A green-technology company in Ithaca is working toward reducing the United States’ dependence on foreign oil through improving energy efficiency in homes and businesses.
Performance Systems Development of Ithaca is an energy auditing, training and consulting firm whose software is used in 20 states and by agencies such as the Nature Conservancy.
“Our impact on the nation’s energy efficiency is very broad and meaningful,” said John Behlar, PSD’s marketing manager. “It’s what drives us.”
Founded in 1998 by current Chief Executive Officer Greg Thomas, the company provides engineering and training services, consults on green building projects and energy efficiency programs and develops software used for energy audits. With field offices in Philadelphia and Meadville, Pa., its training academy certifies hundreds of auditors a year on how to measure and analyze the energy efficiency of buildings and to predict energy savings.
The average home uses 148,309 kBtu of energy annually, whereas an efficient home uses approximately 73,030 kBtu, according to PSD.
Much of the company’s current focus is on software development, Behlar said. TREAT (Targeted Retrofit Energy Analysis Tool) is widely used by auditors and can be downloaded from the company’s website for a fee.
Green Energy Compass, PSD’s most recent design, is a web-based program that determines a home’s energy use during the winter and summer months and its energy score, and how it compares to other homes in the neighborhood.
Sunnywood Designs, a division of PSD, recently designed carbon calculators for the Pew Center for Global Climate Change and the Nature Conservancy, whose carbon calculator also takes travel, food, diet and recycling into account.
The company has grown rapidly, Behlar said, due in part to its in-demand green technology and federal incentive programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In the last six months, the company went from 37 employees to 47.
“That growth has been fueled by the expansion of energy efficiency programs at the federal and state and local levels,” he said.
PSD representatives traveled to Japan last fall to deliver energy efficiency training at Camp Foster, a U.S. Marine Corps base, on the island of Okinawa as part of the federal government’s push to reduce its energy consumption.
The U.S. government is the largest user of energy in the nation, and in 2007, it passed the Energy Independence and Security Act, which requires overall energy reduction of 30 percent in federal buildings by the end of 2015.
Locally, PSD has worked with individuals and businesses, including St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Ithaca, South Hill Business Campus and Watkins Glen Public Library. It also provides program support for the utility company First Pennsylvania and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, which promotes renewable energy sources and limits energy consumption. On the federal level, the California Energy Commission, the Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp., and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development use PSD’s software.
Source:http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20110427/NEWS01/104270375/Made-Tompkins-Ithaca-made-software-aids-energy-saving-efforts?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
