By neepenergy |
For champions of the green schools movement, the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools award program –now in its pilot year—is an exciting opportunity to gain national recognition for years of hard work transforming the way we design, build, and operate schools. Thirty three states, the District of Columbia and the Bureau of Indian Education have opted into the program and…
By Allison Webster |
NEEP, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER), is seeking proposals for innovative methodologies that can help reduce the time and cost of data collection.
Operational ratings for buildings, which are based on actual energy use (i.e. energy billing data), are great, but don’t paint the full picture of a building’s true energy performance. To help connect…
By neepenergy |
Nearly every consumer appliance and electronics program developed in the past two decades has left considerable energy savings on the table. How do I know? Because until this year, program administrators lacked tools to help steer consumers from appliances and electronics that were merely more efficient than standard models to those that were at the top of the efficiency peak.…
By Josh Craft |
Our most recent Policy Tracker is available now, with updates on important energy efficiency policy and building energy code developments from across the Northeast. I've changed the formatting a bit, so be sure to take a look!
This edition includes:
State Energy Efficiency Plans: 2012 Energy Efficiency Plans Up for Consideration
Building Energy Codes: Maryland Adopt 2012…
By neepenergy |
NEEP's Public Policy Manager, Natalie Hildt explains the widespread benefits to local communities and businesses from the energy efficiency measures within Massachusetts' Green Communities Act on MassHighTech's Community Voices blog.
In her post, "Mass. following steady path to energy efficiency", Natalie points out that energy efficiency investments contribute to jobs growth, reduce overall…
By neepenergy |
Photo courtesy of LUMEN.org
Remember when all it took to buy a bulb was to choose between which wattage you needed (40/60/75/100 Watts)? This system worked when you had a single technology on the market. But as Guest Contributor, Penni McLean-Conner from NSTAR mentioned in her blog post on Monday, the new efficiency standards for light bulbs have sparked a flood of new technologies…
By neepenergy |
Penni McLean-Conner, NSTAR
Beginning in 2012, new federal standards for energy efficiency will usher in an era of improved lighting options for consumers. If we take time now to familiarize ourselves and our customers with the coming changes, we’ll all be more informed shoppers when the new standards go into effect.
The Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), signed by President George W…
By Josh Craft |
The November issue of Highlights is now available, with update to date news and views about energy efficiency policy developments in Northeast!
This issues features an introduction to our new Policy Roundup for 2011, discussion of the coming federal lighting standards, and updates from our recent Building Energy Codes Working Group Meeting in Hartford and the EM&V Forum Annual Public…
By Allison Webster |
Over the past six months, the Northeast has been hammered with unexpected and extreme weather. Tornadoes tore through Western Massachusetts in June and Hurricane Irene wreaked havoc throughout the entire region in August, devastating Vermont with the worst flooding they’ve seen in 84 years. We also felt the strongest earthquake to rattle the region since World War II, and last month’…
By neepenergy |
Richard Donnelly, Efficiency Vermont
With economic and social challenges ranging from climate commitments to deferred maintenance, how can colleges and universities make the investments necessary to control their costs and reduce carbon emissions? As energy efficiency projects directly compete with limited funds to pay for other expenses, how can colleges and universities capitalize on long-…