NEEP Policy Highlights

Last month, NEEP held its annual full day Regional Building Energy Codes Leadership Group meeting in Philadelphia at the Consortium for Building Energy Innovation (CBEI). NEEP’s Codes Leadership Group is a forum for information dissemination and exchange between building energy code stakeholders in our region, including state and municipal agencies, utilities, building officials, practitioners, and more that convenes for three webinars and one full day meeting each year.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida September 28 – October 4, 2014:  The International Code Council’s (ICC) Annual Meeting and Conference brought together over a thousand code officials from across the nation and around the world, and NEEP was there, representing the region. The conference and annual business meeting offered educational seminars, regional networking events, and strategic planning meetings.

New York has some of the region’s most aggressive energy efficiency programs, and is now in the midst of an ambitious set of initiatives aimed at “Reforming the Energy Vision.” As the state tackles complex issues of new utility models and a changing view of state, utility and market roles, NEEP is watching closely to ensure there is a continuing and prominent role for energy efficiency — the least-cost resource.

Last month, the City of Portland became the latest city to partner with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on their High Performance Outdoor Lighting Accelerator. The move is the latest in a suite of energy efficiency initiatives taken by the Forest City with the goal of saving taxpayer money and cutting carbon emissions.

Regional efficiency stakeholders have a lot riding on the outcomes of several important federal appliance standards rulemakings in the fourth quarter of 2014, including proposal stages for residential gas furnaces, residential boilers (gas and oil) and commercial package air conditioner/heat pumps —commonly referred to as roof-top units.