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Energy Audits Need a Digital Upgrade

William Attardi on September 26, 2025

Traditional audits still have merit, but often they miss live inefficiencies. Artificial Intelligence tools reduce human error and generate immediate insights that could mean measurable savings. Automation is not new to manufacturing but the scope of the technology is leading to novel applications as industry leaders rethink energy management. Traditional audits still have merit, but often they miss the live inefficiencies that persist in production systems. Artificial Intelligence tools reduce human error and generate immediate insights that could result in measurable savings for those systems. Can AI Help Conduct an Energy Audit and Find Savings Opportunities? | Enterprise Data | American Machinist

Energy-Efficient Lighting Can Still Provide Opportunities for Energy Savings, DNV Study Finds

William Attardi on April 18, 2025

The study was undertaken in partnership with 11 organizations across the U.S. and Canada The study identified six separate “next generation” commercial lighting opportunities that are most likely to produce significant program savings or are gaining traction in the market. It graded these opportunities according to the potential size of the market, potential to deliver meaningful program savings, and ease of delivery. Three opportunities—higher efficacy LEDs, advanced lighting controls, and redesign LED-to-LED retrofit—are considered mass market opportunities and have the ability to fit into established energy management programs or have the ability to scale. The other three opportunities—demand management, germicidal UV, and tunable lighting—are niche market opportunities that apply to specific conditions and customers, and, while have the ability to provide energy savings, are not suited to broad adoption.  Energy-efficient lighting can still provide opportunities for energy savings, DNV study finds

The Statue of Liberty was made with copper but due to oxidation, it turned green.

When the “Lady in the Harbor” first arrived in New York in 1886, she didn’t look like the mint-green icon we know today. In fact, for the first twenty years of her life, she stood as a towering, metallic beacon of reddish-gold. Designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and engineered by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the statue was a gift from France to America. To build her, Bartholdi chose copper for three practical reasons:

  • Malleability:It could be hammered into elaborate, thin sheets.
  • Weight:Copper is lighter than stone or bronze, making it easier to ship 350 individual pieces across the Atlantic.
  • Durability:It was strong enough to survive a 27-day ocean voyage and the harsh winds of the harbor.

When she was unveiled on October 28, 1886, her skin—made of 300 copper sheets roughly the thickness of two pennies—shone with a bright, metallic brown luster. The transformation from “penny-colored” to “patina-green” wasn’t planned. Bartholdi actually expected the statue to age into a deeper, darker red. However, the unique environment of New York Harbor—a mix of salt air, moisture, and industrial pollution—triggered a process called oxidation.

The Timeline of Change:

  1. 1886–1900:The bright copper dulled into a dark, muddy brown.
  2. 1903:The first hints of a light green crust, or “patina,” began to appear.
  3. 1906:The color change was so controversial that Congress nearly stepped in. They appropriated $62,000 to paint the statue back to its original color, but the public protested, calling the idea “sacrilege.”
  4. 1910–1920:The statue was a patchy mix of brown and green until 1920, when the oxidation was complete, leaving her entirely teal.

While we now view the green color as iconic, it actually serves a vital structural purpose. The layer of verdigris (the green patina) acts as a protective shield. It seals the copper underneath, preventing the metal from further corrosion and weathering.  By the time the color fully changed, a new generation of immigrants had arrived in America seeing a green statue.