August 25, 2008
Excerpt from: BethelCitizen.com
By: Alison Aloisio
August 15, 2008
Located in Hanover, Maine, Howard Pond has joined a growing list of lakes that will be monitored for the possible effects of global warming.
Dr. Dan Buckley from the University of Maine at Farmington is collaborating with other scientists and organizations. They hope to place several HOBO® Pendant loggers in 100 lakes across Maine over the next two years. The loggers are going to be used to measure and record temperature and light intensity at various depths.
Buckley recently described details of the monitoring project to Howard Pond residents. “While melting polar ice caps and glaciers get more of the attention in the global warming discussion,” explained Buckley, “climate change can have a dramatic effect on the ecology of lakes.” According to Buckley, projections show that in 50 years, this region will have the overall climate of southern Connecticut. “The scary thing is the lakes are changing faster than the air,” says Buckley.
A study of Lake Superior showed that since the 1980s, the average surface water temperature of the lake has risen about 4 degrees Fahrenheit. “In the same period”, said Buckley, “the atmospheric temperature has gone up 1 degree Fahrenheit.” “In this region, “ice out” dates are 10 to 15 days earlier than they were in the 19th century and early 20th centuries,” explained Buckley. For example, in the 1880s ice in the Rangeley lakes typically went out in mid-May; however, since the 1960s there has been a dramatic change - ice out has been happening earlier. “Some researchers,” said Buckley, “have suggested earlier ice out is the reason that lake temperatures are climbing at an accelerated rate.” This warming trend could result in the loss of cold-water fish, such as trout and salmon, from some lakes
“As for Howard Pond,” Buckley said, “The prediction will likely not be as dire.” According to Buckley, the pond is 118 feet deep which is unusually deep relative to its surface area. That characteristic will help protect it from the effects of global warming.
Howard Pond residents are not taking anything for granted. The pond’s Preservation Association will finance the placement of two pendant loggers. The loggers will record and measure temperature and light at 15-minute intervals and remain in the pond for up to 208 days. Buckley will then use the data to compare it to the data from other lakes in Maine.
The Howard Pond project will likely start next year.
August 12, 2008
Most companies don’t realize how their facility compares in terms of energy usage and efficiency because they don’t have key information about how their building is performing.
In order to determine a building’s energy efficiency, it is necessary to accurately assess its performance. Energy benchmarking provides an effective way to evaluate the energy consumption of a building to help identify potential energy cost savings opportunities.
Data loggers are important diagnostic tools that provide base-line energy measurements. Data loggers can be used to monitor a building’s energy performance which may include monitoring major energy-consuming equipment such as compressed air systems, boilers, hot water systems, chilled water systems, air handling units, indoor and outdoor temperature and electrical usage.
There are several factors to consider when benchmarking a facility, including:
- Identify benchmark goals: Determine the scale and objectives of the benchmarking project. Do you want to verify a facility’s base-line performance or perhaps identify operational and maintenance issues?
- Obtain documentation: Gather information about the facility. Utility bills offer history on the energy usage and cost associated with its existing performance. Other important documentation can include: floor plans, mechanical equipment schedules, and drawings of the buildings duct work and mechanical systems.
- Design a monitoring plan: Based on the information collected from step two, a monitoring plan can now be created. It is important to determine the monitoring metrics you want to include in the scope of the monitoring plan. Common monitoring variables include temperature, relative humidity, kWh, light on/off, and other HVAC system performance measurements which may include differential pressure gauge pressure and flow.
- Setup monitoring equipment: Note: A trained electrician should install the monitoring equipment in live electrical panels. It is important to select the optimum logging interval for your application. When monitoring transducers outputting pulses (such as kWh transducers for example) a logging interval no shorter than every 5-minute should be used.
- Collect and analyze data: After the data has been collected that was outlined in the monitoring plan, the data can be analyzed to create a details of the facility’s energy consumption. After analyzing the benchmarking results, it is important to identify cost saving opportunities and implement improvements.
Optimizing a building’s performance can improve energy usage and decrease utility costs while providing benefits to the environment. Benchmarking is an important way to accomplish these goals. It can provide information on how a building is currently performing and establish objectives for the future.
Resource Links:
: STEP 2.3: Benchmark http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=assess_performance.benchmark
: U.S. Green Building Council http://www.usgbc.org/Default.aspx
Live data from a HOBO U30 remote monitoring system collecting benchmark data can be seen here. 
July 18, 2008
In the world of 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 storm water runoff, lessening the heat island effect, and offsetting interior heating and cooling costs.
Nicole Goldman, owner of ‘g’ Green Design Center, a Massachusetts-based company specializing in green building materials, recently installed an experimental green roof on her home located in Woods Hole, MA. Goldman’s green roof is covered with a layer of synthetic and natural drainage layers, soil, and a variety of low-maintenance plants.
To monitor conditions on her green roof, Goldman uses Onset’s HOBO U30/GSM Remote Monitoring System to track air temperature, humidity and soil moisture. When the water content in the soil drops below a specific level, the system sends an alarm notification to activate an irrigation system. Additionally, the data that the logger provides helps Goldman identify which plants thrive under what conditions.
Live data from Goldman’s green roof can be accessed here.
Relative humidity levels are often ignored in homes despite the fact that unsuitable levels can be unhealthy, increase heating and cooling costs, damage building components, and affect comfort levels.
Research has shown that high-relative humidity levels also support the growth of dust mites, molds and bugs that can lead to increased allergy symptoms and reduce indoor air quality (IAQ). However, little to no measured data is available on actual indoor humidity levels in homes across the United States.
Concerned about the impact that relative humidity has on a building’s performance, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development paired up with Steven Winter Associates, Inc. (SWA), an architectural and engineering research and consulting firm, to gather temperature and humidity data in more than 50 homes across the country.
Three different regions are being targeted for the study – the warm, humid southeast, the cold northeast and the Pacific Northwest. To complete the study, household characteristic data will also be collected during the initial site-visit to the home, including occupancy levels, insulation levels, equipment efficiencies, envelope leakage and duct leakage.
To monitor temperature and humidity levels, SWA engineers selected HOBO® U12 data loggers from Onset.
The battery-powered devices will measure and record humidity levels around-the clock – even during power outages – and accompanying HOBOware® Pro software will convert the data into time-stamped graphs that can be displayed on a PC or Mac.
The data collected from this study will support efforts already underway by the ASHRAE Standard Committee 160P on “Design Criteria for Preventing Moisture Damage in Buildings” and others to develop moisture modeling tools and related technical standards. These models and standards will help improve a home’s performance by minimizing conditions associated with high moisture levels. Test homes for this study are currently being identified, and most initial site visits and data logger installations should be complete by the beginning of this summer.
July 10, 2008
A recent article in Building Operating Management Magazine discusses the tremendous energy savings opportunities that exist in small buildings (less than 100,000 square feet). In particular, it mentions HVAC and lighting as the two areas that comprise the majority of energy use and represent the biggest opportunities for energy savings.
Here at Onset, we’re using our own energy monitoring products to monitor electricity consumption and other parameters in our 40,000 square foot facility on Cape Cod. In particular, we’re tracking kilowatt hours and air temperature in various sections of the buildings, and in a very short period of time we’ve learned a tremendous amount about our own energy usage patterns.
Live data from one of the monitoring systems can be accessed here.
July 9, 2008
Onset’s TidbiT® temperature data loggers are helping researchers understand the effects of water temperature conditions on the fish population in Colorado’s Bear Creek.
Karen Christopherson, a volunteer researcher for Evergreen Trout Unlimited, has been using TidbiT loggers for the past several years to monitor rising water temperature conditions. “We are monitoring the stream temperatures in order to show that temperatures vary significantly,” explains Christopherson. “At times, temperatures exceeded the EPA mandated temperature limits for cold-water fisheries. We had noticed a fish die-off in 2000 and 2002, during high water temperatures.”
In order to prove their case that water temperatures were rising, and prompt action by the EPA, state, and the local agencies, Christopherson and her team placed the loggers in various stream locations to monitor temperature conditions at an hourly rate.
“So far, we have succeeded in getting cooperation of state and local agencies to help the stream. This benefits not just the trout, but all other wildlife, as well as the community. It all started with our Trout Unlimited group gathering temperature data with the TidbiTs in order to prove our point - that stream temps were too high,” concludes Christopherson.
Onset’s HOBO® water temperature data loggers are helping U.S. National Park Service researchers understand the effects of water temperature on coral reef health at the service’s field station in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. More specifically, researchers are using the data loggers to establish a link between elevated water temperature over time and coral bleaching, or the whitening of coral due to the loss of life- supporting algae. Coral bleaching – a phenomenon that has been linked to global warming in recent years – causes coral to become colorless, weak, and vulnerable to a variety of environmental stresses. [Read More]
Related links:
: Coral reefs in trouble, scientists warn http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/07/08/decliningreefs.ap/index.html
July 2, 2008
Onset’s TidbiT® temperature data loggers are helping researchers understand the impact of water temperature on the survival and growth of oysters along New England’s coast.
Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) are studying five strains of New England oysters bred for disease resistance or chosen from disease resistant stock. These strains are grown alongside one another at four sites throughout New England.
John Murt, a researcher at the Marine Biology Laboratory at WHOI, has been using TidbiTs to monitor temperature conditions at all of the growout locations. “Prior to using the loggers, our team would take monthly field sampling trips to each site to record environmental data as well as growth and mortality of each oyster strain,” explains Murt. “Without the data loggers, we would only have a single monthly water temperature recording instead of the daily samples we collect with the loggers.”
The loggers allow Murt and his team to record water temperatures year round without having to rely on someone being in the field collecting data manually. “With temperature being the driving factor of water-borne bacteria, the data set provided by the loggers is essential for us to better understand when the conditions are right for these bacteria to impact either oyster populations or oyster farms,” says Murt.
According to Murt, similar research for Quahogs will start this summer. Three strains are currently being grown in hatcheries and will be seeded into growout patches in local harbors.
“The manpower saved by deploying data loggers means that we get a much better data set for a lot less effort. This is a win-win situation for everyone,” concludes Murt.
July 1, 2008
This past April, a team of polar ice scientists trekked to the Canadian high Arctic for a two-week expedition near Ellesmere Island to study the condition of the ice shelves and related ecosystems in this barren region.
Three scientists — Derek Mueller of Trent University, Luke Copland of the University of Ottawa and Andrew Hamilton of Laval University — traveled to this remote territory to continue an ongoing International Polar Year study.
Due to warmer climate conditions in the last 20 years, ice shelves along Ellesmere’s northern coast that have been attached to the shore for thousands of years have been breaking apart affecting this ecosystem.
To help shed light on why large chunks of the Arctic ice have been breaking-up; the team chose a HOBO® weather station with Iridium satellite interface to gather real-time environmental data. The system was deployed on the Serson Ice shelf and is the most northerly automated real-time weather station in the world.
As the arctic landscape continues to change, volumes of freshwater from deep sea inlets previously dammed by the ice shelves are being pumped into the ocean. These physical changes are affecting the habitat of aquatic microbial communities existing below the ice that play a significant role in the Arctic ecosystem.
It is not clear how these ecosystems will adapt to current and projected climate change as this region is difficult to access and has not been well studied. However, scientists are confident that the collected data will provide them with insight on how environmental conditions are affecting the Arctic’s ecosystem.
Related links:
: Ice sheet breaks loose off Canada http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/07/30/canada.arctic.ice.ap/index.html
June 26, 2008
Onset recently paired up with Massachusetts-based Orchard Knoll, LLC to monitor the performance of innovative eco-friendly home heating and cooling systems being installed in a new 66-unit development located in East Bridgewater, MA.
Mike McGonigle, developer and engineer, explained that each home features a geothermal heat exchange system that utilizes temperatures deep within the Earth to help keep the home warm in the winter and cool in the summer. To achieve comfortable temperature conditions in the home year-round, the system pumps water through a loop down a 300- to 400-foot well and back up to a heat exchanger in the basement.
Several factors can affect system performance, ranging from water flow and pressure to outdoor temperature and the motor runtime of the heat exchanger. To monitor the system’s performance, McGonigle chose Onset’s HOBO® U30 Remote Monitoring System. The monitoring system consists of a GSM cellular-based data logging unit mounted on the wall in the model home’s basement, and sensors that plug into the unit. The sensors monitor indoor and outdoor temperature and relative humidity, as well as power usage of the geothermal unit, well pump, and the entire home.
The HOBO U30 collects data 24/7, and the information is accessible via the web at the following address: http://www.onsetcomp.com/livesystem/eco-friendly-home-heating
McGonigle has already gathered valuable information from the data logging system and has been able to make necessary adjustments. The monitoring system will continue to be valuable in the future as the developers plan to add solar thermal units to the homes’ roofs to further help with home heating and the hot water supply.
