February 1, 2010

SCTE Goes Green with SEMI

The SCTE formally unveiled an initiative today aimed at helping cable operators take advantage of “green” technologies and procedures.

Dubbed the Smart Energy Management Initiative (SEMI), the effort builds upon momentum generated from activities in 2009, such the “Green Pavilion” at the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in Denver.

The SCTE held an inaugural meeting on December 2, 2009 in Phoenix where participants discussed facility powering and the need for energy management plans.  Other themes going forward include renewable energy technologies and recycling and recovery techniques.

“This is truly applied science, where the SCTE has a role to be a leader,” SCTE President and CEO Mark Dzuban said.

Dzuban described the effort as a partnership between the SCTE, 10 MSOs and a range of vendors, including those who sell solar, wind and fuel cell technologies, some of whom presented at the December event.

The first SEMI event this year is a meeting at the Comcast Center in Philadelphia slated for March. On the agenda are baseline energy usage calculations, alternative heating and cooling solutions and reduction of outside plant powering. Throughout 2010 and beyond, the SCTE is planning additional research, the cultivation of best practices, a monthly bulletin and expanded panels and exhibits at Cable-Tec Expo and other SCTE events.

In line with the pragmatic spirit of SEMI, for instance, is this description of the closing session of the SCTE Canadian Summit (March 9-10): “Not Just an Environmentally Good Thing, Going Green Can Help Cable Operators Realize Tangible Financial Benefits.”

By November, Dzuban said SCTE members would have access to a web-based energy tool kit that includes primers on topics such as regional temperature analysis and the efficiency of wind generators.

Today’s announcement included an endorsement from NCTA President and CEO Kyle McSlarrow: “We applaud SCTE’s launch of this comprehensive initiative, and look forward to working with the SCTE to make significant advancements in the way we consume and manage our environmental resources.”

An engineer with four decades of experience who took the helm of the SCTE in February 2009, Dzuban explained the thinking behind this major launch by saying that the SCTE is not risk-averse and takes seriously its mission of “providing technical leadership for the telecommunications industry.”

Also powering this effort is Dzuban’s own energy. In the course of a brief interview, he ranged across the history of fuel cells, solar energy’s untapped potential, near-term opportunities for energy reductions in facilities, fleet operations and outside plant and more.

It’s part of championing what he described at the outset of his tenure at SCTE as “the business of engineering.” (For more, click here.)

“We are building operating platforms in a business that’s very competitive,” Dzuban said. “I separate the philosophical from real material benefits.”

–Jonathan Tombes