Confirming some real-world results related to its Energy 2020 endeavors, the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers today released information to help cable operators and vendors achieve the program’s key objectives. (SCTE operates globally as the International Society of Broadband Experts.)

“A central tenet of the Energy 2020 program is the material impact that the program can have for operators and the communities they serve,” Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE/ISBE, says. “Our initial work shows how even relatively small deployments can dramatically reduce consumption, as well as its associated costs, for the industry.”

Using a combination of solar panels, more efficient lighting fixtures and fuel cell technologies to reduce energy costs and consumption at its suburban Philadelphia HQ, the Society says that it is maintaining or increasing availability of services. The energy efficiencies have reduced grid dependency by more than 200,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) and have increased operational readiness for the organization, it adds.

“The energy management solutions we’ve deployed at SCTE/ISBE are some of the same elements of the industry’s Energy 2020 strategy,” Derek DiGiacomo, senior director, information systems and energy management at SCTE/ISBE, observes. “By working closely with Alpha Technologies, CommScope and other leading vendors on these projects, we have been able to create a base of knowledge which we can share with others in the industry.”

Since the introduction late in 2010 of the first energy management solutions at its Exton, Pa., home, SCTE/ISBE says it has reduced grid cost by more than $18,000. Key accomplishments reportedly include:

• Generation of more than 78,000 kWh of power through the installation and operation of rooftop-mounted, 23 kW (AC) solar array.

• Reduction of grid consumption by more than 100,000 kWh through the replacement of 150 T-12 fluorescent fixtures with LED four-inch linear tubes.

• Reduction of grid consumption by approximately 25,000 kWh by transitioning exterior lighting from 250-watt high-pressure sodium bulbs to 28-watt LED fixtures.

Also, a hydrogen fuel cell unit installed in 2011 enabled SCTE/ISBE to maintain availability of critical systems during two outages caused by severe weather conditions, including Hurricane Irene in 2011.