Buildings must improve their energy use; here’s what that means for you CalMatters, April 30, 2016. Image credit: geralt Rows of newly minted model homes unspool across a verdant, rolling landscape in this sprawling master-planned community near Sacramento. Solar panels glint across 1,000 acres of rooftops. On a tidy cul-de-sac, a faux-grass lawn flanks the driveway … Read more
Energy efficiency: Binding targets will hinder EU growth The Parliament Magazine, May 3, 2016 This autumn, the European Commission is planning a revision to the energy efficiency directive. Both the Commission and Parliament are currently evaluating the implementation of the existing directive, originally adopted back in 2012. The best word to describe how the directive … Read more
Make Energy Efficiency Programs Efficient Electric Co-op Today, May 3, 2016. Image credit: Alexas_Fotos It’s ironic: Energy efficiency saves consumers money, but it can cost electric cooperatives a bundle to run a program. That doesn’t have to be the case. A new report from NRECA’s Business and Technology Strategies unit looks at where co-ops are running up … Read more
ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Power-use scorecards help building managers cut usage The Press Enterprise, April 9, 2016. Image credit: skeeze Hooper manages San Francisco’s five-year-old building-efficiency ordinance, created to measure wasted energy in the city’s largest structures, give them a score the public can see and prod owners to lower the lights and thermostats. San Francisco’s ordinance is … Read more
Ryan Pollin, ERS, for Zondits. April 26, 2016. Image credit: klassensprecher930 The Constitution Pipeline On Earth Day, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) denied key water-quality permits to the Constitution Pipeline. The pipeline would bring gas from hydrofracking fields of Pennsylvania to the Central Hudson region, where it links up with existing … Read more
Ryan Pollin, ERS, for Zondits. April 21, 2016. Image credit: Silvia_Hartmann A comprehensive energy bill has passed in the Senate with flying colors, and is now going to be reconciled with a different version of an energy bill that passed the House last year. From the start, sponsors Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) pumped … Read more
Amber Plante, ERS, for Zondits. April 21, 2016 All eyes will be on United Nations headquarters in New York on April 22, 2016, as United States President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and representatives from approximately 150 other countries gather to sign the Paris Agreement, a historic document that tackles climate change head-on by reducing … Read more
Gita Subramony, ERS, for Zondits. April 21, 2016. Image credit: Unsplash According to the ACEEE, the transportation sector is responsible for 28% of all end-use energy in the USA, and according to the EPA it is also responsible for 26% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (the second-largest contributor to GHG emissions behind electricity generation). Automobile … Read more
Max Twogood, ERS, for Zondits. April 21, 2016. Image credit: zdulli The number of states suing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan (CPP) is now up to 29 in Michigan v. EPA. In February the Supreme Court issued a stay on the CPP, which is an unprecedented ruling for the high court to stay … Read more
Long Beach Announce Energy Efficiency Plan Port Technology, April 13, 2016. Image credit: MichaelFertig In April 2016 the Board of Harbor Commissioners approved the Energy Efficiency Rebate Match Program, creating US $500,000 to reimburse tenants up to 100% of their equipment purchase costs. The port’s rebates would match Southern California Edison rebates for eligible energy-saving equipment but are … Read more