Setting the Table for Building Decarbonization

The Solid-State Lighting (SSL) industry is poised to take a leap forward in energy efficiency and performance as Northeast Energy Efficiency (NEEP) updated the DesignLights Consortium®’s (DLC) SSL Qualified Products List (QPL) at the turn of the year. Thanks to the 2013 specification revision to the DLC QPL, lighting manufacturers, energy efficiency program administrators, and…

We all know what the outdoors can do to revitalize our health.  We feel more connected, nourished, and energized after we venture out of our homes and take a deep, endless breath of fresh air, soak up vitamins from sunlight, or drop in on the crest of an interminable wave. What if I told you that the same raw nourishment from the outdoors can reduce your heating and cooling bill? Now, I’m…

I get it.  No really, I do.  You’re an environmentalist – well, so am I. You wanted to lessen your carbon footprint just like the rest of us – and I applaud that. So in a desperate attempt to decrease the environmental burden of doing laundry, you decided to hang your clothes out to dry. But this isn’t Little House on the Prairie! This is an urban area and countless people just got a…

Courtney Lane, Senior Analyst, National Grid Rhode Island At a time when states are still struggling to recover from the recession, investment in energy efficiency is providing a much needed boost. Investment in energy efficiency saves residents and businesses money on their energy bills, spurs investment in the local economy, and creates and maintains jobs. Rhode Island is experiencing…

As 2013 nears its end, important work on energy efficiency policy and programs is still on going. Below are the important proceedings that NEEP is keeping an eye on. And keep an eye out in January for the release of our 2013 Regional Roundup, which will contain our summation of the biggest state policy developments and trends from this past year. Additionally, we encourage you to attend the…

Cecily McChalicher, REED Manager The REED Program Year 2011 Annual Report (released this week) extracts the underlying stories and themes from REED's prodigious pool of energy efficiency program data. If you're new to REED, you might be asking, so what does this all mean? Well, remember that trite cliché that ever so wisely advises us to compare apples to apples? That saying…

Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships congratulates the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for capturing the top spot in the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s (ACEEE) 2013 State Efficiency Scorecard for the third consecutive year. The highly-regarded report measures states on a variety of efforts that recognize energy efficiency as a least-cost resource able to meet energy needs…

I recently returned from the first-ever National Summit on Integrating Energy Efficiency and Smart Grid, where I experienced a series of Aha! moments. I’m still chewing on what I learned about how energy efficiency (EE), clean distributed generation (DG) and demand response (DR) can work together, and how this “smart grid” stuff is going to help enable it. FERC Commissioner Jon Wellinghoff…

Energy savings tips from NEEP staff. October is passing like the brisk wind that blows leaves from their heightened homes, colorful vestiges of spring and summer are littering the soon to be frozen landscape. The sun emits lower and lazier rays, forcing house lights to switch on earlier every subsequent autumn afternoon. Frigid winds force the windows closed and ramp up the heaters to full…

NEEP guest-blogger, Jim Merriam, Director of Efficiency Vermont, introduces five white papers by Efficiency Vermont staff and shares his perspective on strategies for the future of energy efficiency in Vermont. Efficiency Vermont provides valuable support to NEEP and to the entire Northeast energy efficiency network. At Efficiency Vermont, we often feel stymied by the fact that energy…