All posts published in 2016
A Texas startup’s big energy idea: storing electricity underground The Guardian, August 25, 2016 In a field in Central Texas, Aaron Mandell and his crew are running pumping equipment to bring a former oil and gas well back to life. But they’re not trying to extract black gold. Instead, they are developing a way to … Read more
The Facility Manager: Harnessing The Power of Big Data in Healthcare Panoramic Power, October 13, 2016 With a continuing and constant demand for high energy consumption in healthcare facilities, it might seem impossible to simply cut a percentage off the budget. After all, the electronic equipment peppered throughout healthcare facilities is far from frivolous – … Read more
Ethan Forauer, ERS, for Zondits A few months ago we reported on the release of the highly anticipated ACEEE 2016 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard report. This annual report provides key insight into the integration of energy efficiency across the United States and offers states a reality check on their progress towards often ambitious goals. … Read more
David Reynolds, ERS, for Zondits Seriously. The point of this article is to challenge those who believe in energy efficiency and all of the benefits it provides to society and to the environment – and to our continued employment in a noble field. It is time to rethink, reevaluate, and restate the benefits of energy … Read more
Converse’s Boston Headquarters Gets a Bold Visual Statement Design: Retail, October 6, 2016 Taking a product from concept to completion requires collaboration. And when the idea involves an iconic product, like Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers, it is a process that gets everyone excited. The Converse design team presented their vision to New York-based Lukas Lighting … Read more
Boosting Energy Efficiency: Air Compressor Technology IEN, November 25, 2016 Faced with increasing competition, high energy costs, increased regulation and more aggressive sustainability goals, facility owners and plant managers are under extraordinary pressure to reduce costs, while achieving greater productivity and energy efficiency. Most industries use some form of air or gas compression to generate … Read more
How Utilities Can Become Efficiency Innovators Greentech Media, November 28, 2016 The New York Public Service Commission, seeking innovative solutions in its Reforming the Energy Vision proceeding, instead opted for an outcome-oriented approach to measuring and incentivizing efficiency performance. An outcome-oriented metric would focus on the policy goal of reduced energy use overall, putting a smaller … Read more
Jeff Perkins, ERS, for Zondits Zondits started with a “soft launch” 3 years ago this month. We chose a soft launch, putting the site up in hidden mode but populating it on a daily basis, to give ourselves time to test the concept. We chose a curated portal rather than a blog for two reasons: … Read more
Jeff Perkins, ERS, for Zondits My time doing market research in the semiconductor industry was one of the most fascinating phases of my career so far. As an “energy” guy at heart, I was most drawn to the “compound semiconductor” space with rapid advances in power electronics (driven by advances in SiC) and LED chips. … Read more
Jon Maxwell and Brian McCowan for Zondits, June 8, 2015. Image credit: PixShark “Thank you. Your evaluation has helped us greatly with improving our program.” How often do evaluators hear that phrase? The answer is, of course, not very often. The reasons are many and varied, but the overriding reason is that evaluators, program administrators, … Read more