Boulder Sheriff bans open fires in mountain areas
Aug 30th
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Tomorrow (August 31, 2012) at 12:00 p.m., Sheriff Joe Pelle will enact a fire ban for the mountain areas of unincorporated Boulder County. Colorado is currently experiencing one of the driest summers in history. The fire danger has been increasing rapidly over the course of the last several weeks, and the moisture content in large fuels, (logs and trees), has fallen to dangerous levels. The forecast continues to call for high temperatures and minimal precipitation.
Tomorrow (August 31, 2012) at 12:00 p.m., Sheriff Joe Pelle will enact a fire ban for the mountain areas of unincorporated Boulder County. Colorado is currently experiencing one of the driest summers in history. The fire danger has been increasing rapidly over the course of the last several weeks, and the moisture content in large fuels, (logs and trees), has fallen to dangerous levels. The forecast continues to call for high temperatures and minimal precipitation.
NOAA extends CU climate studies partnership for 5-10 years
Aug 30th
NOAA selects CU-Boulder to
continue joint leadership of CIRES
continue joint leadership of CIRES
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has selected the University of Colorado Boulder to continue a federal/academic partnership that extends NOAA’s ability to study climate change, improve weather models and better predict how solar storms can disrupt communication and navigation technologies.
The selection means that NOAA will continue funding the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, or CIRES, for at least five years and up to 10 more years. CIRES was established at CU-Boulder in 1967.
The amount of the award is contingent on the availability of funding in the federal budget, but NOAA anticipates that up to $32 million may be available annually. Total NOAA funding is variable from year to year and is based on the number of projects the university proposes and NOAA approves.
Following a competitive process, NOAA selected CU-Boulder to administer the CIRES partnership which leverages university resources to expand understanding of the “Earth system” — the interrelationships among the atmosphere, oceans, land, living things and the sun’s energy.
“Improving our understanding of the Earth system is critically important as the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is forcing changes in all of its processes,” said Robert Detrick, assistant administrator of the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and chairman of the NOAA Research Council. “The University of Colorado has been an excellent partner to NOAA in pursuing this mission.”
NOAA’s first cooperative institute, CIRES is marking its 45th anniversary this year and is now one of 18 NOAA cooperative institutes nationwide. NOAA competitively funds cooperative institutes at universities with strong research programs relevant to NOAA’s mission. These institutes provide resources and opportunities that extend beyond the agency’s own research capacity.
“Partnership in environmental research with the NOAA Boulder laboratories is the keystone of CIRES research,” said CIRES Interim Director William Lewis Jr. “We have great ambitions in joint research with NOAA over the next five years.”
The partnership allows researchers at CU-Boulder to receive support for research projects that may involve NOAA scientists, primarily at the Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder as well as other NOAA cooperative institutes.
The CIRES partnership will focus on nine research themes:
- Air quality in a changing environment
- Climate forcing feedbacks and analysis
- Earth systems dynamics, variability and change
- Management and exploitation of geophysical data
- Regional science and applications
- Scientific outreach and education
- Space weather understanding and predictability
- Stratospheric processes and trends
- Systems and prediction models development
“With pressing issues like air quality, climate change and space weather now at the forefront globally, the University of Colorado Boulder is eager to continue this crucial partnership with NOAA,” said CU-Boulder Vice Chancellor for Research Stein Sture. “CIRES is known around the world for advancing our understanding of the complex Earth system and as a premier institution in educating the next generation of environmental scientists.”
NOAA supports cooperative institutes to conduct research, education, training and outreach aligned with its mission. Cooperative institutes also promote the involvement of students and postdoctoral scientists in NOAA-funded research. This unique setting provides NOAA the benefit of working with the complementary capabilities of a research institution that contribute to NOAA-related sciences ranging from satellite climatology and fisheries biology to atmospheric chemistry and coastal ecology.
For more information on CIRES visit http://cires.colorado.edu/. For more information on NOAA Cooperative Institutes visit http://www.nrc.noaa.gov/ci.
New CU power plant aims for LEED gold certification
Aug 30th
CU-Boulder to begin construction of
carbon-conscious campus utility system
carbon-conscious campus utility system
The first phase of construction on a University of Colorado Boulder campus utility project — which will provide efficient heating and cooling while significantly reducing the university’s carbon emissions — begins this week with utility work and construction staging on the south side of campus.
The project is expected to be complete in the winter of 2014 and involves three major components: renovation of the campus Power House on 18th Street; construction of a separate, new heating and cooling plant; and installation of new utility distribution systems.
“Safe, reliable and efficient energy is crucial for providing uninterrupted power that supports CU-Boulder’s educational and research mission,” said Steve Thweatt, executive director of Facilities Management. “This project will ensure that we can effectively consolidate the heating and cooling of a number of buildings on the Boulder campus while continuing to build our leadership in sustainability.”
The $91.1 million project, which is being funded through a combination of cash reserves and long-term debt proceeds, also will replace chiller and boiler equipment that is critical to campus operations.
Excavation will start at the beginning of September on the new heating and cooling plant, called the East District Energy Plant. Located near the Coors Events Center, the 72,000-square-foot facility will showcase energy efficiency concepts. In addition, the university is pursuing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, gold certification for the building. LEED certification is a U.S. benchmark for sustainable design and construction.
As part of this project, workers will begin digging at several locations around campus in September, including 18th Street and Kittredge Loop Road, to install piping to deliver chilled water needed for campus air conditioning systems. The installation will allow the Kittredge residence complex to have air conditioning for the first time.
Next fall, renovation will begin on the original campus Power House, built in 1909. The Power House includes a cogeneration plant and will have its equipment replaced and upgraded such that the facility will be able to meet approximately 50 percent of the campus’s electrical power requirements using natural gas — a method that produces fewer carbon emissions than the local utility.
“We anticipate that natural gas will be an economic energy source for the campus for the future, which can be implemented as appropriate,” said Campus Architect Paul Leef.
As part of the renovation, the plant’s exhaust waste heat will be recovered and used to provide both heating and additional electrical power without burning extra fuel. It is estimated that the renovated Power House facility, which will be renamed the West District Energy Plant, will have the capability to reduce carbon emissions by nearly 30,000 metric tons per year.
“The two plants will be connected such that when the entire system is online, the plants will work in tandem with the upgraded distribution system to deliver a high level of efficiency and reliability, helping the campus reduce its carbon footprint,” said Moe Tabrizi, director of campus sustainability.
