TV facilities go green
Sep 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Angela Snell
Saving Mother Earth can be good for the pocketbook.
In Seattle, WA, KJR radio station made an agreement with Comcast SportsNet to broadcast TV content from its studio. Advanced Broadcast Solutions employed green practices when overhauling the space so it could be used for both radio and TV. The systems integrator installed Philips Kinetics LED lighting as well as robotic cameras.
Nevion's executive vice president of marketing, John Glass, says making an even bigger impact is the performance of these products while they are in service. Nevion, formerly Network Electronics, produces global video transport solutions.
“Clearly, the amount of power the product consumes has a direct impact on the broadcaster's carbon footprint,” Glass says. “And, the reduced product size plays out in reduced demand on the air-conditioned space in the equipment room; reduction in generated heat means avoiding waste twice — first in spending power to create heat, second in spending power on air-conditioning to remove the same heat.”
So what's in it for the broadcaster?
Glass says, “Products that help broadcasters reduce their carbon footprints also help them save money and reduce maintenance requirements, such as cleaning and repairing fans.”
The reduced size of green equipment makes it more convenient for broadcasters to deploy the system in a limited space, and it's more portable in temporary deployment situations.
When shopping for new equipment, compare power consumption and the physical footprint of the product. In addition, look at the level of integration offered by different products. For example, selecting a “universal” card that can accept and transmit any professional video format enables broadcasters to purchase and deploy one card instead of many to support a variety of formats.
Martyn Horspool, television product manager, Harris Broadcast Communications, says, “New transmitter designs are up to 30 percent more energy efficient than previous generation designs, reducing power consumption and hence reducing generation of greenhouse gases by the utility company.”
Horspool adds that broadcasters can achieve energy savings by using more efficient RF devices, automatic adaptive precorrection (allowing devices to be driven closer to saturation), low loss combining and RF components, and by carefully selecting power supply components to minimize losses.
New transmitter designs are more “power dense” than previous ones, reducing floor space and building size. According to Horspool, reduced room size helps minimize overall system energy costs by decreasing heating, cooling and air-conditioning costs. Most new high-power, solid-state transmitters use liquid cooling systems to efficiently remove heat from the building. A well-designed liquid-cooled transmitter uses liquid not only to cool the power amplifiers but also other heat generating components such as power supplies, RF combiners and RF reject loads. Using these techniques reduces the overall heat load to the building. This can dramatically reduce the size of air-conditioning units needed for the building, therefore lessening energy requirements.
Designing a green facility
From a systems integrator standpoint, Mark Siegel, president of Advanced Broadcast Solutions (ABS), echoes the sentiments above, saying that decreasing power consumption is the main way broadcasters can “go green.” The most important considerations are HVAC and electrical.
Siegel says, “Reducing people reduces power consumption. There is nothing more that puts off heat than people. That's a joke. But it's true.” Minimizing the number of people in studio audiences and the control room means less heat is generated; hence, it decreases the need to cool down a facility.
Also, consider the way that lighting impacts power.
“For 20 years, we've been looking at fluorescent-based lighting vs. incandescent to reduce the cost of power consumption and reduce the cost of heat,” Siegel says.
Now LED lighting is becoming an attractive solution. Broadcasters need to consider how much heat lighting produces, which impacts the amount of HVAC they have to pump into a facility.
A third way that Siegel suggests broadcasters can be more eco-friendly is by using a green screen.
“We cut down an awful lot of trees to create these sets. And these sets are very expensive. To light a green screen, you light it once, and it stays that way. So you create your set, lighting mood and lighting direction within the artificial environment.”
Using a green screen rather than a set can be more cost-effective, as it is easier to light and eliminates the amount of power used. At the end of the day, Siegel says it may require additional tooling and expense to establish green practices in a broadcast facility, but the long-term benefits are worth it.
“Unfortunately, the management mentality these days is reducing people,” he says. “I think they can look for other places within their facility to reduce. Implement better practices, such as, when a studio is not in use, let's shut that stuff down. Implement better control systems on HVAC. Some people have these very large facilities that they've had for years, and people have been spread out throughout the building. Why not consolidate that space? If you can save $3000-$4000 a month on power or HVAC, that's $3000-$4000 a month that you don't have to sell.”
Conclusion
Jumping on the green bandwagon is the popular thing to do right now. Conserving energy, using recycled materials and reducing headcount are just a few things discussed in this article, all of which may save your broadcast TV facility money in the long term. Also consider hiring a systems integrator or contacting your local utility. Both of these resources can offer advice for how to employ green practices and save on power.
For more tips about going green, visit Broadcast Engineering's blog at http://blog.broadcastengineering.com/brad/.
Angela Snell is the production editor for Broadcast Engineering.
| Want to use this article? Click here for options! |  |
