Reducing the energy consumption of HVAC systems has become increasingly important. The Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association (SMACNA) has announced the new second edition of its Energy Systems Analysis and Management Manual, which addresses this topic and more.

DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Delivering Efficient Local Thermal Amenities (DELTA) program is developing localized heating and cooling systems and devices to expand the temperature range within buildings. Syracuse University will develop a near-range micro-environmental control system.

The Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) has announced its 26th GLOBALCON Conference & Expo, set for March 17-18, 2015 at the Philadelphia Convention Center, which will bring together decision makers from business, industry, and government to help bring them up to speed on energy issues.

The global industrial energy management system (IEMS) market is forecast to grow from $12.6 billion in 2014 to $24.4 billion by 2019, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.2 percent from 2014 to 2019, according to a new market research report published by MarketsandMarkets.

REGEN Energy Inc., supplier of Swarm Energy Management® for demand response (DR) and demand management, and Ayla Networks, provider of its Agile Internet of Things (IoT) platform, unveiled a partnership to expand the market for products and services to help commercial and industrial customers reduce energy consumption.

The U.S. federal government is one of the largest energy consumers in the world, but that consumption is declining. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) shows total delivered-to-site energy use by the federal government fell to 0.96 quadrillion Btu in fiscal year (FY) 2013.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that more than 20 new partners have committed to improving energy efficiency across their building portfolios by 20 percent over the next 10 years. In addition to six in the multifamily sector, new partners include fast-food, restaurant, manufacturing, university, and government facilities.

GREENCROWN Energy and LVR Energy & Mechanical have announced a strategic joint partnership, in order to apply the expertise of both organizations to deliver a full array of energy solutions nationwide — bridging the gap between energy and mechanical services.

Bluestone Energy Services LLC, a provider of energy conservation engineering and project development services, announced that it is strengthening its existing partnership with The Global Green Team in 2015 after continued success throughout the Midwest market.

Schneider Electric, a specialist in energy management, and Autodesk Inc., a leader in 3D design and engineering, have announced an agreement to collaborate to enhance current practices for building lifecycle management based on building information modeling (BIM).