That was the gist of a congressional hearing held Monday morning at Bob Jones High School to discuss the future of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education in the Rocket City and beyond.

The hearing was hosted by U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, who chairs the subcommittee on Research and Science Education for the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

Brooks was joined by Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Chicago, the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee. Lipinski told those present that fewer than 40 percent of college students who start out in a STEM-related field follow through and get a degree in that field.

That leads to a shortage of qualified employees to fill positions in science and technology fields, which are experiencing an increasing demand for workers, Lipinski said.

“We need to do a better job at training our students,” Lipinski said.

For ideas on how that should be done, the congressmen turned to a panel of local education and industry leaders, who testified about the status of STEM education in Huntsville. Panelists spoke repeatedly of improved communication and collaboration between education and industry.

Andrew Partynski, chief technology officer for SAIC, told the congressmen that there is a lack of communication about what type of students the industry is seeking.

“We still have a lot to do with the universities to communicate the kind of needs we have,” Partynski said.
Dr. Neil Lamb, director of educational outreach for HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, agreed. Lamb said the industry needs students whose book-based learning is supplemented by hands-on experience.

U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Chicago, speaks to a panel of witnesses at a congressional hearing on STEM education held Monday at Bob Jones High. Lipinski is the ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on Research and Science Education. (The Huntsville Times/Eric Schultz)

For that, there need to be partnerships between schools and the industry to provide students with internships and other opportunities for experience, Partynski said.

Dr. Camille Wright, director of secondary instruction for Madison City Schools, said her district partners with local universities through initiatives such as dual enrollment and articulated credit. The business community also provides internships and job shadowing for students.

And an advisory committee of business and industry leaders helps guide the district on its curriculum. “They work with us to ensure that our curriculum matches the skill set needed in the industry,” Wright said.

Dr. Robert Altenkirch, president of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, testified that internships with NASA and other industry leaders help higher education students better understand what they learn on campus.

When Brooks and Lipinski asked how the federal government could better promote scientific entities like HudsonAlpha and SAIC, Lamb of HudsonAlpha talked about preventing other industries from “poaching” STEM graduates.

Wright spoke out against the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which she said has forced school districts to narrow their focus on reading and math — to the detriment of science education.

“As an unintended consequence, that’s where your money will go,” Wright said.

Lamb said that the Bush-era legislation inflicted “enormous harm” on the way science is viewed in the country. His comment was met by applause from the small audience.

According to the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress, the move away from science is reflected in student performance. That assessment showed that just 34 percent of fourth-graders, 30 percent of eighth-graders and 21 percent of 12th-graders in the nation scored at or above proficiency in physical science, life science, Earth science and space.

President Obama has said he is trying to change the focus of students’ education, placing on his agenda an $80 million proposal for a new competition designed to support effective STEM teacher preparation. His administration also hopes to create a $60 million fund to help improve math education.

Obama’s office announced the initiatives in February. They have been met with skepticism from some GOP leaders who question the price tag on the plans.

Source: al.com

Citing the company’s product offering, market share and “a ton of activity there right now”, Immelt struck a bullish tone, but also expressed some uncertainty.

“Wind is just a wild card given how much volume could actually take place in 2012, just based on the strength of the market,” Immelt says, discussing the business’ impact on profit margins during GE’s first-quarter conference call.
The company took in new orders for 696 wind turbines in the first quarter, up 113% from the year-earlier period.

Orders in GE’s renewables business were worth $1.5bn, up 59%. Wind orders pricing declined 1.5%.
Chief financial officer Keith Sherin called that level of orders “tremendous”.

“The US market is very robust… The production tax credits end by the end of the year, and we’re taking a really good share in the marketplace,” he says.

The executives did not comment on the US market in 2013, when the expiration of the production tax credit — the wind industry’s key incentive — is likely to cause a precipitous decline in new installations.

GE wind turbine shipments in the first quarter were up 67% to 611 units, contributing to renewables revenues of $1.5bn, up 30%. The sales price of renewables equipment shipped in the quarter was down 4%.

Overall, GE took in $35.2bn in the quarter from continuing operations, down 8%, and recorded operating earnings of $3.6bn, up 1%. Operating earnings per share were $0.34, up 3% from the year-earlier period. Normalized for the impact of one-time financial items, earnings per share increased 17%.

GE’s bullish outlook for natural gas-fired turbine sales reflects the global trends for the wind industry’s top competitor. “Almost everywhere in the world, people are moving to gas,” Immelt says. In the US, he adds, growth in electricity demand will come eventually and that new load will be served by gas.

In the quarter, however, gas turbine orders were down to 23 from 27 a year earlier.

Source: Recharge News

Known as “Sustainability Base,” the 50,000-square-foot, two-story office building is visually stunning: Sunlight streams through skylights, windows actually open, and the office floor plan has scrapped private offices in favor of open spaces that encourage teamwork and collaboration.

The $25 million building integrates a host of clean-energy components, including fuel cells from Bloom Energy, solar panels, a water recovery system and building controls that can react to subtle changes in sunlight, temperature, wind and occupancy. The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) unit has awarded the building LEED Platinum status, the highest rating possible.

“This building generates more electricity than it consumes, which allows us to support the energy needs of other buildings on the campus,” Steve Zornetzer, associate director of NASA Ames Research Center, said during a sneak peak of Sustainability Base on Thursday. “It’s not just net energy zero, it’s net-positive. And it uses 90 percent less water than other buildings.”

The building’s official dedication will be Friday; U.S. Reps Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, and Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, are among those expected to attend.

NASA, in collaboration with lead architect and engineering

firm AECOM and designer William McDonough and Partners of Charlottesville, VA., and San Francisco, designed the building to be “native to place,” which means it incorporates the natural landscape into the design. The interior is made from nontoxic and recycled materials, and the white oak flooring comes from salvaged wood. So-called “gray water” from sinks and showers is reused in toilets. The building does not have air conditioning, but can cool interior temperatures by circulating cold water through copper pipes in the ceiling.
A growing body of research shows that green buildings, which capitalize on fresh air and natural light, reduce stress and improve productivity among workers.

“People love being able to see the outdoors while they are working,” said McDonough, who planted 100 additional trees on the campus.

NASA views Sustainability Base as a prototype of what a 21st-century building should be, and the way the agency should think about building in the future.

About 200 NASA employees work in the new building, which includes the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, program. Outdoor patios are designed to serve as work spaces and meeting areas, complete with wireless Internet access. Eventually, umbrellas on the patios will be covered with thin solar films and have charging stations for smartphones and iPads.

Source: Mercury News Reporting

The exhibit, called “The Power of Zero,” is “a story of implementation, a story of instruction, a story of education,” said Dr. Deborah Barnhart, the center’s CEO and executive director.

“We’re starting our journey today on our path to net zero,” though it may take decades for the center to achieve that goal, said Barnhart. She was joined at the exhibit launch this afternoon by Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle and Madison Mayor Paul Finley.

In the Davidson Center for Space Exploration, exhibits include a wind tunnel and Gardens on Air’s aeroponic growing system.

An electric tram will take visitors through the center’s Rocket Park that’s been transformed into an Energy Trail featuring 40-foot solar panels and a 150-foot-tall windmill provided by Greentrail Energy and eight hybrid and energy-efficient vehicles provided by Landers McLarty.

Huntsville-based Redstone Energy Group plans to set up electric vehicle-charging stations as part of the “Sun Shot” initiative, a demonstration project coordinated by REG and Energy Huntsville.

Barnhart said public and private organizations are welcome to take part in the exhibition with their own initiatives.
The “Power of Zero” exhibit is included in the museum’s admission price. General museum admission prices are adult, $20; child, $15; and child 5 years and under, free.

Source: Huntsville Times

The Redstone Park and Energy Demonstration Center is located at the northeast corner of Airport Road and South Memorial Parkway. The site is nearly complete and will eventually be opened up to the public.

This center represents a big step towards harnessing the sun for power in the valley. According to the company, the center, when completed, will generate 173,127 kilowatt hours in its first year of operation and more than 5 million kilowatt hours during the next 30 years.

The company said during the life of the project, the site will generate enough electricity to power 487 homes and cut more than 163,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions from the environment.

Source: WHNT News 19

Just behind Los Angeles is Washington, D.C., and San Francisco is third, with 248 buildings that earned Energy Star labels by 2010, less than half the figure of 510 for Los Angeles, according to new data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The figures may seem paltry in a country with five million commercial buildings, but the number of Energy Star labeled buildings, which have to score at least 75 out of 100, doubled between 2008 and 2010 and continues to grow at a steady clip.

Even though many cities have only a handful of Energy Star buildings, there are more than 120,000 buildings representing nearly 14 billion square feet that have been measured through Energy Star’s energy performance scale.

The number will continue to grow exponentially as some of the largest cities and states in the U.S. require energy benchmarking, almost always using Energy Star, for large commercial buildings.

“More and more organizations are discovering the value of Energy Star as they work to cut costs and reduce their energy use,” EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said in a statement. “This year marked the twentieth anniversary of the Energy Star program, and today Energy Star certified buildings in cities across America are helping to strengthen local economies and protect the planet for decades to come.”

New York, which is moving up steadily in the rankings, recently benchmarked nearly 3,000 municipal buildings, and all of the city’s commercial buildings over 50,000 square feet will be required to benchmark and disclose energy performance.

The EPA is trying to keep up with demand by expanding the types of facilities that are eligible to earn Energy Star labels. Currently, offices, schools, hospitals, stores and a range of industrial plants can receive the award, but the EPA found that 20 percent of buildings that are in the performance database aren’t eligible for a score.

As seen with recent benchmarking data from New York and Washington, D.C., there are various ways to earn a high ranking. Hotel Nikko in San Francisco, for example, uses highly efficient fluorescents or LEDs in most of the building and has occupancy sensors in each room. A federal office building in Seattle, on the other hand, replaced an old cooling tower and upgraded elevator banks, lighting and control panels for the building automation system.

For most building owners, Energy Star benchmarking is just a first step. There are a host of startups and legacy building controls companies that are looking to help facilities with retrofits, whether it’s efficient lighting networks or software solutions to optimize HVAC.

But without innovative financing options, or market pressures to improve, Energy Star measurement will grow by leaps and bounds, but large-scale retrofits will roll slowly. For people who have been in the space for a long time, they see a host of problems with moving building managers or owners to action. “In buildings, many facilities managers don’t think this is related to their job,” John Byrne, professor of energy and climate policy at the University of Delaware, said on a panel about financing energy efficiency at the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit. “But if you put the right policies in place, the right market signals can work.”

Source: GreenTech Media

Many electricity customers can choose their provider of electricity or can purchase green power from their utility. In fact, you might now have the option of choosing cleaner, more environmentally friendly sources of energy.

Power Profiler will:

Determine your power grid region based on your ZIP code and electric utility
Compare the fuel mix and air emissions rates of the electricity in your region to the national average
Determine the air emissions impacts of electricity use in your home or business
Power Profiler is very easy to use and takes about 5 minutes. To start, all you need is your ZIP code.

To see how clean the energy you use is, visit the U.S. EPA’s website HERE!

Softbank, which has spearheaded much of the drive toward renewable energy post-Fukushima, is now planning a 200-megawatt project in the Hokkaido region in northern Japan. The size of the project would make it Japan’s largest solar project to date as the country continues its push away from nuclear power. Currently, a 13-MW plant in Kawasaki is the largest installed facility.

According to the Japan Times, Softbank and Hokkaido Electric will come to terms over the deal once the government sets its rates. If the price is below 40 yen per kwh — considered by some the amount needed to generate a decent profit — the company may look to cut down the size of the plant.

Source: Renewable Energy World

The Redstone Park and Energy Demonstration Center at the northeast corner of Airport Road and South Memorial Parkway will be a “showcase of market-ready technology that’s available,” said Lori Severin, a principal of Redstone Energy Group who’s responsible for new business development. There also will be educational information “on how energy is generated by the sun and managed by Huntsvile Utilities back to the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) grid for use by the public and by nearby buildings in need of that energy.”

The solar-energy systems that will be installed and operational at the center:

• Parking Area Solar Assembly (PASA) – REG’s primary system that features a canopy with solar panels as its roof. The structures provide shaded parking and electric vehicle charging stations.
The PASA system is manufactured by the company’s partner, Outpost Solar, a company in Pulaski, Tenn., that designs and manufactures solar energy systems.
• Tracker system – A system that’s tall enough for cars to park under in a parking lot. It also can be used in pastures because the structures are tall enough to allow sunlight to reach crops below and allow cows to graze while harvesting the sun’s energy. The system tracks the movement of the sun. Ground- and roof-mounted systems also will be installed at the center.

REG provides scalable solar parking kits that a company or organization can lease, own or “host” at no cost. With the “hosting” option, REG would own the system and sell the power generated to the TVA, Severin said.The Redstone Park Energy Demonstration Center will be open for public viewing the first of June, Severin said, and it’s the first of other sites that will be deployed across Madison County.

REG’s CEO is retired Army Lt. Gen. James Pillsbury, who was deputy commanding general of the Army Materiel Command on Redstone Arsenal when he retired last year. ”Projects like this will create hundreds of jobs for Alabamians,” Pillsbury said in a release. The center, he said, is “a great opportunity to diversify our local economy and take Huntsville in a new and positive direction.” ”We work hard to make sure as many components as possible are American-made,” Severin said.

According to the company, the center, when completed, will generate 173,127 kilowatt hours in its first year of operation and more than 5 million kilowatt hours during the next 30 years. The company said during the life of the project, the site will generate enough electricity to power 487 homes and cut more than 163,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions from the environment.

Source: Huntsville Times