Setting the Table for Building Decarbonization

Bob Dylan nails what we are experiencing in the energy industry today with the title of his classic ballad, The Times They Are A’Changin’. In that song, he notes “The slow one now will later be fast, as the present now will later be past.” He may as well be singing to evaluators of energy efficiency programs, since evaluators have a lot of experience looking back at the past to explain the…

The smell of fresh cut grass, the sounds of “take me out to the ballgame”, and the crack of a baseball bat – these are a few things that signal the beginning of baseball season. Over the course of the six-month offseason, Major League Baseball (MLB) teams have been busy managing their rosters, improving their performance, and measuring how their squads stack up against their peers during spring…

Welcome to the latest REED Rendering issue, a series of blogs where we bring your attention to interesting trends that we see in the data and the stories behind those trends. Now that the 2016 data has been entered and the dust has settled, this issue will take a deeper dive into the 10 REED states - Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New…

Unicorns! Those beautiful, magical creatures with single horns that live in deep, exclusive forests are depicted as being as alluring as they are rare. In the real world of researchers, entrepreneurs, and technology enthusiasts, billion dollar "unicorn companies" are just as rare. In fact, only a handful of them stand proudly at the summit of the commercialization mountain, representing the…

If you keep up with our blog, social media activity, or our newsletter, you may remember our recent move from 91 Hartwell to 81 Hartwell last July. A big part of this move was embracing our refined vision, and we were lucky enough to find a space that not only gave us a fresh perspective on collaboration, but also a large, open space, ready to make our own. To further personalize and fully…

This winter has seen major fluctuations in weather. From record high temperatures in February to extreme lows in January, the impacts of climate change are becoming more apparent each day. I find myself struggling with the conflict of enjoying 70 degree weather in February while also fearing that this will happen more frequently as our climate continues to change. Understanding this eminent…

Building energy codes are a critical piece of the puzzle in the fight against climate change. Carbon emissions reduction plans must include energy codes that are regularly updated in order to effectively fight climate change. Renewable energy, like solar and wind, are popular and effective energy sources that will drastically reduce our carbon emissions. They are buzzwords that fill our social…

As we enter a new year, we tend to set resolutions in an attempt to inspire self-growth and to start the year off on the right foot. My personal new year’s resolution it to eat less meat and buy my produce from local farmers markets. For me, this means eating meat that has been raised sustainably. And, as much as I can, not eating it at all. It’s not always easy to stick to resolutions, but the…

NEEP implemented a new strategic plan in 2017 and defined its mission as leveraging energy efficiency as a pathway to carbon reduction. Is your organization also committed to moving efficiency forward? If your focus is on using efficiency as a foundation to reduce carbon emissions, we’d like to partner with you. And, we have the perfect opportunity – our Allies Program. If you want to grow your…

Recently the Pennsylvania state legislature passed HB 409, which updates Pennsylvania's broken code adoption process. Unfortunately, the new process is still less than ideal to adopt codes that are the bare legal minimum with which a designer or builder need to comply. Pennsylvania is currently using the 2009 codes, which are no longer supported by the International Code Council and are 30…