By neepenergy |
Bill Ravanesi, Healthcare Without Harm
Bill Ravenisi of the global organization, Healthcare without Harm, was recently featured in a special to Banker and Tradesman highlighting what the Green Communities Act means to healthcare in MA. In his aritcle, "Green Communities Act Means a Healthier Massachusetts", he explains how the Green Communities Act helps health care facilities—and…
By Josh Craft |
March means that we are reaching a critical time in the year for energy efficiency policy, particularly in state legislatures. This week’s Policy Tracker lists some of the policy areas that NEEP has been engaged on over the last few months.
Recent NEEP Policy Work: Oil Heat Energy Efficiency Programs, Building Energy Rating policies in Connecticut and Maine, Energy Codes Advocacy, and…
By Allison Webster |
Buildings are our nation’s biggest energy guzzlers, using 40% of our energy and 70% of our electricity.
As the nation makes strides to improve the energy performance of its building stock, one effective method of doing this is with building energy codes. Building energy codes play a central role in creating a sustainable energy future by significantly reducing building energy use and ensuring…
By dlenergyefficiency |
You may be surprised to hear that Distribution Transformers (which include the round barrel-looking devices on telephone poles) offer significant energy savings opportunities. Although most transformers are quite efficient (efficiencies over 98%), the sheer volume of these deployed throughout the country mean even small improvements can result in big savings.
A few weeks ago, DOE…
By Jim OReilly |
In a Feb. 5 cover story of the Boston Globe Magazine, Neil Swidey’s “What if the Lights Go Out?” paints a bleak picture of the state of our regional electric grid. And all of his reasons are quite valid: we are overly-reliant on natural gas fired electricity generation; we have an aging electricity and natural gas infrastructure that is vulnerable to failures on its own and attacks from those…
By neepenergy |
City Hall Annex - Cambridge's first high performance municipal building Photo: City of Cambridge and Blind Dog Photo, Inc.
Naturally, I waited until the last possible day of the year to apply for my resident parking permit at the City Hall Annex in Cambridge, Mass. When I entered the lobby, the line of permit-seekers was at least a hundred people deep, winding around the entire first…
By neepenergy |
In a recent blog post, Penni McLean-Conner of NSTAR, highlighted the tremendous innovation spurred on by the new EISA standards enacted on January 1. The standards have truly brought about the biggest evolution in the lighting industry since Edison was around. Some of this change has not been so welcomed. In her post Conner explains,
“Another important change brought about by…
By Josh Craft |
Congressman Ed Markey of Massachusetts
This past Monday a large contingent of energy industry leaders met at the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston to share ideas and discuss the status of energy transmission systems across the United States for the “New England Clean Energy Transmission Summit.” Everyone from operators to engineers to government employees were in attendance, with several major…
By Josh Craft |
Recently, Massachusetts's landmark energy efficiency law, the Green Communities Act of 2008, has come under criticism for raising energy costs and harming state businesses at the expense of its utility companies. Governor Deval Patrick, though, reminded the people during his State of the Commonwealth speech that one of the nation's most ambitious clean energy bills is paying off. Here's the…
By Josh Craft |
Happy 2012 everyone! As we head full steam into 2012, NEEP’s Policy Team is keeping a close eye on five key policy developments that will have an impact on energy efficiency policy this year:
1. Major Energy Efficiency Polices under Attack
2012 looks to be a year in which landmark energy efficiency laws come under attack in state legislatures. In Massachusetts and Maine, for instance, their…