring Green Roof Performance with Weather Stations
By Onset Computer Corp.

A remote weather station with GSM cellular commutations monitors air temperature, humidity, rainfall and soil conditions on a residential green roof. The station transmits the data to the Internet, making it easy for users to access the data on a 24/7 basis. Live data for this weather station deployment.

In the world of environmentally sensitive and sustainable building, green roofs are becoming more popular in new construction and renovation projects. The investment in covering a roof with soil and plants can pay off through mitigating stormwater runoff, lessening the heat island effect and offsetting interior heating and cooling costs.

In order to verify that a green roof is indeed providing the benefits to justify the investment, it’s important to monitor performance. For building projects participating in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, documentation of green roof performance is a requirement. Data logging weather stations are the ideal tools for the job.

A weather station can measure parameters such as rainfall, stormwater runoff, temperature, relative humidity and many others 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The information a weather station collects can help you make wise choices about designing, tuning and maintaining a green roof.

Green Roofs
A green roof is a roof covered with layers of synthetic and natural drainage layers, soil and growing plants. The roof’s base structural support is typically covered with insulation, waterproofing, drainage space, a filter membrane, a root barrier and finally, soil and plants.
Most large green roof projects are installed on flat roofs.

Green roofs are broken into two categories by soil depth and plant type. Extensive green roofs are covered in soil one to six inches deep and are planted with shallow-rooted, ground-hugging plants such as succulents or grasses. Such roofs may or may not be designed for pedestrian traffic.

Intensive roofs have a deeper soil layer, and can support large plants, shrubs and even trees. Intensive roofs are often part of rooftop terraces or pleasure parks and can require irrigation and dedicated landscape maintenance.

There are several benefits to investing in green roofs including the following: help in stormwater management, help mitigate the heat island effect, moderate building interior heating and cooling costs, provide outdoor space for people, and can contribute toward satisfying several credits for LEED Certification, in particular by providing design and performance documentation pertaining to stormwater management and heat island effect mitigation.

In order to achieve the best possible performance from a green roof, it is best to monitor a range of environmental conditions including rainfall, temperature, wind speed and direction, relative humidity, soil moisture, runoff, solar radiation and others. For LEED Certification, monitoring and documentation of performance is a requirement for some credits. The more data you have, the better observations and decisions you can make about your green roof.

Data Logging Weather Stations

Ford Motor Company recently deployed a research-grade weather station on its Ford Truck Assembly Plant green roof in Dearborn, Michigan to help document the roof’s performance.

Data logging weather stations are well suited for monitoring a green roof’s performance and operating conditions. These systems are typically stand-alone units supporting sensors that monitor such parameters as temperature, wind speed, wind direction, rainfall, soil moisture and others.

The weather station and its sensors are typically mounted on a metal tripod. Units typically run on battery and/or solar power and all components are designed to withstand long-term outdoor weather conditions.

Data logging weather stations eliminate human error from data monitoring, and can be counted on to collect unattended readings 24/7, 365 days a year and store it into logger memory. Operators download data remotely or manually, and use data logging software to configure, deploy, retrieve and analyze information from the station.

Green Roof Monitoring Applications
Here are some approaches for using data logging weather stations to get the most out of your green roof performance and investment. Some of these applications can help satisfy requirements for LEED Certification credits.

Design
During the preliminary design process, it’s prudent to collect environmental data in order to choose the best green roof design suited to the site. Rainfall, temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and solar radiation all change seasonally, and can be affected by surrounding buildings and structures. It’s best to measure some of these parameters at multiple points in the site. For retrofits, data collected before renovation can be a valuable measure of the new green roof’s performance. The more data you have before you make design decisions, the better.

Stormwater Management
In order to verify that a green roof is helping to reduce the amount of stormwater released from a roof from a given rainfall event, you must know how much rain has fallen and how much has left the roof via downspouts and drains. In a green roof system, the roof runoff is equivalent to the total rainfall volume minus evapotranspiration and soil retention.

One technique for measuring runoff involves deploying a flow sensor at each downspout and/or drain. Evapotranspiration can be calculated from solar radiation, air temperature, relative humidity and wind velocity at the site. The remaining portion of rainfall volume is retained in the soil, and can be measured/monitored with soil moisture sensors in order to observe where and when the soil is holding water and for how long.

Heat Island Effect Mitigation
It is easiest to monitor the before-and-after heat island effects of green roofs on renovated roofs. It’s a matter of simply using a weather station to monitor pre-renovation roof temperature over time at several points on and above the roof.

Once the green roof is installed, temperature can be monitored at the same points to verify whether or not there has been a significant change. For new construction, you could use a weather station on the green roof and compare the temperature data with data from stand-alone battery-powered temperature loggers deployed on nearby surrounding conventional rooftops.

Maintenance of Plantings
Whether a green roof is extensive, with low, sparse groundcover, or intensive, with small trees and lush lawns, you can better maintain healthy plant cover if you have ongoing, reliable conditions data. A weather station can monitor soil moisture and rainfall, and thus help in making irrigation decisions. Temperature and wind monitoring can also be important in maintaining the health of rooftop vegetation. For extensive landscaped rooftop gardens, the data gathered by a weather station can be crucial to understanding how to care for them on a rooftop, where environmental conditions different from those on the ground.

Offset of Interior Heating and Cooling Costs
A green roof acts as insulation from the sun and wind, and can affect a building’s interior heating and cooling requirements. In the case of a renovation, you can compare the before-and-after effects by deploying a weather station on the roof and indoor temperature loggers in the building’s top floor for a period of time before construction. Rooftop measurements should include temperature, solar radiation, and wind speed.

Education and Research
Green roofs are growing in popularity, and more and more sustainably-minded builders and building owners want to share their green roof projects with the public. The data gathered from a rooftop weather station can be made available over the internet to energy analysts, building occupants, schools and the interested public who all want to know how a green roof works and how it can help lessen a building’s impact on the environment. Engineers, researchers and green roof component manufacturers can also use data logging weather stations to develop and test new materials and configurations in order to increase green roof performance in the future.

Conclusion
Whether your goal is LEED Certification, measurement and verification of performance, pre-design data collection, research or all of the above, data logging weather stations can help you make wise, money- and resource-saving decisions about design, materials, and maintenance of green roofs.

Onset Computer Corp. has been producing small, inexpensive, battery-powered data loggers and embedded controllers since 1981, and has sold over 1,000,000 loggers that are used throughout the world by over 50,000 customers. The company manufactures a broad range of data logger and weather station products that are used to measure temperature, humidity, light intensity, voltage, and a broad range of other parameters. Onset products are used in a wide range of research, commercial, industrial, and educational applications.
For More information, visit www.onsetcomp.com.

Weather Station Features – A Brief Overview
1.  Sensors and Logging Capacity
The first step in thinking about a weather station is to decide what you want to measure, where, and how many of each sensor you will need. For example, would you like to monitor soil moisture content at four locations on your green roof? Then you’ll need four soil moisture sensor. Each sensor you use requires a data channel at the logger, and weather station loggers have different capacities, depending on the model and manufacturer. Some weather stations allow for the use of third-party sensors, so if this flexibility is important to your application, then shop around.

2.  Configuration and Setup
Some weather stations require complicated wiring and programming, while others can be set up in about an hour with plug-and-play ease. The user-friendly systems have “smart sensors” that simply plug into any port on the logger. The logger and accompanying software automatically recognize the sensor. The user simply chooses a sampling interval and start time.

3.  Data Download
Some of today’s weather stations allow you to access data through the Internet, and you can also download data directly to a laptop or data shuttle. Data transfer takes only a few minutes on-site, and with internet-based data transfer, you can have up-to-the-minute data at your fingertips whenever you need it.

4.  Software
Chances are, you’ll want to work with your data, whether to enter data into models, or simply present the information clearly in a graph. Weather station software capabilities vary, but you’ll want to look for an application that allows you to combine graphs to compare data between sites, or to view all of a site’s data clearly in a single graph. Depending on your application, the manufacturer may also have special application-specific software available.

5.  Cost and Support
Data logging weather stations can range in cost from several hundred to a few thousand dollars.

Additionally, hardware and accessories such as a tripod and various sensor shields can add up. Ask colleagues about their experiences, and get a feel for how willing a manufacturer is to help you with.

Once the green roof is installed, deploy the weather station and indoor loggers in the same or comparable locations, and observe how outdoor and indoor conditions correlate with one another both before and after renovations.

Environmentally Friendly Construction Using Energy-Saving Makrolon Multi-Wall UV Sheet
In recent years, energy-saving Makrolon Multi-Wall UV Sheet, a product of Sheffield Plastics, Inc., A Bayer MaterialScience Company, has contributed significantly to the reduction of CO2 emissions. Beginning with Makrolon Multi-Wall UV Sheet’s market introduction in Europe some three years ago, about 2 million square meters of roofing surfaces have been covered.

When compared to standard products, the use of Makrolon Multi-Wall UV Sheet since 2003 has reduced European emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide by roughly 65,000 tons, which corresponds to several million square meters of roofing surface. About half of the current offering of Makrolon Multi-Wall UV Sheets is less than three years old. This innovation serves the interest of both the market and the customers.

“Following its market introduction in Europe in mid-2003, close to 2 million square meters of roofing surface were covered with Makrolon Multi-Wall UV Sheet. Following a further explosion of energy costs, we had an additional increase in sales in 2007,” said Günther Winnerl, segment manager Building with Bayer Sheet Europe, Darmstadt, Germany.

Builders, planners and architects from the private and industrial construction sectors above all appreciate the heat-reduction properties of Makrolon Multi-Wall UV Sheet, in addition to its low weight and excellent flexibility. In contrast to standard sheets of the same thickness, this product results in energy savings of up to 25 percent. This savings corresponds to roughly five liters of heating oil, or 5.5 cubic meters of heating gas (gaseous) per square meter per annum. The uniquely Y-shaped sheets are thin and include heat-resistant properties.

The product portfolio is rounded out with the 5X structural sheet in thicknesses of 25 mm, 32 mm and 40 mm available for private construction, as well as translucent, heat-resistant versions of the product family. Compared to commercially available standard sheets, they reduce heat levels in the interiors by up to 50 percent (relative to the total degree of energy penetration), while still maintaining the same level of high exposure to light.

EnerWatch Systems Helps Developers and Property Managers Save Money on Energy Costs
EnerWatch Systems has been introduced to help builders, general contractors, developers and property managers reduce energy costs and decrease future interior materials problems by instituting a remote proprietary monitoring system to gauge the temperature and humidity levels of buildings and developments under construction.

EnerWatch Systems’ effectiveness derives from its ability to alert users of severe temperature changes and improper building conditions related to extreme heat, cold and humidity. The system can even detect conditions that stimulate mold growth. EnerWatch Systems’ products are well suited for use in high-rise buildings, new homes, condominiums, retail centers and office complexes.

Dominic R. Pizzo, company founder and president, developed the idea of a continuous monitoring system after spending many years in the building trade with his father as a contractor, carpenter, gypsum and millwork installer.

“When you combine extreme temperature fluctuations with human error or worse, neglect, the resulting factor could be a lot of wasted money,” Pizzo said. “I’ve been in my client’s shoes and I know that maintaining the bottom line is paramount. The EnerWatch System puts our clients in a position to trim some of the fat.”

Company sponsored research and case studies indicate that builders can shave at minimum 15 to 20 percent off their energy costs, or as much as 35 to 40 percent based on determining factors. Property owners also can save on warranty costs for damage caused by extreme temperatures.

In addition to high energy bills, these extreme heating and cooling practices provided such interior finish challenges as swollen hardwood floors, misaligning doors and millwork, warped crown molding, popping drywall nails and other unwanted imperfections costing the property owner money, before and after the building was occupied or sold.

EnerWatch Systems provides an advanced energy monitoring service that blends monitoring, reporting, notification, escalation and analysis to meet client needs. The service offers constant, real-time monitoring of each building unit’s temperature and humidity by using portable sensors. The sensors transmit data to a collector box, which utilizes an established Internet connection to store interior climate information with the capability to alert building/property owners or managers immediately when these variables fall outside specified levels. Notification is made by e-mail to the end user’s PDA, mobile phone, or, via the Web.

NXP Delivers Power Efficiency on LDMOS Base Stations
NXP Semiconductors, the independent semiconductor company founded by Philips, has introduced the BLC7G22L(S)-130 base station power transistor, the first of its products to feature NXP’s Gen7 LDMOS technology, well suited for high power use and Doherty amplifier applications. The seventh generation Laterally Diffused Metal Oxide Semiconductor (LDMOS) technology from NXP enables high-efficiency LDMOS solutions, increasing power density by 20 percent and improving power efficiency by two percent, while reducing the thermal resistance Rth by over 25 percent compared to the previous generation.

Honeywell Delivers Ice-Cold Energy Savings to Southern California Edison Customers
Honeywell has announced a $4.25-million permanent load-shifting program with Southern California Edison (SCE) that will reduce the utility bills of commercial customers and decrease electricity consumption during peak day-time hours.

The Night Shift program is expected to deliver 2.5 megawatts of peak power relief between noon and 6 p.m., when energy use and utility rates are highest. This is enough capacity to cover the electricity needs of more than 600 homes.

Honeywell will manage the program for SCE, retrofitting approximately 300 roof-top air conditioners with Ice Bear hybrid air-conditioning units from Ice Energy. The Ice Bear system freezes water in a storage tank at night when electricity costs are low. When the air conditioner is on in the day, the stored ice cools the refrigerant instead of a condensing unit, which consumes the most energy in an air conditioner. As a result, the modules cut peak cooling demand by up to 95 percent.

The program also will reduce power generation emissions associated with cooling by approximately 20 percent or more because generating sources used during peak periods have a higher emissions rate than those used to serve base load energy needs at night.
“The Night Shift program enables our commercial customers to maximize cost savings through innovative green technology,” said Lisa Cagnolatti, SCE vice president, Business Customer Division. “The program will help to reduce high energy demand patterns we typically see in the summer months.”

Night Shift is for mid-commercial customers who have buildings with 3 to 20-ton rooftop air-conditioner units and an electricity demand of at least 200 kilowatt-hours per day. Facilities that fit this profile typically include office buildings, libraries, school and university buildings, and big box retail stores. Customers who participate in the program will receive a rebate from SCE to help offset some of the equipment and installations costs. They also will realize ongoing energy savings based on time-of-use electricity rates that reward off-peak consumption.

The hybrid cooling systems are specifically designed for refrigerant-based air conditioners, which serve nearly 80 percent of commercial buildings in California. This differs from other permanent load-shifting programs that have traditionally targeted only water-based air-conditioning units. Consequently, Night Shift can accommodate a wide range of commercial customers and help them cut their energy bills. 
 “Utilities such as Southern California Edison need more than a quick fix when it comes to managing energy consumption, and Honeywell is addressing this through smart, permanent programs that use existing power generation more efficiently,” said Kent Anson, vice president of Global Energy for Honeywell Building Solutions.

Honeywell Utility Solutions, part of Honeywell Building Solutions, designed the Night Shift program for SCE. The company will oversee marketing, customer service, installation and rebate processing for the program, which is currently underway.

Bayard Group Unifies Energy Management Operating Companies Under Landis+Gyr Name
Bayard Group Pty Ltd. is creating a new company in energy management by uniting its family of green technology companies under one global brand, Landis+Gyr.

The new Landis+Gyr, with more than 5,000 employees and operations in 30 countries across five continents, will help provide utilities with end-to-end, advanced metering solutions that are empowering the next generation of smart grid, driving better environmental results for utilities, consumers and society.

"We live in an era of skyrocketing energy costs and unrelenting consumption, yet energy production is not keeping up and much is lost through an aging grid infrastructure," said Cameron O'Reilly, who founded Bayard and retains the role of Chief Executive Officer of Landis+Gyr. "Energy conservation is crucial. And it must be supported by sophisticated, technologically-advanced management systems critical to meeting energy demand while reducing cost and improving the environment."

Bayard Group itself will be renamed Landis+Gyr Holdings and its subsidiaries Landis+Gyr, Cellnet+Hunt, Ampy Metering, Ampy+Email and Enermet, will adopt the Landis+Gyr name as their exclusive operating brand.

The new Landis+Gyr works with electricity metering with a preeminent position in advanced or "smart metering" systems, an essential component in global efforts to upgrade energy distribution systems and enable power to be distributed more efficiently and reliably. Smart metering provides utilities with a two-way flow of data required to manage energy use, efficiency, demand response and network protection. Customers benefit from lower energy costs and, crucially, a reduced carbon footprint.

The Company will keep its global operating headquarters in Zug, Switzerland and will open an office in New York City to reflect its commitment to the US market, which accounts for more than a third of its global business.

Landis+Gyr in the US will organize under two divisions, Energy Measurement Products and Energy Management Solutions. This ensures Landis+Gyr's continued ability to sell both integrated solutions and individual products, tailored to the needs of customers and partners.

Affirmation of the Company's shift to global integration is visible in its recent AMM/AMI (Automated Meter Management/Advanced Metering Infrastructure) deals in the US, Canada, Finland, Sweden and Brazil and in its exceptional growth, capped by USD1.25 billion in annualized sales in 2007.

Today, Landis+Gyr offers the broadest portfolio of products and services in the electricity metering industry including integrated AMM/AMI solutions, communication systems and software, meters, meter data management, services and financing. The Company also has an industry-leading commitment to research and development with more than 600 full-time professionals in this area.

Burt’s Bees Finds Efficiency and Energy Savings
Determined to maximize operations while protecting the environment, Burt’s Bees has obtained the best of both worlds. With its new sensor-activated Motorized Drive Roller (MDR) Conveyor, recently implemented by Tompkins Associates (Tompkins), the company increased efficiency and elevated its energy savings: Energy usage is expected to decrease by as much as 40 to 60 percent.

Working with Tompkins to avoid potential problems with storage capacity and customer shipments, Burt’s Bees quickly addressed its issues, which were caused by recent product line expansion and clientele growth.

The company leased a 144,000 square foot Distribution Center (DC) in Morrisville, N.C., optimized the capacity for future growth, and implemented new material handling equipment (MHE). Tompkins Warehouse Control System (TCS), which includes a system backup and complex event logging, was also installed for better MHE control.
Tony Quartararo, Executive VP of Supply Chain at Burt’s Bees, is much happier with the new DC and maximized processes. “The environment is a priority for Burt’s Bees, and as we continue to grow, we are ensuring that we remain true to our commitment to the greater good in all we do,” he says. “With our new, more efficient operations and equipment, we are able to reduce the amount of energy we use and reduce costs at the same time. It’s a win/win situation.”

Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Symposium 2008
Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Symposium 2008 is a conference highlighting the latest technologies and applications of green and energy efficient products and services. The presentations will be particularly orientated toward industrial, manufacturing and facilities operations. The symposium will be held November 5-6 in Atlanta, Ga.

Energy Efficiency and Sustainability 2008 will feature, LED Technology and Energy Efficiency, a presentation hosted by Shawn Keeney, Co-Founder and Vice President of LED Transformations, LLC. He will discuss the basics of LED lighting, advantages and disadvantages of LEDS versus current lighting technology and the validity of claims for
Visit the conference Web site to learn about other presentations.

Register by June 13th and save $500!
Register today so you don’t miss out on the great discount available for early registrations. Discounted rates are also available for government and military personnel as well as. Click here for or more details and to register.

Ecosystems Summit 2008 • Denver, Colo. • June 25-26

The rules are changing in IT alliances and partnerships. Today, more than ever, software, IT and technology companies need to know how to build their ecosystems of strategic alliances and partners, and how best to profit from these relationships.

At Ecosystems Summit 2008, Charles Weaver, President, Managed Services Alliance, will discuss the business drivers behind the growth in companies outsourcing key business processes such as network security, data protection, network administration and more, and what this growing acceptance of the service provider model means for future business opportunities. He'll also offer specific advice on how MSPs and vendors should work more closely together to benefit end-users.

Join alliance & partner program managers, C-level executives, channel managers, VARs, market development and product managers at Ecosystems Summit 2008, June 25-26 in Denver, to learn from the best at developing, managing and profiting from strategic alliances.

Click here to register: http://www.softwarebusinessonline.com/ses_conf08_reg.php.