Energy Efficiency

For quite some time, the zero net energy concept has struggled to reach beyond the domain of policy advocates and pilot projects; but the world is changing.

Greater Energy Savings through Building Energy Performance Policy, a new report by the Department of Energy’s State & Local Energy Efficiency Action Network (SEE Action) provides recommendations for state and local governments to design policies and programs to achieve measurable im

For more background, see our earlier 2014 Building Code Preview

Throw some popcorn in an energy efficient microwave, turn down the overhead, living-room LEDS with your shiny-new home energy management system, and join our story’s protagonist, energy efficiency,

NEEP joined friends in Delaware and fellow supporters of energy efficiency from around the nation in cheering a landmark bill passed in the final hours of the state’s legislative session. Included as an amendment to Senate Bill 150, the legislation set the stage for the state’s ratepayer-funded electric and gas efficiency programs to be administered by utility providers.

At the tail end of October 2013, I hit the ground running  as NEEP’s new Public Relations Manager. I quickly learned about NEEP staffers, their roles, and how they all connected together to make our projects move forward. I studied NEEP whitepapers, workshops, and business plans. I looked up acronym after acronym. I met (via email, phone, and in person) scores of NEEP partners and sponsors.

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” Along with being a trite yearbook quote, this phrase also describes the impetus behind NEEP’s workshop on the path to zero net energy buildings — buildings th

April 29, 2014 was our night. This was the Oscars, the Grammys, and the Super Bowl for the Energy Efficiency industry. The ENERGY STAR Awards Ceremony was a tour-de-force event and it seemed like everyone was there.  The cheerful mingling, clinking china, and upbeat presentations made one wonder if the animated scenes from F.

Energy efficiency policy work doesn’t always make for great conversation at dinner parties. Energy efficiency represents energy and money not wasted, so it’s less tangible than new solar panels or a natural gas well. And much of NEEP’s work is behind the scenes, spread across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states in regulatory proceedings that can be hard to follow, on topics that may not, on the surface, sound very interesting. The energy efficiency policies we follow certainly haven’t captured media attention the way that the future of the Keystone XL pipeline has.

We've all attended events that brandish flashy titles and pithy tag-lines that turn out to be a few experts taking turns projecting their esoteric insights and aptitudes onto an audience that, in large part, are not in the right frame