Building green with energy-efficient materials: Insulation USGBC, September 7, 2016 Did you know that the energy lost through a building’s walls, roofs and windows is the largest single waste of energy in most buildings—especially in hot summer months? As a result, the energy efficiency of a building often depends on the materials that help create … Read more
Sue Haselhorst, ERS, and Joe Dolengo, National Grid, presented at ACEEE Summer Study, 2016 ABSTRACT It has become clichéd that implementers want evaluation results sooner and with actionable recommendations; however, impact results often arrive two to four years after the measures are installed and paid, for and the evaluator recommendations are stale. National Grid’s (NGrid’s) … Read more
Jesse Remillard, ERS, for Zondits A startup company, Quidnet Energy, founded by Aaron Mandell and Howard Schmidt, has the potential to drastically lower the cost of energy storage. The pilot project implemented in 2015 uses excess electricity to pump large volumes of water into an abandoned natural gas well in Texas at high pressures. When … Read more
Amanda Gassé, ERS, for Zondits Climate control is one of the most popular focal points in today’s connected living space. Big Ass Fans has reentered the scene with a new version of a smart ceiling fan that they debuted two years ago, the Haiku L Series. Haiku’s signature design elements and efficiency are now available … Read more
Sam Witty, Gita Subramony, ERS, presented at ACEEE Summer Study Combined heat and power (CHP) is becoming an important strategy to help buildings reduce energy costs and increase resiliency while achieving greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions on a system-wide level. NYSERDA’s CHP Acceleration Program assists New York customers with installing CHP by offering a catalog … Read more
An In-Depth Look at What Data Is Useful for the Utility of the Future Isaac Wainstein, Ryan Bossis, ERS, Presented at the 2016 ACEEE Summer Study It is often recognized that gathering large and robust data sets is a critical component for the utility of the future to successfully integrate energy efficiency as a grid … Read more
Gita Subramony, ERS, for Zondits CityLab takes a look at Hoboken New Jersey’s plans to develop its own back-up power supply. In 2012, Hoboken was one of the many communities devastated by Superstorm Sandy. Hoboken, just across the Hudson River from New York City, is a low-lying urban community, and it was almost completely underwater … Read more
Lighting Maintenance: LED Lighting Retrofits Facility Executive, August 5, 2016 When it comes to LED lamp failure, the industry standard is 3%. For most, that’s an acceptable rate—but should it be? As solid-state electronic devices, LEDs are similar to TVs or other consumer electronics: They tend to fail early if they’re going to fail at … Read more
Lisa Markowski, ERS, for Zondits Can beer make things clearer? It’s highly possible, although not necessarily through its consumption. Thinking about how microbreweries operate compared to large, national breweries can give the non-engineer a better understanding of the functions and goals of the modern grid. Writer/engineer/EnerNex consultant Sean Morash understands that “normal people” might not … Read more
The kilowatt you never use: How National Grid plans to save customers $3.6B through efficiency Utility Dive, August 31, 2016 According to ACEEE, Massachusetts’ approach to efficiency “has resulted in one of the most ambitious fully-funded state savings targets, incremental electric savings targets ramping up from 2.5% to 2.6% from 2013-2015.” And the state gives … Read more