Setting the Table for Building Decarbonization

We find ourselves hanging in a careful balance between continuing our work on various plans and policies that started before COVID-19 and managing a new direct response to the pandemic. This policy tracker is the first of a two-part analysis of policies in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. This first installment focuses on non-COVID-19 policies. Keep an eye out for the second blog analyzing COVID-…

Energy codes can push the market in powerful ways. Their pervasive influence in the sustainability industry works to promote increased renewable energy production, grid interconnectedness, and housing affordability. With the added benefit that they improve public health, there has never been a more important time to focus on advanced building energy codes than during the current COVID-19 pandemic…

I know what you’re thinking, “not another COVID-19 blog.” Understandable, though as industries across the nation face impending challenges due to the pandemic, these unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures to remediate further business interruptions.With economic impacts intensifying across the nation, the real estate industry has been quick to make changes and adapt to current social…

Of the American workforce not working from home before COVID-19, only 20 percent are able to do so now. I am one of the lucky few who have been able to easily transition my work from an office to my kitchen. For most, this has not been the case, and the energy industry has been devastated by the pandemic. While I am able to continue work alongside my fellow NEEPers, we are adapting our work in…

The COVID-19 crisis has changed nearly everything. In four short months, a preventable disease has caused millions of people to suffer, many to die, and sent economies across the globe into serious recession – a truly regrettable human disaster.   Fortunately, as the extent of the crisis became clear, state and local government leaders across the Northeast United States rose to the…

During uncertain times like right now, it can be challenging to predict the future or feel comfortable in the unknown. This year started off with a lot of action around policies for energy efficiency and climate, but things have changed quickly in the last few weeks. In response to COVID-19, a lot of state houses have closed their doors and adjourned early. NEEP is tracking state legislative…

A lot has changed in the world over the past few weeks and months. It continues to change, even on a daily basis. The way we work and live has completely transformed. NEEP’s physical office shut down mid-March; we’ve moved to all remote work. Overnight, I went from waking up and driving 35 minutes into work every day to waking up and walking one minute to my makeshift office in the living room. I…

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. Here in Lexington, Massachusetts, we can feel the changing seasons. Spring has arrived! This spring also marks changes to the Regional Energy Efficiency Database (REED). In 2019, NEEP performed an extensive review…

My vacation to Costa Rica last week was a brilliant reminder of two things. One, Costa Rica is very hot, even in February. And two, air source heat pumps are incredibly effective at what they’re designed to do. Truly, the difference between being indoors versus outdoors during the Costa Rican dry season was night and day. The Airbnb my partner and I rented in Tamarindo, a little beach town on the…

Since the dawn of time, energy efficiency supporters have touted benchmarking as the critical first step to reducing energy consumption in the buildings sector. Whether it's the first step or not, the age-old saying "you can't manage what you don't measure" is true. Assessing our energy performance is critical to inform improvement efforts. Benchmarking programs raise awareness and bring…