American Honda Motor Company, Inc. (NYSE: HMC) introduced a heat transfer and power generation device that provides home heating or water heating as well as electrical power for a variety of home applications.
The Micro-sized Combined Heat and Power (MCHP) Deluxe cogeneration unit was showcased at the U.S. Green Building Council’s Greenbuild International Conference and Expo 2008 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Originally ntroduced in Japan in 2003 and in the US in 2007, the new Honda MCHP Deluxe system features efficient energy management technologies for home heating and power combined with an automatic back-up power feature (a residential stand-by generator) that can provide back-up electricity in the event of a power failure.
When the Honda MCHP Deluxe module is paired with a furnace system, the total system provides heat for the home with the added benefit of electricity production.
The electric power produced by the system displaces electricity that consumers would otherwise purchase from the local electric utilities, helping homeowners save $500 to $1,000 per year on their electric bills.
MCHP owners also can utilize net metering, in states where this energy policy is legislated, to sell unused electric power generated by the MCHP to the public utilities in their communities.
The new Honda MCHP Deluxe system incorporates a battery-back up system that includes a long-life, five-year nickel metal hydride battery for dependable starts in back-up power mode during utility power outages.
The MCHP Deluxe unit produces 3.26 kilowatts of heat and 1.8 kilowatts of electric power, an improvement over Honda’s Standard MCHP system that produces a maximum of 1.2 kilowatts of power. Both models allow homeowners to reduce their utility bills and curb carbon dioxide emissions while improving overall energy efficiency and comfort.
LEED Buildings
American Honda Motor Co., Inc. also announced the certification of five new green buildings under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards. One of these facilities–Honda’s Data Center in Longmont, Colo.–is the first LEED Version 2.2 Silver certified data center in the country.
Honda’s five LEED-certified facilities this year include: LEED-EB Platinum–Northwest Regional Facility in Gresham, Oregon; LEED-NC Gold–Honda R&D America’s Acura Design Studio in Torrance, Calif.; LEED-NC Gold–American Honda’s Midwestern Consolidation Center in Troy, Ohio; LEED-NC Gold–Honda Aircraft Company World Headquarters, Greensboro, N.C.; and, LEED-NC Silver–Data Center in Longmont, Colo.
"We have embraced the green building program for many years, since 1999 when we built our first certified building in Gresham, Oregon" said Barbara van Gaasbeek, national administrator of American Honda’s green building programs. "Although it takes an increased amount up front to build a green building, the payback is in reduced utility bills, because of reduced water and electricity use. So for the lifetime of a building, say 20 to 50 years, that’s a lot of payback." Added van Gaasbeek, "It is the right thing to do and everyone should be doing it."
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This is another meaningless “green” article. It does not mention where the savings come from. Is it the efficiency of the gas motor, or simply the difference between electric utility rates and the cost of home produced electricity with cheap gas? What is the function of the combined furnace and the MCHP generator? Wish, your technical writers were indeed “technical” (vs liberal arts majors).
Heinz, a quick investigation into this topic tells me that energy generation and transmission is very ineffectient. Gas power generation at the point of use saves on transmission losses and allows the surplus heat to be used for heating your home or hot water, saving you money.